GIBSON 1918 A-4 MANDOLIN CARVED TOP UPPER TIER UNCIRCULATED HEIRLOOM 2 FAMILY OWNED CLEAN AMAZING

5 decades of selling vintage. They just do not get any better than this mandolin. Structurally solid, a ringer, no issues, perfect binding, and well taken care of for over 100 years?! Here it is.

*Here at Gordy's Music in Ferndale, Michigan, we are so proud and grateful to receive the REVERB TOP 300 SELLERS Certificate for the second year in a row! A real honor. We want to start by thanking all of you, our customers, my partner wife Marcia, top notch crew, and Reverb.com. We have quite a team and will strive to get this certificate year after year.*

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Up for sale at Gordy's Music is a remarkably well-preserved, investment-grade Gibson Style A-4 oval-hole mandolin from 1918. This premium instrument has a fantastic local provenance: It was originally found in an attic in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, preserved by the original family until it was purchased at an estate sale 40 years ago. It has been carefully stored in a private collection ever since, making this its first time on the public market in generations. As Gibson’s top-tier A-style model of the era, this A-4 features the iconic slanted mother-of-pearl "The Gibson" script headstock logo and the elegant inlaid fleur-de-lis. The oval soundhole is dressed in the beautiful, ornate double-ring wood purfling rosette unique to the A-4 tier.

Structural Condition:
Unlike many century-old carved tops that have succumbed to string tension, this mandolin features an exceptionally stable, completely flat spruce top with absolutely no top sinking around the bridge or soundhole. The internal transverse brace is rock-solid and tight. Furthermore, the original celluloid bindings are completely intact with zero binding rot, shrinking, or separation anywhere on the body or fingerboard.

Hardware & Appointments:

• Tuners: Original 4-on-a-plate open-gear tuners with original ivoroid buttons.
• Tailpiece: Original nickel-plated, engraved "The Gibson" tailpiece cover. The correct original black/white dot endpin is in the case.
• Bridge: Currently fitted with a highly functional post-1921 adjustable ebony bridge to allow for easy action adjustments.
• Bonus Original Part: Included loose in the case pocket is the original fixed, one-piece wooden bridge that this instrument originally shipped with from the Kalamazoo factory along with the slightly worn original endpin!

Cosmetics & Playability:
The Sheraton brown/reddish sunburst finish is completely original and shows gorgeous, light lacquer weather checking and minor playwear consistent with an authentic vintage piece. The bound fingerboard is straight, and the instrument retains its classic chimey, projecting oval-hole volume and warmth.

Case:
Includes the original Geib-style textured black shaped hardshell case with a functioning leather handle and original early brass latches. Don't miss a rare opportunity to own a structurally perfect, 2 family owned heirloom piece of Gibson history.

Ships securely packed and fully insured. Please review all photos and reach out with any questions!

NOTE: more than likely you might never know that the fretboard was lightly planed and new frets installed, restrung with a new nut and set up by the master luthier Dan Bloom below. He also replaced the leather handle on the case and touched up a scratch. The 2nd owner does have the receipt from 2007 work, and the instrument has been played very little since with frets still like new.

Quite impressive work in my book.

Bloom Guitars is a highly regarded, family-run musical instrument repair and building shop operated by master luthier Dan Bloom and his wife Cindy in Fairview, Tennessee. The shop specializes in everything from basic setups to complex structural restorations for acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, and mountain dulcimers. With over 30 years of experience in the Nashville area, Dan Bloom is a graduate of a prestigious stringed instrument program and previously served as the 'shop foreman' for the legendary Gruhn Guitars, Nashville Tn. Bloom Guitars is also a full-line authorized Martin Guitar Warranty Center

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Mandolin weighs 1 lb. 13.5 oz.

Ships fast and insured.

Shipping box Dimensions 34"x20"x8"

Shipping weight 12 lbs.

Shop at our Reverb Store for a bunch of vintage and other products at:

https://reverb.com/shop/gordys-music

IN BUSINESS for 40 YEARS!!
50 YEARS of VINTAGE EXPERIENCE!
MICHIGAN GUITAR SHOW PROMOTORS Since 1989!
Brick and mortar to the end!

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Visit our new secured still under construction website to see the long list of celebrity musicians and groups we have met and serviced in the past 40 years. 

NOTE: Too cool. Late last summer we shipped a 1967 MapleGlo Rickenbacker 6-12 Converter 'comb' guitar to Billy Corigan of Smashing Pumpkins! We also then shipped a vintage 50 watt Marshall head to L.A. studio-touring guitarist extraodinaire, Michael Landau, and 2 vintage guitars to Jack White's organization down in Nashville just a few days before his 50th. birthday! mmm? Add 'The Kentucky Head Hunters' to the list, just sold Greg a cool little 50's Valco tube combo amp!

Gordy's Music has become a Detroit institution! Our shop was used as a filming location for a few films like "Miracle in Motor City" a Christmas movie on Lifetime (featuring Smoky Robinson). We've supplied gear for movies including "Bill & Ted Face The Music" with Keanu Reeves. We've got decades of celebrity customers, including recent visits from Beck, Eric Johnson, and we recently sold Billy Joel's bassist a cool Gibson SG he is in love with. One day a while back Andre 3000 and his group stopped in to browse as they were playing Masonic Temple that night and right after that we sold an old oil can Morley Wah Vibrato pedal to Credence Clearwater Revival's thee John Fogerty!

We are having and have had a lot of fun here at Gordy's Music! I was just remembering about 35 years ago a tour bus pulled up to our little shop, and who rolls right in and hangs out for an hour? Lenny Kravitz and his entire group, right about the same time I was selling many guitars to and chauffeuring around Dee Dee Ramone who had an apartment a block down from my house.