1924 Gibson A Jr Mandolin Loar-Era

Summary: Built towards the end of the Lloyd Loar era at Gibson, this humble little mandolin is in especially nice shape for its age. The Mandolin has an old refinish and the blonde lacquer shows lots of finish checking. There’s some tarnishing in the nickel plating on the tailpiece but overall it looks and plays wonderfully up and down the ebony fretboard. These snakehead mandos have good projection and a clear crisp note clarity. Our in-house guitar tech has just set it up with D’addario light gauge mandolin strings and it ships in a nice vintage hard-shell case with red plush interior.

Body: Carved spruce top, maple body and blonde refinish.

Neck: Mahogany neck with ebony nut, flat ebony fretboard with pearl dots, ebony headstock overlay, snakehead headstock, 14” scale length and 1 1/16” nut width.

Hardware: Ebony bridge, high quality replacement tuners with pearl buttons, nickel plated tailpiece.

Cosmetics: There’s a good amount of finish checking on the top, some tarnish on the tailpiece, a very small chip in the headstock overlay and a 1 1/2” separation between the back and side but it doesn’t raise any structural concerns at the moment.

Playability: Our in-house luthier has just inspected, set up and restrung this mandolin with a new set of light gauge D’addario strings and it is playing beautifully with comfortable action and a straight neck. The frets are in great shape with only minor wear.

Modifications: There are a few small drips in the finish around the neck/body joint, sides and in the soundhole so we think it's been refinished but it was done a long time ago and still looks great. The original pickguard has been lost or deteriorated with time so it is not included with the instrument. The tuning machines have also been replaced.

Weight: 1 lbs, 14 oz.

Case: This mandolin comes with an old hard-shell case and we will ship it professionally packed and fully insured!