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If you are reading this ad, the Gibson F-4 Mandolin needs no introduction, as it is simply a legend in the music world and with this one being a Prewar model form 1937 , it becomes one of the most desired mandolins anywhere.
This wonderful instrument is a great looking and sweet sounding 1937 Gibson F-4 Mandolin that comes to you in the original case. This mandolin carries the serial number 95405 which allows us to date it from 1937 with some confidence. It has been owned by one family since new and now it it being passed on to the next generation. The finish looks original and it is a truly beautiful instrument that presents wonderfully. It does have a scratch or two and some wear and some checking on the finish , but it has a wonderful finish that certainly doesn’t look 87 years old.
The instrument did have a minor restoration done on it in 1994 which consisted of replacing the first 8 frets and polishing all frets, installing a new handcrafted pickguard to replace the original pickguard, regluing all loose binding, realigning and regluing a side rib near the tail block, a touch up of the finish, refitting it with a new replacement bridge and checking a crack in front of the soundhole.
We do not have the original pickguard or bridge . These pickguards were celluloid and deteriorated pretty badly. The replacement bridge looks like a high quality bridge but you can tell it is a modern part. We ran a black light over the instrument and the main part of the neck looked right and the only place we feel that a “neck repair” might have been done is where the neck attaches to the body. The back of the neck may have had some finish work done, but it was done very well and since it was done 27 years ago, we cannot tell where any touchup was done. The frets look great and look to have been properly replaced to factory spec. It looks like a very nice job was done regluing the loose binding and the rest of the instrument looks great and plays great as well.
The case is in excellent condition and this mandolin has been stored properly and humidity controlled .
We are going to post a video of the instrument being played on our site and we are also going to try to get it on this ad if I can figure out how to do that. We have more experience with vintage guitars than we do with mandolins, but our opinion is that this is an original instrument in great condition that is fairly priced . Please email us with any questions and we will do our best to answer any you have. This instrument is not on display in our store but it is in the store and interested parties would be welcome to inspect it or play it at our Kansas City area store.
Thank you for considering this fine antique instrument .
