Here's a 1911 Gibson A4 mandolin in excellent shape and looking for a long-term relationship. The serial number is 13068 and the factory order number is 1523. Swipe right on this 108-year-old specimen and here's what you'll get: Original tailpiece, Handel tuners, and endpin. What appears to be a one-piece reproduction ebony bridge is cut to the same dimensions as the original, complete with pinhole for the pickguard and top slot containing four compensated ebony saddles. There's also a beautifully executed replacement celluloid pickguard, attached with a chinrest-style clamp. Both of these reproduction parts are of the highest quality, and could easily be taken for originals. Spruce top with black finish, 1-piece birch back and sides finished in dark red, mahogany neck, front and back binding, fancy rosette, bound ebony fretboard, and fleur-de-lis headstock inlay with "The Gibson" logo. There is a small repaired top crack under the pickguard. Lovingly restored, this black beauty is ready for another century of music-making. It resides in a modern shaped hardshell case. As for the sound, it's what you'd expect from a vintage Gibson oval-hole: not overwhelming, but sweet and well developed, balanced throughout the range if slightly "tubby" in the lower register. There'a a reason people like vintage Gibsons, and that reason is ... vintage Gibsons, especially ones like this. A hundred and ten years is a long time, but who knows? In another 110 years it might sound even better.
