Unfortunately I OWE money this year (like only for the second time ever), so I won’t be bidding.
Look at the picture of the mandola top: What do you think Adirondack? The grain spacing seems quite wide. Lorenzo, do you happen to know if Adi is what Gibson was using on those back then? As I recall Martin used Adi quite a bit back in the day. Makes for loud guitars, so I imagine it would make for a pretty punchy mandola.
I forget about Gibson’s spruce sources. I wouldn’t doubt that Gibson used Adirondack Spruce. I’ve heard that the widening of growth rings (both on violins and mandos) is for more bass tone as the top reached the outer edge. I use to know about the guitar tops and the lost stack of wood found in the Gibson factory that was used on the Jumbos in the mid to late 30’s. Maybe that was rosewood, not spruce.
Here’s a good web site you’ll enjoy…all about the Gibson mandolins, Loar, the effect he had on graduating the tops, etc.
BTW, Howie B. (high bidder) nailed it on that mandola on eBay. It’s not a 1924, but a '21 as someone else pointed out. Still good though. Howie is a great guy. I’ve watched him buy Gibson mandos for years. I’d believe anything he says about them. I got to know him pretty well, off eBay, when he was bidding on my dads '38 AJ.
My mandola has a serial #71579 - made in 1922. My case looks exactly like that one on eBay…that split pea soup lining inside.
Howie is a serious collector/player. There was a fern model that sold on eBay a couple years ago for around $58K. He told me he had sold it to the seller a couple years before that for $29K. About a year ago he was selling off some of his extra ‘inferior’ mando parts and a couple Gibson mandolins. Nothing to write home about. He knows how to pick out the good stuff and avoid the refinished/rebuilt/replacement stuff. I’d say most of his 189 eBay exchanges were purchases of Gibson mandolin family instruments (or parts). He does buy some guitars. He said he had every Gibson guitar except one of the original Advanced Jumbo (1936-1940). I seriously doubt he’d sell anything now esp. after seeing that fern double in value in a couple short years. He often doesn’t win the bids on regular medium priced mandos, but one that’s pristine with all the original equipment…he’ll raise the bar if he wants it really bad…and everyone knows it’s useless to bid against him. He waits for people that seem to pull them out of the closet…mandos that haven’t been played or touched in 50 years kinda stuff.