1921 Gibson A mandolin on eBay

[buddhu]

This mando sold for $1,265.00 USD. Took a big jump from $800.

Was that a high price? Low price? Medium range...?

[rh]

One place i check for vintage Gibson prices is here. He's maybe a bit on the higher end of the going price, but it is usually a good gauge of the market.

I haven't been keeping close tabs, but $1250 or so sounds like a typical price for a 'teens A in good condition. The above site has #68549 listed for $2150; the eBay A in question is #68070 with no seam separations, etc, so $1265 looks like a good price to me.

As an aside, it looks like Joseph Sobol was the winning bidder -- if so, the mandolin is in expert hands; have a look and a listen here.

[Lorenzo]

This mando sold for $1,265.00 USD. Took a big jump from $800.

Was that a high price? Low price? Medium range...?

If the price is about right, as rh says, prices have gone up a LOT. Two years ago, when I bought mine on eBay (just for the nice Gibson case for my A2--I was going to resell the A model) I paid around $750 for the A mando and case. The A model sat around for about a year before I started playing it (after noticing it sounded better than my A2--and both were about the same vintage - #61488 vs. #68245) So I bought another Gibson case for the A, off eBay, and decided to keep it. The frets were wearing down on the A2, after years and years of hard playing, and I didn't want to get it refretted with "unGibson-like" frets, so now I'm happy: this A model has never been played much.

Thanks for the Sobol link rh. I like that cittern playing. I see Paul Katopish plays with him. Paul is great. I use to jam a little with Paul at Centrum American Fiddle Tunes festival in Pt. Townsend (WA). Sobol, not related to Steffan Sobel...right?

[rh]

If the price is about right, as rh says, prices have gone up a LOT. Two years ago, when I bought mine on eBay (just for the nice Gibson case for my A2--I was going to resell the A model) I paid around $750 for the A mando and case.

I'm no expert, i'm just basing this opinion on looking around the internet.

A quick check of Gbase shows the lowest advertised price on a vintage A as $950 (with no case); granted that's a dealer listing but still i see an awful lot of them listed around $1250 and up so i would expect that $1265 would be somewhere in the middle of the going rate.

Gruhn doesn't have anything in that department below $1000 (A Jr), and most are around $1250-1800.

Even looking at the ads on MC (admittedly also not scientific), with the exception of a significantly altered A0 with no case for $500 (which may or may not have sold -- looked like the owner was desperate), no vintage A's look to be going for <$900. Dan Beimborn's old rat-chewed A Jr snakehead is listed for $1750.

$750 for an A in good condition with case is a really good deal -- then again, sometimes you can get lucky with eBay, even these days. It depends on timing. But there is a lot of demand for oval holes now that wasn't there even a few years ago, so the prices have gone up considerably.

Thanks for the Sobol link rh. I like that cittern playing. I see Paul Katopish plays with him. Paul is great. I use to jam a little with Paul at Centrum American Fiddle Tunes festival in Pt. Townsend (WA). Sobol, not related to Steffan Sobel...right?

No, i think Sobol is from Chicago, no relation to Sobell (though i think he plays a Sobell). Larry Nugent plays on that album too, nice stuff.

[Lorenzo]

It does seem like the Gibson mandos are selling for more and more. You probably saw that Gibson A hard case (alone) that sold for $350 a couple months ago. Amazing!

That whole experience with the A model just raised my appreciation for them. Sobol must know it too - A's of that vintage. The A2 sounds a little better on the G string, but the A model sounds better on the E, A, and D strings. I even switched bridges, and put them back, to make sure that wasn't the secret (solid bridge vs. adjustable).

Did you see that '21 A on GBASE,com with the truss rod? I didn't know they had 'em in '21. Maybe late '21?

I've tried several different mandos with non-Gibson wire refret jobs, but prefer the originals. So, I've been thinking the thing to do is find an old clunker Gibson on ebay (for parts) that has good frets...and just switch fretboards, ie, if they're the same width. Might be better than risking a chip in the wood when pulling the frets out. Anyone know of any original type fret wire available anywhere?

[rh]

I've tried several different mandos with non-Gibson wire refret jobs, but prefer the originals. So, I've been thinking the thing to do is find an old clunker Gibson on ebay (for parts) that has good frets...and just switch fretboards, ie, if they're the same width. Might be better than risking a chip in the wood when pulling the frets out. Anyone know of any original type fret wire available anywhere?

You might ask around on the builders' forum at MC, i seem to recall a discussion a couple of years ago in which one of the independent luthiers had bought up a whole lot of the remaining stock of Gibson fretwire years back.

There certainly does seem to be some agreement on how durable that wire was, especially compared to a lot of the stuff used today -- the specific metallurgy and all.

[Lorenzo]

There certainly does seem to be some agreement on how durable that wire was, especially compared to a lot of the stuff used today -- the specific metallurgy and all.

My A2 isn't that bad yet, but the little grooves are beginning to show on the first few frets.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the old steel. I collect old x-cut saws and carpenter saws, and when you go to file/sharpen the old ones--you certainly know the differnce. I think someone said the old Swedish Steel Co., or something like that, use to make some of the best.