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This weekend I picked up this Gibson A2 mandolin at a flea market. I’m not really a mandolin person so my original plan was to replace the missing bridge, re-glue the back where it is coming loose and sell it. My wife keeps pointing out that I should be able to find a way to get my expensive hobby to pay for itself. That’s a great idea, in theory, and I stupidly mentioned my idea of trying to flip this when I bought it.

I figure whether I just outright sell it, set it up and flip it as playable, or do a full on repair or restore, that posting a thread here wouldn’t be a bad idea. I love to see what other people are working on.

The serial number is 67817 which puts it it’s born on date somewhere around 1921.

It has bar frets which the first few need to be replaced. I haven’t measured them but it looks like the metal gets thinner as you work higher up on the neck. The neck has a pretty strong V shape and is really comfortable tot hold.




The headstock is in good shape. One gear post on the tuner is missing. It looks like it popped cleanly out of its anchor holes. I’m going to start looking for a broken set so I can find a repair part. I might just pull this set of tuners and replace them with a set of Stew Mac’s Restoration Tuners.

The Tailpiece is in good shape.



You gotta love the recurve on a carved arch top instrument.

There have been some previous repairs to this mandolin. There were some soundboard cracks that look like they have had a fairly solid repair done. I’ve seen much worse. If the previous repair person had tried to touch up the finish, I bet these would be close to invisible.




The repair was done with what looks like a popsicle patch on the inside. It’s hard to see in there, but I think there is only one brace just below the sound hole.


There is a large crack along the fret board extension that stops at the sound hole. This looks to be stable. It stops at the sound hole binding, but the binding is still intact.


There is a dent in the soundboard where the bridge was. The fibers have been compressed here.

The last few issues were done just a little less crafty than the work on the top. It looks like lot of really thick yellow glue was used. I’m not sure what it is yet. It could just be globs of yellow wood glue. There is quite a bit of wood glue that has run onto the label.

The back has come loose right around the neck block. The spot where the back would naturally lay down is a bit far back from the neck. It looks like pressure is going to be needed between the tail of the mandolin and the neck to help close this up.


Also the sides are a bit wider than the back around the neck block. I’m thinking that the sides might have come loose from the neck block at some point and were not properly glued back into position. Possibly they dumped it full of wood glue and let it cure. I’m totally guessing here and won’t know unless I remove the back.



This is something odd. It looks like possibly the binding or the back came loose from the side and the side didn’t quite line up. The repair person shimmed between the back and the binding with what I’m guessing is another popsicle stick. It was a crafty idea, but caused the binding to bulge out passed the side.

I find it hard to believe that the same person who fixed the top did the work here. Another interesting feature is the clamp marks on the top and the back. There was some damage done at the end of the Mando and it looks like some C-clamps were used to glue the top and the back. The marks on the top aren’t bad but they can be seen clearly on the back.




The final area of interest (from a repair perspective) is the joint where the sides meet at the end. It looks like they came loose from the tail block and were re-glued with yellow glue. The sides are not flat to the tail block here and the top isn’t glued down either. I’m thinking the idea of using the yellow glue as a filler was proven wrong.


I’ll keep posting to this thread as a do whatever repairs I do.

A worthy project, indeed!
Great pix showing the damage and condition.
I'm sure you have it looking factory fresh.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

What a great find. I'd love to tackle that one. Hope you plan on posting the repair work as you go along.

_________________
"I've been had again"
Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

Wow, that one is a mess! Definitely a "player" instrument.
I'd probably just stick it back together, put a bridge on it and sell it cheap.
Here is a caution...pop of the back and you might get in over your head. Those kinds of bulges are notorious and difficult repairs. Pop the back and you might send everything everywhichaway...

John, it's a great find and I think it is definitely restoration-worthy. I have no idea how to advise you about certain issues such as what to do with the finish. I am sure others will chime in about that. Just go slowly, carefully, and I think you will be okay. I'll be following along, because I want to know what the seasoned repair folks have to say.

John I love it. It's a real mess that's for sure. Looks like tire tracks on the fretboard at the first three positions. Looks like someone ran through some paint on a bicycle then over the neck.


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Haans,

You almost said exactly what my wife said. Except that she was for just selling it without getting it playing. I was hoping you'd throw out the voice of reason here.

I haven't decided how I'm going to approach it yet. I'm definitely going to get it playing again. My gut is saying that the back needs to come off to do it right. I've been doing some online research looking at mandolin side alignment jigs. If I get ambitious I may try that approach. I'll certainly build a jig to hold things in place if I take the back off. I am a lover of jigs. One thing I have noticed is that if you Google "Mandolin Jigs", you get a lot of results for non luthier related sites.

Lonnie,

The tire tracks look like tape residue. Its like a duct tape pattern that continues on the back of the neck. It is shiny though almost like a paint. My guess is they taped either the nut or the bridge there and left it till the tape fell off. I think it will scrape down with a razor blade.

My plan for this thread is to post pictures as I make progress working on this. It may get involved, but it might be quick and painless. I haven't decided quite yet. Worst case we have some pictures of and older instrument that has had some work done in its lifetime and could benefit from some more attention.

I have a couple of projects ahead of this one so it might be a while before I actually start updating with my progress. I'll keep you posted on the direction this takes. Right now I'm doing as much reading as I can on mandolin repair and am thinking about what to do for a replacement bridge, tuners, and nut.

John

John, if you are determined to go ahead, you should probably remove the neck and pop the back. Then make a mold off the back and get the ribs into it as fast as you can. I have done a few and made 2 piece molds and screwed them together.
A quick check of ebay looks like the "in your dreams" top price would be around $1100, probably a reality check might be half that. You have to remember that if you go anywhere near refinishing, the value goes down, but at the stage the instrument is in, no matter what you do, it'll likely be a player instrument. If you can get into total restoration, lots of work, but you are saving an old instrument from the "woodpile".
You could make a replacement bridge for it too, but the easy way out is a Stew Mac adjustable bridge for $24.

Good luck!

John I posted one of the pictures on my Facebook page. As I have oodles of guitarists plus a builder and a couple of working technicians. One of the fellows thought it would be worth a lot of money. I explained that had it been made by Lloyd Loar that would definately be worth a complete restoration. But I'm with Haans it's not going to bring.a bunch. I'm agreeing with your wife turn it for whatever profit you make. It would be nice if it was a player though.


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Lonnie, "Loar era" would have been snake head A models. I doubt Lloyd knew anything much about actual building. He was a player, a "technician" and an "innovator". I don't think he ever built anything...he delegated.

Lonnie,

Thanks for checking into that for me. I'm completely out of touch with what is going on in the mandolin world. I think the ultimate goal will be to get this playable again. While doing that I want to restore the structural stability of the instrument without destroying the things collectors are looking for. It is one of those fine line situations.

I'm with Haans in that I don't believe this would be considered a "Loar Era" instrument. I think its destined to be a player rather than a collector. It certainly has "value" but I don't know how much or how much potential value it has. I think the restoration\repair is going to end up being a danged if you do danged if you don't situation.

I have a friend who loves the look. He says he wouldn't want a refinish. Of course I have a tendency to "un-relic" stuff while I'm putting it back into use. I really cant wait for the current relic movement in electric guitars to end so that I'll be able to un-relic a bunch of stuff that is getting the relic treatment today. I can see it now...
"Hey Joe, I just had my Fender Custom shop Eric Clapton Blackie Relic completely restored by John Killin. He did the full on Un-Relicing treatment and now it look as good as any Standard Stratocaster you'd see in the store today."

In my dream world they'll start calling the un-relicing process "Killining." You can thank my friend Gabe for coming up with that term. Mainly he was advising me to fix it, but don't "Killin" it up.

But back to the real world and the mandolin. I don't want to destroy the historical appearance. Then again, are the C-clamp marks from previous repairs historically significant and would fixing those be considered a refinish? Do the clamp marks take away more value being there or being repaired. What about the crooked glue job at the tail block? I think that needs to be fixed.

What I see this one needing is:

Back needs to be removed.
Top cracks need to be inspected from the inside and stabilized if needed.
The sides at the tail block need to be Unglued and repositioned so that the top and back plates have a level surface to be glued to.
The previous glue repair job between the neck block and sides needs to be evaluated. If the glue was used as a filler rather than just as a glue, this might explain some of the alignment issues with the back in this area.
The missing wood in the end pin area needs to be patched and the end pin hole needs to be cut for a new end pin.
The popsicle filler between the back and binding needs to be addressed.
Binding needs to be glued in a few spots. I'm hoping that I don't need to replace the back binding, but that may be needed. In that case I may need to replace the top binding so they match.
Sides need to be shaped to conform to the shape of the top and back plates.
The top and back need to be glued to the sides. The top just has a few spots near the tail that are loose.
Tuners need to be repaired or replaced.
A new nut and bridge are needed.
Finish repair (but probably not a refinish).

With that mountain of work ahead, I need to then determine what cosmetic work a player would want.

There are quite a few learning challenges ahead on this one. At the end of it all, I just hope it sounds good.

John

John, I seriously doubt I would refinish it unless I planned a full restoration and kept it for myself. If the C-clamp areas dented the wood, it sometimes can be steamed, and it would seem to me that this would be a "French polishing lesson" for you.
It will never return the effort you put into it, but as I said earlier, anything you can do to advance an instrument to a better condition than you found it in is a net positive.
It will sound good...

Sell it to Willie Nelson he likes that kinda stuff.


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