Vintage Gibson Mandolin History
Around 1900 Gibson company founder Orville Gibson of Kalamazoo Michigan introduced two new styles of mandolins that changed mandolins forever.
Before the 1900, mandolins were typically the Neapolitan style – which means from the Italians city Naples. This style is characterized by a bowl shaped back with a flat kinked top. These mandolins are sometimes called Tater-Bug or Bowlback mandolins.
What Gibson did with his mandolin was he changed the shape of the back - his carved back mandolin was much flatter than the Neapolitan style. The top of the mandolin was also carved in an arched shape.
This change in shape changed the quality of the sound of the mandolin, and it became much revered.
The Gibson A mandolin and the Gibson F mandolin.
Gibsons first carved back mandolins came in two styles. The Gibson A style mandolin had a simple symmetrical teardrop shape body with a plain peghead and oval hole. The Gibson F style mandolin was fancier – its body was scroll bodied with a curlycue on the bass side of the neck next to the fingerboard and the peg head was also more ornate. The F models are the more expensive Gibson mandolins.
A few years later when the Gibson Co was formed, they added the following styles.
* H mandolas
* K mandocellos
* J mandobass
The Gibson mandolin serial
Usually after the letter A or F you may find some numbers that will further indicate the ornamentation and materials used.
If the series was very plain, no number was added. The higher the number, the more ornamented the mandolin. The numbers went up to 4.
If you added 1 number, that could meant that a pearl script was inlaid on the peghead.
This system of numbers for the serials was used until the 1930s.
Mr. Lloyd Loar and the F5s
Prior to 1922 all Gibson mandolins had oval sound holes. After that year, with Lloyd Loar as head engineer, new f-shaped sound holes were introduced to the mandolin and the Gibson F5 was added to the mandolin line.The F5 also had a longer neck allowing easier access to the higher frets. Also adder were the H5 mandola, k5 mandocello and one A5 mandolin.
These were all very highly crafted models, with superior materials and ornamentation.
These mandolins signed by Mr. Loar are highly prized and very collectible. Mr. Loar's F5 remains the standard by which other mandolins are judged.
The Golden Age of mandolins 1910 - 1930
Many consider the years from the 1910's thru the as the golden age of stringed instrument manufacturing in America. Gibson was, by far, the most successful of all.
Many manufacturers also made F-style mandolins but rarely did they surpass Gibson’s quality. This does not hold true for some independent luthiers who copied and exceeded its quality
Post 1930 Gibson mandolins
After the 1930s there has been a decline in the quality of mandolins from all manufacturers. This could be due to the decline in popularity of the instrument.
During this period, the serial number system gets more confusing. One can no longer follow the number rule from before, where a higher number meant higher quality. For example: Gibson F7's and F12's were of lower quality than the F5's.
Also you can no longer know what shape the hole will be. Some A-style mandolins were made with f-holes, and the oval-holed F-styles were no longer made.
In the late 50's Gibson made a fancy A5 with oval-hole with two points on the body.
Then in the early 70's Gibson introduced an A style with a scroll.
Finally, in 1978, Gibson itself decided to try to recapture the success and quality of the old Loar F5 and they re-introduced a master-grade mandolin designated as the F5-L.
Second golden age
Many consider this era, starting at the turn of the 21 century, the second Golden Age of stringed instrument building. Many independent luthiers, manufacturers are increasingly building mandolins guitars, banjos, harps, and dulcimers, of all grades and quality and styles.