From the corners of a "Rec Room" comes a 1923 Gibson Snakehead TYPE A Mandolin in fairly good condition with its original case. As I opened the case which the word Gibson could still be seen on the embossed top I could barely control myself. This was my garage sale Renoir..and there in the dim light of the late summer evening it was, still casting a shine from the overhead lights was a 1923 Gibson Snakehead A Mandolin in Good Condition.
I was a novice and still am but the name Gibson was one I understood the meaning of immediately. After a few hours on the phone with national well known collectors and experts on Gibsons (they have had and been on TV shows and published books on the subject) I knew I had a real find on my hands. I was excited for both myself to have been able to make these professional connections with true experts and for my client.
What did I learn: well besides the fact everyone wanted to buy it even in the present condition which apparently for its age was not to bad.
There was the expected fine crack in the wood, after all it is almost 100 years old. There was a small pull in the binding also expected from the age but otherwise this Mandolin was a truly exciting find.
Gibson made the "Snake head" Mandolin type A originally for classical music but shortly after it came out it became a more popular instrument with Irish Celtic music both classic and folk..The Snakehead is, needless to say, the most desirable and rarest of all Gibson A-style mandolins. They were made while Lloyd A. Loar was at the helm of the great locomotive (well, he was the Chief Acoustic Engineer so he got to wear the cap) that was known as Gibson Research and Development into Mandolins, Mandolas, Mandocellos and Archtop Guitars or The “GRaDMiMaMaG” for short. The Snakehead A-style celebrates the timely confluence of many engineering improvements thought up by Loar, Guy Hart and other executives of the emerging luthiery giant located at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Its headstock gets skinnier as it goes upward (would that we could also), it has the adjustable truss rod feature that allows the instrument to have a smaller, while still v-shaped, neck, it has the adjustable bridge with the “Pat. Jan. 18, 1921” patent stamp on its foot, and although this has nothing to do with Mr. Loar, it has the elevated celluloid pickguard with the “Pat. Mar. 30, ‘09” stamp and the newfangled L-shaped side clamp with the hexagonal bolt and recessed screw. The “plain A” as it is so often referred, has a black headstock overlay with no logo of any kind just an ebony facing. " information gathered for this is thanks to http://www.mandoweb.com/Instruments/Gibson-A+Style+Snakehead+mandolin-1922/1422
Gibson made the "Snake head" Mandolin type A originally for classical music but shortly after it came out it became a more popular instrument with Irish Celtic music both classic and folk..The Snakehead is, needless to say, the most desirable and rarest of all Gibson A-style mandolins. They were made while Lloyd A. Loar was at the helm of the great locomotive (well, he was the Chief Acoustic Engineer so he got to wear the cap) that was known as Gibson Research and Development into Mandolins, Mandolas, Mandocellos and Archtop Guitars or The “GRaDMiMaMaG” for short. The Snakehead A-style celebrates the timely confluence of many engineering improvements thought up by Loar, Guy Hart and other executives of the emerging luthiery giant located at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Its headstock gets skinnier as it goes upward (would that we could also), it has the adjustable truss rod feature that allows the instrument to have a smaller, while still v-shaped, neck, it has the adjustable bridge with the “Pat. Jan. 18, 1921” patent stamp on its foot, and although this has nothing to do with Mr. Loar, it has the elevated celluloid pickguard with the “Pat. Mar. 30, ‘09” stamp and the newfangled L-shaped side clamp with the hexagonal bolt and recessed screw. The “plain A” as it is so often referred, has a black headstock overlay with no logo of any kind just an ebony facing. " information gathered for this is thanks to http://www.mandoweb.com/Instruments/Gibson-A+Style+Snakehead+mandolin-1922/1422