1922 Gibson H-4 Mandola - Used

$12,500.00

Details

The H-4 was the fanciest mandola Gibson offered until the introduction of the in H-5 in the early 1920s. The H-4 is equivalent to the F-4, and with their lovely reddish sunbursts they make a great duo. This example is in excellent structural and cosmetic condition. The original frets show only light wear, so while this mandola got played it never saw lots of use. The neck has slight relief, and neck angle is excellent as you can judge from the tall bridge. And did we mention the one-piece back? You see that on Gibson mandolins often but not on the larger mandola models. The factory order number (FON) suggests Gibson started building this mandola 1919 but the serial show it was shipped until 1922, which is the date we are going with. This date spread is not uncommon for Gibson’s more unusual models like mandola and harp guitars.

Except for the missing pickguard, which succumbed to celluloid wasting disease years ago, this H-4 is original throughout, and shows no signs of cracks or repairs. The tuners, pearl nut, frets, bridge and tailpiece are all there, ditto the shaped hardshell case, which has the side clamp for the pickguard in the accessories pocket. The beautiful sunburst varnish is original and shows very little wear with the exception of a portion of the soundhole rosette (discolored by the pickguard) and a couple of spill lines on the top. Did the original player get a bit careless with a glass of alcohol, which is a shellac solvent? (It must not have been something high proof, as these marks barely dull the surface).