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#1
11-19-2022, 06:13 PM
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NMD 1995 Gibson A-5G
I wasn't really looking for a new mandolin, but I was cruising around the internet, and this one jumped out at me, so I bought it. It's a 1995 Gibson A-5G. The price seems to have gone up on these lately, but this one was reasonably priced, so I bought it from the Olde Town Pickin' Parlor, and they had to me in no time and did a great packing job.
When I opened the case I was surprised to see the condition which is about as mint as it could be. And, I like that is has the same nut width, and flat fingerboard as my Gibson F-5G, which is my favorite mandolin, so it will make it easy switching between mandos. It intonates right on the money, and it setup perfectly with the new strings that I bought for it, a set of Mapes 11-40 Phosphor Bronze. I also put a Hill Country armrest on it (I have them on all my other mandolins). I also ordered an NOS Gibson tailpiece cover as someone misplaced the original on this one, it should be here next week. I also own a Flatiron Performer A model mandolin from 1994, so I thought it would be fun to compare the two mandolins coming out of the Bozeman shop just a year apart. I had read on mandolin cafe that the employees in Bozeman were instructed to build the Gibson mandolins to specific Gibson specs. One thing that was brought up was the top graduations were different for the Flatirons compared to Gibsons. And a thing that I noticed, is that the tone bar bracing is a bit different. The top brace, under the bass side, is more angled on the Gibson, where the Flatiron braces are more parallel. Also the Gibson has an elevated extended fingerboard. They do sound different. I like the way that the Gibson sounds, as it is pretty even across the board, and the Gibson seems to have more low-end than the Flatiron, but there's something about the resonance and the midrange quality of the Flatiron that I like. And I think the Flatiron is a bit easier to play, although that could be chocked up to me playing the Flatiron quite a bit over the last few weeks. I plan to play them both quite a bit, and see which one sounds the best with the Phosphor Bronze Strings, and the one that loses will get some Thomastik Flatwounds. No use in having two As with the same strings I would prefer the variety of tones the Flatwounds will bring. So here it is...    Here's it is with the Flatiron (this photo is very accurate to the colors)... 
Last edited by rockabilly69; 11-20-2022 at 12:57 AM. 
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#2
11-20-2022, 01:33 PM
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Nice mandolins!
whm
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#3
11-20-2022, 02:16 PM
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Quote:
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#4
11-20-2022, 02:55 PM
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Yet another internet victim. Wishing you a slow recovery.
__________________
2007 Martin D 35 Custom 1970 Guild D 35 1965 Epiphone Texan 2011 Santa Cruz D P/W Pono OP 30 D parlor Pono OP12-30 Pono MT uke Goldtone Paul Beard squareneck resophonic Fluke tenor ukulele Boatload of home rolled telecasters "Shut up and play ur guitar" Frank Zappa
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#5
11-20-2022, 02:58 PM
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Quote:
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#6
11-21-2022, 04:08 PM
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And has luck had it, Angela's Instruments had an NOS "The Gibson" tailpiece which this mando was missing. When I replaced it, I noticed the NOS tailpiece was a heavier piece of nickel plated brass. And when I put it on, I think the mandolin is now slightly brighter (in a good way). Since I just recorded it with the cheap replacement tailpiece, I going to record it with the NOS one, and see if I can hear the difference. The microphones are still set up in the same exact spot, and I haven't touched the gains on the preamps, so I should be comparing apples to apples!
 The old tailpiece had a piece of leather glued to the inside of it, maybe that's what was making the mandolin sound darker (less high end resonance). Last edited by rockabilly69; 11-21-2022 at 05:35 PM.
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