Mandobass

J model mandobass with a light to dark red sunburst finish, serial number 15729. This instrument has teardrop shaped body, corresponding to the A series Gibson mandolins. The guitar has a carved, arched top and back, a design patented by Orville Gibson in 1898. Five businessmen bought the name and patent from Orville Gibson in 1902 and started The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The instrument has an oval sound hole with decorative inlaid wood and ivoroid binding. The top of the instrument has ivoroid binding. The neck is made of mahogany, the fingerboard is ebony and extends to the sound hole. There are seventeen nickel-silver frets with mother-of-pearl position dots on the fingerboard. Floating bridge, "trapeze" style tailpiece, original maple arm rest, a metal end pin, and a side pin for resting the instrument on a chair (holding it positioned across the body like a guitar). Headstock is veneered and inlaid with mother-of-pearl words "The Gibson." Plain, "butter bean" brass tuners.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mandobass
  • Maker: Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (American, founded Kalamazoo, Michigan 1902)
  • Date: 1913
  • Geography: Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Spruce, maple, mahogany, ivoroid, mother-of-pearl, nickel silver, brass
  • Dimensions: Overall: 64 × 24 1/8 × 33 1/2 in. (162.6 × 61.3 × 85.1 cm)
  • Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Amati Gifts, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.132
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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