Gerald Edward, a singer/songwriter who studied music at Berklee and a good friend asked me to restore this antique Gibson A4. I was so excited to bring something back from death’s door in a way. All mandolins have a very high amount of string pressure, which called for a high strength military grade waterproof epoxy to secure the crack and patches. In the photos I made a fixture to hold the mandolin in the milling machine vise and milled in two 3/16″ deep Nigerian Ebony patches. On the back of the headstock, I inlaid into the neck German tiger maple and Amazon Mahogany veneers that were filed and blended into the neck for a flush feel. The interesting thing about this Gibson line is when they laminated the neck with a piece of Walnut they didn’t go all the way through the base of the neck, only the surface. When blending the lacquer I darkened the areas at the heel and around the perimeter of the headstock. Matching the faded red burgundy color to the body was very difficult but with the right amount of solvents and elbow grease the color came out perfect. Even where the neck heel lacquer meets the body the finish blended nicely. I also went as far as tinting the fingerboard binding the Gibson vintage yellow. The front of the headstock has a V masking to cover the ebony patches that help hold the headstock together. The best part about this restoration is I saved the original Gibson factory inlay work on the front of the headstock. New Grover nickel tuners with pearloid buttons were used. Thanks to Gerald for letting me save this beauty, a piece of American history.
1917 Gibson A4 Mandolin Restoration
