Built from 1904 to 1934, the Gibson F2 Oval Hole mandolin featured the stylized ‘F’ body with scrollwork, but also an oval sound hole rather than F-holes. Oval sound holes seem to provide a bit more sound to the player, while F-hole models tend to project their sound outwards, further. It’s always fascinating to see an instrument like this Gibson F2 Oval Hole mandolin that dates to 1915, now over a century old and still in good playing condition. It is in largely original condition, though the original faux-tortoise pickguard is missing. The case is a newer lightweight model by Gator.
Varnish
The Eastman T486B Thinline is an excellent take on the classic semi-hollow design introduced by Ted McCarty, president of Gibson, with the 1958 ES-335. Like most other versions of this design, the Eastman T486B uses pressed Maple Laminate for the top, back and sides, with a Maple block running down the center of the body. The top has a pair of F holes, and here they are bound. On the Eastman, the neck is Maple with a bound Ebony fingerboard sporting Split Block Parallelogram inlays (similar to an ES-345).
Built on the concept of the thin bodied yet fully hollow archtop electric guitar, the Eastman T64V delivers the tone, feel and look of early 1960s models. Gibson produced the first of these in 1959 with the ES-330, and in 1961 extended the design to their Epiphone line as the ES-230 Casino. That model was quickly picked up by British players including Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison who used theirs on many hits.
The Eastman T59 V is a take on one of the most successful and influential of Ted McCarty’s innovations, the thinline, semi-hollow archtop electric guitar. Around 1957, Gibson was looking to update its product line to address a number of issues, one of which was the rise in amplified stage volumes causing feedback. While the engineering team is credited with most of the design, it was apparently president Ted McCarty’s idea to put a solid Maple block through the center of the guitar.
The Taylor Academy A12E is part of the company’s new Academy series of guitars, designed to provide beginners to seasoned players a great playing and sounding instrument at an affordable price point. The Taylor Academy A12E is a compact grand concert sized body which has a tighter waist and smaller lower bout making it a very approachable and easy to handle body size. It has a solid Sitka spruce top and layered Sapele sides and back.
Here’s a very rare treat – a Gibson F5 Master Model mandolin, built at the Nashville custom shop, signed by Charles Derrington and dated September 26, 2003. Orville Gibson revolutionized the instrument building worlds at the end of the 19th century, brining Violin concepts and construction methods to both mandolins and guitars. This was the beginning of all the arched-top guitars and mandolins that are now common to us. In 1919, Lloyd Loar joined Gibson, and before he left in 1924 produced significant designs including the F5 mandolin. The instruments Loar worked on are among the most sought after.