Quote from: edwardofhuncote on July 20, 2026, 02:57:11 AMI don't know my Gibson bits quite as well as I should partly because there's so much you can't possibly know. But I always thought that famous banner should have read; Never Can Tell With A Gibson.

They just didn't stick to rules and standards in Kalamazoo like they did in Nazareth.

This is part of the reason that I've never owned a Gibson flattop — you never know what you're going to get.

Another favorite take on that old Gibson slogan:

"If Only Gibson Were Glued Enough"

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 20, 2026, 09:38:52 AM

Quote from: edwardofhuncote on July 20, 2026, 02:57:11 AMI don't know my Gibson bits quite as well as I should partly because there's so much you can't possibly know. But I always thought that famous banner should have read; Never Can Tell With A Gibson.

They just didn't stick to rules and standards in Kalamazoo like they did in Nazareth.

This is part of the reason that I've never owned a Gibson flattop — you never know what you're going to get.

Another favorite take on that old Gibson slogan:

"If Only Gibson Were Glued Enough"

And all God's children said, Amen. Every brace end, on every one. Sproing! 

Quote from: cozmik_cowboy on July 20, 2026, 06:53:13 AMThere is an image out there that has a "banner" headstock - altered to read "Only a Gibson is overpriced enough".

Is this it?  https://www.everythingsg.com/attachments/only-a-gibson-is-overpriced-enough-jpg.50197/

Yes!  Thanks, Dave.

Peter

A couple weirdos for Greg, since I don't have a single Gibson flattop to my name.

One's from Boston, and the other's from Chicago:

The Boston parlor, I'm guessing Vega. Almost looks like a cylinder too. I see the 13th fret is out, which suggests you're about to pull the neck. I've never seen the joint in one, but I'd assume (my second assumption before my first cup) it's standard tapered dovetail. 

Chicago-made guitars are usually only easy for me to define as that. The rosettes often have that inner ring of binding, and there are a few other hallmarks to look for. What's that one though? Larson Bros.? It's big. Like J or D big. The only other guess I have on that guitar is that it was modified for classical bridge and tuners. Looks like you got silk-n-steel folk strings on there.  

This is way better than crossword puzzles. 😁

The first is a Vega cylinder top — the joint turned out to a very shallow dovetail, and the luthier who had it didn't finish it. A friend of a friend has successfully reset a neck on one, so I need to get it to him.

The 12-fret Dread is a Euphonon, made between 1938 and whenever the brothers stopped working. Oddly, the bridge is original. This guitar's little brother (bridge and all) is in George Gruhn's collection.

Well that's a new one on me as far as Larson Bros guitars go. Very cool guitars both. Enjoying the eary-morning guitar geek-out! 

The Euphonon is the second best sounding acoustic guitar I've heard (after the 1934 12-fret D-28 with D-42 style neck that was retopped by the factory in 1935 that is legendary in some circles).

It's also a bear to play — in addition to the classical-style bridge, it has a wide, very flat fingerboard.

Beauty knows no pain.

Quote from: edwardofhuncote on July 21, 2026, 03:38:25 AMThis is way better than crossword puzzles. 😁

     

Quote from: edwardofhuncote on July 21, 2026, 07:54:07 AMWell that's a new one on me as far as Larson Bros guitars go. Very cool guitars both. Enjoying the eary-morning guitar geek-out!

Nor have I ever heard of a gut-string Larson.

Peter

I assume they were intended for gut, but this and Gruhn's are both strung with steel now (the built-under-tension tops can handle just about anything). Definitely a weird custom order.

Here's another one:



This isn't the one Gruhn owns, which is the same shape, but only around 000-size.

Here's one I just bid farewell to yesterday after decades. 1926 Gibson Mastertone TB-4. FON# 8376-36

Obviously, converted to 5-string, but using the tenor neck inlays and leaving the ball-bearing pot assembly original. I can't even tell you how many moving parts these things have. Wait... yes, I can. The tone ring floats inside a skirt on top of 24 ball-bearings, which are supported by 24 coiled springs in sockets drilled into the shell, lined with 24 washers. The ball-bearing Gibsons were the first true Mastertones and were only produced from 1925-27. It was an over-complicated design that was meant to keep the hide heads tight under varying humidity conditions. Didn't work. FWIW, the design was another of Lloyd Loar's. Maybe that's why they cut him loose?    They have a very specific sound though, and record beautifully. Very strong bass response, balanced, not overpowering trebles. Most of them have (sadly in my opinion) been castrated and converted to more popular flathead or archtop tonerings. One wonders where all those ball-bearings and springs ended up? 

This particular one was my Dad's main player for about 10 years after he found it at a fiddler's convention in the 80's. Even then it was hard to find a complete one. He sold it in the late-90's for a short time to a young lady who made the agreement to sell it back if she parted with it. She kept her word and we went in together and bought "Leroy" back about 2005. Dad asked me to sell his banjos this past year, all but one of them. I sold Leroy yesterday. Went to a good home. I kept the pearl truss-rod cover for Pops, and put the old black plastic one back on. (actually did this a while back... made an effigy headstock for display and mounted the "Leroy" truss-rod cover on it, for a father's day gift)

Anyway, if you ever see one of these crazy things, now you know.

I think one of these showed up at Eric Schoenberg's several years ago. It didn't last very long.

I happened to be there while  it was being played by someone who really knew what they were doing. It was a remarkable — you might even say beautiful — sounding banjo.