Puzzle: What's odd w/ vintage Gibson?

coolkayaker1

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http://tinyurl.com/m2bgnbp

I'm not going to bid on this, so if anyone is interested, please proceed.

Gibby Style 3s are usually dark stained mahogany.

The one on eBay is light colored. Ive never seen one like that. It seems to have a re-attached bridge. New tuners?

Was it sanded and re-finished? It's pretty shiny. Is it mahogany...the back looks sort of Koa? My quick internet search does not suggest that Gibson make Koa ukes...or did they? Cuban mahogany?

Interesting puzzle, thought I'd throw it on here for input and fun. Cheers!
 
Last edited:
http://tinyurl.com/m2bgnbp

I'm not going to bid on this, so if anyone is interested, please proceed.

Gibby Style 3s are usually dark stained mahogany.

The one on eBay is light colored. Ive never seen one like that. It seems to have a re-attached bridge. New tuners?

Was it sanded and re-finished? It's pretty shiny. Is it mahogany...the back looks sort of Koa? My quick internet search does not suggest that Gibson make Koa ukes...or did they? Cuban mahogany?

Interesting puzzle, thought I'd throw it on here for input and fun. Cheers!

While I'm not an expert on Gibsons, the uke in question has been photographed under a very bright light (the light is visible in the finish in one photo), which likely makes it appear lighter in the photos than it likely is in real life. It looks like mahogany all over to me-- I don't see anything that looks like koa. I agree something looks odd about the bridge.
 
I agree something looks odd about the bridge.

Agreed mate, it's got a bloomin screw through it!!!

Aside from that, the other thing I find most odd about this particular uke is that you haven't bought it yet Steve! :p
 
Looks like a refinish (a beautiful job, too), with some repaired cracks below the bridge. The screw may be holding a big cleat, or a nut and washer, on the inside.
 
I mean it IS a ukulele guitar...must be worth more!
 
I don't think the Original picture from EBay is Mahogany. The uke shown has considerable Chatoyance. I don't think I've ever seen this in mahogany.

The bolted, (Screwed), bridge is probably there because the bridge pulled away at some time and took too much of the underlying sound board with it to simply reglue and maintain a proper scale length. Just a guess.
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Great photos, Jim. Yes. And it doesn't really look like mahogany to me, either. Cuban mahogany looks sort of like that, though.

Chris Tarman, I think, Stan. Yes.

I think, as Steve said, this is refinished. It's bridge has been reattached and I'm quite sure the tuners, or at the very least, the knobs, are not vintage. It is quite a puzzler. Could someone please buy it and let us know.
 
The oddest thing about this is Guitar-Ukulele-Guitar....the seller needs to educate himself, or is he using the term guitar to get more views???
 
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