BWright
Well-known member
Can anyone give me some background information about a Gibson 694B? The owner thinks it dates from the 1920's.
Thank you, Bill
Thank you, Bill
I own a Gibson ukulele my mother gave me when I was a boy. She had gotten it when she was a girl... I would imagine in the late 30's or 40's. It's mahogany, 24 1/2" long with five pearl inlays on the fretboard and the Gibson script on the head.
Can anyone give me any information and possible value?
Aloha Bill,Can anyone give me some background information about a Gibson 694B? The owner thinks it dates from the 1920's.
Thank you, Bill
I have two ub-1 gibson banjo ukes. One has logo 'The Gibson' in script. The other has the same logo but there are spaces in the script making it look more like a silkscreen or decal (I don't think it's a decal.) I could use some help in dating these instruments. When did Gibson switch to just 'Gibson' on the peghead? Thanks...rbury
The 694B Gibson tenor is most likely built in 1936, the 7004-18 Gibson ukulele (probably a style 3) is most likely built in 1943.
Joe Spanns book covers everthing you need to know about the strange numbering systems used to track production batches in Kalamazoo, but basically a number followed by a B is part of a batch built in 1936, and a 7000s-number followed by a hyphen and a sequential number within that batch, was built in 1943. The Vintage Guitar Price Book is not a very good reference at all, alas.
They are not 'experimental' in that Gibson was already building and selling tenors and sopranos from the mid-1920s. But the way they were built continually changed: shallower bodies, longer fretboards, different finishes, ladder-bracing to X-bracing and back... very interesting.
Logo styles do give an indication of the period, but are not decisive: Gibson used lots of old stock and supplies, and had a free replacement policy with their dealers, leading to re-builds.