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1924 Gibson A2Z
This A2-z is in nearly perfect original condition. It has not been altered or modified in any way since leaving the Gibson factory in 1924 or early 1925. There are no cracks on the instrument, playwear and fretwear is minimal, and its list of faults is incredibly short: one replaced tuning machine gear and screw, one replaced tuner button screw, and two very short sections of separated back biding. It remains in perfect working order and is set up with comfortably low action.
The A2-Z was a high-end mandolin, built at the time that Lloyd Loar was Gibson’s chief designer. His F5 mandolins, built alongside the A2-z, are, of course, among the most valuable of all vintage instruments. Many players and collectors feel that the A2-z are better instruments than earlier or later A models due to the time period during which they were built and their smaller and faster neck carves. This example is exceptional – with fabulous headroom, throaty and powerful midrange, and lots of bass end warmth and openness. The nutwidth is 1-1/16”.
Natural finished spruce top with maple back and sides, white bindings and rosette, bound soundhole and fingerboard. Ebony adjustable bridge, ebony fingerboard with dot markers, tortoise-celluloid pickguard, and nickel-plated engraved tailpiece. Silver-plated tuning machines with genuine pearl buttons, “Snakehead” headstock design with “The Gibson” silkscreened in silver paint on a steep angle.
This A2-z is, without any doubt, among the finest of its kind.
With original chipboard case, and a modern hardshell.
