Serial Number: 86905

Year shipped: 1931

FON: 9771

Headstock: Horizontal ‘The Gibson’ logo

Neck/fingerboard: 20 fret fingerboard with pointed end, dot inlays from the third fret

Body: Maple back and sides

Hardware: Gold-plated metal parts including wrap-over tailpiece and Waverly three-on-a-strip tuners with engraved base plate and pearl buttons, mounted so that the cog is positioned below the worm gear. Original short bound pickguard with patent number

Notes: Erik McIntyre, the current owner of serial number 86905 comments: “It’s my understanding that this guitar has been sitting in its case since the 1970s. It appears to be all original with the possible exception of the nut. The pickguard and tailpiece have the patent number on them, and the serial number is written beneath the base of the bridge. The bridge has uncompensated string slots on its underside and there was a nut adapter in the case. The majority of the frets have virtually no wear on them, so maybe whoever owned this guitar played it Hawaiian style? “

The guitar’s previous owner, Debbie, recalls taking the guitar back to Kalamazoo at some point in the early/mid 1970s for repair (see document below). The person entrusted with carrying out the work is said to have remembered having made it. This statement should be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt as it seems unlikely that a factory worker would be able to identify a specific instrument 40 plus years after it was shipped.

Images courtesy of Erik McIntyre