Some 'beaters' go for 200-300 bucks, and nicer ones seem to have gone for 6 or 9 hundred. BUT the VALUE, which was the OP question, doesn't seem to be very high. It is half-banjo, half mandolin, as the name would suggest, and the Reds are a nice addition.įeel more like metal, but not quite, for sure, and sound round and full, I'd say. I have a '23 Gibson trapdoor mandolin banjo, which I have set up as a four string 'melody banjo' with the Aquila Red nylgut mandolin strings (and have the second set as a spare.) Most everyone who hears/plays it likes the sound and the feel.

There's more to the story for sure but, aside from 'cool appeal' unless you know,something I don't (which is why I'm here too!) they don't seem to command much money. It was made for my wife's great grandmother by her husband when he worked at the company. I have a similar trapdoor MB as well, sadly it went back to Parsons street just before I met a member of the family (ultimately, my wife!) the original fingerboard was snagged but, other than that, they just refinished and,out fifty coals of lacquer on. I'd be reticent to suggest a value surely over $5K, and Carter's lists a 1941 F-5 for $19.5K, but condition and the vagaries of the marketplace - dunno. I own a 1954 F-5, and as I said, see few others. You don't see many of these around, since Gibson's mandolin production was quite small post-war. Spann'a book lists FON #1200 as occurring in 1923, so I'd say that's about the right vintage. The hyphenated number on the mandolin banjo is a factory order number: instrument #24 in batch #11848. The hinged 'trap door' resonators were made into the mid-1920's. Even if your banjo doesn't match the description of a Gibson exactly, it may still be one.ĭiscusses a similar 'trap door' MB-1 or MB-0 mandolin banjo, including value estimates. There are many styles of Gibson banjos, and there is a lot of variation within those styles. Knowing if your Gibson banjo is a prewar or postwar model will help you understand the serial number.

Gibson banjo serial number list