Gibson EM-200 Florentine Solid Body Electric Mandolin (1965)
LOADING IMAGES
Gibson EM-200 Florentine Model Solid Body Electric Mandolin (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 307297, sunburst top, natural back and sides finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This is a nice mid-1960s example of the "Florentine", Gibson's most radical electric mandolin. Although the electric mandolin never really took off in a big way, Gibson kept trying in hopes of creating a design that would change that! Looking like an A-5 crossed with a Les Paul, this was the only solid body electric mandolin of Gibson's classic era and one of the best -- and flashiest -- electric mandos ever designed.
This model was usually billed as the "Florentine" but also briefly called the "EM-200" in the early 1960s, for no apparent reason. It debuted in 1954 taking a page from the successful recent introduction of the Les Paul solidbodies. The body is carved from solid mahogany, as is the neck. The top and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard are single bound while the scrolled headstock is unbound and carries a block-script pearl Gibson logo over the "crown" inlay. The pickup is a special small-coil 4-pole "soapbar" P-90 under a black plastic cover, with the expected tone and volume controls on the lower bout with metal capped amber plastic knobs. The pots in this one are coded 6417 and 6436.
All the hardware is gold played; the tuners are Kluson Deluxe strips with distinctive pearlescent plastic buttons. The tailpiece is the standard "clamshell' cover fitting but the bridge is unique, with a rounded bar metal saddle over the adjustable rosewood base. This is a sort of carryover from the original Les Paul solid bar tailpiece, and gives the Florentine a brighter ring than the traditional rosewood saddle. The gently arched carved top and flat back are finished in a dark sunburst, the sides and neck are dark mahogany like a Les Paul.
The list price in 1964 was a fairly stiff $285.00 (plus $60 for the hardshell case), which was $45 more than an SG Special. Only 63 Florentines were shipped in 1964, the peak production year of the decade and the grand total for the entire 1960s was a just over 400. There simply was not much market for electric mandolins in the era, although Gibson listed the model up into 1970 it rarely sold over 50 units a year. Even in the 60 years since there are few electric mandolins that compare with the Florentine; it is absolutely the highest grade solid body mandolin of its era and its only real competition, the Fender "Mandocaster" was only available with 4 strings. The solid mahogany body, powerful slightly dark-sounding pickup and metal bridge combine to create a unique tone and feel, unmatched to this day.
Overall length is 27 3/8 in. (69.5 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 14 in. (356 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/4 in. (32 mm.).
Overall this is a nice example, showing some fairly minor wear and repair but completely original. The original lacquer finish shows some light swirly checking with dings, dents and scratches most heavily on the back, which also has some vinyl strap burn in several spots. The back of the neck has a couple of feelable dinks.
There is a typical scroll repair, well done with just topical touchup but visible. The back of the neck has a check behind the truss rod running from just below the nut up to the level of the first tuner shafts; this does not appear to have opened fully into a crack, or if it did was very solidly and neatly sealed up with no touchup applied. The original frets have been crowned down a bit with little subsequent wear and this is a fine playing and sounding Florentine, still housed in the original deluxe rectangular yellow-lined brown HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This is a nice mid-1960s example of the "Florentine", Gibson's most radical electric mandolin. Although the electric mandolin never really took off in a big way, Gibson kept trying in hopes of creating a design that would change that! Looking like an A-5 crossed with a Les Paul, this was the only solid body electric mandolin of Gibson's classic era and one of the best -- and flashiest -- electric mandos ever designed.
This model was usually billed as the "Florentine" but also briefly called the "EM-200" in the early 1960s, for no apparent reason. It debuted in 1954 taking a page from the successful recent introduction of the Les Paul solidbodies. The body is carved from solid mahogany, as is the neck. The top and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard are single bound while the scrolled headstock is unbound and carries a block-script pearl Gibson logo over the "crown" inlay. The pickup is a special small-coil 4-pole "soapbar" P-90 under a black plastic cover, with the expected tone and volume controls on the lower bout with metal capped amber plastic knobs. The pots in this one are coded 6417 and 6436.
All the hardware is gold played; the tuners are Kluson Deluxe strips with distinctive pearlescent plastic buttons. The tailpiece is the standard "clamshell' cover fitting but the bridge is unique, with a rounded bar metal saddle over the adjustable rosewood base. This is a sort of carryover from the original Les Paul solid bar tailpiece, and gives the Florentine a brighter ring than the traditional rosewood saddle. The gently arched carved top and flat back are finished in a dark sunburst, the sides and neck are dark mahogany like a Les Paul.
The list price in 1964 was a fairly stiff $285.00 (plus $60 for the hardshell case), which was $45 more than an SG Special. Only 63 Florentines were shipped in 1964, the peak production year of the decade and the grand total for the entire 1960s was a just over 400. There simply was not much market for electric mandolins in the era, although Gibson listed the model up into 1970 it rarely sold over 50 units a year. Even in the 60 years since there are few electric mandolins that compare with the Florentine; it is absolutely the highest grade solid body mandolin of its era and its only real competition, the Fender "Mandocaster" was only available with 4 strings. The solid mahogany body, powerful slightly dark-sounding pickup and metal bridge combine to create a unique tone and feel, unmatched to this day.
Overall length is 27 3/8 in. (69.5 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 14 in. (356 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/4 in. (32 mm.).
Overall this is a nice example, showing some fairly minor wear and repair but completely original. The original lacquer finish shows some light swirly checking with dings, dents and scratches most heavily on the back, which also has some vinyl strap burn in several spots. The back of the neck has a couple of feelable dinks.
There is a typical scroll repair, well done with just topical touchup but visible. The back of the neck has a check behind the truss rod running from just below the nut up to the level of the first tuner shafts; this does not appear to have opened fully into a crack, or if it did was very solidly and neatly sealed up with no touchup applied. The original frets have been crowned down a bit with little subsequent wear and this is a fine playing and sounding Florentine, still housed in the original deluxe rectangular yellow-lined brown HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.