Whats that lever on that Gibson:

[J D Sauser]

RE: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=507046882

What's that lever for on that Gibson???





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The future belongs to culture. jaydee@bellsouth.net

[Dave Mayes]

I'm guessing it's a muting lever of sorts. The same contraption seems to be missing on the right side - isn't there the same set of screw holes for the same thing on the neck on the right ? No toggle switch! Both necks are always on. One neck can be muted while the other is being played.

[Dave Brophy]

Yeah,it's a string mute.At the top of it you can see the green felt which would touch the strings if you lifted the lever.
The text at the bottom says the other mute is included.

[J D Sauser]

Now that you say it, I can see the felt too. Maybe it was too late yesterday. My wife was right, I should have gone to bed.

So, I see there's no selector switch, so "they" just muted one neck when playing the other... (?)

OK...

Thanks! ... J-D.

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The future belongs to culture. jaydee@bellsouth.net

[Ian McLatchie]

The mute bar was a feature on a number of early Gibson electrics. The pre-war Console Grandes are rare as can be, and one of the finest sounding instruments you could ever hope to hear. This one looks to be in outstanding shape. If someone gets this for under $1200, they'll have a bargain. Too bad that someone won't be me.

[Bill Crook]

I noticed it is a 7 string setup....both necks.
How was this tuned up ??

[HowardR]

It's an 8 & 7.

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[Marc Weller]

Ian and group,,

I've had been looking for a Console Grande from the fifties when the instrument in question popped up on ebay. How you compare the sound of the prewar, Charlie Christian equipped CG's with the later p-90 models. Is the scale length and string spacing the same. I just may bid on this thing and would appreciate your input.

MW

[Bill Ford]

Later models had 7 on top 8 on bottom
had one of those,my first steel,sweet
sound think it was early 50s.

Bill Ford

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[Ian McLatchie]

Marc: I guess the closest you're likely to get to being able to compare the sound of the pre-war Console Grande to the post-war version is to try an EH-150. I have a 1938 7-string EH-150 and a post-war 7- and 8-string Console Grande, and love the sound of both. The Christian pickup is the more aggressive, with a remarkably bright, pure high end. The P-90 style pickups on the C.G.
are mellower, without quite the same edge,
but a gorgeous warmth and huge bass response.
If I had to choose, I'd probably favour the Christian, although in my experience the Christian pickups don't all sound equally good.

More than probably any other lap and table steel maker, Gibson stuck with some of the basic design elements throughout their whole history. Not only is the string spacing the same on the pre- and post-war models, the bridge, bridge cover and nut are identical (the hardware on my EH-150 is exactly the same as on my 1968 Century).

It will be interesting to see how much the C.G. on eBay brings. One in the shape this one seems to be has considerable value as a collectible, and will probably demand twice the price of an excellent condition post-war model. Compared to Fenders especially, I think the post-war C.G.'s are still comparatively undervalued.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Ian McLatchie on 25 November 2000 at 09:39 PM.]</p></FONT>

[Al Marcus]

Back in 1940 I had a D8 Vega, birdseye maple double neck. Beautiful. It had those felt mutes on both necks.
I pushed down with my hand on the bottom neck and the top neck felt moved up to the strings.
Then when I jumped necks and pushed down on a flat bar on the top neck it muted the bottom neck . Pretty ingenious.

Sometimes I jumped back and forth so fast that I adjusted it so both necks were open.
And that is usually the way I left it...al