John "Red Dog" Young

Professional Musician

San Clemente, CA

"In 1973 I found an old mandolin, all beat up and dirty in a paint bucket at a Kentucky flea market. I bought it for $30! The instrument was in need of help - no strings, no tuners, no nut, no bridge but had no broken wood or cracks. I took it to music stores but nobody could tell me much about it. I decided I wanted to clean it up so I stripped all the old varnish, sanded the top and launched into a refinishing project. After all, it was just a cheap old paint bucket mando! I was quite pleased with my refinishing effort and the tone from the instrument was fantastic!

About this time (1974) I landed a job at the new Gibson plant in Nashville. The kind folks at Gruhn guitar in downtown Nashville identified the instrument as a 1919-1924 Gibson A Jr. It was the Sears catalogue version of a mandolin for the common everyday man - no binding, no inlay in the headstock (apparently they were just labeled with a decal), plain Jane mando. But it also was a member of the acclaimed Lloyd Loar carved top instrument group! Wow!

I've played this thing for many years and now added a Myers mandolin pickup to capture the sound for some upcoming gigs! I've played it through mics but I move around too much so I wanted something on the instrument. Gregg Myers has been a pleasure to work with, the mandolin pickup works great and really captures the tone of this old wood! Thanks Gregg, for bringing this vintage classic to life!

To utilize the same setup as this musician, order the following:

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