A 1904 Original Gibson Octave Mandolin

Here's the first one of these we've ever heard of, an original Orville-labelled Gibson Octave Mandolin from approx 1904. Cedar-topped with an inlaid pickguard, Handel inlaid tuners, and a pineapple tailpiece.. this instrument sure grabs our eyes. With all the Irish bouzoukis & octave mandolins being made nowadays, it's somehow comforting to know this has been going on for at least 100 years!

Instruments by Steve Gilchrist and Lynn Dudenbostel

We've started work on adding the instruments of Steve Gilchrist & Lynn Dudenbostel to the Mandolin Archive. Huge thanks to Steve Gilchrist and Mark Daly for the mountains of work done to format and categorize the 600+ instruments we've added descriptions for. Lynn Dudenbostel is also assisting us with photographs and information on the instruments he's built, look to see these collections fleshed out with many more photos in the near future

Links to the new collections appear at the top of this page