We posted back in October about several new bluegrass instruments which Gibson debuted at the IBMA trade show. At that time, we mentioned the Ricky Skaggs signature mandolin, and indicated that no further information was available on the Gibson web site.
The Gibson site now has a detail page about this mandolin, which is called the Ricky Skaggs Distressed Master Model. Only 30 will be made, each inspected and signed by Ricky before they are shipped. They are intended to be a reproduction of Ricky’s 1923 Loar F5, and Gibson says that they are taking great pains to ensure the auhenticity of this mandolin, right down to hide glue construction.
There is no price shown on Gibson’s site, but we were told in October that the retail price would be just over $25,000.
