When the call came in, we knew this wouldn't be a typical project. The collector on the other end had a reissue of a vintage Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5 mandolin — one of those legendary instruments dealers whisper about — and he wanted something that had proven impossible for decades: an authentic replica of its original 1920s case.
Others had tried before. Many case makers had taken their shot at recreating these iconic cases, but they all hit the same wall: that distinctive Kelly Green velvet lining. It wasn't just any green — it was the green, sourced from a specific French textile mill in the 1920s.
Without it, you might have a nice case, but you didn't have the case.
That's where this collector surprised us. Somehow, he'd tracked down the US distributor for that original French mill. After nearly a century, they still had a small stock of the authentic Kelly Green velvet sitting in a warehouse. He bought every yard they had left and shipped it straight to our Virginia workshop. Good thing, too — we later learned the French mill had closed its doors for good.
Now the real work began. We studied original Gibson cases from the Loar era, mapping every detail: the vintage black pebbled exterior, the precise interior cavity dimensions, even the exact style of draw bolts and key locks they used. Our craftspeople painstakingly recreated the 1920s construction methods, right down to the vintage leather handle and period-correct padding.
