Loar Counts & other Mandolin Archive Stats

[danb]

Here are the updated Mandolin Archive (http://www.mandolinarchive.com) stats/totals (I found & removed some duplicate entries):

255 total Loar-signed instruments
208 F5 Mandolins
21 L5 Guitars
18 H5 Mandolas
6 K5 Mandocellos
1 A5 Mandolin
1 10-string Mando-Viola

Here's a link that queries the archive for Loar-signed only (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/list_mandolins.pl?loar)

Mandolin Family totals by model, (not just Loar) in our collections:

2284 Total mandolin family instruments

Breakdown:
513 A
185 A1
75 Ajr
130 A2
20 A2-Z
99 A3
254 A4
1 A5
159 F2
1 F3 (!)
244 F4
318 F5
65 H1
49 H2
0 H3
29 H4
19 H5
38 K1
30 K2
1 K3 (!)
24 K4
7 K5

95 Instruments with Virzi tone producers
87 Instruments with Virzi that are Loar-Signed

Earliest serial number: 2526 (A-style Orville label mandolin)
Latest serial number: 99769 (L5 Guitar)

[racuda]

That is a very interesting breakbown. As soon as I take some worthy photos, I would like to submit a 1923 Gibson Snakehead A2-Z (74786) to that list.
A2-Z (http://www.home.earthlink.net/~racuda/images/A2Z.jpg)

[mandolooter]

Any estimate of just how many Gibson mandoliln family instruments have been made and also what is the cut-off date for the archives or are new instruments in on it too? Those Q's may be a little difficult but Im just curious!

[danb]

Nice one racuda, I'll add it now if that's ok.

Mandolooter: interesting question.. not really sure. We have sketch FON details now (the "Batch numbers") and as we fill in more of that, we'll be able to guess at how many were banjos/guitars etc and how many were mandolin-family. I've cut off the current design at ~1947 which is serial 99999 in the original serialization style. Most of the details we have focus around the Loar period where folks like Darryl have kept amazingly detailed records.

[racuda]

Nice one racuda, I'll add it now if that's ok.
Dan, that was just a quick, low res snapshot. Please wait until I take some pro quality shots this weekend (I'm in the business). I will send them along with the FON and other details.

[danb]

Thanks racuda. I'll replace the shot I have already. I saw you'd edited the post & thought that was perhaps the image you meant to post! Nice instrument. Tell us more, how's it sound?

[Darryl Wolfe]

One oddity in all this is the "second numbering scheme".
Gibson produced instruments in the late thirties/early '40s with "EA5291" types of serial numbers (generally found on flat head 5 string banjos)

Curiously enough Factory Order Numbers (FON) in about 1940 were 5220-G-1 for instruments with 97xxx Serial numbers

It is accepted that D codes are 1938
E codes are 1939, F 1040 and G 1941. #There are several documented F5 mandolins with EAXXXX and a rumored DGXXXX

Point being that Mandoarchive stops with 99999, but there are a handful of "pre-war" instruments out there with the other number scheme. #EA5248, pre-war H5 mandola

[racuda]

I bought the A2-Z from the neice of the original owner. She was given this mandolin when she was 10 years old in 1923 in Sommerset PA. She continued to play it thoughout the years, in church. After she passed away in 1996, her neice found the mandolin and kept it until she sold it to me a few weeks ago.

I'm guessing that it had not been played for at least 30 years when I got it, so I was surprized to find it semi in tune. The setup was perfect. I haven't touched the #truss rod or bridge adjustments.

As for the sound... Amazing! I have never heard another instrument sound this full and open. It has warm, rich bass and angelic trebels. I never thought of mandolins of having bass until I heard this one. It is also the loundest mandolin I have ever heard.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Too cool RACUDA..what a lark to end up being an A2Z..essentially could have been anything

[danb]

Darryl- is that the same H5 that's at Bernunzio?

Might have to figure out a way to incorporate that numbering scheme too. Side note- I'm expanding archive code to work better with other builders.

[evanreilly]

Interesting...
What is the story on the eight (8) instruments with Virzi Tone Producers that aren't Loar signed?? Retro-fitted???
Or F-4 & A-models?? Are any of the eight not from the Loar era???

[atetone]

Hey Racuda, I was wondering if you ever actually received that mando. I was hot on the trail of it with lots of correspondence with Brad but he made me too nervous. I wasn't sure if he would actually deliver for the bid price so I stopped at $1700. I thought he would back out anyway.
Really glad to see that you got it. You really lucked out on that baby. Good stuff!!
Sorry if I am going off topic on this thread but I have been wondering about that mando.

[racuda]

Hey Racuda, I was wondering if you ever actually received that mando. I was hot on the trail of it with lots of correspondence with Brad but he made me too nervous.
That was the most bizzare eBay deal that I've ever done. It took about two weeks before he accepted my paypal payment.

For those interested, here is the eBay link (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3700096348)

He was selling the two mandolins for his mother, the niece of the original owner that I mentioned earlier.

I met him at the NC/VA border to take possesion. He is a nice guy, just naive in the ways of eBay.

[danb]

Evan- a few A4s, a few F2s, an H1, etc. None unsigned master models..

[racuda]

Dan, here is the new picture for the Archive A2-Z (http://home.earthlink.net/~racuda/images/A2-Z.jpg)
The FON is 11971

[danb]

Thanks Racuda, that's a pin-up if ever I saw one http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Your a2z has a "Batch buddy" at the archives- 74792 is also an A2Z with that same stamp number.

Racuda's #74786 (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/show_image.pl?2789) (great picture!)

[danb]

Evan, here are a couple custom links:

Virzi Instruments (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/list_mandolins.pl?virzi)

Virzi instruments that aren't a style 5 (Loar) (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/list_mandolins.pl?virzi_noloar)

[danb]

Thanks for some of the ideas Evan, here's

The Beginnings of the Advanced Searches Page (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/advanced_search.html)

including some nifty queries inspired by this thread..

Lloyd Loar-signed instruments
Loar F5s
Loar F5 Ferns
Loar H5s
Loar K5s
Loar L5s

A2zs
Aluminum saddles

etc


suggestions?

[evanreilly]

How about an ordering by Virzi numbers?

[evanreilly]

Here is another Virzi instrument. F-4, serial number 78532, Virzi serial number 10498, FON number 11922.

[evanreilly]

Here is a picture of a previous owner, with the F-4, circa 1947.

[evanreilly]

Lynn Dudenbostel did an excellent finish touch-up/rehab on the face of the instrument. Here is the 'before' picture:

[evanreilly]

Interesting tuners; psuedo-amber?? Probably a set of Waverly tuners.

[danb]

Nice mandolin! I changed the 2 virzi searches to order by Virzi serial. I'll make a better results page (that *shows* the virzi number in the overview) sometime soon.

[Darryl Wolfe]

I've seen those tuners on several '24 F4's and a few A4's

With respect to the non-Loar signed virzi F5's...that was just a hold over, instruments started before Loars' departure and finished later...same deal as the "unsigned Loar" syndrome