The Loar

[MandolinoNapoletano]

Ah yes you witness MADE IN CHINA, and click away... However I must vouch for this instrument. I have been playing a bowlback for a bit now, but recently a country pal of mine bought this new instrument. I was quite surprised how well it actually played. The tremolo wasn't as harsh as it usually is with a lot of f and a styles, and really sung loud and beautifully. It played Calace pretty nicely. VERY loud also! I am very disappointed I did not find out about this instrument when I was looking around to buy. My friend also bought the loar archtop guitar also. It also played very nicely, and give that old vintage Eddie Lang tone. Im curious to know some other peoples opinions on this instrument. THE ONLY BAD part about this company is they refuse to place pickguards on the instrument.

[Michael Cameron]

"Made in China" is waay too vague to base anything upon. It's like saying "Made in USA";...so,is it a Gibson,Red Diamond,Phoenix,Kimble...

Do they construct with hide-glue...?...

My Chinese-made(Beijing) Eastman,16",archtop guitar(AR605) ...so, very, satisfying as a "musical" instrument!

Please forgive my hide-glue comment. I truly cannot help myself.

c

[Big Joe]

"The Loar" mandolins and arch top guitars are incredible values! I have been EXTREMELY impressed with them. For that little bit of money (relatively speaking :) ), you get hand carved and nitro cellulose lacquer in an instrument you can be proud to own and they sound great.

Pickguards are not much of a problem for a good shop to install. We do them often on many types of instruments. Getting the pickguard is the easy part, installing it properly the first time is a bit trickier.

[Super400]

I have not played one of their mandos yet, but I have two of the guitars. They are both incredible instruments. The LH600 is hand carved, graduated top and nitro finished. The LH500 is carved with a more common heavy finish. Basically L5 copies. The 600 is absolutely incredible in all facets, from looks to playability to sound - and the sound is sooo beautifully warm. The 500 suffers only in comparison to the 600.

If the mandos are anything at all like the guitars, and I would expect that they are, they should be truly fine instruments. For some reason they include a pickguard on the 500 but not on the 600. Not sure why they are hit or miss with the guards.

[allenhopkins]

Ah yes you witness MADE IN CHINA, and click away... However I must vouch for this instrument.

You know, one doesn't have to consistently anticipate a critical or unfavorable response. The new The Loar mandolins have received consistent "thumbs up" reviews since they moved production from Korea to China and introduced their "600" series.

Here's (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35731&highlight=loar) a thread in which Cafe maven Paul Hostetter discusses his involvement with the prototypes of the new series of The Loar mandolins.

I'm not enchanted with the nameplate, since as far as I know (unless the company employs someone to channel the spirit world), Lloyd Loar had nothing to do with the new instruments -- but other than that, the mandolin (and guitar) line seems to join Eastman and Jade as quality-built Asian instruments, affordable in the mid-price range, and welcomed by most Cafe members who've tried them.

As an aside, I haven't read many posts in which Asian mandolins are dismissed out of hand just because they're Asian. Given the global market, most low-grade mandolins are from Asia, though some come from Latin America or Eastern Europe. But, following in the logic footsteps of Horace Greely ("I never said all Democrats are saloon-keepers. What I said is that all saloon-keepers are Democrats" -- 1860), while a majority of bad mandolins may be Asian origin, doesn't mean all Asian-origin mandolins are bad.