Loar in Southern Maine?

**mandoman15** · Jun-07-2005, 4:17pm

Hey all, my friend baron and i are working on a recording project and while this is probably a ridiculous request, i was wondering if anyone in southern maine owns a f-5 loar, we could pick up for the session...and for that matter, is there a loar in maine? thanks!

**f5loar** · Jun-08-2005, 12:53am

Too bad you are not closer to the South. I'd rent you mine for $100 an hour if I'm with you in the session! Not a common request there but I've heard of it being done. Big thing is even if you find that Loar in Maine will they let you borrow it to record? Probably not unless like I said they are with you in the session.

**Darryl Wolfe** · Jun-08-2005, 8:20am

I'm not aware of one within reasonable distance

**Ken Waltham** · Jun-08-2005, 6:35pm

The one piece back, Fern Loar, sold at Skinner a few years back came from Maine...
I guess the odds of another are kind of rough...
Then like Tom says, someone actually letting you play it.

**sunburst** · Jun-08-2005, 6:39pm

A curiosity question:

There are so many great sounding/recording mandolins these days, why do you need a Loar?

**Brian Aldridge** · Jun-08-2005, 8:09pm

ROFL

**Mando4Life** · Jun-08-2005, 8:19pm

go easy on him, he's only 15....

I really would be suprised if someone stepped up, regardless of age/location.

if i had a $100,000+ instrument, i'd keep it undercover, way, way undercover. and i sure as heck wouldn't loan it out to someone I didn't know real, real good; even if i was in the room. wouldn't be nothing personal to it at all, just business.

good luck at any rate, stranger things have happened...

WBL

**Evets** · Jun-08-2005, 8:57pm

Why not? It's just a mandolin, after all

**sgarrity** · Jun-08-2005, 11:24pm

If I owned one, Id definitely take it to a session and let a musician record with it. #These things are instruments that were made to be played and heard. #My mandolin costs about $6000 new (I know thats a fraction of what a Loar is worth, but its still a lot of money to me). #And I let anybody play it that asks. #That is what it was made for!

BTW, Ive never played a Loar. Any volunteers? ;-)

Shaun

**Links** · Jun-09-2005, 9:20am

I second Shaun & Evet's posts!

**kudzugypsy** · Jun-09-2005, 11:10am

i'd add that unless someone on the session was REALLY good, that a loar wouldnt make much difference. its not like you pick up a loar and 'magic' happens...people like to think that.
it takes time to learn the character of an instrument and i for one would never book professional studio time with an instrument i was not familiar with. i've tried that - no way. you would have to have it set up to your specs.

to clarify what i mean by a REALLY good player - YOU still have to pull the tone from the instrument, just because its a loar doesnt mean that #you will automaticly have a spactacular recording. i'm in agreement with Tony WIlliamson that most loar owners cant pull the full potential from their instruments. that doesnt mean i dont think the deserve one...its just the facts.

**sunburst** · Jun-09-2005, 11:39am

Back to my curiosity question.
I think it's a given that a great sound can be recorded with any number of mandolins. I'm assuming there might be a reason for wanting a Loar other than just the sound. I was just curious if it was a historically based/documentary/educational type recording and the point was to have a recording of a Loar.
Just curious, none of my business, really.

**f5loar** · Jun-10-2005, 2:34pm

I might not drive any better or any faster in a Rolls Royce but I sure as heck look a lot better driving it!

**AlanN** · Jun-10-2005, 2:40pm

quote from above... i'm in agreement with Tony WIlliamson that most loar owners cant pull the full potential from their instruments. that doesnt mean i dont think the deserve one...its just the facts.

Pompous statement. Most Loar owners I know do indeed play their instruments such that full tonal potential is reached. It has to do with choice of pick and right/left hand technique - no secret there.

**Spruce** · Jun-10-2005, 2:55pm

"if i had a $100,000+ instrument, i'd keep it undercover, way, way undercover. and i sure as heck wouldn't loan it out to someone I didn't know real, real good; even if i was in the room. wouldn't be nothing personal to it at all, just business. #good luck at any rate, stranger things have happened..."

I know of one instance where the owner of a very nice Loar Fern loaned it to a couple folks (who he had never met) who were flying to London, so they could drop it off to someone (again, who he had never met) so that he could play the hell out of it for 4 months or so... #

So-ooo, stranger things have indeed happened...

If I were in the Northeast and owned a Loar (2 great big "if"'s), you'd have that Loar for your sessions, John...
What goes around comes around....

**Windflite** · Jun-10-2005, 3:21pm

"Most Loar owners I know do indeed play their instruments such that full tonal potential is reached."

No flame intended, but for the sake of argument, how is 'full tonal potential' defined? #I'm not sure if I will ever know if I've reached it with my own mandolin much less being able to discern that a entire group of owners has done so?!? #

**Mando4Life** · Jun-10-2005, 3:23pm

Spruce,

Just read the story again the other night; it is so well written it makes you feel like you are there. #Very cool thing to do for sure (for all parties involved

).

It would be great if someone did step up and loan him one.

WBL

**AlanN** · Jun-10-2005, 3:28pm

First off, I said ***most Loar owners I know***, which definitely is not - quoting here - "a entire group of owners" (at least to me it is not).

Second, full tonal potential is arbitrarily defined by me, a Loar owner, as that quality of sound that can be achieved with solid technique on an instrument that is built to produce quality sound.

No flame intended.

**kudzugypsy** · Jun-10-2005, 3:56pm

well i knew that comment would ruffle some loar owners, but it really shouldnt be taken as an insult to ones musical abilities at all. truthfully, how does one really know when you have reached the 'full tonal potential' of an instrument....if you were to hand that mandolin to another, more 'talented' player and the difference was quite noticable, then would that mean you still hadnt reached the full tonal spectrum that instrument could produce? then what if a 3rd, even better player came up and pushed it even further? i dont think there is ever a time when an instrument of superior quality is maxed out to its full potential.....the 'this instrument is holding me back' theory.
what i mean, is that the large majority of the music being played on the mandolin is right there below the 7th fret. if you listen to classical violinists, you will see them quite often utilizing the ENTIRE TONAL POTENTIAL of the instrument. this is something quite foreign to us 'amature' musicians.

dont you see on this board everyday people tring to find that instrument that will catapult them to the next level....and honestly, it is all in your own abilities at your deserved level. you can only move up when your abilities allow it.

**mandoman15** · Jun-10-2005, 9:34pm

wow..i have inadvertandly started a battle.... The idea of the loar came uout of a discussion i had with my friends, we were arguing about tonal potential
(essentially), and we thought it would be nice to play and hear a loar in person, after reading countless articles about the magical tone these instruments provide, who wouldn't want to play one if given the oppertunity. i've learned from expireience that the music comes from the musician, not the instrument, wether it was a steal on ebay or a mint 23' it is simply an outlet for expression, which by the way relys completely on the musician. having said that i don't deny that the instrumet can provide wiggle room (as it were) for tonal and or volume enhancement, however i believe that the overwhelming majority of the quality of music comes from the musician. by the way, is there anyone here who wouln't jump on the oppertunity to pick a loar if given it? thanks for all your input.
...........John

**mandoman15** · Jun-10-2005, 9:43pm

IN reply to john hamlet, my friend, (who wishes to stay out of this cross fire) and i love music, it is not just a hobby but a passion. we therefore designed this cd project as a salute to mandolining and music. It is an excuse for us to get together and play for the sake of playing, and look productive at the same time. we are planning on recording some of our favorite tunes, and preserve them on vinyl...or at least plastic.

we thought that i the process we could "borrow" some sweet mandos to quench our ever thirst for mas...yes i was tragically hooked at a tender age... and get some good recordings in at the same time. i dunno about all of you but i love to hear my music on the stereo, and listen to it and learn from it.. it truly is a wonderful thing..... only mandos.....

**sunburst** · Jun-10-2005, 10:48pm

Originally Posted by (mandoman15 @ June 10 2005, 22:34)

who wouldn't want to play one if given the oppertunity.

Thanks, John, for the personal reply.

I'm not much of a mandolin player, I'm just a builder really, but I play every Loar I can get my hands on.

I actually was loaned a Loar once for a couple of weeks. I learned a lot from that instrument and it's owner. I still use that knowledge in my building, and still learn from every Loar I see.

**Capstoner** · Jun-10-2005, 11:22pm

I play a Kentucky 380-S. I can get decent tone and volume out of it. I had a chance to jam with a guy who was "state champion" caliber. He was playing guitar and didn't have his mando with him. He asked to play mine...I realized I had no clue how to play mandolin. The tone I have worked on for 2 years is nothing compared to what he made my mandolin say. I used to want a new mandolin, but I have realized that I need to learn to play first.

I think it is 95% skill. When you get to that 95th percentile of players, a Loar might push you over the edge to full potential.

**fmspinc** · Jun-11-2005, 12:06pm

This thread is slowly getting stolen - but to the last post, I agree. I am lucky enough to have a mandolin that is way better than my capabilities (currently) are. When ever I get MAS, I just rethink that what I have is great already. I have been fortunate enough to have played a Loar or three. Yes, they are better than mine - so that fact remains.

Added to that, I see No problem with wanting to record with a Loar - why not, sounds like fun.