The Lloyd Loar

[Bob Simmers]

Are all of them superior mandolins? I've played 10. 5 were superior. One was very good. 4 were not very good. Was that because those 4 had not been played enough? Or is it possible some Loars are lemons?
I know they sell for a fortune, but are they all real hosses?
Bob

[danb]

I think they take a while to "get" (they're all unique) and also they require decent setup.. could still be some dogs tho?

[EdSherry]

Back in 1985, I bought one of the first Flatiron F-5s from Mandolin Brothers. I tried it against everything in the store, including two Loars. It sounded better than the two Loars, at a fraction of the price.

In my experience, some Loars are amazing, others less so.

[Flowerpot]

"are they all real hosses?"

I think you answered your own question there; you tried 'em, you formed your own opinions, you know that your ears don't lie.

Yes, some will go to sleep and will sound noticably better after steady play. But they don't go from a dog to a hoss; they've either got the basic guts to the tone, or they don't. The same can be said for any modern quality made instrument.

Personally, of the 12 to 15 I've played (which is not a large sample by any means), 1 or 2 were stellar, 5 or so were great, and a few were nothing to get excited about. But that's my own opinion.

[Willie]

I have commented on this before so here goes again....A lot of mandolins depend on a picker that knows what he is doing, how to hold it etc...also depends on the room where it is being played, the kind of pick that one is using, so many things give a mandolin a different sound...I have played about 20 Loars and have listened to many more and can usually spot one by just hearing it...I have only really played three that knocked my socks off...Some had a virzi tone producer (reducer to some of us) and I have never seen one of those that I liked...A friend had one that was a real dog and after he sold it and a luthier set it up the new owner says it is everything he ever wanted in a mandolin....One thing I will caution you about, Don`t ever tell a friend that you think his Loar don`t cut it, I did and it may take a while to get back in his good graces and it wasn`t a fair assessment any way, he was playing through a PA that may not have been set properly, I don`t know, I never heard the Loar right out without a sound system so I should never have said anything about it....But to a lot of us bluegrass pickers there are mandolins that suit our ears better than a Loar but I bet we would all like to have one....Willie

[Professor PT]

Yeah, but I'd get excited if I could sell it for two hundred grand or more!

[LeoR]

All normal distributions follow a bell curve. That likely includes the LL's from that period. Some of those Loars may not be on the good side of the curve although I think LL's influence may have skewed that distribution a bit. Nonetheless, physics being what it is, you will have a distribution of sound quality. Did LL sign the "bad ones"? Ever see a 22-24 unsigned F-5?

The ones on the good side of that curve are unbelievable!

It still happens today too. Good F-5's and not such good F-5's. Hoss & Mega-Hoss. Normal distributions of product quality. Physics of materials.

I have a garden variety standard '03 Fern [formerly owned by John Rigsby]. That mandolin is so powerful [loud, clear, huge fat tone] it amazes me everytime I play it and it gets better every day. Mega-Hoss. It definitely fell on the good side of the bell curve!

[lawdawg]

I agree with Willie. I've come to realize that the picker can make a big difference with most any quality mandolin. It seems you have to get to know the instrument, get comfortable and it will respond. Just my very discounted opinion.

[danb]

I think often it takes a while to really "Get" a great mando. I'm often not all that impressed at first, but as I have time to soak and and learn where they bark, so far I've not found a "dog" Loar. I think you have to adapt your technique a bit to really get the feel for the great ones. I've actually been going back and re-trying makers whose instruments I had dismissed without enough of a try. I think a couple hours is really the minimum.

when I borrowed the Schultz Loar.. it took about 4 hours to "Get it" for me, from then on it's been top of my list.

[AlanN]

so far I've not found a "dog" Loar. I

Nor have I.

[Flowerpot]

"learn where they bark, so far I've not found a "dog" Loar..."

If that was intentional, it's about one of the worst puns I've heard lately!

But I hear what you're saying about taking time to get to know an instrument... too often, we don't have enough time to really evaluate something, and adjust the playing style to get the most out of the instrument.

[danb]

yeah.. for example, the first set of Gilchrists I played I was underwhelmed by. Now that I've had more time to play them and get a better feel (applying some of the stuff I had to learn to get good tone out of Loars etc) I've now reversed my opinion. I just didn't realize that while I could get good tone out of an oval-holed A-model, I didn't have the technique and the touch to draw tone out of an F5.

Sometimes if you've never played an XX mandolin, you don't know how to get good tone out of one. Not all those skills are transferrable.. what works on a snakehead doesn't work on a Loar, and what works on an old vega cylinderback mandola doesn't translate to an f-holed Nugget mandola. It's amazing just how different these apparently related things really are!

With the Loars, each one is it's own unique beast. That's what's so great about them, they have very unique and distinct combinations of features. So far I have only very vague groupings of them in my head, but it's remarkable how different they really are from each other.

I think this is what sets top quality mandolins apart from the pack, if you really spend some time with them, you find a unique and wonderful voice you can use from them, that tends to lead you down new musical roads.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Redheads, blondes, brunettes.....

[Jack Roberts]

Sometimes if you've never played an XX mandolin, you don't know how to get good tone out of one. Not all those skills are transferrable..

Truer words haint ne'er been spake. One of my (many) humbling experiences was walking into a fine bowlback mandolin shop with my repertoire of recently mastered Bach cello suites, asking to try a splendid Calace Clasico A model, and getting nothing out of it. The shop owner had to teach me from the beginning how to hold and pick the Calace. I never got the sound out if it that the instrument is capable of, yet I do just fine with my Gibson A-1.