Loar Sound??

**yankees1** · Nov-28-2011, 7:50pm

I see many references indicating that certain mandolins have that Loar sound! So-------what is that Loar sound and what contemporary makers build that Loar sound mandolins?

**mandobassman** · Nov-28-2011, 8:01pm

I've yet to figure out what the "Loar Sound" is. I have heard several Loars that sound completely different. I'm sure the playing style of the owners has something to do with that but how do you tell? If you could get one person to play 50 of them with the same pick and the same strings then maybe there could be a definitive Loar tone. There are many modern builders that build to Loar specs, but how do we know if what they're building sounds like what a new Loar sounded like in the '20s?

**f5loar** · Nov-28-2011, 9:10pm

I'd say the Loar sound is any sound a Loar makes. True they are all different or at least very similar as can be heard in the new Tony Williamson Loar CD. Most consider the sound Bill Monroe got from his famous Loar as "the Loar sound". After all he did sorta start this whole mess of the Loar being the best sounding mandolin for his music.

**mandolirius** · Nov-28-2011, 9:15pm

Originally Posted by yankees1

I see many references indicating that certain mandolins have that Loar sound! So-------what is that Loar sound and what contemporary makers build that Loar sound mandolins?

Come on. You've been around long enough to know where a thread like this leads. Absolutely nowhere. Every Loar expert that's ever weighed in here says there is no one sound....they sound different. IMHO, a post like this contributes nothing to the board and borders on trolling.

**dcoventry** · Nov-28-2011, 9:26pm

Oh My God!! Maybe The Loar Sound is made by the guy playing the instrument!!!

Oy, We're screwed.

**almeriastrings** · Nov-28-2011, 10:49pm

Kind of reminds me of an incident I witnessed many yeas ago. A bunch of pickers in the kitchen... interesting range of mandolins, including a nice Loar. There we are, trying each others mandos. Guys wife comes in... "that sounds nice!" It was an old Martin A-model. She comes back in a bit later. "I don't like that one as much. It sounds harsh". That was the Loar!

So even if you know what "the Loar" sound is, you might not actually like it!

**Glassweb** · Nov-28-2011, 11:19pm

Originally Posted by f5loar

I'd say the Loar sound is any sound a Loar makes.

Hey Tom, can I quote you on that?

**f5loar** · Nov-28-2011, 11:35pm

Maybe I should have added "when it's strings are plucked". I guess if you dropped a Loar on a concert floor it would make a sound.

**Glassweb** · Nov-28-2011, 11:38pm

Hey Tom, by any chance have you played that July 9th Fern at Gruhn's yet?

**f5loar** · Nov-29-2011, 12:52am

I lost interest in it when I heard about the condition it was in. Next time by Nashville I'll stop in to stroke it if it's still there.

**Jeff Budz** · Nov-29-2011, 5:34am

Originally Posted by mandolirius

IMHO, a post like this contributes nothing to the board and borders on trolling.

I wish you and some others would stop playing "thread police." Seems like some on this board feel that everyone should run their posts by them to see if they are worthy.

Personally, I'm not really sure what the "Loar Sound" is, and would love to know more about the subject. I hear "Loar voiced" mentioned about certain mandolins, but can't definitively quantify it. Sure I've heard Bill Monroe and countless other Loar players, but on a recording without anything to reference it against it is tough to tell what is going on. To me, it just sounds like a mandolin.

I would like to check out the Loar cd mentioned.

**yankees1** · Nov-29-2011, 5:59am

Originally Posted by mandolirius

Come on. You've been around long enough to know where a thread like this leads. Absolutely nowhere. Every Loar expert that's ever weighed in here says there is no one sound....they sound different. IMHO, a post like this contributes nothing to the board and borders on trolling.

I guess if I am trolling I snagged you in!!

But----------- I'm not trolling ! This "Loar Sound" is used quite loosely in describing a mandolin sound that a lot of players are looking for and I was seriously looking for an explanation and thoughts on who came the closest in re-producing this Loar sound if there was an actual Loar sound. Sorry if you feel this thread contributes nothing to this board but I was really interested in this topic and I couldn't find anything by a search.

**AlanN** · Nov-29-2011, 6:42am

Indeed, a fair question for this board, particularly when such a term is bandied about A LOT. Same with the more generic term 'Gibson tone', which is also used a lot.

I can't definitively quantify the 'Loar Sound', other than to say It Sounds Darn Good! As Lee Trevino used to say "You can feel it when you drive!"

**JeffD** · Nov-29-2011, 6:59am

There is a way that "the Loar sound" is the bull's eye of "that Gibson sound" which is so sought after. It has become a kind of criteria by which all mandolins are measured. It has become, to many, what a mandolin is supposed to sound like.

After a bit, you can distinguish and recognize "that sound" in recordings and especially live.

**G7MOF** · Nov-29-2011, 7:53am

I agree with all that has been said, I own a Gibson A2 and it would take a lot of mandolin to beat it on tone. (IMHO)!!!

**mandobassman** · Nov-29-2011, 8:24am

I thought we were talking about Gibson F5 Loar tone. The A2 is a completely different tone. Not comparing apples to apples here. Loar had little if anything to do with those.

**Brent Hutto** · Nov-29-2011, 8:24am

Originally Posted by f5loar

Maybe I should have added "when it's strings are plucked". I guess if you dropped a Loar on a concert floor it would make a sound.

Probably sound real "woody" don't you think?

**greg_tsam** · Nov-29-2011, 9:27am

with "bell like" tones on the A course.

**JeffD** · Nov-29-2011, 10:08am

Originally Posted by mandobassman

I thought we were talking about Gibson F5 Loar tone. The A2 is a completely different tone. Not comparing apples to apples here. Loar had little if anything to do with those.

Thats true enough. But the "Loar sound" is the bull's eye... the target is the "Gibson sound". A Gibson A2 sounds more like a Gibson F5 than it sounds like a Weber Aspen II.

**TonyP** · Nov-29-2011, 10:51am

I'm curious why there is still curiosity about what the Lloyd Loar sound is where there are so many great recorded examples? Listen to Ricky, Dawg, Mike Marshall, John R, Ronnie McCoury, Chris Thile, Alan Bibey, Hershel Sizemore etc etc.

One of the THE most striking albums of Lloyd Loar sound is on Dawg's Tone Poets. Compare what all those folks sound like on their mandolin's, then what they sound like on Crusher. nuf said.

**BradKlein** · Nov-29-2011, 11:05am

- The 'thread police' around here are relatively polite and help keep the 'trolling' to tolerable levels at the Cafe. So for the most part, I'm grateful to them and the moderators.

- That said, I don't mind if this well worn topic goes around again - though realistically it's hard to get much of an answer to the OP's original questions. But if it's just another opinion poll of the Cafe, then no harm done.

- For a change, there IS an easy answer to the OP's first question, as F5loar points out, in Tony Williamson's new CD, but you need to send in your sawbuck and use your ears.

- As for what folks mean when the use the phrase 'Loar sound' in an online post... I think we can all agree that it varies from person to person and has no one universal meaning, and that renders the OP's second question kind of hard. It might make more sense to ask which builders strive to replicate the original Gibson F-5 as their ultimate goal (Charlie Derrington and his crew come to mind), as opposed to those who follow their own inspiration.

- and finally, I think Loar was interested in the lower end of the guitar and mandolin lines at Gibson, and left his mark on them, although of course not as big a mark as he did on the L-5 and F-5.

**Willie** · Nov-29-2011, 11:24am

I have to agree with Jeff D....When I am listening to bluegrass while working on this computer and a mandolin comes on I usually look up to see who is playing because there is a certain sound that most Loars send out, it does have a lot to do with who is playing it but the mandolin it self has to have that sound built in it in order for the picker to get it out....I have heard some mandolins that seem to have the Loar sound and I have tried to tweak them to get it out but to no availe....

Most of us know it when we hear it...And like was posted before, that sound is not to everyone`s liking and all of them don`t sound the same....Myself I always thought Duffey`s F-12 had a better sound on a lot of his recordings....

Willie

**guitarpath** · Nov-29-2011, 11:43am

Originally Posted by BradKlein

It might make more sense to ask which builders strive to replicate the original Gibson F-5 as their ultimate goal (Charlie Derrington and his crew come to mind), as opposed to those who follow their own inspiration.

Great question.

**Jeff Budz** · Nov-29-2011, 11:48am

Originally Posted by BradKlein

- The 'thread police' around here are relatively polite and help keep the 'trolling' to tolerable levels at the Cafe. So for the most part, I'm grateful to them and the moderators.

Personally, I get really annoyed by "Thread Police" - they seem like grumpy, wannabe moderators who are quick to criticize instead of ignoring. And to accuse someone of being a "Troll"... them are fighting words.

As for the Loar sound - I've listened to Thile and Mike Marshall a lot, and on the recordings, doesn't sound a lot different than my Phoenix Bluegrass. Does my mandolin have a "Loar Sound?" Kind of a deep thunky bass with a shimmering high end, even dynamics up and down the neck from string to string. My Eastman FF sounds very different, as did my oval hole....