Here is what Bill Collings play and owns...

[Bob DeVellis]

Loar was definitely a player! Jimmie Johnstone, before him, was as well. Gibson seems to often have had a hot professional player on the senior management staff. The real question is, how much of a builder was Loar? He certainly had vital input and I've seen pictures of him in a shop apron, but is it accurate to call him a luthier? No dig intended here (I greatly admire him). I'm just wondering how hands-on he was, because I have no idea. It would be cool if he were very hands on but certainly no knock if he was primarily a concept guy.

[GTG]

Originally Posted by Mandobar

loar was an engineer first and foremost. he left gibson and went on to design and manufacture refrigerators.

What a great trivia tidbit! I wonder how many Loar-signed fridges are out there...

[Capt. E]

I remember reading somewhere that Lloyd Loar did not place the mandolin very high on the pantheon of musical instruments. He really didn't much like inacurracies of tone they produced and was never completely satisfied with the "improvements" he produced at Gibson. I suppose that, being a type A personality, he was never truly satisfied and always thought more improvements were possible. He was an accomplished musician/composer, but his living was made working as an acoustic engineer, especially on electronic amplification of keyboards. Gibson was only a few years of his life, but what a few years it was!