Popularity of the loar

[Jim Hilburn]

Hard to find a Loar topic that hasn't been talked to death but I don't remember that much on this topic.
we know Bill got his Loar in the barber shop and soon put together the Bluegrass Boys. Most would have heard the music on the radio and while it would be hard to identify what instruments they were using it would be clear that it was a totally new sound. Some would get to see the band in person either at the Opry or maybe a tent show.
How soon did other's begin to emulate the sound, and then start to seek out the instruments needed to create it? I wasn't born yet and it was the 70's till I was aware of bluegrass. Were people seeking out the instruments in the 40's or was it more like the late 50's and into the 60's when that happened?

[sunburst]

I believe first came the Bluegrass Boys, then came Bill's Loar, but that's a minor detail.

Mike Seeger said he bought and sold several Loar F5s for around $150 in the late 50s/early 60s. Of coarse $150 was a pretty expensive instrument in those days, but it still indicates less demand than now.

[Jim Garber]

I would say that in the 1940's most players would rather have a new mandolin if they could afford it rather than one of those "old used" ones. I don't think old instruments were even considered vintage until the 1960s or later. Of course there were prob some cognoscenti who were aware of the power of the Loars but take a look at someone like Apollon who seems to always have the newest Gibson.

[Steve Ostrander]

What if that had been a L&H in the barber shop, or an A4? Ever wonder what if?

[mrmando]

I guess the question is, who was the second bluegrass mandolinist to use a Loar?

Pee Wee Lambert? Bobby Osborne? Frank Wakefield? Someone must know the answer. If Seeger was buying and selling Loars in the '50s, that means he and a few others must have been in the know by then.

[Will Kimble]

Bill had played a lot of mandolins by the time he came across the Loar in the barbershop. #If it had been a L&H or A4, he wouldn't have bought it. #

He played that Loar and knew it was right for his music. #And never looked back. #

I know guys were looking for "an old F5 like Bill plays" in the mid sixties. #

Will Kimble
www.kimblemandolins.com

[Jim Hilburn]

I was first made aware of what a Loar was in '72 and by then they were already fetching $4k. There was already talk of fakes meant to decieve.
The increase in popularity through the 60's is pretty well known. I guess I'm just interested about that evolution when people started to realize what these instruments were capable of and that there wasn't anything being built quite like it. And it really does follow a timeline of when bluegrass started to become more popular and actually considered a style unto itself instead of just a form of country.
I guess it also corresponds pretty close to the time people were realizing Martin wasn't making guitars quite like they used to.

[sunburst]

I know guys were looking for "an old F5 like Bill plays" in the mid sixties.
When I first heard the name "Loar" associated with a desirable mandolin, I thought; "What's that? Is it more desirable than an F5?" It took a while for me to realize that a "Loar" was an F5.

[f5loar]

If you mean prewar F5 and not just a Loar your list of who had one before Bill would be easier. I don't think Monroe knew what a Loar was in 1945 nor did he seek one out. IT found him. No doubt Monroe knew of the F5 model. He just knew that one had a pretty darn good sound and way better than his mid30's F7. However Lester Flatt was playing a '41 F5 in his brother Charlie's band before he left to join the Bluegrass Boys playing guitar.
And then there was Charlie Bailey who played his '26 Fern with his brother in the late 30's and early 40's. Bobby Osborne got that one later on in the 50's. PeeWee got his F5 after his famous Virzi F4 (which I understand is up for sale at a ridicoulsly low price) and would have been after Monroe got his.