90s Loar prices

[Matt Hutchinson]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any info on what kind of price Loars fetched in the mid 1990s and how much we knew about them then compared to now? I'm writing a novel set in the mid 90s and there's a possible 8 string element to the story!

If anyone has info I'd be really interested.

Cheers,

Matt

[Tom C]

When I started playing around '96 or '97 they were about $40K. In the old "Mandloin World News" that Grisman put out from the '70-early '80's they were about $8K.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for a quick reply! Great, that pretty much answers the question straight away. It's amazing that something can escalate so quickly in value but I guess once something becomes undisputed top dog in its field it becomes something of a 'holy grail'. I just saw that there's a Loar era F4 on the classifieds for a (tiny) fraction of the price of an F5.

Thanks for your help.

Matt

[RickL]

My friend Michael bought a 23 Loar F-5 from Gruhn in 1977 for $7000. He still has it> I play it every time we get together:grin:

[f5loar]

I hope you friend Michael plans to attend the upcoming LoarFest East in summer 2010. Better get his name on the invite list if he does not already have it on file at the
F5Journal archives.

[RichieK]

Matt,
If your novel is set in the mid 90's, make sure you put something in it about a 'cock-eyed optimist from KS with the crazy idea of an internet site devoted to mandolin related content'!

[Ken Waltham]

Hello there. I bought my first Loar in 1995 for $20K, and a second in 1996 for 20K.
Hope this helps.
Ken

[Man of Wax]

Brian Aldridge and Ron Thomason of Dry Branch Fire Squad both own Loars. Thomason bought his in '78 or '79 I think for $7,200+trade. More interesting is that Aldridge bought his from a Nutmegger (that is, a Connecticut resident) and Thomason from a Boston-area owner. I believe in both cases the sellers were the original owners or direct descendants of original owners, but I might have that wrong. Before the mandolin became indelibly linked to Bluegrass, a genre associated with the South, it seems to have been fairly popular in the Northeast. Just speculation, of course.

Also, when you ask about 90s Loar prices, it might be worth considering whether before or after September 9, 1996, the date of Bill Monroe's death. Perhaps prices rose after that?

[Matt Hutchinson]

Thanks for all the info and the point about prices going up after Bill Monroe's death is an interesting one.

I wonder if there were many (or any) Loars here in the UK in the 90s - not that it matters as I'm writing fiction so I can make one appear in the UK easily enough! I'll see if theres room to mention "a 'cock-eyed optimist from KS with the crazy idea of an internet site devoted to mandolin related content'!"

;)

Matt

[Michael Lewis]

Yes, there have been Loars in the UK. I recall Cliff Sargent making a deal for a Loar case with a gentleman in England. Cliff said the guy had a very nice Loar or two. This was around '98 or '99.