my new The Loar [Archive] - Mandolin Cafe Forum

Michael Thompson

Dec-10-2010, 12:27am

I just got my Loar LM-700 in the mail today. It sounds really great and once I've had time to get thoroughly familiar with it and prepare something, I'll make a vid or recording so everyone else can hear how it sounds.

I'm trying to learn Chris Thile's "If You're Gonna Leave Me", but so far only have the intro worked out. :-P

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs591.ash2/154365_904521424890_23919111_46141224_2759924_n.jp g

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs600.ash2/155292_904521459820_23919111_46141225_6292088_n.jp g

Steve Sorensen

Dec-10-2010, 12:39am

Beautiful. Great shots.
Steve

James Sanford

Dec-10-2010, 9:45am

Really nice mandolin. I have only seen and heard one example in person but it was a very good mando. Enjoy.

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I cannot figure out how to get photos of this side into the system. Any help appreciated.

Randi Gormley

Dec-10-2010, 9:46am

Beautiful.

Bill Snyder

Dec-10-2010, 9:48am

His photos are hosted off site and if he ever moves them or abandons his account these photos will disappear from the Mandolin Cafe.

Steve Ostrander

Dec-10-2010, 9:53am

Recently the photos all look fuzzy. Wonder what's up with that?

Brent Hutto

Dec-10-2010, 10:00am

Steve,

Do you mean the photos at the top of this thread look fuzzy to you? They seem quite sharp to me, allowing for the shallow depth-of-feel which I presume was an artistic choice. Look very good, actually.

Michael Thompson

Dec-10-2010, 6:42pm

Alright...I've only had it for a day and I still need tons of practice, but I know it was hard to find examples of how this sounds and some people might be curious, so here's a vid of me playing it. In the hands of a seasoned pro, it would sound much better, I'm sure. :-P Even so, I think it sounds beautiful when I actually hit the right notes.

Shot on an iMac, so it makes me look like a lefty when I'm not and the sound quality is not that great. But, still...here ya go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud52v5E5jOI

billkilpatrick

Dec-10-2010, 7:47pm

looks like my LM600 - almost identical back ... what's inside to warrant the increment from 600 to 700? ... more ... more! (please.)

Michael Thompson

Dec-10-2010, 7:58pm

looks like my LM600 - almost identical back ... what's inside to warrant the increment from 600 to 700? ... more ... more! (please.)

They're very similar.

The 600 has a rosewood fret board and is made of hand crafted spruce for the top and hand crafted flamed maple for the back and sides. The 700 has an ebony fret board and is made of hand crafted "AAA Spruce" for the top and and hand crafted "AAA flamed maple" for the back and sides.

The main reason I went with the 700 over the 600 is because when I was younger, the Gibson Ferns always caught my eye and it was a nostalgic choice to get the 700 for the fern inlay instead of the flower pot inlay. I also wanted the Ebony fret board.

I doubt you or I would notice much of a difference, but I'm not frugal with my money and I wanted the 700, so I got the 700.

You were the biggest influence in me getting it, too, btw. I saw your video introducing your 600 and watched a few other videos of yours and loved the sound. :cool:

Brent Hutto

Dec-10-2010, 8:12pm

The LM-600 and LM-700 have different bracing and different thickness patterns of the soundboard. If I recall correctly the '700 has no tone bars at all and the '600 has conventional tone bars.

jasona

Dec-10-2010, 10:07pm

Very nice looking mandolin!

billkilpatrick

Dec-11-2010, 2:12am

all's well that ends well ...long life to you both.

bernabe

Dec-11-2010, 10:45pm

If I recall correctly the '700 has no tone bars at all

Brent, are you saying its braced?

Michael Thompson

Dec-12-2010, 12:10am

http://www.facebook.com/v/905579564370

this video doesn't do justice to how amazing this mandolin sounds. But, here's a taste, anyway.

Brent Hutto

Dec-12-2010, 2:52am

Brent, are you saying its braced?

The LM-400 I owned did not have any tone bars, X-bracing or other bracing at all. Or at least that's what I've been told by folks I believe know what they're talking about. The idea was to carved the soundboard taking that into account, modeled on how violins are carved. One or the other of the F-models (the LM-700 IIRC) is the same way.

I must say it seemed to make for a very rich sound and extended tonal range. Not midrangy at all to my ears. Quite nice although perhaps not totally a traidtional tone.

billkilpatrick

Dec-12-2010, 5:08am

http://www.facebook.com/v/905579564370this video doesn't do justice to how amazing this mandolin sounds. But, here's a taste, anyway.

tried to open your video but i think we have to be "friends" for it to play. wanna' be friends? ... you a yankee's fan? ... who's your favorite group?

Knucklehead

Dec-12-2010, 7:30am

Nice mando! I'm sure you will enjoy it. Back during the past summer I went up to The Mandolin Store to buy a case, and was enthralled by the LM-600, it's tone, features and price, ended up leaving with more than a case. The pricing on them is amazing

bernabe

Dec-12-2010, 10:17am

Brent Hutto

Dec-12-2010, 10:20am

I don't think there's any magic in tone bars or X-braces. In fact, given that both tone bars and X-braces can work well it would be almost certain that one or more other arrangements would also be possible to get good results.

bernabe

Dec-12-2010, 11:35am

I agree its not magic and that "good" results can possibly be achieved this way, however "outstanding" results can be achived with bracing or bars in a number of methods and configurations with a broad spectrum of tones. Im just curious which, if any, reputable independent builders have also not used any form of bars or bracing.. more than once. I guess thats for another thread.

Michael Thompson

Dec-12-2010, 11:36am

tried to open your video but i think we have to be "friends" for it to play. wanna' be friends? ... you a yankee's fan? ... who's your favorite group?

Youtube was being weird last night. I'll try to reload it later

billkilpatrick

Dec-12-2010, 11:43am

The LM-400 I owned did not have any tone bars, X-bracing or other bracing at all. Or at least that's what I've been told by folks I believe know what they're talking about. The idea was to carved the soundboard taking that into account, modeled on how violins are carved. One or the other of the F-models (the LM-700 IIRC) is the same way.

I must say it seemed to make for a very rich sound and extended tonal range. Not midrangy at all to my ears. Quite nice although perhaps not totally a traidtional tone.

finally understood what you're saying - solid, one-piece soundboard without additional structural support. youtube isn't capable of demonstrating this but - in a hundred words or less - what tonal difference did you notice?

Brent Hutto

Dec-12-2010, 12:30pm

Keep in mind I've only ever played maybe two handfuls of mandolins in my life. I'd say the LM-400 had the least midrange emphasis of any I had played to that point. Now I'd add that Mike Black's A5 (which replaced the LM-400 for me) is also un-midrangy, maybe to a slightly greater extent even. But I felt the LM-400 was more "balanced" or "hi-fi" in its tonal range than most mandolins of similar styles.

I also thought it was fairly sensitive to a light picking hand while maybe not having the greatest headroom if you really wanted to hit it hard. The fellow who bought it from me noted the same sort of thing, compared to his previous instrument it was easy to get a nice tone from the LM-400 but maybe it could be a bit harsh if you really bashed it.

But as I say, that's the impressions of a seriously inexperience new player. It guitar terms it was sort of like the way a nicely balanced and very responsive fingerstyle guitar would compare tonally to a big Gibson AJ or a Guild dreadnought. I think you could make nicer classical music on an LM-400 than on, say, an ff-hole Gibson.

billkilpatrick

Dec-12-2010, 1:13pm

more lute like, would you say? the people at the "the loar" factory (the-the-the) must have done this for a reason - wonder what it was.

Brent Hutto

Dec-12-2010, 1:21pm

The story I heard was the factory guys are/were violin makers. One of them wanted to try making a prototype using a violin-like approach and the folks on the USA design side really liked the result.

My rather verbose reply may have unintentionally oversold the slight difference I perceived. Compared to a friend's KM-505 that I've also played, the two instruments sound more alike than different. Much more similar to each other than, say, one of them compared to an oval-hole mandolin.

billkilpatrick

Dec-12-2010, 1:31pm

thanks - be interesting to see if this modification stands the test of time.

Michael Thompson

Dec-12-2010, 4:56pm

Hopefully fixed video coming soon!

Michael Thompson

Dec-12-2010, 5:15pm

alright, guys -- this should be better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxFbOUBHB4

Mike Bunting

Dec-12-2010, 6:10pm

thanks - be interesting to see if this modification stands the test of time.

This is not a new idea (the lack of tone bars). For a number of years, Jesse McReynolds played a mandolin with no tone bars and there seemed to be no structural problems with it, if that is what you are referring to. But then tone bars are basically to control tonal response anyhow.

Canister

Dec-14-2010, 11:45am

I love my 400. I haven't picked up my F5 since I got it.

Fstpicker

Dec-14-2010, 10:26pm

I love my 400....

So do I!!

Jeff

1FretLess

Dec-15-2010, 12:59pm

I personally LOVE my 500 series!

But my first impressions not so much.

Tight and high strung at the nut. When working the
action down the nut just basically crumbled. Fitted up
a bone nut and then things started to gather momentum.

Dropped the action down -a lot- and no buzz w/nice feel
but no volume on the high A & E. The bridge is nice quality
and fit really well, but a bit of a high spot came off when
re-fitting to the body... Still sorta quiet up there....

Raised the far side of the bridge and sure 'nuf the
volume came back - big time.

So investigate getting a good set-up (with their
lower end models anyway) that turned an alright
sounding instrument into a monster!

Great feel and reasonably well built and finished!

Mine's a few finish issues - clean up of some binding etc.

People seem to hate the "ball bat" neck but to the
contrary, here anyway, the neck was the most
compelling feature and fits my hands just perfectly.

There seems to be a "love - hate" relationship with
this builder but this one over here is a great build
and at this price point it's just hard to beat.

you sound great & thank-you for sharing

Most of all Enjoy!

John Gass

Dec-17-2010, 11:38am

I'm curious as to what serial number you have.

Michael Thompson

Dec-17-2010, 11:04pm

I'm curious as to what serial number you have.

I don't have much light in here at the moment, but it appears to be A10051578

Robert Moreau

Dec-17-2010, 11:13pm

Looks and sounds great. Awesome pictures.

Rob

jse01

Dec-19-2010, 7:52pm

Beautiful mando! And thanks for uploading an example of it's sound. Sounds like you're doing just fine!

Michael Thompson

Dec-19-2010, 9:04pm

Beautiful mando! And thanks for uploading an example of it's sound. Sounds like you're doing just fine!

If you want to hear more clips, I have a very simple version of Red-Haired Boy uploaded to the same youtube account as the vid in this thread and will uploading more as I go along.