Loar LM 700 vs Eastman 815

[Rustyspoon]

Hi there
im still a begginer mandolin player and looking to upgrade my little A style.
the eastman 815 and Loar LM 700 are my top contenders right now but
i dont know which ones beter? or any other suggestions for mandolins would
be appreciated.

[hedgehog]

Lets get this out of the way. ..... You'll get more bang for the buck with the little lute lookin' A and you will always be able to look down on the superficial F crowd. The F style will be fun to look at forever. ..... relax if it is possible, there was a joke in there somewhere.

[f5loar]

I'd take the Eastman anyday over the Loar 700. Main reason is thickness of finish. Eastman uses a really thin finish while the Loar finish is pretty thick in comparsion. The Loar has a much thicker neck too. If you can get into the same price range do look at the Kentucky 1000. Much fancier, better workmanship and materials go into the high end Kentucky models and the 1000 seems to be a winner over the other Asian made F models. They are very "Loar" like and I'm talking the real 20's Loar not the "The Loar".

[almeriastrings]

Agree 100%. The Eastman 815's are a very nice mandolin, but if you can stretch the budget a bit further, the KM-1000 and KM-1500 are spectacular value. You have to spend a heck of a lot more to 'upgrade' from those. They play (and sound) great. If it was just between the 815 and LM700, I'd most certainly get the 815.

[roberto]

I thnik the 815 is much better than the Loar, at least the ones I have played.

[Rustyspoon]

Hey thanks for all the help guys! I think I'm leaning towards the km-1000!

[f5loar]

Remember that in any of these models set-up is crictical. A proper set up will make it play and sound better. Sometimes getting one new out of the box they tend to loose any factory set up. It's a long way on that slow boat from China. I see used KM1000 show up on the cafe for around $1000-$1200.

[John Kinn]

Hi there
im still a begginer mandolin player and looking to upgrade my little A style.
the eastman 815 and Loar LM 700 are my top contenders right now but
i dont know which ones beter? or any other suggestions for mandolins would
be appreciated.

Going from a little A-style to a little F-style isn't necessarily an upgrade.

[doc holiday]

......I wonder when Tim O'Brien will upgrade from his 'little A style' Nugget? ;) ..... or Joe Walsh of the Gibson Brothers etc and his little Gilchrist...
Personally I would love to see the one existing Tut Taylor Gibson Loar A5 some day

[shortymack]

Going from a little A-style to a little F-style isn't necessarily an upgrade.

Sure it is if the little a style is a cheapie and you got something like a MD815.

[John Kinn]

Sure it is if the little a style is a cheapie and you got something like a MD815.

My point was, of course, and it's repeated ad nauesam in this forum, that any A-style is a lot more bang for the buck than any F-style.

[f5loar]

Tim owns a few F models too. Sure it's a choice. Even Sam Bush went through that "A5" fad during his Bluegrass Alliance days but he quickly landed on a prewar F5. Bobby Osborne even sported one for a short while. I think Brent Truit is another that prefers the A models. Russell Johnson likes them too. Nothing wrong with being an A fan but if you want to get into the Fs for whatever reason I see no reason to hold back on that desire. I am one who has played the Loar A5 several times and can say it didn't do for me. While it sounded great it just didn't feel better picking it to me. It's like you are missing parts of the mandolin as you look down upon it. It didn't play any better either. It has one of the thinner necks in the Loars which added to the feel of it missing something over the Loar F5s. When you look up at the peghead it looks like it's only half there. There is not much out there on how that Loar A5 stands up in a real bluegrass band.
I would have to hear someone like Ronnie McCoury or Skaggs rip "Rawhide" on it with a full band to see if passes the test. I've only seen and heard guys sitting down picking on it solo or with a whippy guitar behind it. Bottom line is it priced at 3 times the value of a Loar F5? Not IMO but if I ever came into some serious money (multi-millions like on a Lotto win) I would put the Loar A5 on my top ten list of things to waste my money on.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

You have to spend a heck of a lot more to 'upgrade' from those. They play (and sound) great.

Ain't that the truth. A blessing and a curse at the same time. Not easy to upgrade in small increments from a KM-1000 unless someone wants to lose money on a Northfield, F-5G etc.

[Barry Smith]

I've owned both an Eastman 815 and a "the Loar" LM-700 VS. Nothing wrong with either mandolin, but the "The Loar" beat the 815 hands down on tone which is why I sold the 815. The 815 played easier and was much nicer to look at, but didn't have the depth of tone I was looking for. YMMV. I've played 815's, especially the varnish version which I thought were incredible, but I still prefer the tone of the 700VS. I did find the 700's flat fretboard and thicker neck not particularly to my liking, but I gave it a speed neck treatment and am happier with it.

[brunello97]

While y'all are comparing apples, oranges, pears and peaches: what about the Kentucky A900? Has anyone played one of these?

(Yes, I find myself slowly backsliding over into the f-hole territory....)

Mick

[bjewell]

Curious why you think you would "lose" money on a Northfield? They cannot keep them in stock, the waiting list gets longer by the month and they rarely come up on the used market.

I had an 815 and a 915 in Tokyo and sold one and returned the other. The tailpiece was on incorrectly on the 915. Both of them were shrill sounding and not very musical to my ears. The 700 might be ugly but I've played a couple and they sound great. I also like the thicker neck coming from years of playing guitar. I did have a cheaper Eastman that sounded fine but it was one out of a bunch and handpicked by the shop owner. In fact here's the old thread about the whole mess... -L- :

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-27797.html

[Timmando]

I'll throw my support in with the loar 700 camp. I had a km1000 but the neck was too thin and the overall sound was not bassy (or woofy) enough for me. When I played the 700, I liked the thicker neck (being a guitar player also) and I liked the lower bassy sound of it. The 700 has no tone bars glued under the top, which gives it a more open, fuller, played in sound to my ears. I took some steel wool to it to give it a satin type finish instead of the glossy, and I speed treated the neck. The workmanship on the 700 is fine for me, and it was good also on the km1000. If a mando has the tone that I want, I'm not concerned about what kind of finish it has on it. The 700 from what I understand is a nitro finish as is the km1000, maybe the 700 has more of the nitro on it, I don't know, but it sounded better to me. I do know that alot of mando players like the real, original Loar sound, from what I understand that means not too strong of a bass, and the km1000 sounded that way to me, a balanced tone all around. The 700 seems to have a stronger low end, which I like.

[joemcg]

While y'all are comparing apples, oranges, pears and peaches: what about the Kentucky A900? Has anyone played one of these?

Mick
Yup I have one along with two Eastmans. It is a bit more "old style" with non-radiused fretboard and rather small frets. It does have a great tone.

Also, couple of months ago I was searching for an F style in this price class and looked at several Lm-600 & 700s. They all had issues from minor to one with a crack where the neck joined the body. It was probably coincidence but it turned me off on the Loars.