Printable View
Posted on FB: “Roger has decided it’s time to sell his Gibson Loar mandolin. This was Lloyd Loar’s personal F5 dated Feb 18, 1924. It has a flowerpot inlay and a Virzi Tone Producer. Roger got it from Loar’s widow in 1998.”
Attachment 181500 Attachment 181501
Yep the ultimate Loar! But a wee bit pricy!
Has anyone played it? Is it a good one? (I mean I know they’re all good, but some are better than others, I believe).
- - - Updated - - -
Has anyone played it? Is it a good one? (I mean I know they’re all good, but some are better than others, I believe).
Never played it but knowing Loar his personal mandolin from the early Feb 18th 24 batch I'm sure it isn't no slouch!
Okay, will admit to being a bit surprised when I saw this on FB a couple of days ago. Figured it would have been on here first.
Not sure of what the price is. Cant see that. But just being a Loar , you got to be rich to buy Rich. The only folks able to obtain such a item are of Status .
I wish I had another house I could sell!
I think its about 250K! Not too bad, but bad enough for a quarter Mil if one doesn't have that cash laying around? I've never heard this Loar but from those who have heard/played it said it has it going on plus its part of the early batch of Feb. 18th 24's and I personally love the voice of all these ever since I spent a load of time with my Uncle Gene Johnson's Feb 18th #75305-his has it going on big time! These ones a group of about 25#'s are pretty special IMHO! And the good news is according to the known #'s there are a few unaccounted for so where are they? Attics, Closets, Under Beds, or the horror of being burnt "sure don't want to think about that scenario!" Besides the Loar A-5, Loar's personal "Loar" would be the ultimate Loar for us geeks who dream!
Hm, that Loar - #75315 - has something going for it, as it's LL's personal F5. For all of you considering, on this F5 there used to be a pickup installed, hence plucked borings in the pick guard. That Loar has a retrofit Virzi; there are signs of the back being sawn off at some point (e. g. smaller back binding). Other than that, I wonder what that F5 sounds like, no idea.
Hendrik
Just my opinion, but I guess next to Monroe's Loar I would say Loar's Loar would have that additional "x-factor" in terms of extra appeal -- not that I would turn down any Loar if one crossed my path that I could figure a way to get my hands on..........
How big is the market on ANY Quarter Million Dollar Musical Instrument? ...and that is assuming he doesn't want more. Are there 20 Steve Martin's and tech Billionaires out there thinking... 'That would make a nice Christmas gift to myself'??? It only takes two people to drive up the price... or one person to make a deal. ...but for us middle class people... It would take most of my hard earned funds, with little left over. If I bought this, I would have to live in a tent, under a municipal overpass. ...but oh the sounds coming from that tent!!!
Timbofood, you'd need more that one house I think.
Good point. OTOH, I'm kind of surprised it even needs to be advertised............I would think Siminoff would have a box of phone numbers with people who would be interested...Quote:
Originally Posted by your_diamond
A similar tiny but strong market exists for those who "collect" 1958-60 Les Paul Standards (also around $250K)........a lot of these sell within a small network of well-heeled fans and never need to be advertised.
Well it seems "Rockers" are way more into the old electrics than our very small niche of Loar freaks! And the Rockers have serious cash compared to bluegrassers/country folk? I don't think any Loars have been selling for 200K since 2008 or so when prices on all were seriously on the up!? I could be wrong but I know of a few Loars that people paid that price and above back then and can't sell them now for that price-one example is the one Loar with a one piece back, it may be signed the same day as Monroe's, maybe its at Pickers supply-I talked to the owner of the shop over a year ago and he said the Loar owner paid the high price back then thinking he could make out and now its at 175K and still no takers? The San Jose "20 buck flea market Fern Loar" is still for sale over two years later at 165K? So right now if people want to sell them they better go realistic and sell for a bit above 100K or they will still sit for many years to come? That's just my opinion of course but I don't think I'm too far of from reality?
I don't get why a boat paddle "what my gramps called an electric guitar" would bring so much more cash than a finely tuned acoustic machine such as a Loar? That blows this mind!
I played that Loar for a minute when I took Siminoff’s F5 building class in the summer of 2015. I'd never played one before, so I didn’t have a sufficient base of experience to judge it among other Loars. While I thought it sounded really good, I actually preferred the sound of one of Roger's own builds. I thought then, and still do, in part because of the aforementioned work done on it, that its major value comes from a) it being a Loar in the first place, b) it being Loar’s personal instrument, and c) it subsequently belonging to Roger, a preeminent Loar scholar and perhaps the prime mover in helping Gibson (and many others) bring high quality mandolin building back from a premature grave. That’s about as fine a provenance as you can get.Quote:
Originally Posted by David Lewis
Before getting too worked up over the cost of a 'golden era' F-5, it's worth remembering that there are many thousands of violin family instruments (and even bows) in that price range and above. It's not quite as shocking as it may appear at first glance.
Your right Brad-that slipped my mind the prices some of those Violins and bows bring compared to say a flamed top Les Paul or a Loar! Those are like tinker toys in price comparison!
With "non-Loar" Loar selling prices in the $150k+/- range lately, $250k seems like a pretty steep premium, even with the provenance involved.
Will it really sound $100k better...? ;)
It’s not about the sound. It’s the ‘historical artifactness’ of it.
Who told you?Quote:
Originally Posted by Denny Gies