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Exactly Phil. For many years most people here in the Southeast (including myself) thought Carl Garretts 75324 Feb 18 to be the best sounding Loar they had ever heard. Johns is 75327. I have not side-by-sided them, but they are at least very very close. So we have a batch of generally great sounding Feb 18's (the first batch). I personally do not like most of the second batch of Feb 18's. and I am not a fan of the general look of 24's. But they are all Loars.
The qualifier in this case is sound. July 9's sound a bit different and generally more Monroeish. It all depends on what you like
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Darryl:
Why do you think July 9th's have a different tone?
And as far as first batch Feb 18th's, 75317 is also a great one (I'm biased).
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Phil,
I truly do not know. #They do seem to have a reasonably consistent batch of non-quartered maple (unlike those prior), many have very very tight grained tops that do not appear to be red spruce (more European looking). #I can say that the top of mine is a tad thicker than most Loars..but none of this is enough for a generality, because many later Loars are too. #The finish is different, as it appears (opinion only) that they were all french polished at the factory. #One other thing I note is that they seem to have less pronounced recurve. #ie I believe them to be same depth of recurve but thinner at the edge. (meaning the binding doesn't appear to be as tall)
Several of them are extremely light weight
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Hmm. Light weight + the silking figure in the tops would agree with the different woods theory. 73485 seems to have that same super-dense grain on the treble + silking figure. Maybe we need to get Spruce and his microscope looking into wood species next time we do a loarfest http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/...cons/smile.gif
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This might be a decent time to solicit opinions as to why July 9's are consistently "different" sounding Loars. Tommy, Charlie
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These two shots depict the somewhat lack or recurve I mentioned above
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This shot depicts the peculiar irridescent tightly grained wood
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Subdued recurve on 74000 and 73992. #Both instruments are very glossy
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Good question. I know my July 9 (top bound) had that certain something. And, the grain was much tighter on the top with a slab back. I still contend they did something different with the finish on some of this batch (side bounds most particularly). However, the top grads on mine and on Gibson's were very close to the norm, wheras Ricky's top (side bound) was a little thicker. I have no way of identifying the spruce once finish (and age) work their magic on obscuring any identifying marks. (I think I can hear a difference, but that's certainly open for debate) The July 9s (as a general rule) have that certain midrange thing happening...big time, but the Feb. 24s (usually narrow grain in the center moving out towards wide grain on the edge of the top) tend to have that "bassier" tone that a lot of modern players seem to prefer.
Anyway, I guess all of that is to say, "I don't have a clue".
Charlie
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My opinion- I think the best sounding batch is the March 31 with virzis. Very mellow D&A strings, Steinway tone on the E. 76547 has a gentle but balanced G, 75844 has a really strong punchy one. Virzi ones mellow out the strident rasp by comparison (that a lot of people want and exploit to great effect I should add), or maybe that's just the March 31 batch..
The May 29 '23 I've tried is pretty much archetypal Loar tone, that midrange, ease of play, and balance all the way up the neck. When I tried John's I couldn't get a note I really liked out of it vs Jack's 76547 which I thought was like picking through warm butter. Jamie Wiens studied 76547 and suggested it had a fairly shallow neck set compared to John's, which might contribute to that "Feel" or ease of play on the strings.
I bet the Feb 24s like a heavier pick than I use, especially if they are as Charlie says more rumbly/bassy. I can't get that sort of tone with my right arm, but I can get very nice midrange out of many others I've tried. A '26/27 fern over here in London likes very hard picking, and rewards it with some nice thumpy bassy tone vs the May 29 which takes a gentle stroke and gives midrange in spades.
I think the nicest non-virzi one I've played is 71634, a Dec 20 1922 one serial off Grisman's Crusher. Mike Compton gave it a good review at Loarfest too, saying something along the lines of "I don't normally like Loar mandolins, but I really like THIS mandolin"
They are all different, with some shared tonal traits but more differences than similarities!
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Darryl reminded me I had some photos to upload of sidebound July 9 74000, which certainly fits right up there in that "most desirable" category I was describing above. This one is about as mint as anything you'd ever see..
http://www.mandolinarchive.com/images/74000_face.jpg
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I've been on a bit of an Archive updates binge in the last couple of days. Lots of new photos and I can't believe I forgot to list the twin ferns that first emerged in January
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Nice photos of 74000. Make you want to own such beauty forever and ever. Seems 74000 may be the lightest of the batch of side bounds. Beside Darryl's it sure looks like the next of kin to it. Ricky's is close too.
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The lightness is very interesting. Remind me to bring a spring scale to Loarfest. I think Darryl is on to something when he suggests different wood species. 73485 at least has 2 very different trees making up the top- the treble side has absurd grain density (45-60 grains per inch) and silking figure much like Darryl's July 9 shows in this photo:
http://www.mandolinarchive.com/images/73992_front3.jpg
I sure have a lot of builders who check out the archives- I wonder if we have a "hacklinger army" out there such that we could start documenting top graduations for the Loars in the archives that occasionally come out to festivals?
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Thanks for chiming in Charlie
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no no no, you guys have it all wrong. The best, most desired Loars are the April 25s. They're the prettiest, best sounding and most colectible batchhttp://www.f5journal.com/pic_day/73013/73013_1.JPG
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The back on 74000 is simply stunning. It reminds me of Compton's F5 Gil.
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See what you've done Dan. Back to arranging chairs on the Titanic
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For me any loar signed f-5 is the most desireable. But as far as looks go 73992,74000,and 74002 are about the prettiest mando's I have ever laid my eyes on.
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Hey Brian (fellow FJ Cruiser and Loar owner)...
Give me a call tomorrow. I need to talk with you.
Charlie
