The author seems to think Mr Loar was a marketing plan....he makes quite a story.....thoughts?
The author seems to think Mr Loar was a marketing plan....he makes quite a story.....thoughts?
Can you provide a link to the story?
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
Walter Carter said as much in his new book Mandolin in America: Loar was a professional musician with no formal training in acoustics; the "acoustical engineer" title was conferred by a Gibson manager; Loar had little to do with development of the F5 mandolin.
I thought about starting a thread here called "Everything you Know is Wrong." What now?
Exploring Classical Mandolin (Berklee Press, 2015)
Progressive Melodies for Mandocello (KDP, 2019) (2nd ed. 2022)
New Solos for Classical Mandolin (Hal Leonard Press, 2020)
2021 guest artist, mandocello: Classical Mandolin Society of America
that signature though! Boy howdy!
f-d
¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!
'20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A
OH NO!! The truth is out, look for the price of those Loar signed mandolins to fall like a ton of bricks. You think?
Well its the truth some of has known for a long time, just like do ya really think Loar played each one than made the label for that particular instrument, I think not, he signed a bunch of labels on certain days than put them in a pile of instruments. Loar prices already are cut in half and then some from what they were a few years ago, mainly because people are finding out that there are so many great makers out there with a better sound/voice they like to look for in a mandolin for a fraction of the cost! Look at Loars Vivitone instruments, You'd think he'd come up with something better than those if he designed the F-5! Just my opinion. But the Loar signed style 5 instruments are special because they are the first of the kind that everyone has been copying or improving on for a long time now. Loars will always be special because they were the first..
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Actually you probably wouldn't have found it, I had trouble finding it and I remembered the conversation.
Loar was a visionary, that I wouldn't take away from him but the guys building the mandolins were the artisans.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
What still isn't answered I don't believe (and I have read the article) is were the major changes, long neck, elevated board, narrow board and f holes Lloyds idea or not. And if not, whose?
Maybe I should have added a LOL to my previous post. I know the price of Loars have fallen in the last few years, so has most collectibles, homes, interest on investments, as well as many other things due to our economy. My point being who ever designed the Loar signed instruments really doesn’t matter they have become the “holy grail” and that ain’t likely to change.
They may have already been on the drawing board or they may have asked Lloyd what he thought would make a better mandolin. I'm sure he had input. He was involved in the ball bearing tone chamber for banjos although I can't find a patent with his name on it. I believe Roger Siminoff states on his page that he held that patent or maybe he just designed it. He holds a number of patents that were granted after he left Gibson. If you were hiring him you'd use him to try and tap into what would move the market.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
I'm not real sure what sort of education or experience one would need to be an official acoustic engineer back in the 1920s. I'm guessing there was not a degree or other formal training available. Loar did author a series of technical articles for the magazine Jacobs Orchestra Monthly and the Cadenza. A couple examples include Vibrating Air (Feb 1925) and Concert Hall Acoustics (June 1927), and there were likely several other articles in the series as well. I have attached the cover of the June 1927 issue and a sample page from the Feb 1925 issue.
www.vintagefrettedinstruments.com
One trick I've found regarding Mandolin Cafe searches, is to not use the search on the website, but go to the Google page and search instead and usually Mandolin Cafe shows up as the first results. I've found articles that way that I couldn't with the MC search for some reason, YMMV.
The title was conferred, at the very least, by the Gibson company on Lloyd Loar; therefore, it was an official, professional designation. What can't be determined is just what extent he was involved with the technical changes and specifications.
Formal training is not to be diminished, but there are different forms of it. Long prior to the 1920's there were university studies of acoustics. Also, probably for millenia, there have been formal master/apprenticeship arrangements. And even today, it is not necessary to complete a graded, formal, university education to become a master in a given field - hence the existence of "honorary degrees" (although they can be conferred for a variety of reasons).
So nobody will argue that Lloyd Loar was not an acoustical engineer working for Gibson - the question is, how much influence did he actually have on the final products?
Addendum: I've known people with more degrees than a thermometer and they're still "not so hot".
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