$100,000 Mandolin Found in PA

[Ron Landis]

Recently a Loar apparently "walked into" the Denver Folklore Center. From what I hear, Harry Tuft's crew treated the sellers with integrity, and arranged a joint sale between the Folklore Center and Elderly, to get the sellers fair market value. Don't know whether the sellers knew what they had, but it's always gratifying to hear about people being treated honestly.

That sounds like Harry. Having grown up in Denver, I cut my musical teeth at the DFC pay-or-play "Hootenanies" (three songs or 75 cents admission) many years ago. I remember hearing a story about an employee who got one over on an old man that brought in a very old Martin parlor guitar. When Harry found out about it, he tracked the guy down and gave him the balance of what it was worth. Classy guy.

[kudzugypsy]

i met a guy a few years ago at a fiddlers convention that use to work for the phone company in PA years ago (70's) - he said he found 2 loars and 2 ferns over the years in PA - he would go do these service calls back when the phone man would come to your home and would always ask the little old ladies if they had any musical instruments - thus his success - he was dead on straight up too and it was no BS. Philly & Baltimore had large mando orchestras too

maybe this is the recent elderly loar on consignment?

[Links]

I found a 100k Loar recently. Only problem is that the owner wanted 250k for it!

Kudzu - I had a friend who owned an antique mall in Raleigh, and was also a collector of many neat things (Winchester stuff, old advertising signs, etc.). He got his antique career started while he as an Orkin employee and visited many an attic, garage, basement, and crawl space. I don't think he found any Loars, but he sure found a lot of other good items!

[f5loar]

On my business card "Will clean attics for FREE"
You would be surprised has that works with old people wanting to clean their attics they no longer can get into.

[Glassweb]

has ANYONE played that 1924 Dec. 1st Loar that Elderly is selling through a shop in Colorado? been there for quite awhile...

[barney 59]

On my business card "Will clean attics for FREE"
You would be surprised has that works with old people wanting to clean their attics they no longer can get into.

My attic is very dusty and full of cobwebs would you please take care of that but leave the stuff----

[barney 59]

A well know dealer of vintage instruments that I know would find photographs of old musical groups -mandolin orchestras and such and as a quest would try and find out the names of the players-- and the best part--they were holding their instruments in the photos. He would then try and track them down or their families. I know of at least 2 Loars that he managed to snake from old widows that way.

[kudzugypsy]

here are 2 other tricks the big dealers used in the past - probably doesnt work as good anymore, but shows the genius of how they were able to find all those great instruments:

1. by going to the musicians unions in all the larger cities and getting that list where they had address and such info, as the union kept up with all that for mailing and payments, dues, etc. plus they also had a monthly newsletter - A LOT of those instruments came from these old union lists.

2. the best i think, was gruhn advertising not in music trade mags, like 99% of the dealers do, but in mags like Readers Digest, Ladies Home Journal, and all those mags directed at little old ladies - they knew it was near impossible to pry these instruments from the male owners, but really easy from the widows - that was just genius.

[Links]

I knew another guy who knew an older widow with one and made it a point to send her a country ham every Christmas (and probably a lot of other healthy treats)! Actually she lived pretty close to Tom!

[kudzugypsy]

that sounds like one of Tony Williamson's old "tricks"

[Links]

No comment!

[jim simpson]

The title to this thread made me think of the first Loar that I ever played. It was owned by an older guy "Henry" from Chester County outside of Philadelphia. He let me play the Loar for a good hour or so. He also had some other instruments that were for sale. I made the trek out to his home and ended up not liking the mandolin that was for sale (not the Loar!). He had an old Herringbone among other vintage instruments. I don't think he played any instruments and seemed to just like buying and selling. He has sinced passed and sold the Loar in the 90's to Mandolin Bros. (I believe).
I suspect opportunity was a big factor in Henry's ability to pick up these rare gems.

[Darryl Wolfe]

"Henry" from Chester County outside of Philadelphia. He has sinced passed and sold the Loar in the 90's to Mandolin Bros. (I believe).
.

Yep "Ole Mr. Garris." He was a real hoot. He owned the "Red" Loar

[AlanN]

Was that the one pictured on the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble 'Gifts' recording?

[Darryl Wolfe]

Was that the one pictured on the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble 'Gifts' recording?

I do not know. 76787

[Chuck Naill]

On my business card "Will clean attics for FREE"
You would be surprised has that works with old people wanting to clean their attics they no longer can get into.

You guys got me curious. We built the house in 2001, but I decided to check anyway. I found a Loar, 2 1935 Martin D-28's, and a mid 60's Chrysler Hemi engine still in the crate.

How do these things get there?

[kudzugypsy]

wat off topic, but all this attic talk reminds me of back when i got out of college we were renting this nice old house and when i went up in the attic, it was strange as there was a sink, water lines and all kinds of strange stuff up there - i figured someone had a darkroom up there developing film...
well i soon found out the previous tenant was a HUGE dope grower...thus all the lighting and watering lines in the attic.

all my attic revealed was BATS!

[allenhopkins]

You guys got me curious. We built the house in 2001, but I decided to check anyway. I found a Loar, 2 1935 Martin D-28's, and a mid 60's Chrysler Hemi engine still in the crate.

How do these things get there?

Squirrels.

[Chuck Naill]

Squirrels.

Well at least they are good for something.

[barney 59]

wat off topic, but all this attic talk reminds me of back when i got out of college we were renting this nice old house and when i went up in the attic, it was strange as there was a sink, water lines and all kinds of strange stuff up there - i figured someone had a darkroom up there developing film...
well i soon found out the previous tenant was a HUGE dope grower...thus all the lighting and watering lines in the attic.

all my attic revealed was BATS!

Same thing here -- This room I am in now that is my office was at one time some kind of cocaine lab which had all kinds of wiring and plumbing and ventilation that made no sense in a house and had something that resembled a castle door when I moved in. I've found hidden compartments built inside cabinets and under floors and every remodeling project is partly a quest for the stash. So far nothing ---
The problem with California is that there aren't enough old places to have old attics--Steve Martin in a movie commented about how in LA they had houses that dated all the way back to 1979! When I lived in W.Va people from up north would travel down "antiquing" but no one there ever had anything - there was never any money. I think most of the old instruments and other stuff were in northern industrial cities that had a good sized population of middle class and upper middle class people that could afford to splurge a little and buy better stuff,-- places like Cleveland. ....Can anyone think of a place where musicians tend to retire to? oh yah --California!

[Michael Gowell]

I learned banjo on a sweet little SS Stewart "20th Century" owned by my best friend's dad. He was an estimator for a moving firm and got to look over a lot of homes. Occasionally he made an offer to an owner who'd rather sell an item than pay to move it.

Out in his garage there was a restored 1954 MG TD body with the engine literally in a crate fresh from a rebuild.

[300win]

Catching up on reading my local newspaper after a week vacation I was surprised to see a color photo of an early 1923 Loar Gibson F5 in my small local paper. It was a full page color ad by those webuytreasure.com buyers that travel around to small town hotels buying up gold and collectibles. The ad said this: $100,000 Mandolin found in Pennsylvania. On the Treasure Hunters' last trip to Pottsville, PA they discovered an unexpected gem. Treasure Hunter Will Whitaker reports "I couldn't believe we had come across a Gibson F-5 because they are so rare!" With a speedy call to Kenny Davis, the Treasure Hunters quickly learned of the mandolin's authenticity. It was genuine. The Treasure Hunters met the seller's asking price enthusiastically, and the Gibson F-5 became a found treasure. He made a very large profit on the mandolin and left the Roadshow with a great deal of cash in hand. Finished with an ultra-thin, hand-brushed varnish and hand-applied French polish, the Gibson F-5 Master Model is the ultimate in sound and beauty.
So who is this Kenny Davis that he knows so much about Loars? And does anyone know more details about the sale of the mandolin and which Loar it was and where this one went to from the Treasure Hunters? Sounds to me the seller was happy to get his 50 cents on the dollar(or less). If they appraised it at $100,000 and bought it for that(their website says their limit on Gibson instruments is $84K) it's easy to see how these wholesalers work. No doubt they had a buyer lined up for around $200,000.

I read that also in my county once a week newspaper. When I read it I thought man someones shooting somebody a line of bull___.

[Ed Lee]

RE: Genny ... Was that what I drank in Geneva NY on leave from basic USAF training at Sampson AFB? The pitcher was on our table and we just kept getting refills. Don't remember much else about that night ... not even how I got back to base. Can't drink anything now due to meds. ... Ed Lee

[jim simpson]

"Yep "Ole Mr. Garris." He was a real hoot. He owned the "Red" Loar" - Darryl

Darryl,
Is "Red" owned by a player that may have recorded with it?
Jim

[Michael Gowell]

Ed - yeah, that beer was probably Genesee - "the beer more people like" - named for the river that flows through Rochester NY where it was (is?) brewed. "Jenny" was their symbol - a smiling young cocktail waitress bringing you a tray with a bottle and stemmed glass. Simultaneously sweet and sexy, she wore a "french maid" style outfit, very 1950's.

Good but inexpensive beer, the choice of servicemen and undergaduates throughout NY state.