Lloyd Loar in 1921 on Tuning Air Chambers

[Joe Spann]

Following his 1921 speech at the Guild of Banjoists, Mandolinists and Guitarists Convention in Los Angeles, California. Loar opened up the floor for questions from the audience. Several of the questions and answers were preserved by an unknown transcriber and then published in the January 1922 issue of Sounding Board Salesman.

One of the questions was about his recommended method of tuning an air chamber. His answer is given below, verbatim.

LLOYD LOAR ON TUNING AIR CHAMBERS
"It is possible to tell the pitch of a given air chamber in several ways, the most exact is by blowing through a small tube directly across the sound-hole, causing it to give out a note like a whistle. Another way is to hum or sing a scale into the sound-hole, it will respond more fully to one note than the rest - that one is in unison, or nearly so with the pitch of the air chamber."

"To determine what pitch is most desirable for a certain air chamber I have an experimental instrument that can be tuned or strung in any manner and with any length scale. It has an adjustable air chamber which can be changed while playing and so the most effective pitch determined."

[pfox14]

Notice that he doesn't mention tap tuning at all. Very strange.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

"To determine what pitch is most desirable for a certain air chamber I have an experimental instrument that can be tuned or strung in any manner and with any length scale. It has an adjustable air chamber which can be changed while playing and so the most effective pitch determined."

Anyone know what this experimental instrument is? I'm very curious.

[Gene Summers]

Was Lloyd prone to drink much?