Undiscovered Loar

[Mando Mort]

I had to come back and look at it again...very cool to have a place like Mandolin Café where you get to see some of these beautiful, historical instruments (not to mention a lot of other cool stuff)...

[Charlie Bernstein]

tbown's thread used the "undiscovered" label; Gruhn's wrote "previously undiscovered" in their ad which can have good meaning.

"Mint" is an accepted label for an item in perfect condition, meaning unmarred in any way, as it was when brand-spanking-new-out-of-the-box. The term is used as a grade of the condition of "used", not necessarily "newly minted" items. Can have good meaning in that context.

"Vintage", well, we've already had an entire thread bemoaning the lack of consistency in the use of that one. Just chuckle and move on.

Ahah! Thanks for clarifying. I knew George was a stand-up guy.

[Jim Hilburn]

To me it's an example of the quickly and not too carefully applied hand rubbed dye. Of course we now get to see pristine examples from Gilchrist, Mowry and others who take their time to get it right.
However this was one of Gibsons inovations at the time and there wasn't much to compare it to, just like the scroll.

[DHopkins]

I'm not crazy about the scroll on that one - so I guess I'll have to pass . . .

Yeah, that's the reason I turned it down, too.

[Hendrik Ahrend]

To me it's an example of the quickly and not too carefully applied hand rubbed dye. Of course we now get to see pristine examples from Gilchrist, Mowry and others who take their time to get it right.
However this was one of Gibsons inovations at the time and there wasn't much to compare it to, just like the scroll.

To me that sunburst looks absolutely well-done. It does not look sprayed on at all, but instead nicely rubbed in by hand, while beautifully accentuating the grain and flames in the woods - as opposed to so many blackish 1924 F5s, where the grain is obscured and left barely visible. And you're right, Jim, Gilchrist and a few others are very good at that. But IMHO, many, many other makers have yet to come up with a sunburst quality comparable to those earlier F5s.

[Clinton Johnson]

I guess everyone sees things differently but to me I think the ole boy that carved the scroll back then executed it beautifully. I don’t see much wrong with it other than a little distorted binding on the back plate inside tight curve of scroll. I think I see a little piece of filler wood missing in front of the 15th fret cross plastic piece. Other than that it’s a work of art. IMHO

[Jim Hilburn]

I would guess it looks quite a bit different if you had it in your hands than in the brightly lit picture. But it still looks like the guy applying the dye was in a hurry.

[BradKlein]

Agree. ^^^
Hey, I like silly threads about not being able to afford a 20s F-5 as much as the next guy, but I really like to hear from the pro players and luthiers that I admire when they've tried out a particular instrument. And I miss hearing from the likes of Joe Vest and Charlie Derrington, who between them had played more than half the Loar signed Gibsons in existence. That is some perspective!

[darylcrisp]

now to get one of the Nashville cats to swing by and post a demo-I nominate Marc MacGlashan!!!

please!!
d

[re simmers]

Great looking mandolin!!! I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it for a while. One of a kind right now, and priced fairly. It’s a smart thing to have it priced to sit in the store for a while. He’ll get $155k after about 6 months.

[AlanN]

Not sure how many mandolins Marc will demo in Nashville any time soon, as he moved back to Maryland.

[Drew Streip]

Not sure how many mandolins Marc will demo in Nashville any time soon, as he moved back to Maryland.

I saw that.... I’m sure Carter Vintage has plenty of talent to fill his shoes. Tristan Scroggins seems to be their most recent addition. Those videos are how I discovered Marc’s playing though, so I’ll always be grateful!

[Brian Harris]

I don't drool over this like I do a Collings. These new kids are really making outstanding instruments.