Well......the body appearance is the same.
I'm usually first in line for the Loar unicorns and fairy dust jokes, but there is a distinct difference in construction through the years.
When I look at the measured hacklinger notes I've made on several hundred Gibson mandolins from 1914 to 1927 periods, the Loar years do vary as much as 30% in specific dimensions like the side thickness and plates. The teens tend to be thicker. Those subtleties do add up to substantial differences in voice. As well, there are some very obvious batches of wood that were different than others. Just like when you go to Loarfest and actually see fifty Lloyd Loar signed F5s in the same room together and the differences are quite obvious, not all F4s are created the same.
Personally, I like the 1918 F2s for a distinct rowdy voice and then the 1923 F4s with the chocolate colored tuner buttons seem to be standouts in the crowd.
There is also what I believe to be one specific craftsman from that era who's instrument builds are markedly different from the others. Most Fs have sort of average to medium sculpting in the arches and scroll. I've seen enough of one particular style where the scroll and recurves and button are very distinct- sharp and well executed and noticeably different from others. My hypothesis is that they had someone who was very skilled- possibly trained in a European violin school, whose work was so much better that they just let him do his thing.
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