Loar Picture of the Day

[danb]

Thanks Bruce, that's fantastic. Is there more to that recording?

[bgmando]

On the scraping, doesn't Sonny say in one of the bluegrass documentaries, that he heard a scraping sound, and turned to see Monroe had a pen-knife out and as scraping on the top.

Sonny asking what or why. Monroe answered something like:

"If it don't look so purty, than someone is less likely to pick it up and make off with it."

[Darryl Wolfe]

# Sonny asking what or why. Monroe answered something like:

# "If it don't look so purty, than someone is less likely to pick it up and make off with it."

Now that story fits more closely with the evidence. I have always thought that he did it for some reasons that did not necessarily involve disdain for Gibson.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Charlie told me around two years ago that Monroe's Loar was oversprayed with lacquer. How much of it, I didn't ask.
#Chris Stanley

This is true. Charlie and I have pondered this many times. The overspray is consistent with that found on other July 9's. It is a very light topcoat, and is nothing like that found in the 50's or 60's. It is like Ronnie Renos mandolin and at least two other July 9's

[GTison]

But an "ORIGINAL" 1920's overspray, not done during a repair? Thus, NO overall BODY refinish or overspray during any of the subsequent (1950's or later) repairs?

[GTison]

...see the Fern on ebay for sale S/N 86104. 80K Nice pics.

[f5loar]

I stand by the reason he removed "Gibson" from the headstock was to make a statement after the 1952 repair was or was not done. Removal of the finish could be another reason. Makes you wonder why Earl didn't do the same when Gibson replaced his fancy Granada inlayed fingerboard with a 1949 BowTie Inlay fingerboard. I would have been pissed!

[mandophil(e)]

I cannot find Fern #86104 on ebay. Anybody care to post a link?

[mandopete]

Makes you wonder why Earl didn't do the same when Gibson replaced his fancy Granada inlayed fingerboard with a 1949 BowTie Inlay fingerboard.

Huh? That is the first I've heard of this story. When did that happen?

[Darryl Wolfe]

Granada with orig fingerboard

[Darryl Wolfe]

Granada with bowtie fingerboard

[Darryl Wolfe]

Although those pictures are in reverse age order. #The banjo started original, got the bowties and then was changed back. Note: this is the banjo that he got from Don Reno in exchange for his "flying eagle flathead"

[Darryl Wolfe]

Fern for sale
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Very-Clean-1927-Gibson-F-5-Fern-Mandolin_W0QQitemZ170015120805QQihZ007QQcategoryZ1 0179QQss
PageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">link</a>

[Big Joe]

Yes, Darryl, it was consistent with the repair shop in the twenties to early thirties to do a light lacquer spray over the top and not always any place else. Earl's fingerboard replacement is no surprise either for that era. Most manufacturers did those kind of things as standard practice. Remember, they were required under warranty to bring them to the same condition as the then current models. That would mean bow tie inlays on the banjo. Aren't you glad some of us have stopped those kind of actions? The factory only used what they had available to make repairs. They were not concerned about originality.

[mandopete]

Fern for sale

Buy It Now, only $89,500!

[mandophil(e)]

With good Loars going for $160-$175k or more, $89.5 for that Fern doesn't seem like a bad deal. And, it is a GREAT Fern--I used to own it.

[bgmando]

Clarification -- on the Sonny - Big Mon scraping:

The scraping just had to do with messing up the top finish so it would be less attractive to theft.

I was under the impression that the gouging of Gibson from the peghead was a different deal, and due to him being hacked at Gibson.

On current Loar pricing -- someone from Nashville recently told me Ronnie McCoury paid $350,000 for his.

That can't be right, can it?

[Brian Aldridge]

no bgmando, that is not right.

[f5loar]

$350,000 for a Loar....yeah that's the going rate these days(HA!) Let's get that price on up there so me and Darryl can retire early! Big Joe, it would make sense to replace the whole fingerboard vs. doing each fret one at a time but that don't explain how Monroe wanted a new fret job in 1951 and he didn't get the same treatment as Earl and the Loar come back with the current F5 block inlay fingerboard(There have been several Loars with Block inlays). Maybe that was another problem is they didn't do that as he asked for new frets and tuners along with a refinish. Actually I guess Monroe was pretty happy they at least reattached the original neck. Poor PeeWee Lambert '22Loar sported an early 30's neck. Earl must have been happy with his new bowties as he is smiling the same in both photos!

[Big Joe]

It was not unusual to replace the fingerboard when some instruments were returned to Gibson for fret issues. When you consider the means they had available at the time, it was probably as quick and easy to just replace the fingerboard and rebind it than to just refret. That way you get the "factory new" look with the binding over the fret ends. We must remember most manufacturers were pretty good at building instruments, but that does not make one good at repair. They are often two different skill sets. In addition, it was quite likely the factory did not have luthiers who built the whole product, but just did their particular job and it passed to the next guy for the next job. With this in mind, they may not have had the ability to do a quality refret, while they obviously knew how to put a new fingerboard on the instrument. These boards were likely fretted before installation on the instrument. It is much easier than pounding frets over the extension! Replacing the fingerboard is not that complicated and was likely easier than dealing with planing and refretting the instrument. I would not be surprised if many of the fingerboards were not replaced to rid the instrument of the hump at the body joint. Replacing the fingerboard is an odd way to relieve this situation, but may have been the only method they knew to handle the issue. Of course, some of this is speculation but we do know they did replace fingerboards rather than do refrets.

[danb]

Darryl- I think that sound clip Bruce posted covers the peghead scrape very well. That's a fantastic piece of audio history. I'm thinking I might need to add a new part to the archive for stuff like this, hearing instruments described in the owner's own words sounds like a great addition

[markishandsome]

I'm thinking I might need to add a new part to the archive for stuff like this, hearing instruments described in the owner's own words sounds like a great addition

Have you considered adding soundclips of the instruments being played?

[danb]

I have a few of those, though only stuff I owned myself so far. Might be something coming up in that area, though it's a fairly subjective thing. I can only really demonstrate how they sound when I play them, for example.. check out "Tone Poets" to see what I mean

[bgmando]

Someone recently told me that Monroe's main Loar mandolin that Charlie fixed was tap tuned to E, while most mandos are tuned to D.

Is that folklore or true?

[Daniel1975]

What did you all use to play the Monroe sound clip that Bruce posted? It acted like it was a Window Media file... but my computer says it doesn't have the extension needed in order to play. Thanks in advance, I reckon I need a computer class