Skaggs dmm

[Bradley]

just got back from a trip to the Gibson OAI division in Nashville Tennessee. It was really neat to hang out with David Harvey for a bit and meet the craftsman that work at Gibson. If only I could make my mandolin sound as good as Dave does. #

Luckily I had my Skaggs #9 DMM with me when Dave pulled out a beautiful Loar...WOW I was in the presence of the holy grail. I was lucky enough to capture some pictures of the DMM by the side of the real deal and was shocked by the closeness of the two. I am going to include some pictures and let you decide which one is the Skaggs and which one is the Loar. Thanks to the guys at OAI for making such a nice instrument and for their hospitality during my visit in Nashville

[Bradley]

Heres the front view...

[Bradley]

Heres the backs...

[evanreilly]

I'm going to guess the Skaggs has the strap?

[Rocky Top]

I am going to include some pictures and let you decide which one is the Skaggs and which one is the Loar.

Those are two gorgeous instruments. My guess is the one on the right is the Loar and the one on the left is the Skaggs DMM.

[pjlama]

Left RSDMM
Right Loar

[robbyford]

I'm no expert here, but I was lucky enough to attend the first Loarfest in bakersfield. The dead givaway is the photo of the maple backs. Loar-era gibsons were made with maple that was not perfectly cross-quartered, giving the curl a cloudy appearance, as opposed to the sharp lines of today's precision cuts. Take a close look at the one on the right and you'll see what I mean. That's you're Loar right there.

[f5loar]

The color is the dead give-away. Gibson has not quite got it right on the correct shades for Loar era F5s. The other is the maple flame but some Loars are perfect matches. Some so close they look like one piece backs. Also top binding on the Loar is mulit-ply like on the '24s.

[Bradley]

Man I sure cant fool you guys....

I should have only done the headtocks and stopped there:D

They had another one in the works there at OAI that had a color very close to the Loar.

[MandoSquirrel]

I got it right from the headstock, before seeing the others, but that's okay, they do look very close.(except the back, big dif there)

[Bradley]

Yep....As I posted the pix I knew some of the things that were a give away, and the backs were a definite give-away

The Headstocks were the closest of all of the viewpoints I had.

I was just so 'taken" by the loar... I have played about 6-7 and that one was really nice. Dave mentioned the date but I forget what it was.

[Elliot Luber]

I've been critical of distressed mandos,but they both look like fine instruments.