? on "The Loar" mandolins :

[300win]

I have read several comments about " THe Loar" mandolins here on the cafe. I played some of them at the Galax fiddlers convention last summer, I think it was about 12 total the vendor had both As and Fs, and they sounded ok, but my beef with them was that every single one of them the necks of them felt like a baseball bat, they were all fat and much too thick, compared to any other mandolin I've ever had in my hands. My question is are all of them still that way ? And for those of you that own them do you have the neck thinned down any ?
On another note the best playing sounding mandolin in the lesser price range that I've picked on during the past 4 years was a new Flatiron F5 by Gibson, the ones made overseas. That mandolin was in the same store I got my A9 and F5 from, and it actually sounded very good to be in the lower end cost.

[Brent Hutto]

The first LM-600 and LM-700 I played had pretty beefy, v-shaped necks. Presumably they were from somewhat early in the production run as the more recent one that my friend Lou recently acquired has a neck fatter than some but it sure feels not as big as those earlier one.

The LM-400 that I owned had a neck profile very similar to a Kentucky KM-505. Very mainstream, modern mandolin neck with a faint vee to its profile.

[300win]

Well the vendor at the 2010 Galax conv. was I believe none other than Greg Rich, looks like he would had some newer built ones there. Don't get me wrong I played some on all of them and they sounded ok although green, and one A stood above all the others, but the necks were very uncomfortable to me.

[Brent Hutto]

I found the neck on that first LM-700 I played to be awesomely comfortable. My current Mike Black A5 is more or less in that ballpark of overall thickness but with the Vee rounded off a bit. And with a 1-1/4" fretboard width for good measure. I'd still have the LM-400 if I got on with the 1-1/8" neck and moderately thin neck. Which would have been my loss as The Five is an awesome instrument but I'd have never gone shopping for it in the first place except for the neck thing.

[Big Joe]

The LM600 and LM 700 have a pretty big neck, but that can be shaved and reshaped quite a bit to make it more comfortable. The LM400 has what I call a standard sized neck. Very similar to most of the Gibsons and Gil's I've had. It is more comfortable to me but some like the larger necks.

[mandolin tony]

Hi Joe,how much do you get to reshape a neck,we miss you on the banjo hangout take care Tony.

[Paul Hostetter]

Jeez, if you think those necks are big, for heaven's sake don't ever try to play a guitar. Those necks are really big!

[billkilpatrick]

the thicker neck adds to its appeal - imho - it is what it is: a great big, beefy, substantial sounding mandolin. (goes "ARF!")

[Folkmusician.com]

Jeez, if you think those necks are big, for heaven's sake don't ever try to play a guitar. Those necks are really big!

hehe... Paul's point is well taken and for the most part I agree. Then again, there has never been more reasonably priced, quality instruments than now. So while part of me says quit worry about the details and just play the durn thing. There really is no reason you can't find a mandolin to meet your specific preferences.

[Paul Hostetter]

hehe...There really is no reason you can't find a mandolin to meet your specific preferences.

Or just fix it, if you have to. It's not rocket science to de-beef a neck.

[300win]

Jeez, if you think those necks are big, for heaven's sake don't ever try to play a guitar. Those necks are really big!

Yes I know Paul. I play guitar also. It's just to me that the "The Loars" I've played the neck just feels huge for a mandolin. Of course I'm used to a Gibson type neck. A friend of mine has a guitar built by a local luthier, it sounds great, but the neck feels like a baseball bat. Thick necks, not for me.

[ShaneJ]

I didn't like thick necks on guitars or mandolins at first, but after I bought and played one of each for a while I've grown to prefer a beefier neck. I have fairly large hands and long fingers, and the thicker necks just fit and feel better. At first they didn't feel like the skinny necks I had always played, so they felt weird. But once I got over the "different" feeling, I like 'em.

[Michael Thompson]

I have a The Loar LM - 700 and the neck is pretty big, but it doesn't bother me too much. I play 12 string guitar, as well, and used to play classical guitar when I was a kid, so I'm used to big necks. I may have it sanded down to the wood to give it a quicker feel, but I don't know if I'll have it thinned out. To me, the thicker neck makes it feel stronger and sturdier and keeps my hand from collapsing too much on certain chords. I think if I had a skinny neck, my hand would forever be 'wrapped' around the fingerboard instead of leaving space like is proper.

Bottom line: it's pretty thick, but it doesn't slow me down and I love the sound of my mandolin.

[Rick Cadger]

I like the necks on The Loar F mandolins. Sure they're big, but I have small hands and they work fine for me. It's largely a question of what you're used to, or what you can get used to.

[Stephen Cagle]

I'm with you 300win. I have the same thinking pattern as you. I took a test drive on the newer style flatiron and was very impressed with it. The LM was a different story. I can't play on a baseball bat. Dang it was so big it almost felt like a short guitar neck on a mandolin.

Stephen

[Brent Hutto]

Geez, if you guys played my mandolin with the 1-1/4" wide neck it would probably give you a rupture.

[dcoventry]

I wonder if coming from a guitar background made the neck issue a non-issue for me? Is it also a matter of acclimation to a different feel? Surely that plays a huge role.

d.

[gkraushaar]

The latest editions have a smaller neck, especially the A models. After setting up The Loars all day long at the warehouse, it's nice to have one of the big beefy ones to come home to. Although my hands are only average size, I'll still take a big 'un over all pencil sized mandolin necks I see so regularly.

[300win]

Geez, if you guys played my mandolin with the 1-1/4" wide neck it would probably give you a rupture.

Brent one of my mandos has the 1 3/16ths wide neck radiused and I like it very much. What I'm talking about in this thread on "The Loars" are the depth of the neck that bothers me, not the width.

[Brent Hutto]

Yeah, I know. It's just that my 1-1/4" Mike Black A5 probably has almost as thick as neck as a LM-700, in addition to being as wide as the big old Mississippi River.

[Big Joe]

It is not unusual for those who are primarily guitar players to like the larger necks or those just starting on mandolin. Many who have played for some time prefer a more 'standard' sized neck. Everyone is a bit different, but for those who primarily play mandolin it is a bit more cumbersome if the neck is very large. Also, one has to consider what they have been used to playing. If you spend a number of years playing a smaller neck it is very hard to get used to the larger necks. This is true for any brand mandolin. The Bush neck on the Gibson is a bit larger than the others and a number of players did not like that and often sold or traded the mandolin after a while. It is really all personal preference. I don't like a really small neck, but then I have fairly large hands, but I don't like a neck that is too large either.