1923 Fern Loar F5

[tree]

Bump.

It's baaack.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Sam Bush thinks this is the best sounding Loar he has played. Others have had similar comments about it. No financial interest here, just passing info along. This apparently is a very special sounding Loar, and it is extremely unique.

[walter carter]

The areas under the nut that look like cracks or wood splices are not. They are just unusual grain lines.

[Jonathan James]

Hopefully this Fern will end up in the hands of a pro, so we can see it out and about and getting played, as opposed to a collector...

[John Duncan]

Not many players can afford that.

[f5loar]

Maybe you can get one of those "car deals" to buy it. Like 0% interest for 10 years would make the payments about $1740.00 per month. While that sounds like a lot many make that kind of a payment on a house or a fancy car. I have yet to find a house or car I could pick and sound that good.

[Hallmark498]

Sam Bush thinks this is the best sounding Loar he has played. Others have had similar comments about it. No financial interest here, just passing info along. This apparently is a very special sounding Loar, and it is extremely unique.

Im no Sam Bush , but was able to play this mando at SPBGMA....The action was a little higher than I liked. The sound was KILLER! Best mandolin Ive ever played. (think this was my 8th Loar to play)

It had some little things going on, (repairs or such on the binding, something funky with the scroll) but in really great condition. Note...Im not a repair guy or pro player, just a guy that likes mandos and guitars, these are only observations.

[Tom C]

Maybe you can get one of those "car deals" to buy it. Like 0% interest for 10 years would make the payments about $1740.00 per month. While that sounds like a lot many make that kind of a payment on a house or a fancy car. I have yet to find a house or car I could pick and sound that good.

....And I've yet to find a mando I could live in or drive. But that one looks like it oozes mojo.

[Hallmark498]

Mojo yes sir! It had the feel, sound and smell.

[JFDilmando]

From some of these pics, it looks like this might have an overspray of lacquer..... yes... no .... ?

[mandophil(e)]

It sure looks right to me.

[Darryl Wolfe]

From some of these pics, it looks like this might have an overspray of lacquer..... yes... no .... ?

No...that's a slightly unique look that July 9 mandolins have, including mine. It is an overcoat of some sort, but appears more like a sprayed or french polished shellac that is harder than the varnish. I think (just an opinion) they may have been experimenting with a few techniques to speed the time from finish to ship. The May and June mandolins preceeding the July 9 all have dead soft type of finish that wears easily and has that gummy sticky look.

Just to add to the speculation, I believe somebody other that Gibson (contract shop, or a person brought in) did the finish on the earlier light colored ones...and that they went throught the lengthy violin style varnishing

[JFDilmando]

Darryl;
When you say the earlier ones, how much earlier are you talking... all the way back to '22 ? There seems to be quite a change in color happening in '23... and then of course the continuation through to the dark '24's....
Given the passage of years, and your observations, how do you think the various finish experiments, or treatments have held up compared to one another...? We all know how the later Ferns have held up.... with significant shrinkage cracks, and checking... not so great....

[Darryl Wolfe]

Darryl;
When you say the earlier ones, how much earlier are you talking... all the way back to '22 ?

No. I am basically referring to the 72205-72210ish ones. Mostly in Feb 23. There is something very different going on with these

Also, most, but not all of the '22's look fairly typical and not like the aforementioned. There are some light colored individual one, but most look normal

[Brian Aldridge]

Darryl, your knowledge of detail never ceases to amaze me. I am reminded of the time you told me the year of my D18 from a picture you saw of me holding it. I am very familiar with 72210, and play it with some regularity. Only after you mentioned it, but yes the finish is different than the usual Loar. I once played 72211. It is very different than 72210 in terms of color, finish, wood selection and sound. I bet they have different FONs, even though consecutive serial numbers. It also is a very light color, like a couple of 1922s that reside in California.

[f5loar]

Consecutive numbers don't mean they were finished by the same master craftsman. Could just be two different guys putting it on.
That Feb. '23 batch is really light but some light finishes show up in other dates too. The lightest Loar I ever saw was 75848 and it's a March 31, 1924.

[Brian Aldridge]

No...that's a slightly unique look that July 9 mandolins have, including mine. It is an overcoat of some sort, but appears more like a sprayed or french polished shellac that is harder than the varnish. I think (just an opinion) they may have been experimenting with a few techniques to speed the time from finish to ship. The May and June mandolins preceeding the July 9 all have dead soft type of finish that wears easily and has that gummy sticky look.

Just to add to the speculation, I believe somebody other that Gibson (contract shop, or a person brought in) did the finish on the earlier light colored ones...and that they went throught the lengthy violin style varnishing

Didn't I read once wher David McLaughlin was telling about removing a gummy top coat from the finish on his Loar?

[HoGo]

Didn't I read once wher David McLaughlin was telling about removing a gummy top coat from the finish on his Loar?

That was likely just old wax/polish that previous owner applied too thickly and it weathered. The finish which was under that mess looks authentic.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Didn't I read once wher David McLaughlin was telling about removing a gummy top coat from the finish on his Loar?

Yes...David's was one of the gummy sticky looking ones..and it still has a slightly matte and textured look to it

[JFDilmando]

In another thread, Ken W. made the provocative (his words) statement that he believed that this mandolin went back to the factory for the Fern inlay in '26. That would of course place this in a nonfern category.... I looked through the archives as closely as the photos would allow, and could only find one possible piece of evidence for this... a small fern tip difference, which Darryl could explain by the black paint on the peghead obscuring the MOP. From my examination then, I cannot support Kens contention... at all. I believe that this "question" that Ken raises is an important one, if anyone else in the world takes it seriously. This is an historical instrument. Has anyone else critically looked at this inlay with regards to Ken's assertions ? Or for the most part, has this community dismissed Ken's suggestions as baseless...
It would be great if Ken would offer his evidence... for such an important provocation.

[danb]

It seems to me that some other possible explanations are a bit more probable, but then none of us were there so it's hard to really be sure.

Stamp numbers (under the loar signature label!) would sure help untangle the mysteries a bit more. Joe's book makes a pretty good case that the stamp number is indicitive of the BUILD date, and the serial is indicitive of the shipping date.. then again, the dates that are signed onto the Loars could very well not match *either* of those..

[Darryl Wolfe]

George gave me a call last night to let me/us know the price has been lowered. $190,000

[Justus True Waldron]

Great, now I only need to come up with the other $186k... or if I trade in my mando $181k... actually I just put an offer on an old house out here for less than half of what that mando costs! Still I think it would be worth it...

[Jonathan James]

Hey, maybe we can talk Steve Martin into buying it and then letting each of us borrow it!

[JFDilmando]

I seem to remember F5 saying something like.... the first $175 k will walk home with this instrument.... getting close to his prognostication... just get to the seller, who was indeed the guy that had the "advert" on ebay, they confirmed that to me...dodge the commission, and make the sale at F5's asking price... this really opens the eyes to the economy and the state of vintage instruments... this is a significant Loar, in really nice shape, with perhaps one of the best voices around, according to those in the know.... and there is sits.

JohnD