Loar that was thrown in garbage

[G. Fisher]

I remember hearing a story of a Loar that someone sat on at a recording studio years ago and it was just thrown away. Someone recovered from the trash it and had it repaired. Was this the Pee Wee Lambert Loar?

[f5loar]

yes the PeeWee '22 Loar. Not sure who found it in the trash but it ended up with Harry West back in the 60's and he had it restored with a new neck. This is the fern pattern Loar that Pee Wee is holding on the front cover of one of the live Stanley LPs.

[Bernie Daniel]

yes the PeeWee '22 Loar. Not sure who found it in the trash but it ended up with Harry West back in the 60's and he had it restored with a new neck. This is the fern pattern Loar that Pee Wee is holding on the front cover of one of the live Stanley LPs.

So do you also happen to know when/how Frank Wakfield ended up with it for a while?

[Ivan Kelsall]

f5loar - What damage was done to the instrument ?. It sounds like it was a pretty devastating experience for the Mandolin.Who did the restoration ?. It sounds as if somebody beat Charlie Derrington to the post in the 'restore a Loar' stakes,
Ivan

[Scotti Adams]

.....http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel..._b_826333.html

[evanreilly]

I think that the neck was broken and a spoon handle was attached as a splint.

[AlanN]

Reminds me of the Loar I saw at Buzzy Levine's shop with the 3 wood screws holding the neck on. Another one Gilchrist fixed up.

[Scotti Adams]

Purty sure this is Pee Wees "trash can" Loar....could be wrong though.

[MikeEdgerton]

Ivan, there were several Loars that were repaired before Charlie did Bill's. With that said, I don't know if anyone ever brought any other mandolin back from the state that Monroe's mandolin was in. If I'm not mistaken there's a Loar mandola with a mandolin neck out there as well.

[f5loar]

You must be refering to the Luke Thompson H5 to F5 conversion. Don't think that qualifies as a restoration. PeeWees neck was broke and returned to the factory by it's original owner for a new neck in the early 30's, hence the modified "fern" pattern with "The Gibson" logo straight across. Then it was broken again and this is where the spoon repair story comes in. After Harry got it was fixed again and then I think that is when Frank W. got it. He traded it back to Harry for the '23 F5 he has now. Harry around 1986 decided to have it totally restored with a new neck (that copied the 2nd Gibson 30's neck) and total refinish back to Loar shading in varnish. David Shepard in Greensboro, NC did the restoration at that time and Harry held onto the original 30's neck. It was sold in the mid 90's and ended up being restored again by Gilchrist. I've not seen this mandolin since Gilchrist got a hold of it but I suspect the top is quite thin from all the refinish jobs over the years. When I picked on it shortly after the Shepard redo it had a very "Monroe" like sound to it.

[Bernie Daniel]

You must be refering to the Luke Thompson H5 to F5 conversion. Don't think that qualifies as a restoration. PeeWees neck was broke and returned to the factory by it's original owner for a new neck in the early 30's, hence the modified "fern" pattern with "The Gibson" logo straight across. Then it was broken again and this is where the spoon repair story comes in. After Harry got it was fixed again and then I think that is when Frank W. got it. He traded it back to Harry for the '23 F5 he has now. Harry around 1986 decided to have it totally restored with a new neck (that copied the 2nd Gibson 30's neck) and total refinish back to Loar shading in varnish. David Shepard in Greensboro, NC did the restoration at that time and Harry held onto the original 30's neck. It was sold in the mid 90's and ended up being restored again by Gilchrist. I've not seen this mandolin since Gilchrist got a hold of it but I suspect the top is quite thin from all the refinish jobs over the years. When I picked on it shortly after the Shepard redo it had a very "Monroe" like sound to it.

Great story. That mandolin had a more adventuresome time than most I expect and in this case, wonderfully, it is all recorded! It also proves that life is unfair --how many mandolins go through four necks and have to suffer a broken neck -- twice? It has had more make overs than Joan Rivers.

[Spruce]

...how many mandolins go through four necks and have to suffer a broken neck -- twice?

How many Loars wound up in the trash and didn't get rescued?

[MikeEdgerton]

Probably quite a few. A few years ago a friend of mine bid on a clean up job at a strip mall. Under a pile of plywood at one end was an early 20's Martin guitar that I tried real hard to talk him out of.

[Charley wild]

If that's the mandolin Pee Wee used with the Stanley Brothers I sure liked the sound of it! IMHO it had a certain ring to it mid to high that recorded real well.

[Willie Poole]

Hmmm. I threw a 1956 Harmony into the trash after I tried to reset the neck and didn`t get it in the correct place...I used the wrong kind of glue and couldn`t get neck back off so away it went....I wonder where that one is by now....

Willie

[P.D. Kirby]

Tom, you never cease to amaze me with your ability to recall events from so many years ago with such detail, do you have all this stuff written down somewhere or what? We are fortunate indeed to have you as a member here because you have more knowledge of the history of Bluegrass right down to the type of strings people preferred and I wouldn't be surprised if you knew all the Bluegrass Boys shoe sizes. I am only 54 years old and some days I can't remember what I had for breakfast. Must be all that clean living or that Tar Heel air you breathe.

[baptist mando55]

Harry West said that was one of the very best mandolins he had ever heard and he has heard a lot of very vey good mandolins

[Bill Snyder]

Mr. Kirby, I could be mistaken but looking at Tom in videos online I would guess he is not much older than you are.

[Ivan Kelsall]

F5 /Mike E. - Many thanks for the info. I wonder if the 'repair persons' realised just how expensive these mandolins were going to be,given that the price back then must have been 'relatively' low. At their current price level it would take more guts than i've got to repair /refurbish a Loar. Even if i was a highly skilled luthier,i'd balk at a job like that,
Ivan

[AlanN]

Even if i was a highly skilled luthier,i'd balk at a job like that,

So very glad Gilchrist doesn't proscribe to that philosophy.

[Denny Gies]

If this thread doesn't show what expertise exists in the mandolin world I don't know what does. Great stories and impressive knowledge. Thanks.

[f5loar]

I'm not drawing SS yet. I just lived it from the mid 60's to today with only a brief period in the mid 70's when my first wife wouldn't allow me to pick. I took her to the Union Grove Fiddler's Convention with over 250 bluegrass bands and 75,000 listeners one year and that's all it took to turn her against my style of music. She was more Jethro Tull/Brewer & Shipley and I was more Bill Monroe/Dillards. I should have looked at her LP collection before I said "I do". Luckily that marriage only lasted a few short years. I do have a reference material collection that I do have to refer to for acurate dates and events. I have also been a long time subscriber to BU and keep old back issues in the privy to refresh my memory.

[HoGo]

Here's the neck...

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm assuming the larger of the brass plates was a combination truss rod cover and mending plate.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From AlanN - "So very glad Gilchrist doesn't proscribe to that philosophy." .I'd bet that many people are Alan.When you think of all the fine instruments that might have been (even might stil be) confined to the trash can,we should remember luthiers like Steve G. in our prayers.
This was one job my local luthier took on board.The re-build cost far more than the Guitar was worth,but as it had great sentimental value,it was done,
Ivan