Lloyd Loar
Encyclopedia
Lloyd Allayre Loar was a Gibson
sound engineer and master luthier
in the early part of the 20th century. He is most famous for his F5 model mandolin
, L5 guitar
, H5 mandola, K5 mandocello, and A5 mandolin.
Loar was also a well-regarded performer of music on the mandolin, viola, and musical saw. He travelled the United States and Europe in several different incarnations of musical groups. In one grouping, he performed with his eventual wife Fisher Shipp . One surviving playbill shows that Loar performed in a chatauqua that also included a speech by William Jennings Bryan
. Many other groups Loar performed in served as promotion for the Gibson company, whose products Loar endorses in early Gibson catalogs. It has been noted that Loar was a Theosophist and a vegetarian.
Loar worked for Gibson from 1919 to 1924. His contributions include building the instrument top with F-shaped holes, like a violin; introducing a longer neck
, thus moving the bridge
closer to the center of the body; and floating the fingerboard
over the top, a change from prior Gibson instruments that had fingerboards fused to the top. He also pioneered the use of the Virzi Tone Producer, a spruce disc suspended from the instrument top that acts as a supplemental soundboard.
According to AR Duchossoir, Loar designed experimental electric instruments during his stay with Gibson. Loar's views on the importance of the development of electric instruments were supported by Lewis A Williams, one of the founders and major stockholders of Gibson as well as its secretary and general manager. Although none of Loar's original electric instruments appear to have been preserved, Walter A Fuller, who joined Gibson in 1933 and later became Gibson's chief electronic engineer, found some of Loar's original devices when he first set up his R&D lab in the mid-1930s. He claimed that Loar's electrics had electrostatic pickups, but because they were very high impedance they were extremely susceptible to humidity. According to Fuller, the pickups were round, about the size of a silver dollar and had a piece of cork on the back, by which they were glued to the underside of the top of the instrument. Although it dates from after Loar left Gibson, Duchossior's book, Gibson Electrics, The Classic Years, features a photo of a Gibson L5, serial number 88258 of 1929, one of the original Loar-designed L5s, with fitted electrostatic pickup and factory-fitted jack socket in the tailpiece of the instrument.
Duchossoir also claims that Loar spent time at Gibson working on a 'quasi-solid body' electric double bass, and that according to this instrument and several patents filed by Loar between the mid-1920s and the mid-1930s, he worked on pickups that were electromagnetic in nature.
According to Duchossoir, Lewis Williams was replaced as general manager, and a lack of amicable relations with the new manager, an accountant named Guy Hart, led to the termination of Loar's contract. After leaving Gibson, Loar created and patented an electric instrument with a coil pickup, and co-founded the Acousti-Lectric company with Lewis Williams in 1934. The company was renamed the ViviTone company in 1936.
Loar died in 1943.
, Bill Monroe
. Monroe used a Gibson F5 model serial number 73987 signed by Loar on July 9th, 1923 for most of his career. This mandolin can be viewed in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, where it now resides in their collections.
In 2007, mandolinist Chris Thile
acquired 1924 Loar-signed F5 serial # 75316 that was an exceedingly rare find, as it was in virtually new condition. It reportedly cost him around $200,000. Other well-known musicians who own Loar-signed F5's include Mike Marshall, David McLaughlin, Tony Williamson, David Grisman
, John Reischman, Tom Rozum
and Frank Wakefield
.
Only one A-style mandolin, a Gibson A5, is known to have been signed by Loar. It has been widely copied, originally by mandolin maker Bob Givens. The Loar A5 was found by Tut Taylor and sold to Southern California bluegrass musician in 1974.
Loar expert Darryl Wolfe maintains an F5 historical journal. As of January, 2010 he has documented 228 Loar-signed F5 mandolins of the 326 that are believed to have been made.
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
sound engineer and master luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
in the early part of the 20th century. He is most famous for his F5 model mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, L5 guitar
Gibson L5
The Gibson L-5 guitar was first produced in 1922 by Gibson Guitar Corporation, then of Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA under the direction of master luthier Lloyd Loar, and has been in production ever since. It was considered the premier rhythm guitar in the big band era...
, H5 mandola, K5 mandocello, and A5 mandolin.
Loar was also a well-regarded performer of music on the mandolin, viola, and musical saw. He travelled the United States and Europe in several different incarnations of musical groups. In one grouping, he performed with his eventual wife Fisher Shipp . One surviving playbill shows that Loar performed in a chatauqua that also included a speech by William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
. Many other groups Loar performed in served as promotion for the Gibson company, whose products Loar endorses in early Gibson catalogs. It has been noted that Loar was a Theosophist and a vegetarian.
Loar worked for Gibson from 1919 to 1924. His contributions include building the instrument top with F-shaped holes, like a violin; introducing a longer neck
Neck (music)
The neck is the part of certain string instruments that projects from the main body and is the base of the fingerboard, where the fingers are placed to stop the strings at different pitches. Guitars, lutes, the violin family, and the mandolin family are examples of instruments which have necks.The...
, thus moving the bridge
Bridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.- Explanation :...
closer to the center of the body; and floating the fingerboard
Fingerboard
The fingerboard is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run...
over the top, a change from prior Gibson instruments that had fingerboards fused to the top. He also pioneered the use of the Virzi Tone Producer, a spruce disc suspended from the instrument top that acts as a supplemental soundboard.
According to AR Duchossoir, Loar designed experimental electric instruments during his stay with Gibson. Loar's views on the importance of the development of electric instruments were supported by Lewis A Williams, one of the founders and major stockholders of Gibson as well as its secretary and general manager. Although none of Loar's original electric instruments appear to have been preserved, Walter A Fuller, who joined Gibson in 1933 and later became Gibson's chief electronic engineer, found some of Loar's original devices when he first set up his R&D lab in the mid-1930s. He claimed that Loar's electrics had electrostatic pickups, but because they were very high impedance they were extremely susceptible to humidity. According to Fuller, the pickups were round, about the size of a silver dollar and had a piece of cork on the back, by which they were glued to the underside of the top of the instrument. Although it dates from after Loar left Gibson, Duchossior's book, Gibson Electrics, The Classic Years, features a photo of a Gibson L5, serial number 88258 of 1929, one of the original Loar-designed L5s, with fitted electrostatic pickup and factory-fitted jack socket in the tailpiece of the instrument.
Duchossoir also claims that Loar spent time at Gibson working on a 'quasi-solid body' electric double bass, and that according to this instrument and several patents filed by Loar between the mid-1920s and the mid-1930s, he worked on pickups that were electromagnetic in nature.
According to Duchossoir, Lewis Williams was replaced as general manager, and a lack of amicable relations with the new manager, an accountant named Guy Hart, led to the termination of Loar's contract. After leaving Gibson, Loar created and patented an electric instrument with a coil pickup, and co-founded the Acousti-Lectric company with Lewis Williams in 1934. The company was renamed the ViviTone company in 1936.
Loar died in 1943.
Famous Loar Mandolins
The F5 model was made famous by the founder of bluegrassBluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
. Monroe used a Gibson F5 model serial number 73987 signed by Loar on July 9th, 1923 for most of his career. This mandolin can be viewed in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, where it now resides in their collections.
In 2007, mandolinist Chris Thile
Chris Thile
Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic...
acquired 1924 Loar-signed F5 serial # 75316 that was an exceedingly rare find, as it was in virtually new condition. It reportedly cost him around $200,000. Other well-known musicians who own Loar-signed F5's include Mike Marshall, David McLaughlin, Tony Williamson, David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
, John Reischman, Tom Rozum
Tom Rozum
Tom Rozum is a Northern California-based American bluegrass mandolinist and singer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with partner Laurie Lewis.-Music career:...
and Frank Wakefield
Frank Wakefield
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wakefield is an innovative American mandolin player in the bluegrass music style. Wakefield is known for his collaborations with a number of important and well-known bands, including Red Allen, Don Reno, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and the Greenbriar Boys.-Biography:Born...
.
Only one A-style mandolin, a Gibson A5, is known to have been signed by Loar. It has been widely copied, originally by mandolin maker Bob Givens. The Loar A5 was found by Tut Taylor and sold to Southern California bluegrass musician in 1974.
Collectability
As of January 2010, Loar-signed mandolins in fine condition are valued in the $175,000 to $200,000 range, and are highly sought after by musicians and collectors. The average value reached a 2008 peak of around $225,000, then backed off somewhat from 2008 to 2010.Loar expert Darryl Wolfe maintains an F5 historical journal. As of January, 2010 he has documented 228 Loar-signed F5 mandolins of the 326 that are believed to have been made.
External links
- Biography of Lloyd Loar by mandolin builder and author Roger Siminoff
- The F5 Journal A project to document all Loar F5 mandolins
- Loar-signed instruments documented at The Mandolin Archive
- short Gibson history of Lloyd Loar era
- FRETS.COM Museum F5 page
- Mandozine F5 page
- VintageMandolin.com Gibson history