# General Mandolin Topics > eBay, Craig's List, etc. >  rarest of rare in the classifieds, great instrument, super price!

## grassrootphilosopher

Apart from the fact that I know the seller and the instrument, apart from the fact that I can´t buy it myself  :Crying: , apart from the fact that I have no hands in any deal here, this is my opinion.

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/162121#162121

Wolfgang Striebinger sells his super nice HoGo mandolin that is as close to Lloyd Loar specs as you could wish for and that sounds like a million dollars. At about half the price of a 4rth generation Northfield F-5 and the build quality of a Gilchrist with a tone to die for, built by a guy who is one of the leading Lloyd Loar construcition experts (buy his Lloyd Loar F-5 plans from Elderly) and who only builds very few instruments this is a deal to good to pass up if you are in the market for a world class instrument.

In 2013 I saw the original ad by Adrian Minarovic on the classifieds here. Knowing that Wolfgang was looking for a close copy of a Lloyd Loar mandolin I gave him the heads up and he bought the mandolin. I had never tried a HoGo (Adrian Minarovic) mandolin before and I was more than interested to do so. When Wolfgang and I met at a musical gathering Wolfgang let me try out his mandolin all that I wanted. It is a truely masterful mandolin.

I don´t know what brings Wolfgang to sell the instrument. I haven´t been in contact with him (Covid reasons and all) for quite a while because all the events where we usually meet have been canceled. I hope that he is doing well and that he is not forced to sell the mandolin. Wolfgang is well known in the German blueagrass scene for being a standup guy.

So whoever will get the F-5 will be in for a treat.

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## Timbofood

I have heard sound clips of a couple of Adrian’s mandolins through the courtesy of Bill Halsey who collaborated on the fabulous plans available through Elderly.
This clip does not do justice to the very “Loar like” quality Adrian’s mandolins show in band settings. Full, balanced, powerful, that touch of sweetness missing in so many powerful instruments. Not harsh as some can be, whoever gets one will be happy for years to come.
Good luck buyer!
NFI,
T

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## William Smith

I looked at that Gal and thought she was beautiful! What is the price in US dollars? I sure don't need another mandolin but yeah man its a serious mental illness I have!

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## Huck

> I looked at that Gal and thought she was beautiful! What is the price in US dollars?


As of this morning $4.553.95

OP - I hope your friend is well. 

Good day!
Huck

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## Huck

> I haven´t been in contact with him (Covid reasons and all) for quite a while because all the events where we usually meet have been canceled.


Olaf,
Just a thought - why not reach him through the classified ad just to say hello?

Good luck,
Huck

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## Jim Garber

There is now a notice on the ad that says emails to the seller are bouncing back. If you can, contact your friend and tell him.

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## MikeEdgerton

This is the first one I've ever seen for sale. Those that own them must love them.

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## William Smith

Well I'd buy if I could but just bought an Apitius Custom, I owe for a 24 TLute to Dola conversion, owe for my 1919 OO-18 that was rescued from the trash heap! Maybe a certain swap soon and a very special A-5 buy from my top dog luthier so unless I sell my unwanted goods real fast she's no t going to be stroked in my future!

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## grassrootphilosopher

> There is now a notice on the ad that says emails to the seller are bouncing back. If you can, contact your friend and tell him.


I sent Wolfgang an email. I´d actually not want him to sell his mandolin. That way I would get to play it, when we meet.  :Grin: 

It´s the only one I have seen and tried. At the meetings there are some very nice mandolins that are played by some good musicians. Among others I was able to try out a Gilchrist F-5, "Diminished" Master Model F-5 Gibsons (DMMs), a Red Diamond F-5, a Vana A-5, a post Loar Fern, Lloyd Loar etc. The HoGo holds its own. It is actually quite revealing when you hear a great F-2 etc. side by side with a Northfield or so (as I had the pleasure). It shows that sometimes it is just a matter of taste which sound you prefer. Well, if you´d need to have a mandolin that is able to compete with a prewar bone and a prewar flathead banjo, you might consider an F-5 (preferably a pre 30ies example) but those instances are rare.

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## Tom C

Well he does have a great reputation and I love that color.

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William Smith

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## grassrootphilosopher

Well, received an email from Wolfgang. He doesn´t know why the mails keep bouncing back. Maybe the interested parties ought to PM him. I am not comfortable to post his email contact details here. I told Wolfgang I´d not be sad if the mandolin doesn´t sell.

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## Dave Hanson

Why is it ' the rarest of the rare ' ?

Dave H

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## pheffernan

> Why is it ' the rarest of the rare ' ?


I believe that Adrian has only completed nineteen mandolins, and I’ve never seen one listed in the classifieds previously.

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Dave Hanson, 

Timbofood

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## yankees1

I own four mandolins and my wife says NO more !  :Smile:  Great price on this one however !

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## Mandoplumb

But you NEED one more, you always need one more

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## Sue Rieter

> But you NEED one more, you always need one more


Talk about an instigator  :Laughing:

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## jim simpson

This says it all:

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Southern Man, 

Sue Rieter, 

Timbofood

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## grassrootphilosopher

> Why is it ' the rarest of the rare ' ?
> 
> Dave H


There´s a George Gruhn quote out there that goes something like this: "The plague is rare but would you like to have it?"

This calls for putting information into perspective.

Without asking everybody would take a pre war F-5, F-7, F-10, F-12 if the price was right. Is a 1935 F-5 worth about 15.000,- USD more than an F-12 or F-10 of the same vintage? (I don´t know....) An F-12 and an F-10 are each very much more rare than an F-5 of that time with about five F-10 known to currently exist.

Is a 1942 Gibson Southerner Jumbo not as good as a 1942 Martin D-18. I don´t think so. Yet a D-18 commands a much higher price even though a Southerner Jumbo is much rarer (and to me they are some of the ultimate "do everything" guitars).

Adrian Minarovic is a teacher (physics?) in Slovakia and a bluegrass musician. 

As you may know the former country of Czechoslovakia (now two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) has a very strong bluegrass community. There are numerous bands some of which have started way back in communist times. Back then good (bluegrass-) instruments were practically unobtainable. That caused the rise of such revered builders as Rosta Capek, Jiri Lebeda and Jaroslav Prucha (who provides Gibson with metal parts and builds banjos that are being played by some of the best, f.ex. Allison Brown) among others. They filled the need for quality instruments in order to play what was then called trampsky musik. A western name for that kind of music was out of the question in communist  Czechoslovakia.

In the course of time younger builders emerged, some of which have chosen building as their profession (Ondrej Holubek, great guitars, resonator guitars and mandolins) and some have remained more private and merely build on the side. This has been the case with Adrian Minarovic.

I do not know how many mandolins Adrian has built but they are extremely rare. I have just seen one in the flesh, namely Wolfgang's mandolin. I have followed discussions here on the Cafe when it came to Adrian´s Lloyd Loar plans, I cherish Adrian´s insight concerning all things regarding the construction, care and repair of mandolins (his comments are allmost allways in tune with the comments of other respected luthiers, such as Garry Vessel (extremely talented violin maker and builder of 20ies Gibson F-5 copies etc.), James Condino, John Hamlett etc.

Taking all of that into consideration, I do think that Adrian makes a world class instrument. And as it is a world class instrument the rarity is comparable to let´s say a Gibson Master Model F-5 (2000 or later). The numbers are comparable. Is a Gibson MM worth 10.000,- USD more. Definitely not.

I found this facebook page with HoGo #17 from 2017 and this thread about HoGo #10 from 2009.  That let´s us presume that the number of mandolins that he has built may be around 20.

And to put a picture to the luthier and a voice to Slovak bluegrass here´s a video by the band "Steam":

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Timbofood

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## pheffernan

> I found this facebook page with HoGo #17 from 2017 and this thread about HoGo #10 from 2009.  That let´s us presume that the number of mandolins that he has built may be around 20.


There's a Facebook page for #19 claiming it was completed in October of 2019, and I seem to recall Adrian saying that he was working on #20-#26 during the pandemic:

https://www.facebook.com/hoganmandol...type=3&theater

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...62#post1789862

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## HoGo

All the hearsay above is ... true :-)
I was surprised to stumble upon this thread (I don't remembere I ever visited this classifieds/ebay subforum) but the title "rarest of the rare" as the last thread just below "vintage" section took my attention and HUGE was my surprise seeing it's about one of mine.
I got aware of the ad just few days ago when cafe member PM'd me about some additional information but confused the serial number to #13 (which was stolen and is still missing).
I must add that the picture in the ad doesn't show the color very true. Some lightning (especially flash) can make it look that red, but it is pretty much stadard amber to medium brown sunburst, the dark edges are not too dark nor opaque, but show wood clearly right to the edges and strong light reflects from wood and changes the color to reddish cast. Of course the mandolin is 7 years old now and colors might be slightly different from new, but from seeing some of my even older examples I got for refrets or setup it is very unlikely.
I'm still teaching (math and IT) full time so my time to build is very limited.
I was also surprised to see some of our old recordings on YT, boy I even forgot I could play those tunes :-) Memory refresh can be good sometimes.
I'm adding a pic from my bench the day it left the building... (taken in weaker lightning in my basement workshop)

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Bernie Daniel, 

FLATROCK HILL, 

LadysSolo, 

pheffernan, 

Timbofood

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## Timbofood

Olaf, thank you for including the link! I wonder how John Duffey and the rest of the Seldom Scene would react to that tune in Slovak? Im sure they are smiling. Great stuff!
Adrian, Im glad to get your input on this thread, and they sound great. Ive heard several cuts through Bills generosity like I said. The mandolin has pretty much everything I would want. Be safe.

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## pheffernan

The ad has been deleted. Anybody planning getting ready for a true Thanksgiving?

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## pops1

> Anybody planning getting ready for a true Thanksgiving?


Sadly, no

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## Timbofood

Since you asked...
Not quite, step son et al will becoming. Smaller group than normal but, a somewhat different menu than normal as well.
Brisket, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, sausage apple dressing, broccoli pecan roasted veg., and a Boonzaaijer cake

Now, there is a tangent I never saw coming!

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## LadysSolo

I thought he meant giving thanks for the purchase of a new mandolin.

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## Timbofood

Well, I did know that but, I didn’t get the mandolin so, I’m making do with a cake.

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## slimt

I was seriously thinking about it till the exchange came into light.   It looked pretty nice though.

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## pheffernan

> I was seriously thinking about it till the exchange came into light.   It looked pretty nice though.


By “exchange” do you mean the exchange rate or the importation of the instrument?

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## slimt

> By “exchange” do you mean the exchange rate or the importation of the instrument?


The dollar exchange.  I think importation would be good.   If Im not mistakin. And I could be wrong . Instruments from the UK is tough.

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pheffernan

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## pheffernan

> The dollar exchange.  I think importation would be good.   If Im not mistakin. And I could be wrong . Instruments from the UK is tough.


I would actually be more intimidated by the potential expense and process of importing such an instrument from Europe (Germany?) than I would that asking price converted to dollars for a modern Loar-style build.

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## HoGo

> I would actually be more intimidated by the potential expense and process of importing such an instrument from Europe (Germany?) than I would that asking price converted to dollars for a modern Loar-style build.


SHipping can be costly these days, the latest two mandolins I shipped by Fedex were 294EUR (I believe) shipped (both) in one custom plywood/styrofoam shipping box I make (75x73x17cm total size). Standard double boxing with mandolin case in a box would make for even higher volumetric size and cost even for one mandolin. Perhaps Wolfgang saved the box somewhere in his garage and could send it in the one I made...
Taxes or customs depend on state of import and could add 10-20%... Sometimes it is cheaper just to buy a cheap flight ticket and have a nice day in EU to get the instrument if the owner is willing to travel to the airport town :-)

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pheffernan

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## grassrootphilosopher

I´d just like to give a cross reference to the other thread on the other HoGo for sale (on Reverb), which is quite a coincidence.

Adrian, the picture of that youtube video should show you in Voorthuizen (EWOB festival) around the year 2000, right? Knowing how challenging it is to work in a day job and caring for a family I´d be interested if you´re still in contact with your old cronies and/or still picking in some sort of a band context? You did well on the musical front.

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## pops1

Olaf, not too big of a coincidence. It was because of this thread that I posted the other thread. Coincidence that there are two advertised at the same time, now that is a rare coincidence.

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## HoGo

BTW, both of these two mandolins were made of same woods (from same trees / billets I resawed), everything, maple, spruce, even ebony for fingerboards. They have small SS wire from Jescar.

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Timbofood

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## HoGo

> Adrian, the picture of that youtube video should show you in Voorthuizen (EWOB festival) around the year 2000, right? Knowing how challenging it is to work in a day job and caring for a family I´d be interested if you´re still in contact with your old cronies and/or still picking in some sort of a band context? You did well on the musical front.


Yes. EWOB, I don't remember year but my hair is much much more grey in color than on the photo. The band didn't last very long and I played with few others in early 00's but quit playing in bands in 2010 or so. It was quite hard with growing family. There is one event here in Slovakia that I never missed for last 14 years except one (because of funeral), a "Musicians Camp Kosodrevina" at a mountain hotel halfway up the hill of one of the largest ski resorts in the middle of January - cool you can jam, talk and listen to many local and Czech BG bands in one place concerts held at two stages on friday and saturday from lunch till past midnight. The weekend is reserved just for the musicians and their friends only and is usually fully booked few days after each years' message from organisers. To bad this year it probably won't be...
Here is one of my last gigs...
https://youtu.be/mq5wefQnd0s

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Sue Rieter, 

Timbofood

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## grassrootphilosopher

Well time takes a toll and the change of the millenium is long past. I saw your video. I wonder what Filip Bato is up to these days. He was quite a busy banjo player and I remember jaming on Bela Fleck´s "Whitewater" with him and a couple of other guys at the Caslav banjo jamboree quite some years back. 

Additionally I´d like to link to this thread which has a nice demonstration of a Hogan, a Nugget and a Gilchrist F-5: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...ighlight=hogan

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