# General Mandolin Topics > Vintage Instruments >  1923 F-5 Loar #71839

## Keith Karasik

My father, Ely Karasik owned this mandolin for 75 years. He was born in 1924, and his F-5 was made in 1923. Here are some pictures of him and his instrument. The video is him at age 90 playing a song written about him called the Bronx Mandolin.

https://onedrive.live.com/?id=332E0E...2E0EC0B1B94B3B

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## George R. Lane

I don't see anything.

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## FLATROCK HILL

Nothing for me either. 

Thanks for the effort and I would LOVE to see the pics/video. Unfortunately, whatever your link is linking to, is not working for me.

Edit: And I just noticed that was your first post...Welcome! (At this point, I'm hoping you're just another of the many fine contributors here. If that was a prankster's trick, to infect my computer with some malicious virus, it's already too late! I just can't resist clicking on a '23 F5 Loar link.)

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## MikeEdgerton

You might try uploading the video to Youtube, it appears it is going to your onedrive account.

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## Bill Snyder

There is a 1923 F-style Gibson with that serial number in the Mandolin Archive.

Also, Ely Karasik is mentioned in a few places on the Cafe's fora.

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## eightmoremiles

Keith
I met your father at a CMSA meeting here in Louisville about 12 years ago. He had a small table showing some of his compositions. He was a real gentleman, and a gentle man. I talked with him for quite a while, and played his Loar, and he played mine. They were set up very differently, and he noted the remarkable difference in the sound quality and volume of the two instruments. We both agreed that, although their greatest use today is in Bluegrass, they were designed for classical work. I hope you will take up the mandolin cause, if you have not already.

- - - Updated - - -

Keith
I met your father at a CMSA meeting here in Louisville about 12 years ago. He had a small table showing some of his compositions. He was a real gentleman, and a gentle man. I talked with him for quite a while, and played his Loar, and he played mine. They were set up very differently, and he noted the remarkable difference in the sound quality and volume of the two instruments. We both agreed that, although their greatest use today is in Bluegrass, they were designed for classical work. I hope you will take up the mandolin cause, if you have not already.

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## slimt

would love to see a current picture..  Thanks for posting..;

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## Keith Karasik

Sorry, folks. Maybe this link will work.
If not, I'll download them separately.
BTW, no, it's not going to infect your computer...


https://onedrive.live.com/redir.aspx...Share&ref=name

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## Keith Karasik

Yep, same one.

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## FLATROCK HILL

Deleted. Inadvertent double post.

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## FLATROCK HILL

> Sorry, folks. Maybe this link will work.
> If not, I'll download them separately.
> BTW, no, it's not going to infect your computer...


Thanks for trying. Still not working for me. 

(And I was (mostly) just kidding about the infection. I'm a little skittish since I clicked on a bad one last year. Not on this site though. :Smile:  )

Looking forward to seeing your Dad's mandolin.

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## J.Albert

Hello Keith,

If you have all the images within a single folder on onedrive.com, you need to move it into a "shared" or "public" area of your onedrive account, and then generate a URL for others to see it...

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## MikeEdgerton

The problem is that you're linking to a spot on a drive that you have to logon to with your account. Look at uploading the video to Youtube. Then anyone could see it.

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## Keith Karasik

> Hello Keith,
> 
> If you have all the images within a single folder on onedrive.com, you need to move it into a "shared" or "public" area of your onedrive account, and then generate a URL for others to see it...


Thank you all for being patient with me as I am new to this site and new to posting things of this sort. I will try your suggestions and get thes files up somehow.

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## Keith Karasik

[QUOTE=Keith Karasik;1458805]My father, Ely Karasik owned this mandolin for 75 years. He was born in 1924, and his F-5 was made in 1923. Here are some pictures of him and his instrument. The video is him at age 90 playing a song written about him called the Bronx Mandolin.

OK, folks, after consulting with my wife, Adrienne on the matter, I will now attempt to provide you with the YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8jC...ature=youtu.be

pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework...

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Bernie Daniel, 

BillWilliams, 

Bob Bass, 

DataNick, 

f5joe, 

FLATROCK HILL, 

George R. Lane, 

J Mangio, 

Randi Gormley, 

Steve-o, 

Timbofood

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## Larry S Sherman

Embedded

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ajh, 

DataNick, 

Dobe, 

EdHanrahan, 

f5joe, 

George R. Lane, 

Hendrik Ahrend, 

Keith Karasik, 

MikeEdgerton, 

mikeyes, 

Rush Burkhardt, 

Timbofood

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## mrmando

I wasn't aware that Ely had passed away. He was a big deal in classical mandolin in the USA.

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## barry

Thank you so much.  What a wonderful piece of historic documentation that video provides.  We are all very sorry to hear about the loss of your father.

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## Dale Ludewig

Thanks Keith for posting.

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## Timbofood

How cool! Thanks for sharing, I am always fascinated by this kind of performance.

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## Jim Garber

I am sorry for your loss. I had heard of your dad but never met him. I played with the NY Mandolin Orchestra for a number of years in the 1980s but I think he was there many years before. Thanks for posting the video.

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## Dave Cohen

I got to know Ely Karasik over several CMSA conventions beginning in 2001 in Bozeman, MT.  Shared a few meals with him, along with some enjoyable conversations.  Ely was not only a dedicated mandolinist and mandolin orchestra player, but also had a playful side, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  He would name his compositions with playful names such as "Mozzarella Bella", "Peerless Gynt", & etc.  There was also a thread remembering Ely in the classical section of this forum, shortly after his passing.

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## slimt

That was neat to listen too... Thanks..

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## Keith Karasik

> I got to know Ely Karasik over several CMSA conventions beginning in 2001 in Bozeman, MT.  Shared a few meals with him, along with some enjoyable conversations.  Ely was not only a dedicated mandolinist and mandolin orchestra player, but also had a playful side, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  He would name his compositions with playful names such as "Mozzarella Bella", "Peerless Gynt", & etc.  There was also a thread remembering Ely in the classical section of this forum, shortly after his passing.


Thanks for your comments. Yeah, his sense of humor was unique. One of his earliest compositions was entitled, "The Divorce of Figaro" which he performed in the late 1970s.

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## Timbofood

So Keith, have you taken to the mandolin as your father did or has the infection not spread? 
Do you have any other video of your father playing? Even if you don't the one you have shared is very very cool!
My father played quite a few instruments but, I have no recordings or even photographs of him being musical, most of what I have are him cooking!
I love hearing this kind of story, how did he end up owning this mandolin?

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## Keith Karasik

> I am sorry for your loss. I had heard of your dad but never met him. I played with the NY Mandolin Orchestra for a number of years in the 1980s but I think he was there many years before. Thanks for posting the video.




Thanks for your comments. If I did it correctly, there should be a picture of him in the orchestra from 1950 attached here.

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f5joe

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## 9lbShellhamer

Thanks for sharing!

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## Keith Karasik

> So Keith, have you taken to the mandolin as your father did or has the infection not spread? 
> Do you have any other video of your father playing? Even if you don't the one you have shared is very very cool!
> My father played quite a few instruments but, I have no recordings or even photographs of him being musical, most of what I have are him cooking!
> I love hearing this kind of story, how did he end up owning this mandolin?



Thanks for your input. His father bought it for him when he was around 14, so he has been the owner for about 75 years. He tried to teach the mandolin to me and my brother but I went to college playing the double bass and my brother ended up playing the piano. The cool thing is we were able to gig with him for many years. Here is a picture of him and his F-5 with an old band around 1975. The other musicians are descendants from the great violin maker, Guarnerius from 17th century Cremona, Italy. Ann George and her son, Chip.

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## Keith Karasik

> Thank you so much.  What a wonderful piece of historic documentation that video provides.  We are all very sorry to hear about the loss of your father.


Thank you for your comments.

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## Keith Karasik

> would love to see a current picture..  Thanks for posting..;


Here's one of the belly...

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FLATROCK HILL

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## Keith Karasik

> Keith
> I met your father at a CMSA meeting here in Louisville about 12 years ago. He had a small table showing some of his compositions. He was a real gentleman, and a gentle man. I talked with him for quite a while, and played his Loar, and he played mine. They were set up very differently, and he noted the remarkable difference in the sound quality and volume of the two instruments. We both agreed that, although their greatest use today is in Bluegrass, they were designed for classical work. I hope you will take up the mandolin cause, if you have not already.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> Keith
> I met your father at a CMSA meeting here in Louisville about 12 years ago. He had a small table showing some of his compositions. He was a real gentleman, and a gentle man. I talked with him for quite a while, and played his Loar, and he played mine. They were set up very differently, and he noted the remarkable difference in the sound quality and volume of the two instruments. We both agreed that, although their greatest use today is in Bluegrass, they were designed for classical work. I hope you will take up the mandolin cause, if you have not already.


Thanks for your comments. I hope it's history will be preserved.

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## Ken Waltham

That is so cool, he got it from his Father! In the both photo of the orchestra, and the trio, he is holding an F4, it being a mandolin with an oval sound hole. Those photos are not with his F5. Do you have the F4 as well?

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## slimt

> Here's one of the belly...


  Thank you.. . By the looks of it.. the condition is really Nice..

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## Jim Hilburn

Eli said he wouldn't let bluegrass players play it because the time he did someone scratched it.

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## Ken Waltham

IMHO Bluegrass players have damaged the great majority of Loar F5's out there. Sorry, just sayin'.

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## Hendrik Ahrend

All Bluegrass players? Just askin'.

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## Jim Hilburn

I think he was very protective of the instrument, as you can tell from its condition. He just had a way with words.

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## Ken Waltham

> All Bluegrass players? Just askin'.


Not all.  :Smile:  
But, many were not at all careful, or mindful of them, it was a different time.

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f5joe

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## f5joe

They weren't "Loars" back in the day ......... just the best mandolins available.

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## Jim Hilburn

A little stark from the flash, and I forgot to say "Cheese!" but here's Eli at the Wynkoop in Denver at a Denver Mandolin Orchestra performance in the early 2000's.

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FLATROCK HILL, 

Hendrik Ahrend

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## Hendrik Ahrend

> Not all.  
> But, many were not at all careful, or mindful of them, it was a different time.


 :Smile:

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## Nick Royal

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but the Nov. 2015 "Mandolin Journal" has a nice profile on Ely Karasik.  I did not know him, though I now attend the Classical Mandolin Conventions and was moved by the memorial piece on him.

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## Jim Hilburn

I remember seeing the Loar has Schaller replacements on it. You can see the long forward buttons.

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## Timbofood

> Not all.  
> But, many were not at all careful, or mindful of them, it was a different time.


True indeed, I wonder how many of them are in the hands of classical musicians (as designed) as opposed to bluegrass folk?

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Jim Hilburn

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## Ken Waltham

> True indeed, I wonder how many of them are in the hands of classical musicians (as designed) as opposed to bluegrass folk?


All the good ones I have owned have came out of the non BG world. Much cleaner, less modified. Just having a look across the F5 descriptions in the F5 Journal will quickly show how many have been messed with.
To answer your question... originally..100%.  :Smile:

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## f5joe

You guys are borderline on snobbery.  Ken ...... watch out!   :Grin:

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## Jeff Mando

> You guys are borderline on snobbery.  Ken ...... watch out!


It sort of goes with the territory when discussing instruments that 99.9 percent of the world can't afford.  Kinda like forums discussing cheap Rolex watches or collecting gold bricks on a budget -- there aren't any...... :Grin:

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## f5joe

> It sort of goes with the territory when discussing instruments that 99.9 percent of the world can't afford.  Kinda like forums discussing cheap Rolex watches or collecting gold bricks on a budget -- there aren't any......


I'm alluding to classical vs. bluegrass rather than valuable instruments.

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## Jeff Mando

> I'm alluding to classical vs. bluegrass rather than valuable instruments.


Just a guess on my part, but wearing a tuxedo probably makes you more careful than wearing bib overalls........

Joking, of course!   :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing:

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f5joe, 

Hendrik Ahrend

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## Ken Waltham

Joe knows what I was talking about, we've been friends a long time. Jeff... I guess that is what I was hinting at in a less direct manner!  :Smile:

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f5joe

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## f5joe

I have just been poking fun at the classical crowd.  I honestly believe that, in general, they probably have cared for these fine instruments a bit better than bluegrass stylists .......... in the early years.  With the relative value of Loars these days, I'd bet most are being more respectful of their condition.

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Hendrik Ahrend, 

Timbofood

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## Timbofood

I caught the drift Ken, point makes sense. And yes, formal wear is much less "aggressive" than the big buttons on bibs. I have sold both formal wear and very fine dress sets of studs and cuff links. Some of those studs might chew up a back pretty badly too. Just sayin'.
And I agree with you too Joe, the amount of money to purchase a Loar was fairly dear even then.

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## J Mangio

I like those fret markers below the fifteenth..beautiful example for that period.

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## Jim Hilburn

I lost the sale of one of my earliest commissions because I did a non traditional fingerboard with 21 frets and the buyer was a classical player and he said he needed 24 at least.

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## Keith Karasik

> That is so cool, he got it from his Father! In the both photo of the orchestra, and the trio, he is holding an F4, it being a mandolin with an oval sound hole. Those photos are not with his F5. Do you have the F4 as well?


Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't noticed that before. Yes, we still have his F-4.

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## Keith Karasik

> Thanks for your input. His father bought it for him when he was around 14, so he has been the owner for about 75 years. He tried to teach the mandolin to me and my brother but I went to college playing the double bass and my brother ended up playing the piano. The cool thing is we were able to gig with him for many years. Here is a picture of him and his F-5 with an old band around 1975. The other musicians are descendants from the great violin maker, Guarnerius from 17th century Cremona, Italy. Ann George and her son, Chip.


Correction: This mandolin appears to be an F-4

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## Keith Karasik

> A little stark from the flash, and I forgot to say "Cheese!" but here's Eli at the Wynkoop in Denver at a Denver Mandolin Orchestra performance in the early 2000's.


Thanks for posting this pic. I hadn't seen it before.

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## Jim Hilburn

Hi, Keith.
I don't think we've met but I know Nora and Dave Hill and several others from the orchestra.

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## Keith Karasik

> Hi, Keith.
> I don't think we've met but I know Nora and Dave Hill and several others from the orchestra.


Nora and Dave have done a lot to preserve my father's legacy. Hopefully they will be able to sort out his library and perform some of his music.

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## Keith Karasik

> Here's one of the belly...


Here's the back...

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Dobe

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