# General Mandolin Topics > Vintage Instruments >  Loar alert

## Don Grieser

Just saw it. Same date as Monroe's. $235K

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## MikeEdgerton

There is a link on the Cafe main page.

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## Ken Olmstead

Sure is a nice looking one. Maybe Chad could record a few clips. Would be fun to hear how it sounds compared to other mandolins there. I don't have that much equity in my house so I guess I will have to pass!

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## Sean Greer

Seems that Greg Boyd's web server is suffering under the load of all the Loar curious. Maybe I could trade some of my IIS tuning experience for some playing time.

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## Mike Black

Wasn't Bill's a July 9th and not January 9th?

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## wannabethile

is the pickguard original?

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## f5loar

The ad says Jan. 9 but shows a July 9th signed label so that would be the same day as the Monroe Loar BUT this is a regular plain jane top bound NOT the side bound like Monroes. The July 9th Loars are split into 2 batches, the early regular bound and later side bounds. Pickguard does look original although one of the see throughest I've seen.
The bracket screw does not look original and it is missing the beveled washer. Is $235,000 a new high water bench mark price? Probably so or else they are keeping up with gas prices. Can't buy gas for $3 bucks anymore and can't buy good Loars for $200,000 anymore. Mandolin Central has a killer side bound '23 Loar for just $225,000 and another one for $225,000. Elderly had that '24 for $225,000. 
And Gruhn still has a well worn '24 with Virzi at $150,000. That's over a million dollars worth of Loars for sale at one time. If I had a million to blow and was still single I'd buy all 5, retire and live in a Shasta overlooking the Riveria.

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## MikeEdgerton

They have changed the ad to July 9th. There is a link to the Greg Boyd page here.

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## earthsave

Looks like the bridge was in the wrong position for many years, or they kept sliding it under pressure back and forth. A lot of wear where it used to be.

Are the pickguards normally that large?

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## woodwizard

Wow! Would love to try thaten out. Maybe some day I'll hit the jackpot and be able to get one. Dream dream dream

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## Glassweb

I think Tony Williamson had this one for sale a few years back...

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## markishandsome

> Looks like the bridge was in the wrong position for many years, or they kept sliding it under pressure back and forth.


More like they dropped it on its face with the bridge in the wrong position. Seems like a high price for such a beat up instrument.

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## Glassweb

I'm sure I'm prejudiced, but to me if a July 9th Loar isn't sidebound it's not nearly as "special" a piece. So I agree with Mark, the price is too high. Actually, I think all the Loars being offered at the moment (with the exception of the one at Gruhn's) are overpriced... may be why they're not movin' #

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## f5loar

If you can come up with $150,000 in cash you likely can come up with $235,000 in cash. Both prices will buy you a nice house or one heck of a fine mobile home. This mandolin has been around before so that's not a good sign for a record breaking price. A newly found mint condition side bound July 9th would warrant breaking new ground in price. There are still about 7 of those still out there undiscovered. July 9 was a big batch at Gibson that year. 
5 for sale at one time is not a good thing for the Loar market but for a buyer to be able to pick from 5 is priceless.

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## 45ACP-GDLF5

If I only had the money.   Maybe I could ask.......Aw nevermind.

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## Glassweb

I agree with F5Loar regarding a mint sidebound July 9th. No doubt a great example like this would sell "toot sweet" as they say and for a hefty sum... I imagine a truly mint example could bring as much as $250K. Ya think?

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## danb

It's a good one tone-wise. I know Tommy's met it, it was at the first Loarfest West in Bakersfield

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## John Rosett

Well, that's the thing about the vintage instrument market-an instrument is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.

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## Links

Quote: #"If you can come up with $150,000 in cash you likely can come up with $235,000 in cash."

Tom: #I think a more likely scenario is if you can come up with 235k for this one you could come up with 250K for a more pristine example. #That would certainly be my preference. #I think some Loar owners are becoming like antique dealers #- #they see the estimated value for a widget in mint condition and immediately determine that their worn out widget is worth the same thing #- #see it all the time. #Certainly this mandolin is no where near "worn out" and I would love to own it, just not that close to the price of a pristine example!

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## Glassweb

Just curious, but is there anyone out there who has actually played the Dec 1st Loar that is available through Elderly? (the mandolin is at a music store in Colorado)

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## TomTyrrell

If a _truly mint_ example is only worth $250K then all these others are way over priced.

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## f5loar

I know of several truly "minty" examples of the side bound July 9ths that $300,000 would not buy it today. A lot of what price determines is what one is willing to pay. Say if you were in the market for a side bound July 9th and this one which is regular bound comes along I doubt you would pay top dollar for it but would pay less until the one you want comes along and then you sell this one. True in that you hear about XX brought XX and your XX not in the same condition should bring the same. It's at least a benchmark to price something when something of like kind sells at a set price. Chasing a price can sometimes cost you more than it's worth.

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## Glassweb

> Chasing a price can sometimes cost you more than it's worth.


True enough!

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## Links

"If a truly mint example is only worth $250K then all these others are way over priced."

Tom - if you were referring to my comment, I do not consider "pristine" the same as "truly mint".  I consider some that we have seen in the last year as pristine, with evidence of wear, but certainly not with finish worn down to the wood. The term "mint" is thrown around way too much and to me it means just as it came from the factory. I doubt that there is a "truly" mint Loar, and if there is, I'm guessing the owner could name their price.

Other Tom - the fact that someone "won't" take $xxxxx for a mandolin is a hard way to establish a value.

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## Jason Nagati

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Loars were around $75K two years ago when I started playing the mandolin. Did they really triple in (perceived) value?

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## TomTyrrell

Links, I _wasn't_ referring to your post. The word "pristine" isn't anywhere in my post.

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## f5loar

It's been way more than two years on $75K for a Loar.
There was an article in Vintage Guitar that had the rise in price from the 1970's to now. 
Maybe "near mint". There is several like that. "minty" and "near mint" pretty much the same C9 to C9.5. I doubt too there any C10 mint examples out there.

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## kudzugypsy

this is one of the loars Tony Williamson had for sale about 3-4 years ago, he sold it that year at IBMA - it has been PLAYED...it is one of the few loars that i thought were worth the asking price...at the time - he was asking $115K for this loar...imo, this is one of the best loars i've played - i spent an afternoon at tonys playing this one...BUT - the condition of this one is not even as good as the one gruhn has...and his is still sitting at $150K - this one is more player grade...of course it has that magic date - there is something about that batch. i think this one was listed here in the MC classifieds about a year ago for $175K. - i'm all for getting all you can for these, but this mando has had some serious flippage going on about it. it was first bought (from the original owner) by one of the John Boy & Billy radio show hosts (famous radio jockeys in the southeast) as an investment.

also, its not mentioned in the listing, but the scroll was busted off this one and repaired by steve gilchrist - perfect job, thus they probably cant even tell it was ever done.

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## doc holiday

I saw this Loar 2 days ago, and in fact the scroll repair is unbelievable. It really is invisible. From the wear it really has been played a lot, but not recently apparently. Tonewise my only point of reference is John Reischman's loar which I have heard many times most recently last month. In his hands it is definitely my favorite.! Given the condition, 235K seems on the high side.

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## Links

I gotcha Tom - I just wanted to clarify that I did not think a "truly" pristine was the same a "truly mint". I agree with (other) Tom that there probably are not any "C10" Loars out there.

Kudzu - I think you are right on target with this mandolin. You obviously know a lot about it and it's recent history. I am not sure, but I think it might have been the producer of the John Boy and Billy show that bought it. If it is the same guy, I think he also bought an original pre-war flathead Mastertone banjo about that same time period from Mandolin Brothers. The banjo had some issues, but were reflected in the price he paid.

As a collector/player, I had always rather have the instrument that is in better condition as opposed to the better sounding one - if priced anywhere near the same -  and at some point there is a condition in which I would not want an instrument at any price (so to speak). I have seen great sounding pre-war D-18's and 28's that are so beat up that they only belong in the hands of a player - nothing wrong with that. And I would suspect that that guitar would command somewhat of a preminum over a average sounding guitar of the same condition - but certainly not an average sounding pristine example.

"Serious flippage", I think, is an excellent description of what is going with Loars (as well as other instruments). I am just not sure the "flippage" environment is where the "flippers" think it is!

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## markishandsome

They've been over 100k as far back as I've been watching (maybe 5 years). If you really saw one for 75k 2 years ago, you missed a bargain!

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## Glassweb

Headstock repair, cleated crack under pickguard, crack on bass-side f hole, possible back-seam issue, arm wear on top, scratches on back, top-bound instead of the highly desireable side binding... $235K? There's absolutely no way to justify that asking price, much less anywhere near that as a selling price. There are PLENTY of great sounding Loars from all the signing dates... so unless a July 9th has the characteristics of Bill's... well, for me it doesn't really add much (if anything) to the intrinsic value of the mandolin. Just my take on it...

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## f5loar

unless July 9th happens to be your birthday  
Fast flipping on some Loars could be for any number of reasons of which are not the mandolin itself. If you saw 75K a few years ago it was a refinished Loar. 
$235K is a start so I guess $200K would take it home with you if the last price was around $175K.

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## Darryl Wolfe

A slight touch up of the coloring and french polish would lead to an entirely different outlook on this instrument. Everything I see can be disappeared. There are a few spots on my own along with numerous other "pristine" examples that "were" worse than this. These types of repairs should be done to enhance the curb appeal when selling an instrument such as this. In short, $200 worth of work is knocking the shorts off the price of this instrument.

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## mandotrout777

Sound clips are up now. It's interesting to compare it to the others they have up.

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## 527

Looks beautiful.

Would love to own it!

It's hard to pay a collector's price for a mando in player grade condition!

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## mandolooter

For that price I'll take all the Givens and the Monte, pick up a few guitars, and a ton of strings...with the change Im getting gas for the summer festival season...whooo hooo!
It does sound nice tho don't it!

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## f5loar

For that price I'd rather get two custom Loar spec Dudenbostels with straps, a new 50mpg car to pick them up in, plus the 10 year supply of strings, a nice 50's Martin D28,maybe a nice 2 bedroom home to put all this stuff in and a vacation to anywhere I could dream of going and still have the change left over to send the little one to college. That's a lot of money, I don't care who you are.

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## Glassweb

Still less than HALF the price of a nice 59' Les Paul... just to keep things in perspective.

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## mandomedic

A few days ago I asked George Gruhn what the record price was that was paid for a Loar, aside from Mr. Monroe's. He thought the highest was $250,000. Can you confirm that Darrel? Kenc

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