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Sweet deal on a Loar LM-520-VS
First post here. I’m a longtime guitar player (30+ years) and just picked up the mandolin to learn to play some blues, raggy, and Americana stuff, and I’m really enjoying it. I tried ordering a cheap Kentucky from Amazon, but after dealing with damage because of flimsy, shoddy packaging (don’t order Saga instruments from Amazon!), and then getting a substandard replacement with a high action and loose bracing, I decided to set my sights a little higher, and towards Reverb.
Searching this forum helped me settle on the Loar LM-520 as being right in the pocket of price/quality. I found a new, slightly blemished factory B-stock one from a Reverb store called The Guitar Man Store (in Maryland) for $419 + $25 shipping. That seemed like a good deal, as they typically run $599 new. I placed the order, and they had it on my doorstep in 2 days, very carefully double-boxed (no case). The blemishes (some cracking in the lacquer on the headstock right where it meets the nut, and I noticed one small spot near the upper f-hole) are barely noticeable. I lowered the action a bit, and it plays and sounds terrific. It has a lovely bit of flame on the back and the spruce top has a beautiful straight grain to it.
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Right after I ordered this one I noticed they relisted the item at the same price, and it was another one they had with a similar minor finish blemish. I know a lot of you guys probably have serious professional-grade instruments, but if any of you wanted a good upper-lower level or “beater” mandolin, feel safe picking one of these up from the Guitar Man Store.
https://reverb.com/item/53102371-the...ntent=53102371
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Re: Sweet deal on a Loar LM-520-VS
Re: Sweet deal on a Loar LM-520-VS
Well happy NMD (new mando day). My first playable mandolin was a Loar A style, and yeah, it kept me going a long time. You can get the free setup pdf from forum member Rob Meldrum to take measurements of string height, relief etc https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...99s-setup-book
I ordered a few mandolins from amazon, they always showed up loose in a box witha small amount of crumpled up paper but survived the trip somehow except the winter shipments thru Chicago always had top cracks by the time i got them.
