If You Had A Gibson Lloyd Loar Mandolin

[Paul Busman]

I totally agree with Thile about these and other great instruments of all types being out in the world making music. How many wonderful Strad and Guarneri violins sit in bank vaults when people could be enjoying the music that they can produce? I've heard Chris about 5 times and I sure enjoyed the music that his LL made.
That said, if I somehow came into possession of a genuine Loar, I'd play it for a while, let others give it a try, then sell it. I'm nowheres near good enough to bring out such an instrument's potential and I'd find it hard to justify having that much value tied up in an instrument when I could put that money aside for grandkids' college, paying off a mortgage, world travel, etc.

[Tom C]

I'd sell it. If not being played, -or being played by my abilities , why take the chance of cracking by dryness or accident.

[Beanzy]

I'd never have bought it in the first place, because it would have no use for me nor I for it.
I have a mandolin that more than covers that part of my playing so there's nothing but show off and status value remaining and I'd feel very awkward about that. I wouldn't take it out as it would give the wrong impression about who I am & what I value. It would be a wholly negative thing for me to own.

But let's assume I inherited it, I'd sell it and because of its relative value to other instruments, buy a very high quality liuto cantabile and a nice viola then use the remaining value to go places and play with others.

[lenf12]

Getting back to the OP's original question, JAK asked "So, what say you? Take it out, or leave that Loar inside?" I would take it out to gigs and jams depending...how's the weather? the reputation of the jam/gig location? the folks you'll be playing with? It is after all, just a really nice old mandolin and nothing more. It's value nowadays is an artificial construct that we humans impose on everything tangible; food, cars, housing, our time at work, etc. If you're lucky enough to own something really nice, why not enjoy it as much as possible without being stupid or careless about it?

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[T.D.Nydn]

[QUOTE=LowNSlow;1523356]

Plus here's a relevant Thile quote:

— take the thing out of the ***damn case! ....."Oh man, you put some scratches on it, eh? " ... **** OFF.


Mr. Thile sure has crude communication skills though....

[lenf12]

As crude or as eloquent as he needs to be to get his point across. I don't read his expletives as being gratuitous, just adding some emphasis to his opinion on valuable instruments.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Steve Ostrander]

“If you own something you cannot give away, then you don’t own it, it owns you.”

— Albert Schweitzer

[Jeff Mando]

“If you own something you cannot give away, then you don’t own it, it owns you.”

— Albert Schweitzer

Wonderful quote.........of course, he "owned" a piano -- kind of hard to give away a piano, especially in the jungle

[red7flag]

When it comes to instruments and cars, I take the hit and buy new. I like the knowledge that every dent and mark was mine and that there is a story behind them all. With instruments, I have come to enjoy the opening up process, whether it is the my playing that becomes acclimated to the instrument or that instrument comes to life (my pick though both seem to come to play). I have played a number of Loars and they seem to be so well established that I have nothing to add. So to answer the OP's question, I would sell the Loar at a fair price, neither Nick's $1000 nor the apparent going rate of $150-175k, but somewhere in between to a serious player probably a music professional or up and comer. Then I would take the proceeds and go on a music trip trying every new instrument I could and visit every luthier that I have come to respect. Then I would decide whether to buy a new instrument or have one built for me.

[Bertram Henze]

kind of hard to give away a piano, especially in the jungle

Every material value is easily debunked by circumstance...



Ego te absurdo...

[mikeyes]

Every Loar that I have played has been owned by musicians who play them on a regular basis. If you are so concerned about an accident, or being stolen, then sell it and move on. There are plenty of great mandolins out there that will work.

I have a friend who has a very rare Gibson flathead original pre-war five string banjo (there were probably 4 made) and that is his primary instrument which he takes everywhere. He chains it to his bed at night and is very careful with it, but he plays it all the time and it shows - even so, it is still worth more than the average Loar. He and his wife bought it decades ago with their life savings and never regretted it.

[JEStanek]

Truth. If I had a Loar signed mandolin, I would sell it. I've been lucky enough to play one (very briefly). I'm neither good enough to pull whatever magic out of one that's there nor am I famous enough to warrant playing it on stage. I would unburden myself of the obligation to caretake it and keep it safe. I would use that $$$ to get my kids through college.

Jamie (very happy with his Spira signed mandolin)

[pops1]

Most of us will never own a Loar, I know I won't. But I do own a Brentrup and it is my main gigging instrument. I take it everywhere. When I visited Hans I said I am a little embarrassed to show you this as it is highly distressed from playing. Varnish finishes show things a lacquer finish wouldn't. Hans told me " people bring me their mandolins and I don't think they play them, I build them to be played and I can see you play this" He was smiling as he held the mandolin because it was doing what he built it to do. I thought that was what they were for, I don't purposefully damage it, but varnish is so easily damaged and playing in all kinds of environments it does get plenty of knocks. The finish and stain is mostly worn off the neck, I might as well finish it and make a speed neck. It is doing what it was meant to and I am the lucky one helping it to make music.

[Jeff Mando]

The problem is we can't separate the Loar from its value -- even in a hypothetical discussion. Assuming we were able to acquire a Loar either by earning the money and purchasing it or by inheritance -- the musical use is overshadowed by the monetary value, at least for most of us. The question is the same as "what would you do if you had $175K in the bank?" The answer is nothing, I would leave it in the bank. Same with the Loar, if you play it and enjoy, it is still "money in the bank" when you go to sell it, if circumstances should dictate that action.

Unless we live in Schweitzer's world where a shovel is worth more than piano, we will alway focus on the value, as its "worth".

[T.D.Nydn]

“If you own something you cannot give away, then you don’t own it, it owns you.”

— Albert Schweitzer

"possessions are not possessions untill they possess you"...unknown..

[farmerjones]

Such an instrument would be wasted on me. So far from reality it doesn't calculate.
That being said, somehow I would make sure it was played. Even a Strad is just a wooden box without somebody playing it.

I know it flies in the face of free trade & enterprise, but escalating the value of a musical instrument (specifically) by reputation alone, I think is messed up. I've seen both sides of this coin, having something appraised but not played by the appraiser. Also, having instruments out of my reach financially, based only on reputation. Now, if the broker is also a player, I'm better with that. Honestly, this is the only way I go, personally.

[Mark Wilson]

I would keep it and play the frets off of it.

And when my time here on earth is near - I would hide it in the corner of my attic

[Br1ck]

Think of the Strad and Guanari violins out there being played every day. IN the classical world, if an instruments gets worn out, parts are replaced. Most of those multi million dollar violins don't have their original necks.

I've been very close to some fine old violins, loaned by the very rich to major players, and they radiate a special vibe. I can tell you they don't get left alone in hotel rooms. They do however get played. Even the Smithsonian loans out their prized instruments so they get played.

I've never understood the beater concept, or at least my beater would be the best instrument I could afford that was very worn looking. I like them better anyway.

[Randi Gormley]

I'll fall on the side of playing it out wherever and whenever (of course, I don't play in really bad venues, so there's that). I'd just keep an eye on it all the time, same as I do with my snake. My snake actually cost four or five times the amount I spend on just about anything else (except house repairs or a car) but I find when I'm playing it that I don't think of it as a (relatively) expensive instrument that needs cozening, just my mandolin. I'd hope that, if I were so lucky as to own a LL, I'd treat it the same.

[mandocrucian]

If you had/owned a Gibson Lloyd Loar signed mandolin, would you play it in public?

I'd put that sucker up for sale.

I've plunked on 4 or 5 "Loars" (F5s) over the years and none of them particularly did much for me. Sure isn't my holy grail.

(& I'd immediately take $2000-4000 from the sale $ and get myself a decent alto flute. I'm so "extravagant"; must be the Finnish DNA)

[Denny Gies]

I take out my Randy Wood and for me it is my Loar.

[Hallmark498]

I would write my name over the Lloyd Loar signature. It would then be mine and not his.

I would keep it and pick

[Polecat]

Take it out and play it of course - all the woodshedding and practice is so that I can play music for other people. If I have a wonderful sounding instrument, it would be a shame not to share that, too. And who says that if you keep your instrument at home, it is safe? As (terrible bad) luck would have it, my 1908 A3 slipped off the chair it was leant against whilst I was writing an arrangement last Monday night and suffered a broken headstock. Its (relatively modest) monetary worth has now been decimated, and I could kick myself for my carelessness, but after a very dolorous hour I made myself sit down and start the repair work. When it is finished, I intend to use it as I did before, both at home and for performance. That's what it's for.

[Drew Egerton]

I got to play my first 2 Loars last month and they were both so different from each other, but did live up to expectations in their own ways.

I would probably do what some others said and play it for a while, then sell it. I'd buy a decent house and maybe search out 4 or 5 really nice mandolins to have including a custom build. I'd want to sell the Loar to somebody who would keep on playing it and not store it away forever. It would be cool to see it out on the road in a band and say, that used to be mine. Like trying to be happy for an ex when they find somebody new....ok maybe not that lol.

[DataNick]

Really interesting to me is that the majority sentiment on this thread is that assuming the Loar is the best instrument you've ever played, that the $$ value of said instrument far outweighs the soul-satisfaction of owning and playing an exceptional instrument and the lifetime joy that the experience can bring.

Apparently $$ trumps everything...wow!