In the 50's before any individuals were making F mandolins and Gibson was missing the mark I would say yes, the Loar was the pinnacle and would remain so until other alternatives came about.
In the 50's before any individuals were making F mandolins and Gibson was missing the mark I would say yes, the Loar was the pinnacle and would remain so until other alternatives came about.
In my view the issue is confusing the pinnacle with the bullseye. Pinnacles can eventually be exceeded. Not so with bullseyes. There are today plenty of mandolins that sound as good if not better than a Gibson Loar F5, and yes it is possible to build a violin that sounds as good if not better than a Strad. The standard became to sound like target instrument, rather than sound amazing.
I take rcc's point that there is a history as to how we got here. And possibly it was inevitable. But here we are.
Another example, IMO, is Freddy Mercury. Yes he was and is in many ways the pinnacle. But I detect some who are legendizing him into being the bullseye. No matter how good one can sing, nobody will sound like Freddy Mercury. So if only FM will do, we gotta problem.
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So having proclaimed my ignorance of the fine details of early bluegrass I did some reading this morning, specifically on the Osbornes and Stanleys.
It appears Pee Pee Lambert would be a stepping stone in the evolution of the Loar in bluegrass. How about some stories?
There's a good amount about him online including a 2008 thread here. But not that much about the mandolin connection.
However reading how 16 year old JD Crowe played with him you can sure see the link from the beginnings of bluegrass into the future when you think of the members of JD's bands.
Last edited by Jim Hilburn; Apr-14-2022 at 11:09am.
Did you mean ' Pewee Lambert ?
Dave H
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Doh!
Too late to edit
this thing is informative, thanks for this
Wasn't Benny Cain going around with a trunk load of Loars back in the late 50's early 60's? I'm sure anyone who followed Monroe knew what he played as you seen more guys with F-5's in the 50's but more so in the 60's.
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