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Thread: Loar K-5 Mandocello

  1. #1
    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Loar K-5 Mandocello

    According to Mandolin Archive, there are seven of these, which were built on an L-5 body. I saw one of them at Mighty Fine Guitars in Lafayette, CA yesterday, in a "look, but don't touch" encounter. It has a February 1924 label, but I didn't note the serial number to see if it's the one listed in the Archive.

    It's not listed for sale yet, but ...

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    I posted an earlier thread about this. Not in the Archive. It was under someone's house for 50 years.

    Did you talk to Stevie about it? What's taking him so long to set a price?
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    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Who is making the best modern iterations of the K5?
    1924 Gibson A Snakehead
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmando View Post
    What's taking him so long to set a price?
    I'm sure he has his reasons. I can think of a few.

    1. Maybe he doesn't want to sell it at this time. -or-
    2. Maybe he's accepting bids. -or-
    3. Maybe it's already spoken for.

    I'm sure that most of the wealthier members of the mandolin community were aware of the discovery of this instrument within 2 or 3 days of when it first came to light.

  5. #5
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by rcc56 View Post
    1. Maybe he doesn't want to sell it at this time. -or-
    2. Maybe he's accepting bids. -or-
    3. Maybe it's already spoken for.
    Well, it is a consignment, so #1 doesn't seem applicable, but #2 and #3 might be.
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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by pheffernan View Post
    Who is making the best modern iterations of the K5?
    Spruce has a Paul Duff K5 that's pretty cool. I remember trying out Petri Hakala's mandocello before he bought it ... I think it's a Fletcher Brock? I drool over a Roger Bacorn K5 that belongs to Jason Bailey and shows up in the Classifieds from time to time.
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmando View Post
    Well, it is a consignment . . .
    I missed that it's a consignment.

    At any rate, my guess is that we won't ever see a price listed. One day it will just quietly disappear from the display case.

    If this instrument had instead come into one of the major vintage shops, it is not unlikely that it would have been sold quickly and quietly without the general music community ever hearing about its existence.
    Last edited by rcc56; Sep-03-2022 at 12:36am.

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by rcc56 View Post
    If this instrument had instead come into one of the major vintage shops, it is not unlikely that it would have been sold quickly and quietly without the general music community ever hearing about its existence.
    Mighty Fine Guitars is more of a "boutique" shop, I'd say. It looks like a good selection of higher-end guitars; it's just that Stevie Coyle, the owner, usually doesn't handle mandolin-family instruments.
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  10. #9

    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmando View Post
    Mighty Fine Guitars is more of a "boutique" shop, I'd say. It looks like a good selection of higher-end guitars; it's just that Stevie Coyle, the owner, usually doesn't handle mandolin-family instruments.
    It’s my understanding that most everything there is consigned.

    As for the best modern interpretations. Mowry and Brock.
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  12. #10
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by pheffernan View Post
    Who is making the best modern iterations of the K5?
    No doubt someone. The Eastman is fair reiteration.
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  13. #11

    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by pheffernan View Post
    Who is making the best modern iterations of the K5?
    I’ve got a 10 string K-5 from Lawrence Smart that I adore. I’m sure he’d make an 8 string if he hasn’t already!

    https://youtu.be/0lAmlLleozg

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    Baron

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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    I always wondered why Gibson selected the 16" L guitar body for the K-5 instead of using the K-4 body.

  16. #13
    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    MFG is entirely a consignment shop. Stevie never advertises for instruments because he says that they "just walk in the door." As Martin said, it is "more of a 'boutique' shop." You'll usually find a couple of Martins, a couple of Gibsons, a couple of Lowdens, and a couple of Goodalls, but the bulk of his inventory is guitars from luthiers who don't sell through stores. I've bought two guitars there in the last three years, and I really need to stop. He occasionally has a mandolin or two, but never more than that. The best I've seen there was a tremendous Mowry A-style mandola that sat there for a few years before finding a home. It had been a custom order, so it was accented in the Italian tri-color.

    MFG doesn't have display cases --- only wall hooks and floor stands. So, the K-5 is not in the showroom, and nobody can play it unless the owner (who lives in the area) specifically approves. So, I got to see it in its original case, but that's it.

    Stevie said that he and the owner haven't set a price yet because Stevie has been getting a wide range of informal appraisals of the instrument's value. How many 1924 Gibson Loar K-5's have been sold in the last few years, and how much did they go for? Those are the key questions for an appraisal, and the answer to the first question is probably zero. There aren't even similar instruments to go by.

    So, the buyer is going to be either a mandocello player with deep pockets , or an investor who is willing to gamble that that instrument will be worth even more a few years down the line. How big a market pool is that?

    That instrument has an incredibly strong attack, so I'm only guessing that LL had the K-5 built with an L guitar body, rather than the K4 body, because he wanted it to match the attack of his F-5's, which an archtop guitar body could give.
    still trying to turn dreams into memories

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    Registered User webber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Mike Marshall could make any mandocello sound amazing, but the video you posted is outstanding. What a special instrument! Here's hoping it winds up with a player and not an investor...

    Click image for larger version. 

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    On a side note, seeing the mandolin-sized tailpiece cover on the L-5 sized body is absolutely hilarious.
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  19. #15

    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by Marcus CA View Post
    MFG is entirely a consignment shop. Stevie never advertises for instruments because he says that they "just walk in the door." As Martin said, it is "more of a 'boutique' shop." You'll usually find a couple of Martins, a couple of Gibsons, a couple of Lowdens, and a couple of Goodalls, but the bulk of his inventory is guitars from luthiers who don't sell through stores. I've bought two guitars there in the last three years, and I really need to stop. He occasionally has a mandolin or two, but never more than that. The best I've seen there was a tremendous Mowry A-style mandola that sat there for a few years before finding a home. It had been a custom order, so it was accented in the Italian tri-color.

    MFG doesn't have display cases --- only wall hooks and floor stands. So, the K-5 is not in the showroom, and nobody can play it unless the owner (who lives in the area) specifically approves. So, I got to see it in its original case, but that's it.

    Stevie said that he and the owner haven't set a price yet because Stevie has been getting a wide range of informal appraisals of the instrument's value. How many 1924 Gibson Loar K-5's have been sold in the last few years, and how much did they go for? Those are the key questions for an appraisal, and the answer to the first question is probably zero. There aren't even similar instruments to go by.

    So, the buyer is going to be either a mandocello player with deep pockets , or an investor who is willing to gamble that that instrument will be worth even more a few years down the line. How big a market pool is that?

    That instrument has an incredibly strong attack, so I'm only guessing that LL had the K-5 built with an L guitar body, rather than the K4 body, because he wanted it to match the attack of his F-5's, which an archtop guitar body could give.
    If I am not mistaken someone in Stevie's family owns a local music shop, close to Might Fine, and operates sort of a sister-shop, in fact, it may be his sister who owns the other shop.
    "your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."

  20. #16
    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by webber View Post
    Mike Marshall could make any mandocello sound amazing, but the video you posted is outstanding. What a special instrument! Here's hoping it winds up with a player and not an investor...
    Absolutely!!!

    I don't know how long Mike and Caterina were playing it before Stevie filmed the video, but I doubt it had been played much this century before they walked in the door that day. I never expected to hear a mandocello that sounded better than Mike's Monteleone, but this might be the one.


    Quote Originally Posted by Mandobar View Post
    If I am not mistaken someone in Stevie's family owns a local music shop, close to Mighty Fine, and operates sort of a sister-shop, in fact, it may be his sister who owns the other shop.
    You're thinking of Lamorinda Music, which is next door to Mighty Fine. There is even an interior door between the two stores. "Lamorinda" refers to the three neighboring towns of Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda --- just east of Berkeley and Oakland --- and that store is a great neighborhood music store for accessories, rentals, lessons, and lower-end instruments. There is a little overlap in the price ranges of the guitars at the two stores, but not much. Also, most or all of the inventory at Lamorinda is new, but none of it at MFG is, although some guitars look and sound like they were bought and displayed, not played.

    I don't know who owns Lamorinda, but your info about that could be correct. Clearly, the two stores co-exist on good terms.
    still trying to turn dreams into memories

  21. #17

    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Ok, so here’s the story, Colleen McCormick who owns Lamorinda Music with her husband is Stevie Coyle’s niece.
    http://www.michaelgaither.com/home/s...-fine-guitars/
    "your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."

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  23. #18
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    Default Re: Loar K-5 Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by Marcus CA View Post
    According to Mandolin Archive, there are seven of these, which were built on an L-5 body. I saw one of them at Mighty Fine Guitars in Lafayette, CA yesterday, in a "look, but don't touch" encounter. It has a February 1924 label, but I didn't note the serial number to see if it's the one listed in the Archive.

    It's not listed for sale yet, but ...

    One of the Loar Mandocellos on the Mandolin Archive is Serial # 75255, which was Lloyd Loar’s personal mandocello and had a unique headstock. At some point, it had been converted into a guitar, but the original tailpiece was in the case, proving it had been a mandocello. Steve Gilchrist owned it at one time and converted it back into a mandocello, then sold it to David Grisman who used it on one of his Tone Poems albums. He then made a one of a kind octave mandolin with that same headstock.

    Here are a few pics…the group pic features Lloyd Loar with his mandocello:
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    Pete

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