LoarFest Reports...Please!

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-03-2006, 5:27am

and the LoarfestWest T shirts are great

**AlanN** · Feb-03-2006, 8:01am

Ya know, looking at the photos above of F5Journal and the ones posted on the web a couple of months ago, I'd swear it was the same guy!

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-03-2006, 4:40pm

DanB put on a little Celtic workshop. He is a very good and patient teacher

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-03-2006, 4:49pm

Well there are alot of builders here too. I'll take some pics as soon as my camera recharges. So far I've seen.
Brentrup
Heiden
Michael Lewis
Tom Ellis
Zeke Griffin
Smart
I ran into Jim Hilburn
There are a couple of others without displays
Jamie Weins has a masterful new mandolin with a "Weinzi" in it and it has a wonderful new look to the finish and some of the appointments

later

**mandolooter** · Feb-03-2006, 4:52pm

Darryl, get me one of those cool T-shirts, size large and i send ya some moola.

**Jonathan James** · Feb-03-2006, 5:27pm

Darryl,

Dying to see some shots of that new Wiens F5. I've been hearing very good things about it and would love your feedback on the tone from that Wienzi/Virzi contraption he has in it!

**f5joe** · Feb-03-2006, 5:56pm

Thanks Darryl! I hope you're having a great time.

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-04-2006, 4:56am

Todd Phillips checking out Hans Brentrups awesome "F4"

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-04-2006, 5:00am

Scott, Bruce and all of us had a great time

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-04-2006, 5:03am

Darryl thought the Shultz Loar, now known as the Carter Loar sounded great

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-04-2006, 5:12am

Brentrup Peghead

**AlanN** · Feb-04-2006, 6:39am

Nice, F5Journal, isn't that F5loar peering at the mandolin?

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-04-2006, 9:38am

Alan, yes. Everyone has been wonderful. Thanks F5JOE, I've had a great time and you know how fine print on that one.
This is my first time meeting Scott T, Hal and the wonderful folks involved with this event. Thank-you for a great event

**Darryl Wolfe** · Feb-04-2006, 9:45am

There is alot of news to report from Bakersfield. Elderly left with less luggage, Dan should have a nice new database of catalog info soon, Gibson appears that they may be adding some new models, and most trivially, Lloyds Loar did have a Virzi and it is in a mandolin run not normally equipped with one. It also has gold parts, so we know there was some special attention paid to it

**mandophil(e)** · Feb-04-2006, 11:03am

I believe I heard there was a plan in place to record the panel discussion. If that's true, and I hope it is, how do folks get their hands on it?

**danb** · Feb-04-2006, 11:24am

Here's a slideshow with a nice interview with Tony Williamson running on audio in the background. The first picture there shows Ken playing the A4/virzi I'm taking home with me. I'll be a lot thinner on quantity in my mando fleet when I get home.

Big news for me this weekend so far

A chance to play Jamie Wiens's new F5 patterned after <a href="http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/76547" target="_blank">76547 (the "Shultz Loar" or "Carter Loar" as Darryl is calling it above)
</a>.. Sound clips and pictures to follow.

Meeting Roger Siminoff was a treat. Wonderful guy, some fascinating information on Lloyd's Loar & Viola. It was also my first time meeting Darryl Wolfe in person after several years of emails. The same for Tom Isenhour (f5loar), Stan Werbin, and many other friends I've known through the cafe here for some time. Darryl bought a fantastic stash of information with him to show, we have years worth of info to add to the archvie now, starting with some cool documentation treats when I get home.

Wonderful mandolins on display.. I haven't had as much to play outside of Loar jams (hey who can resist) but I very much enjoyed a mandola made by A Lawrece Smart. More to follow when I catch my breath a bit.. need to get ready now to go down and see Mike Compton again!

**danb** · Feb-04-2006, 11:28am

Here's a Virzi Darryl brought along to show, removed many years ago.

**danb** · Feb-04-2006, 11:32am

Tony Williamson's 75709 or "Rybka" Loar:

**danb** · Feb-04-2006, 11:35am

Here's the *original* f5journal!

**danb** · Feb-04-2006, 11:39am

Scott playing Jamie's fantastically Loar-like mandolin.. This mandolin was inspired by a long visit from 76547 at his house (my favorite Loar), and comes with a factory installed "wienzi tone re-user"

**danb** · Feb-04-2006, 11:42am

A rare photo of Jamie Wiens (rare because he normally seems to make a pretty intense stare as his preferred "portrait look")

**Scott Tichenor** · Feb-04-2006, 12:06pm

I have a bunch of pix to add here in the next few days and will prep them during the flight home. This has been too much fun. Haven't read everything here but will add my brief two cents as coffee is calling and it was a very late night last night.

LoarFest was off the scale. Didn't see a final count and maybe someone has it above but I think it approached or exceeded 30. I've never played so many cool old mandolins in one place--ever. The personal Loar instruments Roger Siminof brought were stunning, and what a remarkable man he is.

The LoarFest panel did the superb job I was hoping for in allowing me to fumble out a question and let them run with it. Could easily have gone on for another hour. I think they were just getting warmed up.

Lots of spectacular instruments on hand from builders Wiens, Brentrup, Lawrence Smart, Michael Heiden, Zeke Griffin, Michael Lewis. Hope I didn't miss anyone there.

Of course lots of fun hanging out with Darryl, Dan and Charlie and Bruce, Ken Cartwright, Hal Johnson, Craig Wilson, Jack and Sharon Schultz, Bob Becker, John West, Mike Marshall, Paul Indman...sure I'm forgetting others. Also got to spend a couple of hours yesterday afternoon swatting out jazz standards with young wonderkid Bryce Milano and that was a treat.

Have pix of Reischman's new Gibson... er... leaving now for coffee. Much more to tell but it'll have to wait.

**uncle ken** · Feb-04-2006, 4:25pm

Here's a closeup of Lloyd's personal F5. The thing that was interesting to me about it was that he had electrified it. You can see where Roger had the holes filled on the pickguard and top when he restored it. This was probably the highlight instrument of the Loar Fest from an historical perspective.

**uncle ken** · Feb-04-2006, 4:52pm

Having the opportunity to play so many Loar mandolins at one location and in the same setting is hard to put into words. Many thanks to the owners who allowed us to play these rare and valuable instruments. I also got to play a snakehead A for the first time, Dan's A4 with virzi. It's a fantastic sounding piece, like nothing I've ever heard or played before. I also spent some time with the Loar mandola from Elderly. I wish I could afford this stuff, but just getting to play these for an afternoon was the next best thing.

I spent all of Friday playing the new stuff that was there, and there was plenty of it. I must have played at least 30 new instruments. I loved the Heiden heritage and the Wiens. Also worth mentioning was a redwood topped A model by Zeke Griffin and a German spruce topped A model by Johann Bentrup. These last two were more in my price range.

The Irish jig session with Dan B. and the advanced playing seminar with Tony Williamson alone were worth the two day price of admission for the festival.

All in all this was the best event I've ever been to.