Butch Baldassari Loar

[f5loar]

I remember the week Butch got that one and he showed it to me and it was all Loar label or not. He got it a great price because it didn't have the label. I've never seen Butch so happy as when he got that one. I think he had been playing a Nugget before that. If you don't believe the Christmas party story then come forth with your explination of why he left so abruptly and after he left there were no more signed labeled F5s.
Facts are sometimes stranger than the truth.

[Gutbucket]

I remember the week Butch got that one and he showed it to me and it was all Loar label or not. He got it a great price because it didn't have the label. I've never seen Butch so happy as when he got that one. I think he had been playing a Nugget before that. If you don't believe the Christmas party story then come forth with your explination of why he left so abruptly and after he left there were no more signed labeled F5s.
Facts are sometimes stranger than the truth.

No Christmas bonus?

[jeff mercer]

..I think what happened is a mischievous young apprentice snuck a whole bottle of vodka into the fruit punch. 'Ol Lloyd has a few too many glasses, and winds up in the middle of the floor with his pants 'round his ankles & a lampshade on his head, trying to encourage a bawdy singalong..then later, charging at the Gibson CEOs' wife with hands on either side of his head, index fingers pointing out, pretending to be a bull..then waking up at 4:00am in a puddle of vomit in a gutter outside the factory..

Man, no WONDER he did'nt sign any more labels..his hands would've been shaking something terrible..

[Skip Kelley]

I always had heard Loar left Gibson over a disagreement about building electric instruments. He wanted to build them and they said they would never sell. He left and started his own electric instrument company I think. Funny that Gibson has made so much money with the electrics!

[Jim Broyles]

That's another legend we'll be handling forever.

Bet you didn't know he named them after his former employers, did you?

[D C Blood]

If'n I remember rightly, Mr. Loar was one of the foremost mandolinists of the time...

[Sinclair Baldassari]

I recently took the USLL to one of those Antique Road Show things here that Nashville Public Television was doing just to see what they'd say about it. The guy opened the case and said,"Oh, I think you've brought me something very special." It didn't take him 2 seconds to see it was a special instrument. After going back and forth on some details and after noticing the people in line behind me getting a bit uppity, he put the mandolin back in the case, plopped the strap in top and started to close the case. I interrupted the motion and carefully scrolled the strap around the instrument as Butch would do oh-so-carefully after each performance. It reminded me of when I used to do that for him when we were dating! It was a special moment. There's another reason that mandolin is special to me, a non-player...and can you believe the "expert" packing it up in such a clumsy fashion!

[MikeEdgerton]

He may have known what the instrument was, he probably doesn't have the affection for it that others would have. Hopefully he learned from you. Did they record your visit for the television show?

[Sinclair Baldassari]

Now you're talking, Chuck!

[Sinclair Baldassari]

Mike, They did record our time together but since it was an NPT thing and not an Antiques Roadshow, who knows if it will show anywhere.

[AlanN]

and can you believe the "expert" packing it up in such a clumsy fashion!

No surprise there. The guy likely had little real clue of the mandolin's worth, other than knowing it 'looked old'.

[Tim W]

I remember the week Butch got that one and he showed it to me and it was all Loar label or not. He got it a great price because it didn't have the label. I've never seen Butch so happy as when he got that one. I think he had been playing a Nugget before that. If you don't believe the Christmas party story then come forth with your explination of why he left so abruptly and after he left there were no more signed labeled F5s.
Facts are sometimes stranger than the truth.

Butch had that 25' long before the Nuggets he bought when he still lived in Vegas during the Weary Hearts years. I got to play that thing quite a bit when I lived out in SoCal and went to every festival there was. I'd just naturally run into them and jam in the parking lot.

I played Reischmans Loar a good bit too during those mid 80's and I can't say I prefer one over the other personally; they're both great instruments.

[Michael Gowell]

I agree with those who would value this mandolin because of its association with Butch as well as Loar. And sentiment aside...about the coolest thing I ever heard from an instrument dealer as he handed over an old mando for tryout was a deliberately understated "It's been recorded."

[Red Henry]

See the attached photo of the 7 piece NME playing their first concert since Butch's passing.

Thanks for the photos, Sinclair. John Hedgecoth said that this performance was a great pleasure to play. John played banjo with us for a festival weekend recently, and reminisced affectionately about his long-term association with Butch.

Red


(John, with his Gilchrist MC, is partly hidden at right.)


.

[DryBones]

This the Loar we talking about?

[Jordan Ramsey]

I was searching through an album on facebook (labeled '93 - '94) and stumbled across this photo. RIP, Butch.

[AlanN]

Great photo, JR. Very characteristic.

I remember asking Butch about that strap, forget what he said, where he got it. And does anyone know this: did Butch do the florida-ectomy after he got the 25, or was it already done like that? And who did it?

[Will Kimble]

Butch did have the Florida-ectomy done, but I don't know who actually did the work. He told me if Sam Bush did it then that was good enough for him. He knew that Gibson was a good investment, but more than anything he thought of it as a tool to make records with.

He LOVED those straps and was very particular about them. I think he had at least three of them, all hand tooled leather with the same style of attachment at the scroll loop. I am not sure who made them - friend or acquaintance - but I don't think he could get any more for some reason.

Will Kimble

[Tim W]

I don't know what a Florida-ectomy is but that is his 25' in that photo. The fancy truss rod cover was made by Tom Ellis for him. I used to play that mandolin quite a bit in the early 80's, he was generous with it. Back then it didn't have the pickguard on it and I don't think he ever took the fretboard extension off, but it had been years since I played it up to the time of his passing so maybe he did later on.

edit:
I didn't realize I had posted in this thread before, should have read it all I guess. That's a nice photo of him by the way. I found some photos of it that I took I think at Fallows Camp that I'll scan and post here purty soon.

[AlanN]

I used the term florida-ectomy to describe the removal of the fingerboard extension that the 20's F-5 mandolins had. I don't think anyone has denied that the mandolin in the photo was owned by Butch.

The strap impressed me at the time. James Allen Shelton of Ralph Stanley fame *used* to make a similar strap, but Butch's looked OLD.

[Big Joe]

Butch was without question a tone monster. His tremelo and double stops were as good as they get... period! I was also always impressed with his willingness to teach others and his desire to see others become the best picker they could. He was also extremely versatile in his musical selections. He played stuff from nearly any genre and did so with great passion. I got my first really good mandolin from Butch and will never forget that Gilchrist or Butch. They are both legends in my mind. Just like so many others that left us way too soon, Butch will be sorely missed.

[Michael Cameron]

I've been in mandolin hibernation. Just stumbled upon this thread.

I noticed ,in the picture provided, that the mandolin has a wire coming off the bridge and looks like a plug-in,end-pin(?)

What a great legacy of love and respect Butch crafted during his life! All that aside from being a great teacher and he played inspiring music with so much heart.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I noticed ,in the picture provided, that the mandolin has a wire coming off the bridge and looks like a plug-in,end-pin(?)

I saw that too, and upon a closer look it was just the wire coming out of the mic pointed at the mandolin.

I am relatively new to mandolin playing, and am embarrassed to admit that I am not familiar with Butch and his music. But I see that there is lots of great information out there honoring his legacy, and I look forward to going through them. I especially appreciate the posting that Sinclair sent to the cafe after Butch's passing, along with the last picture of the family together that really touched me. Thanks to all for sharing all the information about such a remarkable man whom I regrettably did not have a chance to get to know.

[Michael Cameron]

I went back and looked again, after adjusting my bifocals. Still looks like a pu wire coming from the bridge into the treble-side sound hole to me. The end-pin looks to be metal.

Not a big deal on the bridge/easily swapped.

[Chip Booth]

Are you looking at Matt Flinner's Gilchrist on page 1?