Wires & Wood: Vintage Instrument Demonstration
The 8th Annual Jake Landers Bluegrass Concert was held at the historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Sheffield on Saturday, Feb. 10th, 2018. Prior to the concert, Landers’ longtime friend and colleague Iron Horse’s Tony Robertson held an informative demonstration of vintage instruments by master luthier Lloyd Loar. Robertson’s demonstration and accompanying lecture explored the history of Loar’s work and the reasons for his instruments’ enduring appeal. There’s really no substitute for hearing the instruments played in person –– but if you missed the show, read on to catch up on the highlights from “Wires and Wood” –– you’ll be glad you did!
Tony Robertson explains the history of Lloyd Loar’s instruments during “Wires & Wood: Vintage Instrument Demonstration.”
Picking the right instrument can be a lot like dating, according to Robertson. Even though from a distance all versions of a mandola or mandolin may look a lot alike, to the experienced musician each individual piece has its own “feel” in the arm and in the hand. Finding “The One” –– the perfect fit between player and instrument –– can take a lot of trial and error, trying different instruments out and playing them for a while. Sometimes you’ll find one that seems great the first few times, but it just doesn’t wear well. It’s all about exploring, getting to know each instrument you try.
With all of that said, Robertson says one of the questions he gets a lot is, “Why the old stuff?” And though the fit between player and instrument can be a pretty individual experience, there is still something special about a Loar. Much as we still marvel over a Stradivarius violin, the world’s finest players agree: Nobody has ever managed to beat Loar’s touch with the mandola and mandolin.
One of the special qualities of Loar instruments is their cut. “Cut” in this context refers not to the physical dimensions of the instrument (i.e., the way the wood itself is carved and shaped), but to the distinctiveness of its individual notes. On a stringed instrument with good “cut,” each individual note comes through clearly, even when the strings are strummed in quick succession. Cut becomes especially important in an orchestral setting, in which many different instruments of varying timbres are played together. The 1923 mandolin Loar created for Gibson was partly his response to this challenge: How do you make a mandolin that can hold its own in an orchestral setting?
A Loar mandola, from the collection of Tony Robertson.
To this day, we don’t know exactly how Lloyd Loar achieved the quality and clarity of cut found in his instruments, but his distinctive F-holes may be a part of the puzzle. From a distance, F-holes can look like ovals cut to a standard pattern, but in fact they are cut and shaped individually. The size and shape of F-holes are what gives a mandola or mandolin its quality of resonance or timbre.
We know that the texture and density of the wood used in crafting an instrument, as well as the techniques used to cut and shape it, can affect the finished product’s sound. Today’s best luthiers use maybe one out of 20 pieces of ebony they test; what we don’t know is what Loar’s criteria for selecting wood were, or –– more crucially –– how he tested. We do know, however, that Loar used a highly idiosyncratic set of methods for tuning the air chambers of the instruments he crafted.
A Loar mandola (reverse).
Thanks to a speech Loar gave in 1922, which was later published from a verbatim transcript, we know that he used several methods in combination –– but his favorite, and perhaps the most distinctive, involved blowing across the F-holes with a specially-designed hollow tube to assess their sound. Nobody today knows how he designed his tube for testing, or what this technique offered that more conventional tuning methods could not achieve; it remains part of the enduring mystery of Loar’s work.
We also don’t know why Loar left his work at Gibson, just before Christmas 1924 –– or even whether he left voluntarily, or was fired. In all, Loar was with the company for somewhat more than four years, during two of which he was Gibson’s acoustic engineer. During that time, he made and signed some 26 L-5 guitars and 20 H-5 mandolas. It is believed that Loar built and signed 326 mandolins; roughly 228 have been documented.
Another image of the Loar mandola.
The stock market crash of 1929 impacted Gibson’s sales, so that it was not until the middle of the 20th century that Loar’s work began finding its way into the hands of the musicians who could best use and appreciate the instruments –– influencing the development of bluegrass music via Bill Monroe, and spreading internationally through orchestral musicians.
Loar went on to spend the later years of his career developing innovations in electronic instruments, but he is best remembered for his acoustic stringed instruments, which remain in a class by themselves. While mandolas and mandolins get limited exposure outside orchestral arrangements and bluegrass, many people have heard a Loar guitar without realizing it.
If you have ever caught the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show, then you have heard a Loar L-5; Maybelle Carter was also recorded singing along with a Loar guitar. Many jazz guitarists are drawn to Loar’s instruments for the richness of their sound.
In the 21st century, the distinctive qualities of Loar’s instruments are being explored and rediscovered; due to their rarity and irreplicability, one of his signed acoustic pieces may sell for as much as $175,000 -$200,000. The world’s finest luthiers are still trying to recapture their timbre and the roundness of their notes. Until someone finds a way to reproduce Loar’s sound, his instruments will remain in high demand –– and in the heart of every musician who gets the chance to play one!
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