9 July - centenary of great mandolins

Bill Monroe's 1923 Lloyd Loar Gibson F-5 #73987, on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (photo: Mandolin Archive)

On 8 Feb. 2017 the BIB carried a post on C.J. Lewandowski of the Po' Ramblin' Boys (USA) and his mandolin, the Lloyd Loar Gibson F-5 #72058, shipped out of the factory five months earlier than Bill Monroe's iconic instrument. The BIB particularly commended the two articles (1, 2) that C.J. had contributed to Bluegrass Today, of which we said: 'It's a long story, but instrument freaks will not wish it a word shorter.'

Last Sunday (9 July) was the centenary of the day on which a batch of new Gibson F-5s, including what was to become Bill Monroe's, were approved by the designer, musician and acoustic engineer Lloyd Allalyre Loar (1886-1943). Richard THompson has marked the occasion with a post on Bluegrass Today which is equally well worth reading for all instrument freaks/ nerds/ enthusiasts. It includes four carefully chosen YouTube videos, one of which is a recent shortie from C.J. Lewandowski, reporting on a Lloyd Loar F-5 from the 9 July 1923 batch which he has located (and bought) in Athens, Greece.

© Richard Hawkins