Lloyd Allayre Loar

Elected on May 7, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Lloyd Allayre Loar was recently recognized for his musical achievements by The Ancient Order of the Mandolin when he was posthumously elected an Honorary Member of the order. Lloyd Loar was a Gibson sound engineer and master luthier in the early part of the 20th century. He is most famous for his design of the F5 model mandolin, the L5 guitar, H5 mandola, K5 mandocello and A5 mandolin. Loar worked for Gibson from 1919 to 1924. His contributions include building the instrument top with f-holes like a violin, introducing a longer neck, and floating the fingerboard over the top. He also pioneered the use of the Virzi Tone Producer, a spruce disc suspended inside the instrument to act as a suplemental soundboard. The F5 mandolin was made famous by bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe who used a Loar signed Gibson F5 during most of his career. This single fact has influenced nearly every bluegrass mandolin player and builder to also play an F5 or an instrument patterned after an F5. After leaving Gibson, Loar created and patented an electric instrument with a coil pickup and co-founded the ViviTone Company. He was born in 1886 and died in 1943.

 

Sincerely,

R. Alston, Scribe