My worst purchase of the year 2010: The Loar LH-700. Be careful!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Alan Cohen

Then I must have been one of those infuential people that got a one in a million guitar.

And it's not always true that you get what you pay for. There are times when new companies are trying to break into a market and their level of effort and quality far exceeds the market value. The Japanese builders did it in the 70's. Is it possbile China is doing the same thing now?

Hi Alan,

I'm glad you are happy with your guitar. And I'm glad you joined us here on the AGF.... WELCOME!

- Glenn

[Alan Cohen]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi Alan,

I'm glad you are happy with your guitar. And I'm glad you joined us here on the AGF.... WELCOME!

- Glenn

Thanks, Glenn...good to be here. I've been playing on and off for 35 years and just coming out of an 8 year 'off' period. My 14-year old son has decided to extend his grade school sax career into high school so I upgraded his old Bundy II beater to a fully restored 1945 Buescher Big B alto. He's now taking privatge lessons and has upped his practice time from...well...never to 1/2 hour a day. He's wailing these days and I think we gotta put the band together . That's why I went for the archtop. I got a hankerin' to learn some jazz chords and play along with him.

I'll take a few pics of the LH-700 tonight and post...

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Alan Cohen

Thanks, Glenn...good to be here. I've been playing on and off for 35 years and just coming out of an 8 year 'off' period. My 14-year old son has decided to extend his grade school sax career into high school so I upgraded his old Bundy II beater to a fully restored 1945 Buescher Big B alto. He's now taking privatge lessons and has upped his practice time from...well...never to 1/2 hour a day. He's wailing these days and I think we gotta put the band together . That's why I went for the archtop. I got a hankerin' to learn some jazz chords and play along with him.

I'll take a few pics of the LH-700 tonight and post...

Man, that sounds like fun!

My oldest son is 36 years old, but in spite of the pains of growing up and having the inevitable father/son issues during Jr High and High School, we have always had music in common and still do, to this day.

Music definitely brings people together, and when it can do that for a parent and an offspring, that is a very good thing.

Enjoy that archtop! And your time with your son!

- Glenn

[Taylorplayer]

Hello Alan -

Sounds like you made a good move! Enjoy that new guitar, and welcome to the AGForum.

Best'
Will ~

[Turp]

Originally Posted by skatalite

I know this thread is old but I'd love to see the pictures in the thread's first post. They don't seem to be there anymore. Maybe it was explained why somewhere in this thread, but I didn't read through it all.

I saw the pictures then and the guitar was , like the dog said, ruff ruff. It was bad.

I own a lh 250 and it's very nice, a great copy of a L00. Sound is very sweet and bluesy without a lot of "boxy" tone. Feels very nice too.

[Watt]

I bought an LH250 when they first came out. For a sub-$500 guitar, I thought it was great. The finish was nice, albeit not comparable to a $2000 guitar, everything was well constructed, even the set-up was not bad. Sounded pretty good too, though perhaps not much better, if at all, than the LH200. I recently purchased an LM 300 mandolin. I am no expert on mandolins, but it seems to be a pretty good instrument. Again, no finish flaws or other manufacturing defects. Plays great. I'd say that The Music Link is doing a great job with its The Loar line.

[Polishbroadcast]

*zombie bumpdate*

I sold the original LH-700 I described in my previous post. I always regretted selling it so recently bought another, newer, LH-700 and at the same time, a 1934 Gibson L5 reissue—the 16" non-cut original 20's style L5, made in 1993. I preferred the Loar to the Gibson. While the Gibson had a slightly tighter sound that comes with a 20 year head start on aging and slightly longer 25" scale, the Loar had more volume, low end, and cut to the sound. The Gibson sounded sweet but very timid in comparison. If it holds up 20 years, the Loar will best any Gibson acoustic archtop I've owned (3 so far) or played (dozens+).

One other thing to note is the prices of the Loars have gone up about 30% and the fit and finish is now every bit as good as Eastman or other high end makers. I think they have tightened the craftsmanship and raised the prices appropriately. You can tell the newer makes because they have an elongated flower pot headstock inlay, not the "urn" copied from Gibson who asked them to stop using it.