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the Loar Lh-600, Lh-700 Archtops
Recreating American Classics
When The Music Link launched its Recording
King Division, the company had a clear goal in
mind: to design and build affordable acoustic instruments
that pay tribute to some of the world’s
most revered pre-war-era flattop guitars and banjos.
With the introduction of The Loar division,
the company has added archtop guitars and mandolins
to its quest, resurrecting the historic 1920s
designs of acoustic engineer Loyd Loar. Based
on Loar’s original L-5 model, The Loar has introduced
two hand-carved 16-inch guitars, the
LH-600 and LH-700. Both are quite impressive
and offer quality and tone far beyond their low
price tags.
Although borrowing from the masters is by
no means a new concept among luthiers, The
Loar is unique in its ability to offer its guitars at
such affordable price points. According to Ashley
Atz, PR and artist relations manager, “We are
dedicated to recreating niche markets and offering
people a historic instrument at a great value.”
In order to produce a faithful representation,
the company carefully studied the original Loarera
archtop guitars, which were first introduced
by the Gibson Co. in 1922.
These instruments are built in China, but not
in factories that produce instruments for several
companies. The Loar guitars are built in limited
quantities in an exclusive workshop under extremely
tight quality control. Like the originals,
each guitar is hand-crafted from solid tonewoods
by luthiers who began as violin-makers with
years of experience in carving tops.
Both the LH-600 and LH-700 models fea-
Drake Mouthpieces has re-engineered the materials
used to make its saxophone and clarinet
mouthpiece lines (and clarinet barrels), which
combine ceramic particles and vintage resin in a
unique design to enhance density. According to
owner Aaron Drake, it’s an improvement on a
20-year-old family recipe based in the science of
ceramic acoustics.
I play-tested two baritone sax mouthpieces
from Drake’s Ceramic Chamber line, the Contemporary
I and Contemporary II (available for
soprano, alto, tenor and bari) and immediately
noticed an improvement in my sound quality.
According to Drake, the ceramic chamber has
the effect of producing a strong core fundamental
tone color that you don’t normally get with hard
rubber or metal mouthpieces. The Contemporary
ture the same basic design, which is faithful to
the original L5 built by Loyd Loar. The tops
are constructed of solid select spruce with solid
maple sides and backs with V-profile necks
crafted from mahogany. The fingerboards are
ebony with a bone nut. True to Loyd’s vision,
the guitars have a 16-inch lower bout, 11.5-inch
upper bout and a scale length of 24.75 inches.
The finish on the guitars is hand-buffed nitrocellulose
lacquer, once again remaining true to
the original vintage instruments. The overall
workmanship on these instruments is amazing
considering their low cost.
Having played many vintage L-5s, I was
quite familiar with the feel and sound of the original
guitars. Obviously these instruments cannot
replicate the tone of an 85-year-old instrument,
but I was impressed with how they did capture the
overall vibe of the originals, producing the loud,
clear, dry, punchy sound that made those guitars
legends. Although impressed with both models,
I found that the LH-700 sounded better, with a
little more volume and warmth compared to the
600 model. This is actually not surprising, since
in addition to a few cosmetic enhancements, the
LH-700 also features AAA maple and spruce as
compared to the standard grade on the 600.
The Loar has done an incredible job with
these guitars, which offer a unique value. At
a MSRP of $1,199.99 for the LH-600 and
$1,599.99 for the LH-700 (hardshell case included),
these are truly “the working man’s pre-war
instruments.” —Keith Baumann
ordering info: theloar.com
Drake Ceramic Chamber Mouthpieces
Maximize Your Sax
I and Contemporary II both gave me
a sense of better control over
the air column and helped me
achieve an effortless vibrato that
sounded great on solos and at the
bottom of a big-band sax section. The mouthpieces
also brought out the natural character of
the horn itself, giving me more brassiness and
less of the undesirable reed/mouthpiece buzz
often associated with baritone tone. Overall, I
preferred the Contemporary II, which has a lower
baffle than the Contemporary I and produced a
darker tone.
I also checked out two of Drake’s new slideon
ligatures, the Vintage Resin Double Rail and
the Quad Point Ceramic Resonance Plate. The
double-rail model felt more like a traditional lig
with some added physical
stability; the quad-point,
with its visible ceramic plate
touching the reed in four places, added
tonal depth and responded a little more rapidly.
All Drake mouthpieces are handmade in
Plainfield, N.J., and come with a lifetime replacement
warrantee. Also, check out the company’s
Hybrid and Custom mouthpiece lines,
known for their durability, projection and rocksolid
intonation. —Ed Enright
ordering info: drakemouthpieces.com
Lh-600
NOVEMBER 2010 DOWNBEAT 71