Loar QC

KevinV · #1 12-03-2011, 08:58 AM

I'm giving the Loar LH-600 another shot and returning the first one for an exchange. It arrived yesterday and has a seriously low 8th fret on the low E, and the inside of the body has unreachable masking tape and paper notes stuck in it. I find it hard to believe that it could actually make it past QC with the tape and paper still stuck inside...someone had to see that before they glued the top/back on. I can see the random low fret making it by, but not the tape.

I also hope the replacement has better binding. I could look past it if the rest of the guitar was good, but both sides of the neck had 2 shorter pieces of binding to make up the total length and the seam was very evident.

There are some good reviews out there of this guitar and I love the sound samples. Now to get a good one in my hands.

Soon · #2 12-03-2011, 01:11 PM

It's hard for me to believe that the QC is still flawed on the Loars. I figured after all the complaints on the first batch they would have done some changes. I've had my LH-700 for almost a year now. I'd say I have one of the better ones. Not perfect but the finish is very close and it plays and sounds very good. I have to ask why are there such problems on these when my Epi 04 JP is flawless?

KevinV · #3 12-03-2011, 10:38 PM

This is really a shame. The guitar has an absolutely gorgeous, flawless finish, I've been playing it and find the tone to be very enjoyable and have started to find the right amount of attack/finesse to coax out lovely music.

If it were just the tape/paper inside, and the binding, I'd keep it at this point. The low fret however ruins the whole thing. Every time I run across that C, it just buzzes like crazy...no matter how gentle I am with it. It's isolated to that one fret, and although I haven't pulled out the depth mics to get an accurate measurement, I'm sure it's a lone low fret.

I'm afraid I'll exchange it and get another dud, or a finish that doesn't compare to this one. The guitar appealed to me in many ways, a big one being that it is very reminiscent of the archtop my grandfather played. Even if not the same guitar, I feel a connection to him with it.

Do I go forward with the exchange and hope for the best, or just bypass the aesthetics that I remember and get an Eastman AR805CE for more consistent quality and the ability to plug in? I'd be happy with either if they had both respectable tone and quality.

KevinV · #4 12-09-2011, 07:43 PM

Another dud...worse than the first. It's going back and I'm done with Loar.

This one actually has a huge chunk (over 1") missing from the top and they tried to cover it up with black magic marker. This one also has masking tape hanging from the inside, and pieces of string stuck to the underside of the top with adhesive. Pitiful.

bborzell · #5 12-10-2011, 01:29 AM

I have followed the Loar folks for some time now. They make pretty good mandolins as evidenced by a positive following over at Mandolin Cafe.

When I was looking for a new arch top, I spent several days getting to the bottom of the Loar guitar offering and, for every positive comment I had read about the mandolins, I read a review much like the subject of this thread about the guitars. I spoke to two dealers who were about to give up on the guitars because of QA/QC problems. After calling the manufacturer three times and getting no return call, I too gave up on Loar.