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Any tried one ?
Kinda a cheap way to get into a es150 or es125 vibe or not ?
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09-05-2017 09:24 PM
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If you're there Jonathan ?
Be interested in your view if you have one ....
(And everyone else too)
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I've read poor reviews of it on this forum, but outside of this forum I have read both good and bad... it might depend on the individual guitar.
Many hear will point you in the direction of the Godin instead, which is no doubt a more consistent guitar. But I played one, and thought it was just OK. I would love to play the Loar for myself.
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The 2 I played were just terrible.
I recently played their single p90 thinline model, which was also complete crap. The Epiphone Century was pretty sweet, much better. The loar p90 is absolutely pathetic.
The Godin is leaps and bounds ahead. But I know people like shiny objects, so I assume the Loar will continue to sell.
Big bummer by the way, as the higher priced Loars are GREAT.
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We know you really hate the Loar, Jeff. I can't speak directly for or against it, because I haven't found one to play. But there are more than a few people playing some decent jazz on them on YT. So I wouldn't think it's "crap." Perhaps the 2 you played were, or perhaps you just don't like them? I played the Kingpin 5th Ave, and I thought it was just ok. Not up to the caliber of my Epi Broadway at the time. Not nice enough for me to buy one... maybe some of this is just personal preference?
I'm not arguing with you, we all dig what we dig and don't dig what we don't dig. But every time someone mentions the LH-309, your venomous fangs really come out!
If the OP can't get his hands on one to try, I encourage him to watch a bunch of YT vids- everything from "bad guitar" to "great guitar for the money", and draw his own conclusions. (I also haven't seen enough great "press" about to Loar to buy one sight unplayed myself... I also haven't written it off...)
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It's all good.
I'm just speaking as a guy who''s played the cheap ones and owned a more expensive one. It's a night and day difference in quality. And playability is certainly subjective, but a noisy, low output, muddy p90 is not.
A person can play good sounding music on anything...but is the experience enjoyable?
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7 months ago I purchased a LH700. It was an as new guitar at a used price. Neck and action were perfect with the action setup to perfection. My only wish is to have purchased the guitar years ago. My 3rd Loar archtop with the other 2 being the L4 style LH650's.
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I've played 2 or 3 LH309s - The quality control was pretty poor - 1 out of 3 had a dead pickup out of the box, but the sound was ok
I have played 5 or 6 LH280s the workmanship was shoddy, and the finish was inconsistent - one of the worst ones I played was missing the nut for the volume pot (it was only held through the front of the guitar by the plastic knob) - The tone was a bit thin/bland, not round like a 175, and not complex/airy like an Eastman AR371
I also owned an LH700 for a few weeks, and although it sounded fantastic, it too had to be returned for a severe shallow neck angle - the rep I talked with admitted that they had received many returns of the Loar, and many of the local shops no longer carry them. The LH700 sounded good enough that I actually considered spending the money on a neck reset (on a brand new guitar!) but I ended up getting a great deal on a Gibson ES-165 that cured me of my archtop cravings for a bit
Eastman seems to have much better quality control in my opinion, but Loars can often be found for VERY cheap if you don't mind a "b-stock" one, and many big box retailers sell them so returns are painless if it doesn't work out
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Not sure about the LH309, but I have heard that the lower end Loars are bad to mediocre. I have a LH650 which I love acoustically but the pickup is weak, so maybe Loar just skip on electronics?
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With any low-end guitars, I assume a pickup swap would probably be happening anyway, but maybe that's just me. The P90 in the Godin functioned- but tonally there was nothing about it that made me think "no need to swap this"... I wouldn't have bought or left the guitar based on that; I was paying more attention to the neck profile and overall feel of the guitar. (personally, the neck was a little chunky for me).
I do wish I could find a Loar 309 to try. For a decent price, I don't mind a little work... Squiers these days, with a little effort, can be great guitars... I can't help but wonder if the 309 could be the same... of course the major things would have to be right: neck angle, overall construction, fretwork, etc... but if it needed a new nut, or saddle lowered, or the pickup was meh, or something similarly small... it wouldn't stop me from buying it, IF I liked the rest of the guitar.
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The Loars are going up in price it looks like? And they've diversified heavily into electric guitars.
I am glad I bought my LH600 anyway. The 300's are OK, but for a P90 guitar I think you might well be better off with a 5th Avenue or something. I also like the look of the Century although I haven't tried one.
Loar's USP was producing acoustically viable archtops at a budget price point. I'm not quite sure what they are up to these days, but TBF that's a pretty narrow niche... In terms of their electric instruments, there's much less point getting a carved solid guitar... They have a lot of stiff competition.
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Thanks for the Info's everyone
Got it ....
I tried the godin , but it was too brite for me
Likewise Eastman
Maybe I'll have to just save up for a nice es125 ...
Thanks tho
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Epi don't seem to make the new century p90 guitarin fat body form
Which is a shame , I blame James bey !
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Yeah, the Century is only available as a thinline, kind of a bummer, but it was actually pretty loud acoustically (the one I tried) I liked it. Had a nice fat neck too, very "old school" feeling.
And the P90 was an actual P90...which should be bright and clear with a little edge...and darken up a little if you roll the volume or tone back.
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Was it bright acoustically ?
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I like mella ...
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Archtops are this crazy thing that they're pretty much always going to sound brighter and more "midrangey" unplugged, even though their electrified tone might be beautifully round and mellow.
Laminate boxes aren't the best acoustic guitars, but some can sound surprisingly good...and they'll have less of pretty much everything compared to a solid wood box, which can translate as somewhat more "mellow." I put the Godin in that category, and yes, definitely an old 125.
But if I'm looking for a mellow acoustic instrument to play jazz on, an archtop would rarely be my first choice.
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Funny you ask that, because when I tried the Godin, that was my thought... it sounded alot like a flat top acoustic guitar, not so much like an archtop. Certainly sounded nothing like my Epi Broadway, acoustically (I realize the Epi is bigger, and has 2 pickups instead of one... but the difference between the 2 was quite dramatic.) Originally Posted by pingu
Of course, string type and gauge has a HUGE impact on the tone, with archtops OR acoustic flat tops, so...Last edited by ruger9; 09-06-2017 at 11:33 AM.
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Has anyone tried the Eastman es 125-style guitar? I think it's called the AR405E. I see some on ebay around $600. I know some people aren't too into the Eastman sound, but there is a majority consensus (as far as I know) regarding their consistency of quality relative to similarly priced competitors. Got to wonder if that p90 sounds any good, though. I've never had an Eastman that kept its original pickups, even though I think they're extremely well crafted guitars.
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Originally Posted by ruger9
YEah, I think Godin did try to make the guitar sound a little more "flat toppy." Gotta admit, I never heard it...it sounds like a laminated archtop to me, albeit one with a decent amount of bass for such a small body.
Something like the broadway might sound "mellow," I suppose, laminate construction, 2 pickups, a lot there to dampen an acoustic properties. Certainly not what I'd look for in an acoustic archtop, but that's not what it is---the Broadway is an electric guitar first and foremost (and a cool one at that)
Compare that to something like the Loar 600-700, which are anything but mellow! Brash and bold, I'd say, though they might mellow up a bit with age...but new, they want to be played hard...they capture that spirit better than just about anything, certainly anything in their price bracket.Last edited by mr. beaumont; 09-06-2017 at 11:48 AM.
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I tried one briefly. It played really nicely (better, imo, than a Godin 5th Ave). Maybe a little louder acoustically than the Godin, very similar electric sound. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
John
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I liked the Epiphone Century I played too Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Big neck, really nice feel to the guitar. Better than their new deep body archtop series IMO
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There's a LH600 on feebay listed at $750 obo, reportedly with a "hardshell case" for anyone that may be interested. "30 day no questions asked guarantee." As its been said these guitars vary in quality control. But when you get a good one you've got a great playing archtop on the cheap. I've owned more expensive guitars but none more fun to play than the 3 loars I've owned. My LH700 arrived with a primo finish that rivals any guitar I've ever owned...maybe a one off?
The Loar LH-600 Archtop Acoustic Guitar Vintage Sunburst | eBay
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walked into the little mom n pop store and there was this Loar 309.I played it unplugged and with the focus of feel dont even remember liking or not liking the sound.What i do know was it took me back to the first Godin i ever tried and i realized today that the radius and neck were super comfortable on both.So with the hard shell case the loar is $600.flat wounds and maybe down the road a pick up.I love my Eastman archtop 403 but i can do things on this loar easier.May look at a Godin again and sell my Eastman.Anyway my 2 cents.gonna go back plug it in and see.Its on consgnment and in great shape.
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I owned a Loar lh-309 vs for about 5 years and really liked it a lot. I liked the P90 and having enjoyed the triangular neck profile of a 1924 L4 that I owned back in the day I got a kick out of the neck on the lh 309. The thing is the neck angle was wrong, too shallow so I had to plane down the bridge. I got it to a playable action and found that and the wide fingerboard with the fat neck made it a lot of fun to play. This was an early one from when they first came out so I don't know if they have addressed the neck angle thing since. You need to check that on whatever you're looking at. It was a locally respected luthier who pointed that out to me when I had him look at it. Outside of that he was extremely impressed with the guitar for the price point and said he would have expected it to be twice the price I paid, about $550.00 at the time with no case. I eventually sold to fund some other gear.
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