The Loar LH-309 - Bad Guitar?

**rlrhett** · 11-26-2018, 01:13 PM

Don’t know about the 600/700, but the one 300 I’ve played was probably the worst production guitar I’ve played in many years. Sloppy construction, bad set up, awkward neck, and thin/harsh tone. After a while it’s nickname became, “La-whore”, if that tells you anything.

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**mad dog** · 11-26-2018, 02:41 PM

I've tried a few, hoping for the best. Didn't happen.

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

Hofner Senator, don’t rate it really. I think most of the readily available models are laminates, and tbh I’d much rather get a Godin 5th Avenue

No idea re lh700 and lh600 - only played the latter, and I don’t know the 300 or 309 well enough to recommend. You’ll have to try them.

They have gone up a lot in price.

But if you want an old school plectrum guitar Eddie Lang type sound none of the other guitars of mentioned here will cut it apart from the Levin.

However. Amplifying that sound is an issue. I’ve not found a practical solution to that.

This is a Hofner Senator but with DeArmond pickup. Sounds very nice.

And here is one unplugged.

That is not so bad. Nice basses but the higher tones sound a bit metalic. Maybe because of the strings?

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

The 600/700 series are great. Might need a setup, a little fretwork. The one I had had a nut cut too shallow for one string. But other than that, great "raw materials" guitar.

The 300 series Loars I've encountered have been categorically awful. Big jump in quality when you go up to the 600.

Originally Posted by rlrhett

Don’t know about the 600/700, but the one 300 I’ve played was probably the worst production guitar I’ve played in many years. Sloppy construction, bad set up, awkward neck, and thin/harsh tone. After a while it’s nickname became, “La-whore”, if that tells you anything.

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Thank you guys for this informations. I better don´t buy a LH300. The LH600 looks very nice. I hope I will find one used, because 800 Euro are for me a lot of money for a guitar which maybe need a setup, I have to pay, too.

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by blille

I had a Loar 309. I had read the horror stories. Mine was flawless. Love the tone but the neck was too thick for me.

There are several posts in this forum about members telling that the neck was too thick for them.

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by Jonah

Rob is much focused on the tone colour production, always. I would say the mellowness of tone is most of what he is doing on any instrument.

But the music is not only nice and mellow tone, I like the other guy to... the stule he plays he should not sound that polished and mellow and I like that he has quite lively phrasing actually.

Originally Posted by voxss

both Rob and the other guy played music suited to that LOAR....no idea why Rob sold it maybe needed some dimes to finance the other one he bought..

@Jonah
Rob has such a great way to get this mellow tone out of any guitar. I love his style playing guitar.

@voxss
I am on your side. Both showing the different ways how this guitar sounds and for what styles of music she is made for.

**Jonah** · 11-26-2018, 03:09 PM

Musgo Real,

two things I personally never do

1) judging the tone of acoustic instruments from video recording... because of recording quality issues

2) judging the tone quality from an unknown persons.. first tastes differ...
but mostly it is often that people cannot produce a good tone on acoustic instrument and still they say the guitar sounds poor

By the way I think the 2nd acoustic Hofner sounds terrible (now I did what i never do!

)

**Jonah** · 11-26-2018, 03:10 PM

both Rob and the other guy played music suited to that LOAR....no idea why Rob sold it maybe needed some dimes to finance the other one he bought..

He mentionedthe neck profile was not comfortable for is technique

**Jonah** · 11-26-2018, 03:13 PM

There are several posts in this forum about members telling that the neck was too thick for them.

It is V-neck on acoustics... meaning it is real V, V for 'very V'

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by Jonah

Musgo Real,

two things I personally never do

1) judging the tone of acoustic instruments from video recording... because of recording quality issues

2) judging the tone quality from an unknown persons.. first tastes differ...
but mostly it is often that people cannot produce a good tone on acoustic instrument and still they say the guitar sounds poor

By the way I think the 2nd acoustic Hofner sounds terrible (now I did what i never do!

)

You are right, it sounds terrible.

I have seen that there are acoustic archtops made by Eastman, too. But not in my price range....

**christianm77** · 11-26-2018, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Musgo Real

This is a Hofner Senator but with DeArmond pickup. Sounds very nice.

And here is one unplugged.

That is not so bad. Nice basses but the higher tones sound a bit metalic. Maybe because of the strings?

That is the exact guitar I have. Trebly and metallic is right. It's not an unpleasant sound to my ears - but not a true '20s/'30s archtop tone either. There is no way to fix that.

BUT - it would mic well. OTOH, so would a Godin 5th Avenue, and I think you'd be happier with that.

But the Loar is the only way I think to get in the ballpark of that classic acoustic archtop tone on a reasonable budget.

**Alter** · 11-26-2018, 06:22 PM

Never played one, but a couple of experienced friends that had Loars for a while didn't like them, said they were of poor quality compared to brands like eastman, peerless, d angelico etc..

**christianm77** · 11-26-2018, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Alter

Never played one, but a couple of experienced friends that had Loars for a while didn't like them, said they were of poor quality compared to brands like eastman, peerless, d angelico etc..

Yeah I don't think the fit & finish is the best.

But I don't think your experienced friends quite get the point this instrument if they are comparing a parallel braced 16" non cutaway archtop with a period correct V profile neck to a Peerless or D'Angelico - even a (carved but x braced, modern voiced) Eastman.

Loars are very popular with period style (1920s/30s) players who rate them for their strong acoustic voice (I mean these things are loud) and FAST decay. They aren't terribly subtle and do a very specific job very well.

Anyway, lest I sound too much like a fanboy, these things need working on - they are pretty far from perfect.

But they are pretty unique in the guitar market. If you want to sound like Wes, Metheny or whoever, you have loads of (laminate) options. (Plus your weak and anaemic picking will never feed this instrument with enough energy to make it really sing :-P)

If on the other hand you want to sound like Eddie Lang, think its sensible to have a wound 2nd string, use a bit of a cow for a pick and whack the living bejeezus out of the thing, then there's pretty much nothing quite like it for less than custom builder $, maybe one of the cheaper 30s Gibsons for double to triple the money.

They open up a lot, mine sounds better than when I got it.

I mean, Eastman's are great and have a great acoustic sound but they are kind of voiced differently. They are great value for money though. Again, different thing entirely...

**christianm77** · 11-26-2018, 06:57 PM

This is me playing mine, BTW... it's a little bit subtle, but hopefully you can hear the sort of 'nasal' honk and characteristic decay this guitar has

**christianm77** · 11-26-2018, 07:01 PM

Is it my imagine or does the LH700 have a bit more flattop style warmth to it? I've never played one in the flesh.

**christianm77** · 11-26-2018, 07:06 PM

He's another fella demonstrating what this guitar (LH600) does best, probably:

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

He's another fella demonstrating what this guitar (LH600) does best, probably:

That`s Isto, I know him from youtube. He plays a LH600 and has a nice voice. Makes a lot of old fashion music covers. Love it.

**Musgo Real** · 11-26-2018, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

This is me playing mine, BTW... it's a little bit subtle, but hopefully you can hear the sort of 'nasal' honk and characteristic decay this guitar has

That`s you? I have watched your video with the LH600 several times. Very, very nice playing by the way.

Here is another guy called William Fitzsimmons playing also a LH600 and it sounds totally different, more like a dreadnought.

**2bornot2bop** · 11-26-2018, 07:59 PM

The LH650 has a fairly modern voice. No V neck like the LH600 and LH700 models. People who trash these guitars haven't played a good one. They usually buy a $500 Loar and then complain. You get what you pay for. And no, I don't know of a single all carved archtop for less than $1200. A $1500 Eastman will sound bright in comparison to a Loar LH650. Folks bought these guitars by the thousands when they were available new for $700. Those pricing days are long gone.

**Greentone** · 11-26-2018, 08:07 PM

I wonder how many 20s and 30s archtop guitars some of these players have played? I have played and owned 20s and 30s Gibson archtops (and Recording King and Epiphone). I have also played quite a few The Loar instruments. The fit/finish on the low-end Loars isn't necessarily up there with a 16" L5 or Epiphone Deluxe from the Golden Era, but The Loars DO resemble those old guitars. They have the V-neck and construction/design features of the vintage guitars.

Moreover, they have the "voice" of the old-style guitars. Neither the old or the Loar archtops sound like flattop guitars. If your reference is, say, a 00-18 Martin, you are going to wonder what the heck is going on when you play an old Gibson or Epiphone, or when you play The Loar guitars.

Archtops are decidedly not flattop guitars. They have a big attack/quick decay when compared with a flattop guitar.

**Jonah** · 11-27-2018, 02:16 AM

By the way Musgo Real,,

from which part of Germany are you?

When I was a Berlin there was a nice shop 'American guitar' - they had quite a few of used and new archtops... they had ES-125 from early 50s and it was the only time I saw Super 400 in reality))) (it was about EUR12000)
But there were also Hofners, a Loar, new Peerless, some Epis...

It was nice to try different instruments otherwise unavailable - just to make a comparison.

**Jonah** · 11-27-2018, 02:18 AM

Originally Posted by Greentone

I wonder how many 20s and 30s archtop guitars some of these players have played? I have played and owned 20s and 30s Gibson archtops (and Recording King and Epiphone). I have also played quite a few The Loar instruments. The fit/finish on the low-end Loars isn't necessarily up there with a 16" L5 or Epiphone Deluxe from the Golden Era, but The Loars DO resemble those old guitars. They have the V-neck and construction/design features of the vintage guitars.

Moreover, they have the "voice" of the old-style guitars. Neither the old or the Loar archtops sound like flattop guitars. If your reference is, say, a 00-18 Martin, you are going to wonder what the heck is going on when you play an old Gibson or Epiphone, or when you play The Loar guitars.

Archtops are decidedly not flattop guitars. They have a big attack/quick decay when compared with a flattop guitar.

It is interesting that I also heard quite the opposite opinion that The Loars can be nice but they are nothing like old archtops and do not resemble them...)))

It is not for the argument.. I personally do not have enough experience with both to compare... a few tries in the shops don't count

**Jonah** · 11-27-2018, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by christianm77

This is me playing mine, BTW... it's a little bit subtle, but hopefully you can hear the sort of 'nasal' honk and characteristic decay this guitar has

I think I'll take a risk and order one
(by the way I found out it is only 700 EUR for me from thomann including delivery - thanks to VAT excluded)

but later .. not now... a bit later.. not right now

**Alter** · 11-27-2018, 05:33 AM

The quality comparisons I was talking about were more about the construction quality, the consistency, playability, success or failure at setup, problems with action or the neck, fretwork, quality of finish, stuff like that. Not so much about the sound or style direction of loars which of course is very focused. And things like that are maybe less important if you are able to play the guitar before buying, since you'll hopefully be able to spot them, but buy online and it becomes quite a gamble.

I would agree on the uniqueness, not many options for the particular quite style nowadays, especially on the price range.

**christianm77** · 11-27-2018, 05:36 AM

Originally Posted by Alter

The quality comparisons I was talking about were more about the construction quality, the consistency, playability, success or failure at setup, problems with action or the neck, quality of finish, stuff like that. Not so much about the sound or style direction of loars which of course is very focused. And things like that are maybe less important if you are able to play the guitar before buying, since you'll hopefully be able to spot them, but buy online and it becomes quite a gamble.

I would agree on the uniqueness, not many options for the particular quite style nowadays, especially on the price range.

Yeah I agree. I think it’s try before you buy.

I did and I was very happy (give or take a bit of work on the frets) but Thomann has a good returns policy.