The 'Master Model'

Mara Kilgore

On Saturday nights at six o'clock, my father and I sit in cool, leather chairs

around an antique side table whose chestnut top wears round and ringed stains from

years of hot mugs and dark pints upon it. Chris Thile's voice spills from hung

speakers and sweetens the room as he narrates this week's sponsors: "This portion of

our show is brought to you, as always, by Fast AF. Fiddle tunes ru·e safe, therapeutic,

andfun."

Thile is the host of American Public Radio's Live From Here, a show where

musicians from all different backgrounds rendezvous to explore the depths of Folk

and Bluegrass. Now 37, Thile made his first appearance on the show, then titled A

Prairie Home Companion, when he was only 15 and already well on his way to becoming

a mandolin virtuoso (Streep). He, like I, was inspired at a young age by Saturday

nights with Garrison Keillor.

Growing up in a musical family, Chris Thile picked up his first mandolin at age

four. By 13, he was touring in his band Nickel Creek and had already released his fast

solo album (Stone). In recent years, when not hosting Live From Here, Thile plays with

his band, Punch Brothers, an incredibly talented Bluegrass, and yet not Bluegrass,

quintet. His tunes are plucked on the stretched strings of his Gibson Loar F5

Mandolin, which Thile refers to as ''The Bm1k of'Thik·.'' fo1· ii cost him his c111i,·c

savings (Slo11<'). Tl1is rna11doli11 is one of only T{o idc111ificd a11d doc11111c111cd Gihso11

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Loar l ◄' (i ;\landolins (\Voll'e). Designed by acoustical !'11gineer Lloyd Loar, i11 the world

of'1na11dolins, Thilc's is one of'the V!)l"_\' liesl.

J(' not in 011r niusic room cJ11 Salurclay nights al six o'clock, Dad all(I I a1·c i11 a

theater lo S!'l' Chris Thill' in person. Near the end ol'a Pnnch 13rothcrs show, Thilc

11 ill u11plug, step forward, and play Bach's So11ala ,\10.1 i11 C 1ninor 011 his Loa1· F5. Ile

cradles I he small a ud su nlrnrsl body oC his, Loar as I he crisp and spiraled cdgi~s hrush

against his arms. Eight thin slri11gs slretd1 across a peculiarly long neck, where 1:licy

rnccl al lhc i11slrunw11l 1s head 011 either sidt• of a pearly torch inlay. The l,oar 1 ◄'5

li•al111'<'s two thin and ru1·vcd f'-l10lcs, designed lo rrt~alc r<isniHmrc within the body. A

peek i11s1de llllt' of'tl1csc holes reveals \he i11s\1·u111t•111's serial nu111ber, dale of'crl'alio11,

:111d the signature: of' Llo)d Loar hi111scll'. These ar-c· the 1t1arks of'lhc ''Masle1· Model''

111a11dolin, a11d an,1rnH' with lhe good f'orlunc of owning one has their inslru11w11t's

1111111lwr and data 111cn1orized. The 'l3ank of'Thile' is 11u111l){'l' i5'1,!l, sig11cd Feb. 18,

K11ow11 li>I' its part ic1ilarl,1 long· neck, widespread r-holcs, alld raisl'cl

li11gcrl,oanl, 1l1c Loar I ◄'~ lra11sf'or111ed lhl' c1·calio11 of'mandolins. Llo,,d Loar designed

Ll1is i11st1·111nc11t whe11 lie workl'd f'or Gihso11 as an acoustical engi1wer, a job which

pl'rf'crtly ro111hi1wcl bis childhood passions of" physirs and music (Siruinol'I). From a

young agl', I ,oar was curious ahoul I.he rrn1stmclirn1 o[' mandolins (Sirni11off). \Vhc11

he lwgan al Cibson, wilhout rnuch cxpe1·it•11cc, he was quick lo Lcsl ncll' ideas fc1r

111a11doli11 dcsig·n. To creak I his revolulionary i11slr1Jlllt'11t, Loa1· hcg·,111 with the

existing Gibson l ◄'fi a11d 1hc11 incorporated slructm·es f'o1111d in S11·adivari violin

pri11ci11al. The· blendi11g or guilar and violin through lhc f'-holcs, long 11erk, a11d raised

fingerboard crcalcd a disling·uished look ;111d lone i11 l.,ciar's i11slrnrnc11l, which

lwcame k11ow11 as Ilic 'Master i\lodd' 111a11doli11 (Si111i11of'f).

As the popularity and prcsligr of' Loar's i11slru111cnls grew in ihe l!J:fos, n1osll_1

cine lo 'The Father of Bluegrass" Bill ~lonroc, ma11cloli11isls hcga11 lo \rack a11d

document the hauds which held these 'l\fast{'l' :Models.' One such 11111sieia11 was Da1Tyl

\Voll'e, mandolinist of'Thc K11owillc Crass. ln :111 interview wilh \Volrc'., he ccmfi~ss<'d

Lhal his inleresl in Lloyd Loar began when he was only 15 years old, and in the years

l'ollowing, \Volf'c began lo seai-cl1 f'or Loar c1·ealio11s. Uul of' curinsil_v, lie \\'011ld IVl'ilc

dow11 lhc serial nu111h<' rs and descriptions oflhc mandolins be l'ouncl. <h<'r lime, his

hobhy l111'11ccl inlo lhc F'>.lo!lma/, the 111nsl rohusl a11d accurate archive of' all localed

I ,oar i11st1·ume111s.

Following ihe F5 Jormw/, Danyl \Volfi_, plann ed Lomfrsls, whl're 11111sicians

who owned Cibson Loar F5 mandolins could come togctlwr a11d share i11 their

apprecialio11 liir Lloyd I ,oar's designs. \Volfi_, 1·emc111licrs fo1Hlly these gatherings ol' 15-

20 1n::l.llcloli11is1s, all si11i11g arnn11d a stage a11d playing each 01lw1·' s inslr11rncnls.

''J1's hccn a great journey," he recalls as he lists off 11ainc al'lt•r 11a111c of' l:u11cJ11s

rna11doli11isls he has hcf'ric11dcd tl1rough tl1csc li-slivals.

Wolfe purchased his first Loar mandolin back in 1976. Then only 23, Wolfe

drove from North Carolina to New Hampshire with his father and wife. Woll'e noted

8ft

that, back then , there was no in ternet nor immediate way to communicate, so he had

planned in advance, over the phone and through letters, the exact details of this

mandolin exchange. Wolfe was adamant to pick up the Loar in person for he wanted

to ensure it was the right instrument for him. If the neck of a mandolin does not fit

the shape of your hand or the tone does not match the sound you desire, there is very

littl e that can be done to change it. However , for Darryl, it was a match, and he

purchased the mandolin and drove right back to North Caro lina. He arrived home just

in time to walk on stage and play a show with The Knoxville Grass. Later on, Wolfe

discovered that the man who so ld him that Loar was a con man and, had Wolfe not

insisted upon buying it in person rath e r than having it shipped , the ins trument very

we ll could have never been sent to him.

13<-yo nd Lite storiC's a11d l11n cs wl1i C' li of'lcn brin g tlwsC' 11111si c 11rnk<·rs together,

1l1 <'y an· co 111H'C'tcd l,y til e 111111dwrs 1·<·cordcd inside eac h ol' th eir Loars. \,\/ li e n

spcak i11 g witl1 Darryl \Vo ll< : a11d li stcn i11 g lo i11lcrvic ws witl1 f~1n1ous 1rw11dolinis ts , I

nolir<·d th at 111:111y ar(' q11ich. lo 1·r·c il1' the ir 1wrndoli11 's s!'ria l 11un1hc·r. It sc'cms Lo he a

poi 111 of" prid<' wliicl1 exact I ,oar t liey ow11 and who t hci r I l<'i glil,orin g ow1 1ers a rc. 1n

an interv iew with Fretboard Journal, as John Reisch man shares about his Loar, he

rec ites the serial number, 75327, without a second thought: (Verlinde). He recalls that

his mandolin is only one number away from David Grisman's, who once lost his Loar

buL stumbled upon the exact same one many years later (Ve rlinde). Similarly, Darryl

Wolfe made certain that I understood his Loar is only five numbe rs away from Bill

Monroe's "Million Dollar Mandolin ," which is arguab ly th e most famous Gibson Loar

F5 mandolin and now sits in the Country Mus ic Hall of Fame (Rudder).

Perhaps most impress ive of all is th e mandolin h eld on stage before Dad and

me. Thile, a world-re nowned rnandolinist, Grammy winn er , MacArthur Gen ius, and

my first crush, p lays th e mandolin which is on ly one digit away from Lloyd Loa r's

personal Gibson Loar F5. Thi le plucks a melody which dances about th e room with

sharp, woody steps. As the final notes of Bach's Sonata fad e into the farthest co rn ers

of the silent theater , the Punch Brothers sLep forward and join Thi le at the edge of a

dark stage. With all in stn1me nts unplugged, Thil e begins one final song with a s low

and sc raping strum on his mandolin sLrin gs. One by one, the others join in , no t

fighting to be h eard but Lo tune into th e present dance whi ch carries on th e legendary

work of Lloyd Loar and hi s 'Mas ter Model' mandolin .

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vVorks Cited

Carter Vintage Guitars. "Chris Thile - Two February 18th, 1924 Loar Mandolins"

Youtube, 21 April 2014, https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh_CdTa-2-U.

Rudder, Randy. "The Million-Dollar Mandolin: Bluegrass Music's Finest Relic Finally

Finds a Home. " Southern Cultures, vol. 13, no. 3, 2007, pp. 126- 131. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/26391069.

Siminoff, Roger. "Lloyd Allayre Loar, 1886-1943." SiminoffBanjo & Mandol in Parts,

si mi noff.net/loar-background/.

Stone, Steven. "Chris Thile: Thile's New Loar." Vintage Guitar Magazine,

www.vintageguitar.com/3456/chris-thile/.

Streep, Abe. "What's 'A Prairie Home Companion' Without Garrison Keillor?" The

New York Times, 27 Sept. 2016,

https://www. nytimes.comhor6/ro/ 02/rnagazine/whats-a -prairie- home­

compan ion -without-garrison -keillor. h trnl.

Verlinde, Jason. "John Reischman's Mandolin. " Fretboard Journal, Aug. 2ou, https: //

www.fretboardjournal.com/video/john-reischmans-loar-mandolin/ .

-.Wolfe, Darryl C. Personal interview. 22 Oct. 2018.

\Volfe, Darryl C. "The F5 Journal." The F5 Journal, Darryl G. Wolfe Publishing Co.,

www.f5journal.com/.

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