Mandolins can be ridiculously expensive—a lot of work goes into carving those top and back plates! For many years, we searched for the right balance of cost and features, and to be honest we didn't think we would ever find a good "affordable" mandolin. Well, that all changed when we discovered The Loar at the NAMM show in 2018.
The Loar LM-520 features a hand-carved solid Spruce top and a hand-carved solid Maple back. Ask any expert, and they'll tell you the top and back are the most critical components of the mandolin. They are what drives the instrument's tone, and solid wood sounds richer, more nuanced, and more refined than heavy multi-ply laminate materials. It also gives you a wider dynamic range and more subtlety to your picking attack.
Unlike other brands, The Loar is able to deliver all-solid construction in an F-Style package, too. Let's face it, the pros play F models. It's what you've seen on stage and in photos, and that shape is what we all really want our mandolin to look like. Too often, beginning players compromise for a more affordable A-model, but the LM-520 lets you get the tone and feel of a high-dollar, all-solid F-Style mandolin at a reasonable price.
The Loar LM-520 is finished in a gorgeous gloss vintage sunburst—a fitting nod to the mandolins of yesteryear. The LM-520 looks the part, plays great, and sounds like it should. If you need a quality mandolin with the right features at a price that won't break the bank, look no further—the LM-520 has you covered!
- Design: F-Style
- Top: Solid Hand-Carved Spruce
- Back & Sides: Solid Hand-Carved Maple
- Bracing: Longitudinal Tone Bars
- Neck: Hard Rock Maple
- Fretboard: Padauk
- Finish: Gloss Vintage Sunburst
- Tuning Machines: Grover w/ Ivoroid Buttons
- Scale Length: 13-29/32"
- Binding: Ivoroid
- Bridge: Compensated Adjustable Ebony
- Nut: Bone, 1-1/8"