2010s Loar LH-300 Carved-Top Archtop Guitar

Overview: Modern, carved-top, Loar guitars are pretty dang great for their price points. This one apes a black-finish L-30/L-48 from the '30s (of which I've worked on a few) and, to be very honest, the sound of the Loars is very similar to the original Gibsons. The body shape, dimensions, and specifications are likewise very similar. From the factory, their setups are usually pretty terrible, but once they're dialed-in they make pretty excellent guitars.

Tone: It has a nice, chunky, woody, velvety thing going on that mimics its forebears closely.

Feel: The neck is similar to a '30s Gibson -- medium-heft and with a V-shape to the rear. The board has a more Martin-like radius to it, however, which translates as feeling more "modern vintage-style" to my hands.

Interesting features: The black finish is clever and classy and will fit with any sort of group you might be playing with. It has very decent 18:1 Grover tuners, too, though the tailpiece is less elegant than '30s Gibson-style tails. Note that while there is an under-bridge, top-mount pickup, this pickup has a grounding issue in the sensor where it has an open ground sound unless one's hands are on the strings. I would suggest having me remove it and either leave the endpin jack in place but not connected or have me fit a K&K pickup to the guitar instead. In either case, I don't think this pickup can be salvaged even if it does sound quite good when proper grounding is made.

Repairs included: It's had a good setup done by Ancel and, at the same time, he shaved the bridge base a bit to give more adjustment room for future action changes. It's playing spot-on fast and is ready to go.

• Weight: 5 lbs 2 oz
• Scale length: 24 3/4"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: medium V
• Board radius: 14"
• Body width: 16 1/8"
• Body depth: 3 1/4"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: maple
• Bracing type: tonebar
• Bridge: adjustable ebony
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: unsure
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium

Condition notes: It has minor scuffs and scratches from mild usewear but it's all not too obvious as the satin finish rejects such things nicely. As noted, the pickup on it should either be removed or replaced. I'd already taken photos -- otherwise I would have just yanked it already.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: MMK