The Loar LH-300

Made in China. Junction at 12th fret. Fund Type 17''. deep enough. Arched top and solid carved. The bottom probably pressed, also vaulted. I confirm the sculpted because when you touch the gills by the back of the table, we send out the irregularities, which is not the case pressed on the tables.

The handle is in V. This can be confusing. But for the jazzmen who used the old epiphone, gibson HOFNER or not too annoying.
Mine is the black model, bought second hand on the net. In fact I shall be gone through Thotho, but to view information gleaned on the net (on Loar sold by Thotho and finishing problems) I preferred the site of well known French occases. And I had many chances (thank you Gilles!)
In terms of finishing it was good and the trSE big surprise. In fact apart from two small details (no paint on the part of the handle above the table, as seen in a lot of posts, and a micro point of lack of black paint on top of the handle) the finish is excellent! not to mention the sound ... see after

UTILIZATION

After changing the strings (see below) and well-tuned everything, the guitar is super nice. Powerful, his jazz work very good (it's much better than godin 5th avenue I've tried).

The guitar is light. You just set / grind the bridge deck to descend low enough action. To see the details after

SOUNDS

The sound is very tied to ropes climbs obviously, but it is in the medium, normal for jazz, and with very powerful bass and treble not too aggressive. In any case nothing to do with the Godin 5th. I have nothing against, I have tried 3 or 4 and I've always been super disappointed. This looks like an archtop, but does not sound like an archtop ... or does not ring at all. Loar is the powerful, typically with a real sound like acoustic jazz albums of Joe Pass (good for the price ... it's not a period of Aquisto U.S. either)

For strings I first tried thomastick nets 13-53 dishes. Great jazz sound, but no power ... normal. Then I tried the D'Addario EJ17 ... Horrible, its a true pan. The metallic sound is much too far and too long. Finally I took the elixir medium POLYWEB ... great: power phosphorous bronze with a zon "warm". Only one problem, off the price, we still hear a little finger slides (in electric I only play on flat nets, I lost the habit). I will try the double thread 13 Swing Bebop next time round.

OVERALL OPINION

Without hesitation, is a lot of videos found on Youtube. The sound and playability is excellent especially for this model around 300 euros! mine has a great finish, and sounds really easy to play. I'll see if I come across a model 700 if it's worth it for twice the price of having the full mass. But in conclusion: nothing to do with the 5th Avenue, the massive table that changes everything! this is not a myth.

No distributors in France, is through our German friends in nine. Too bad because this type of instrument, a test is really important.