The quest continues...Here's a 1924 Loar-signed Gibson H-5 mandola for sale for a relatively modest thirty-nine five...one of 20 known Loar-signed mandolas. (compared to 170 F5's)
Oh my....
Then there's this guy...Mitch at mandolinsandmore.com He's got some pretty nice vintage pieces but doesn't seem to want to deal his 1923LL F5...
Finally in my Google search, I found a so-called "journeyman" player who has no fewer than FOUR Loar mandolins...jeeesh.
Colour me jealous...
W-Op.s. mkost tantalizing and frustrating of all is a link to Roger Siminoff's website, which seems to be offline at this time. There's a link that says Lloyd Loar's personal instrument collection is "available for investment"> Yoikes! I'd sure like to get a peek in there!