off somewhat from 2008 to 2010. Loar expert Darryl Wolfe maintains an F5 historical journal. As of January, 2010 he has documented 228 Loar-signed F5 mandolins of the 326 that are believed to have been made. L-5 Guitar The Gibson L-5 guitar was first produced in 1922 by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, then of Kalamazoo, Michigan, under the direction of master luthier Lloyd Loar, and has been in production ever since. It was considered the premier guitar of the company during the big band era. It was originally offered as an acoustic instrument, with electric models not made available until the 1940s. Design and construction Worldwide, the L-5 was the first guitar to feature f-holes. Then as well as today, the construction of the L-5 is similar in construction, carving, bracing and tap-tuning, to building a cello. This guitar as well as the cello are similarly designed in order to amplify and project the acoustic vibration of strings throughout carved and tuned woods, using f-holes as the projection points. From 1922 to 1934 the L-5 was produced with a 16" lower bout width. In 1934 the lower bout was increased to 17" - and this width is still used today. Also released in 1934 was the one-inch larger 18" archtop guitar named the "L5 Super" which a couple of years later was renamed the Gibson Super 400. These two master-built acoustic guitars are Gibson's top-of-the-line carved wood and highly ornate archtop instruments. These guitars cannot be constructed quickly and require unusual attention to detail, resulting in a higher price. The time, skilled workmanship and materials used in these builds has been delivered non-stop for the past 90+ years. Since the 1930s there have been several other 17" archtops designed by Gibson, including variations introduced as more affordable, less ornately decorated models - these were introduced to consider the budgets of musicians. References Bibliography External links Biography of Lloyd Loar by mandolin builder and author Roger Siminoff The F5 Journal A project to document all Loar F5 mandolins Loar-signed instruments documented at The Mandolin Archive short Gibson history of Lloyd Loar era FRETS.COM Museum F5 page Mandozine F5 page VintageMandolin.com Gibson history News photo of Loar playing electric viola. 1886 births 1943 deaths American luthiers Physics educators American composers American classical mandolinists Viol players Musicians from Illinois People from McLean County, Illinois