Mandolin
The Loar LM-520
Price: 699 EUR – 699 EUR
Price history
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
Availability: 0/10 (Very rare)
A mid-tier F-style between the LM-590 and the flagship LM-600: fully graduated (thickness-tuned) hand-carved spruce top and maple back, Grover tuners with pearloid buttons, and a bound rosewood rather than ebony fingerboard.
About the The Loar LM-520
The LM-520 uses solid, hand-carved, fully graduated spruce for the top and solid hand-carved, fully graduated maple for the back - "graduated" meaning the wood thickness is carved to vary across the plate rather than staying uniform, tuning the top's flexibility and resonance rather than just carving a fixed dome shape. That's a more labor-intensive process than a simple arched carve, positioning the LM-520 as a genuine step up from The Loar's entry mandolins in build technique, not just cosmetics.
It sits below the LM-600 in appointments: a bound rosewood fingerboard rather than ebony, Grover tuners with pearloid buttons rather than Gotoh with ivory-colored buttons, and a simple mother-of-pearl logo rather than the flowerpot peghead inlay. Scale length is a shorter 13.75 inches against the LM-600's 13.91, with a 1 1/8-inch nut, maple neck in a rounded V profile, and compensated adjustable ebony bridge - finished in gloss vintage sunburst.
Where to buy
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Reverb Brand New The Loar LM-520 Hand Carved F-Style Performer Mandolin - Vintage Sunburst 699 EUR Best price View details
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Sound character of the The Loar LM-520
Full graduation - carving the top and back to a varying rather than uniform thickness - tunes the plates' flexibility the way a violin maker would, giving a more even, resonant response across the fretboard and richer sustain than a simple fixed-dome carve. The bound rosewood fingerboard also reads slightly warmer than the ebony on The Loar's flagship LM-600.
Technical data for the The Loar LM-520
| Top | Solid hand-carved, fully graduated spruce |
|---|---|
| Back/Sides | Solid hand-carved, fully graduated maple |
| Fretboard | Bound rosewood |
| Scale length | 13.75" |
| Nut width | 1 1/8" |
| Tuners | Grover, pearloid buttons |
Price history for the The Loar LM-520
Cheapest seen: 699 EUR · Most expensive seen: 699 EUR
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
The history of the The Loar LM-520
The LM-520 fills The Loar's range between its entry-tier and flagship-vintage-replica F-styles, aimed at intermediate players who want fully-graduated hand-carved tone woods without paying for the LM-600's ebony binding and flowerpot ornamentation.
