Mandolins

Mandolins gained popularity in the United States at the end of the 19th century when a group of touring musicians from Spain took New York and Boston by storm. They weren’t playing actual mandolins, but their mandolin-like instruments had a tremendous influence on the tastes of the day. In fact, when Orville H. Gibson first began making stringed musical instruments in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1894, the eccentric, self-taught luthier gravitated to the mandolins, receiving a patent for a mandolin design in 1898.

Gibson sold his company in 1902 and died in 1918, but his early affinity for mandolins presaged the first major success for the company that bore his name. In 1922, a Gibson engineer named Lloyd Loar designed several mandolins for the company, including the F5, which featured an elevated fretboard over the instrument’s body and decorative f-holes. Today, the Lloyd Loars of that era are considered by most players to be the finest mandolins ever made.