In the world of violin luthiery, it is common to make exact copies of particular instruments right down to copying the makers name on the label inside. This tradition is less common in the american folk instrument world, but is not unheard of as the prices of certain original instruments are increasingly out of the reach of the average musician. Wiens F5 #33 was my first attempt at a bench copy of a Lloyd Loar mandolin. This particular one is known as the “June Loar” and was signed by Lloyd Loar in June, 1923 and is notable because it exhibits the first appearance of “side binding” (black/white laminated binding visible on the side of the instrument rather than on the back or top face ) on a Loar-signed F5.
