Danny Roberts of The Grascals fame finally possesses what the mandolin world considers the Holy Grail — a Gibson F5 made by or under the supervision of Lloyd Loar.

But the prized instrument didn’t simply fall into Roberts’ very capable picking hands. In fact, its odyssey and Roberts’ quest to own the Loar make for adventurous tales.

For those living outside the mandolin realm, Lloyd Allayre Loar was a Gibson sound engineer and master luthier in the early part of the 20th century. He is most famous for his refinements of the F5 model mandolin, but also known for his work on other Gibson products, including the L5 guitar, H5 mandola, K5 mandocello and A5 mandolin, according to Wikipedia.org.

While working for Gibson from 1919 to 1924, he designed the F-style mandolin top with F-shaped holes, introduced a longer neck and floated the fingerboard over the top, a change from prior Gibson instruments that had fingerboards fused to the top.

The mandolins made under his supervision — estimated to be around 200 — are highly sought-after possessions that command prices well in the six-figure range.

“My mandolin was originally owned by a nun who played in a mandolin orchestra,” Roberts said in a recent interview in Gibson’s Nashville instrument factory and showroom. “She sold it to a family in Florida. … The cool thing is, I got the letter where she sold it to the family in Florida in 1939. It went down there and the guy that she originally sold it to, he played it but his son or grandsons never played it.”

Danny Roberts said his Loar was made in 1922, and originally contained a Virzi Tone Producer. The Virzi was a spruce disc suspended inside from the instrument top that served as a supplemental soundboard.

Roberts, whose own name appears as the maker of several modern-day Gibson mandolins, said the Virzi gizmo was about six inches in diameter that had two F-holes cut in it.

“It quieted them down some definitely and (gave the instruments) a little different tone,” he said. “They still sound great. I’ve played several Virzi mandolins that sound very good. A lot of people had them taken out.”

Mandolin mania is coming to Minnesota.

The North Shore Music Association is hosting its 18th Master’s Weekend featuring Grammy winner and Monroe-style mandolin disciple Mike Compton and guitarist David Long for a mandolin and workshop and concert, Nov. 7-9 at the Lutsen Resort, on the shore of Lake Superior in Lutsen, Minn.

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