Karasik Mandolin Project

An invest­ment in
playable his­to­ry.

About the Karasik Mandolin Project

The Karasik Man­dolin Pro­jec­t’s goal is to pre­serve Ely Karasik’s Jan­u­ary 5th, 1923 Lloyd Loar-Signed F5 Gib­son #71839. While doing this, I also wish to to share the instru­ment with a vari­ety of man­dolin­ists that would oth­er­wise not have access to a Lloyd Loar. This has been done by tak­ing the man­dolin to fes­ti­vals, events and con­certs, and get­ting video footage of the man­dolin being played. The videos have been released on a week­ly basis since Jan­u­ary 2022.

“Sound” Investments

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Media / Press

Trailgrass.com — An Artist’s Jour­ney for a 1923 Lloyd Loar-signed F‑5 Mandolin

Recent project videos using the Karasik Mandolin

Wyatt Ellis playing Land of Lincoln on the Karasik January 5, 1923 Lloyd Loar Signed Gibson F5 #71839. Wyatt’s new album will be released later this week. Support him by ordering a copy here. https://wyattellis.com This video took place at the 2024 Loarfest in Knoxville, Tennessee. Karasik Mandolin Project shirts and hats are now available. Email Emily at mandofiddleem@gmail.com to purchase one. The Future of the Karasik Mandolin Project Having Ely Karasik’s Lloyd Loar signed Gibson has been an amazing opportunity for me both professionally and personally. Recently the Karasik family has decided that the mandolin needs to be sold. To continue this project I will be needing help. The cost of a Lloyd Loar signed Gibson is beyond what I can finance without assistance so the project will be transitioning to an LLC with investors. This method of financing is commonly used by violinists. Violins can cost in the millions of dollars and the concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony acquired the violin she plays on this way. She has been helpful by putting me in contact with her attorney who is helping me set up the business. The Llc will last 10 years and after 10 years the mandolin will be sold at its new appraised value. There are four ways people assist in continuing this project. First is by investing in the mandolin. If you are interested in doing this please email me at mandofiddleEm@gmail.com. Second is by donating to the projects gofundme https://gofund.me/abfb8314. The go fund me will help cover some of the legal expenses incurred and also allows people who do not want to invest in contributing. The third way you can help is by sharing the mandolins gofundme link. The fourth way to contribute to this project is by subscribing to the Karasik Mandolin Project on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY-V-_BFpCmZvv-7ZxLA23A?app=desktop. I am looking forward to continuing this project in the future with the goal of continuing to get the Karasik Mandolin into the hands of deserving players of all levels and styles. If you are interested in participating or have an idea of a mandolin player to be featured in this series please reach out to me via email. MandofiddleEm@gmail.com.
Wyatt Ellis play­ing Land of Lin­coln on the Karasik Lloyd Loar
Andrew Morris playing John Brown’s Dream on the Karasik January 5, 1923 Lloyd Loar Signed Gibson F5 #71839. Andrew plays with the Kansas City band the Matchsellers. You can find them here. https://thematchsellers.com This video took place at the 2023 Lovegrass Music Festival at Wilson State Park in Kansas. Karasik Mandolin Project shirts and hats are now available. Email Emily at mandofiddleem@gmail.com to purchase one. The Future of the Karasik Mandolin Project Having Ely Karasik’s Lloyd Loar signed Gibson has been an amazing opportunity for me both professionally and personally. Recently the Karasik family has decided that the mandolin needs to be sold. To continue this project I will be needing help. The cost of a Lloyd Loar signed Gibson is beyond what I can finance without assistance so the project will be transitioning to an LLC with investors. This method of financing is commonly used by violinists. Violins can cost in the millions of dollars and the concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony acquired the violin she plays on this way. She has been helpful by putting me in contact with her attorney who is helping me set up the business. The Llc will last 10 years and after 10 years the mandolin will be sold at its new appraised value. There are four ways people assist in continuing this project. First is by investing in the mandolin. If you are interested in doing this please email me at mandofiddleEm@gmail.com. Second is by donating to the projects gofundme https://gofund.me/abfb8314. The go fund me will help cover some of the legal expenses incurred and also allows people who do not want to invest in contributing. The third way you can help is by sharing the mandolins gofundme link. The fourth way to contribute to this project is by subscribing to the Karasik Mandolin Project on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY-V-_BFpCmZvv-7ZxLA23A?app=desktop. I am looking forward to continuing this project in the future with the goal of continuing to get the Karasik Mandolin into the hands of deserving players of all levels and styles. If you are interested in participating or have an idea of a mandolin player to be featured in this series please reach out to me via email. MandofiddleEm@gmail.com.
Andrew Mor­ris play­ing John Brown’s Dream on the Karasik Lloyd Loar
Alex Hawf playing Temperance Reel on the Karasik January 5, 1923 Lloyd Loar Signed Gibson F5 #71839. Alex is accompanied by his band Front Porch. Peter Wesley is on fiddle, Cameron Keeling on bass and John Henry on guitar their music can be found here https://open.spotify.com/artist/1L9eO1tS73nt7d4wAihOsC?si=FvfhhEX_RW24mFFDQvxjPg This video took place at the 2023 Lovegrass Music Festival at Wilson State Park in Kansas. Karasik Mandolin Project shirts and hats are now available. Email Emily at mandofiddleem@gmail.com to purchase one. The Future of the Karasik Mandolin Project Having Ely Karasik’s Lloyd Loar signed Gibson has been an amazing opportunity for me both professionally and personally. Recently the Karasik family has decided that the mandolin needs to be sold. To continue this project I will be needing help. The cost of a Lloyd Loar signed Gibson is beyond what I can finance without assistance so the project will be transitioning to an LLC with investors. This method of financing is commonly used by violinists. Violins can cost in the millions of dollars and the concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony acquired the violin she plays on this way. She has been helpful by putting me in contact with her attorney who is helping me set up the business. The Llc will last 10 years and after 10 years the mandolin will be sold at its new appraised value. There are four ways people assist in continuing this project. First is by investing in the mandolin. If you are interested in doing this please email me at mandofiddleEm@gmail.com. Second is by donating to the projects gofundme https://gofund.me/abfb8314. The go fund me will help cover some of the legal expenses incurred and also allows people who do not want to invest in contributing. The third way you can help is by sharing the mandolins gofundme link. The fourth way to contribute to this project is by subscribing to the Karasik Mandolin Project on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY-V-_BFpCmZvv-7ZxLA23A?app=desktop. I am looking forward to continuing this project in the future with the goal of continuing to get the Karasik Mandolin into the hands of deserving players of all levels and styles. If you are interested in participating or have an idea of a mandolin player to be featured in this series please reach out to me via email. MandofiddleEm@gmail.com.
Alex Hawf play­ing Tem­per­ance Reel on the Karasik Lloyd Loar
Tim Garrison playing The Cuckoo Karasik January 5, 1923 Lloyd Loar Signed Gibson F5 #71839. Tim plays with the Colorado based band the Cabin Burners. He is accompanied by Chuck Martinez on guitar, also from the Cabin Burners. Chuck Rourke on bass. Chuck players for Big Horray Bluegrass and Slay and Stinson. Keith Sandlan is on fiddle. Emily Wilson is playing Tim’s Weber mandolin and harmonizing the melody. The Cuckoo is a very old folk tune with a rich history dating back to at least the 1700s for more information please check out this page. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo_(song) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo_(song)https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo_(song) This video place at American Music School Karasik Mandolin Project shirts and hats are now available. Email Emily at mandofiddleem@gmail.com to purchase one. The Future of the Karasik Mandolin Project Having Ely Karasik’s Lloyd Loar signed Gibson has been an amazing opportunity for me both professionally and personally. Recently the Karasik family has decided that the mandolin needs to be sold. To continue this project I will be needing help. The cost of a Lloyd Loar signed Gibson is beyond what I can finance without assistance so the project will be transitioning to an LLC with investors. This method of financing is commonly used by violinists. Violins can cost in the millions of dollars and the concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony acquired the violin she plays on this way. She has been helpful by putting me in contact with her attorney who is helping me set up the business. The Llc will last 10 years and after 10 years the mandolin will be sold at its new appraised value. There are four ways people assist in continuing this project. First is by investing in the mandolin. If you are interested in doing this please email me at mandofiddleEm@gmail.com. Second is by donating to the projects gofundme https://gofund.me/abfb8314. The go fund me will help cover some of the legal expenses incurred and also allows people who do not want to invest in contributing. The third way you can help is by sharing the mandolins gofundme link. The fourth way to contribute to this project is by subscribing to the Karasik Mandolin Project on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY-V-_BFpCmZvv-7ZxLA23A?app=desktop. I am looking forward to continuing this project in the future with the goal of continuing to get the Karasik Mandolin into the hands of deserving players of all levels and styles. If you are interested in participating or have an idea of a mandolin player to be featured in this series please reach out to me via email. MandofiddleEm@gmail.com.
101st birth­day par­ty: Tim Gar­ri­son play­ing the Cuck­oo on the Karasik Lloyd Loar
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What makes a Lloyd Loar signed instrument so special?

If you are a man­dolin play­er, you prob­a­bly already know a lot about Loar-signed instru­ments and why they are so desir­able; if not, some back­ground infor­ma­tion is in order. Lloyd Loar was an Amer­i­can instru­ment design­er and sound engi­neer. He worked for Gib­son Gui­tars and Man­dolins between 1919 and 1924, and while he was at Gib­son he helped in design­ing the F‑5 man­dolin which is the design favored by blue­grass and many Amer­i­can musi­cal styles.
 
Lloyd Loar-signed man­dolins are often equat­ed to being the Stradi­var­ius of the man­dolin world. They are sought after by play­ers, col­lec­tors, and per­form­ers for their excel­lent tone and his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance. Many play­ers can only dream of play­ing on a Loar due to the cost of the instru­ment and the fact that they are rare. Only a few hun­dred were made between 1922 and 1924.
Lloyd Loar on Wikipedia

Tradition, Craftsmanship, and Investment Potential

The man­dolin is going to be sold at $107,500. This val­ue was deter­mined by get­ting two appraisals done on the man­dolin, one by Gruhn’s Gui­tar and the oth­er by Tony Williamson at Man­dolin Cen­tral. These two num­bers were then aver­aged to deter­mine a fair sale price. Invest­ments will be for 10 years.

After 10 years the man­dolin will be sold at the new appraised val­ue and the prof­its will be shared between the investors. As cura­tor of the man­dolin, Emi­ly Wil­son will be respon­si­ble for care, main­te­nance, and insur­ing the man­dolin. Emi­ly will also have the man­dolin reap­praised every two years. She will con­tin­ue to upload reg­u­lar videos on the Karasik Man­dolin Project YouTube channel.

There will also be an annu­al investor meet­ing where the man­dolin will be avail­able to be played by the investors.

Learn more about the Karasik Mandolin

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