The Loar LH-309-VS

Ordered the guitar and tried it out. Was dissatisfied and had to return it. If you decide to keep this instrument then expect to put in extra money for a decent set up.

The factory fretwork is unbearable. After playing with it for a few hours, my hand was so scratched I just couldn't continue. The fret ends were so sharp they cut the skin off my hand and fingers. Also, the strings sound very raspy against the frets when bending.

The neck itself has a quite pronounced V-shape. This might be uncomfortable at first but nothing one couldn't get used to. In fact it's one of the unique characteristics of this instrument.

The pickup was quiet as a mouse in a clean setting. On the other hand the tone control wasn't very smooth. I noticed the most change from about 3-1.

Another thing I noticed was that there was lots of sawdust and such inside the guitar.

Other than that It's a decent enough instrument for the money. Especially considering there aren't many P90 archtops available in this price range.

I wanted an acoustic I could play at electric jams and be a bit different. This is my first archtop and so far The Loar exceeded my hopes.
It is beautiful to look at with the inlay, binding and colour being much better than a midrange guitar should be. I was concerned the sunburst would be very brash and orange but it is lovely.
When I got it the action was very high and my luthier had to cut down the bridge but it has turned out to have as low an action as you could want with level, well finished frets. It has a very comfortable neck, wide enough for long fingers and the V shape is good for me. The body is fairly large but well waisted so it sits comfortably when sitting. I find the scale and neck extremely comfortable to play.
Acoustically it sounded fairly muted and mellow but the solid top has already changed and is becoming louder and clearer. Plugged in the P90 is clear but not thin and has a lovely growl when you dig in or turn up the gain. It will feed back but even in a room with three other loud guitars it is very controllable and not a problem. I fitted Pyramid flatwounds and it sounds fairly dark which is great for jazz but I will try some other strings otherwise the bass player complains he is redundant ;)
Overall it is a lovely guitar to look at, comfortable to play sounds awesome plugged in and I'm looking forward to hearing the sound develop acoustically. I recently played some The Loar acoustics and was also very impressed at the feel and surprisingly good sound.