We had posted earlier about LoarFest West, a mandolin symposium held in conjunction with the SuperGrass festival in Bakersfield, CA the first weekend in February. The event is designed as a meeting of owners, collectors and aficionados of the highly prized Lloyd Loar Gibson mandolins made in the early 1920s.

Gibson has donated a unique and surely collectible mandolin to be sold in support of the LoarFest West event, a distressed F5 Master Model, dated 12/14/05 and valued at more than $25,000. It will be displayed during the event and bids are being accepted now. The LoarFest organizers will also cover the travel expenses and festival passes for the buyer of this instrument.

Contact Hal Johnson by email for more information or to make an offer. You can see some more detailed images of the mandolin here.