In 1898 Orville Gibson had patented a new kind of mandolin that followed violin design, with its curved top and bottom carved into shape, rather than pressed. The sides too were carved out of a single block of wood, rather than being made of bent wood strips. The instruments were already unique before Lloyd Loar came to work for Gibson. However, it is the Loar-designed instruments that became especially desirable. First made famous by Bill Monroe, Loar's signed mandolins today can cost as much as $200,000. The L-5 guitar owned by Maybelle Carter, which was made after he left Gibson, sold for $575,000.