Larrivee guitars are rubbish

Tannin · May 2023

thomasross20 said:

BTW the reason Larrivee prices have gone and appear to continuing to go up? Because I buy when I see a good deal on one.

FTFY

ditchboy · May 2023

Been looking at an all hog om on marketplace tonight. Out of my price range but man that thing is stunning.

thomasross20 · May 2023

@Tannin haha I am exhausting their mahogany supplies. They are bringing out sunburst models now and new prices are £2.8k+ (new o-40r parlour £3300!). Tbh still cheaper than a standard Martin but I'm sad the bargain days are over.

@ditchboy just do it lol

Btw my 'hog p-03 has a real "Santa Cruz" hifi vibe when bass strings (13s) used - key to that guitar is to play it soft and it shines. I have been feeling a bit silly buying so many of late but they're all stunning!! Danger danger.. I'm visiting the shops again this weekend lol

Schnozz · May 2023

I haven't made it past Larrivee's neck profile.

I'm not sure what they're like on the electrics.

thomasross20 · May 2023

Shopping trip review.

First store (felt a bit of a sales push, had to ask to get guitars off the wall).

Martin dread sinker, nice enough sound but price a bit much and didn't give me a wow factor, maybe because was a dread.

Atkin OOO Sitka/hog very nice, lovely sound and felt light. Not AS nice feeling to play as my Larrivee's but quality guitar. Better than the Martins.

Atkin dustbowl, superb. Similar to above. Really great guitars - Atkin are lovely. Nice bass response.

Santa Cruz - nice enough but no wow factor the ones I tried and were £8k...

Second shop (much better experience..)

Various breedlove - not quite my thing, sound thinner than the Larrivess.

Larrivee OM03 burst top. Holy cow, it says it's not scalloped but the bass response was great. Great great guitar - prefer to all the above. More bass than my OM05 so mine either needs to open up or this one is scalloped bracing. A dream to play, like butter.

Larrivee OOO40 12 fret. Yowza, 12 fret join plus scalloping sound epic on this. Absolutely epic. My old OM40 must have been a duffer because this scallopped guitar is sublime.

Larrivee OM40 rosewood. Stunning, and I'm not usually into rosewood. Very balanced, nice bass, sounded way way better than breedlove and other Rosewood's tried.

I am sticking to the second shop and to Larrivee. Better service and these guitars are way better value and I prefer them so much more than the more expensive brands. A tip of the hat to Atkin... Those guitars you should check out.

thomasross20 · May 2023

Btw the Atkin dustbowl OM with mahogany top was also great, sounded like a Sitka/hog guitar.

Btw the HelmHoltz resonance dampened note thing was a less apparent on some of the other brands.

Soupman · May 2023

@thomasross20 have you considered contacting Larrivee direct and asking about preferential rates for bulk purchases....

thomasross20 · May 2023

Haha I wish !
If there are two guitars out there right now I'd consider getting, it's the OM44R (and I'm typically not a rosewood guy) or that Atkin dustbowl.

ditchboy · May 2023

I keep going back to this OM-03 in walnut but it’s in Andover and I’m in Durham. Marketplace blind purchase. Anxiety ridden deal if ever there was one.

thomasross20 · May 2023

How about a break away and stop by to try on the way?

All of mine are a joy. The moon spruce with bhilwara is really unique and I love it.

tomjax · May 2023

Spotted this one at Frets Guitar Centre, maybe a bit closer to home?

https://www.fretsguitarcentre.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p4548_Larrivee-OM-03-Limited-Acoustic-Guitar---Walnut.html

Don't tell @thomasross20 he'll be there before you can blink...

ditchboy · May 2023

It’s a stunner. It’s been on there a while and has a much prettier back than the one on marketplace. Sadly it’s overpriced imo.

thomasross20 · May 2023

Yeah I saw that one - TBH these do look amazing. That's my lunchtime sorted YouTube'ing these.

ditchboy · May 2023

What did you think? I couldn’t find much YouTube content for a walnut om.

thomasross20 · May 2023

I think a walnut top is different and tbh I'd want to play it first. Maybe wait for the guitar village 20% sale and get the om walnut with moon spruce top?

Could find hardly any videos on it that were of decent sound quality. Sorry

Heartbreaker have a few with the moon spruce top

Have to say every one of mine is a delight and didn't have to spend £8k per guitar for said delight lol. I have had a few that didn't hit the spot so buying blind is a gamble that's gone both right and wrong for me. The recent OM05 is probably the best guitar I have now.

Timcito · May 2023

They can be rubbish - that's the problem with buying them online. They can also be spectacular, I hasten to add. An L05 I bought in-store was one such - great guitar with resonance, depth and shimmer. But an L03R and a P0-9 I bought online were dead-sounding. For me, they are a brand I would need to play before buying; they do not have the (reasonable) predictability of many other top brands, in my view.

thomasross20 · May 2023

Timcito said:

They can be rubbish - that's the problem with buying them online. They can also be spectacular, I hasten to add. An L05 I bought in-store was one such - great guitar with resonance, depth and shimmer. But an L03R and a P0-9 I bought online were dead-sounding. For me, they are a brand I would need to play before buying; they do not have the (reasonable) predictability of many other top brands, in my view.

Do you still have it? I think the L body sounds the best but it's pretty big.

Timcito · May 2023

thomasross20 said:

Timcito said:

They can be rubbish - that's the problem with buying them online. They can also be spectacular, I hasten to add. An L05 I bought in-store was one such - great guitar with resonance, depth and shimmer. But an L03R and a P0-9 I bought online were dead-sounding. For me, they are a brand I would need to play before buying; they do not have the (reasonable) predictability of many other top brands, in my view.

Do you still have it? I think the L body sounds the best but it's pretty big.

No - one of my biggest guitar-selling regrets. The sales guy in the store was genuinely astounded when I told him I'd sold it. He said it had been his favourite guitar in the store, and he meant it. Crazy.

thomasross20 · May 2023

D'oh

Flash Larrivee deal for folks here on brand new Bhilwara with Sitka top at peach .. actually very jealous of this but already have mine (paid way more):

https://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/larrivee-om-03-bhilwara.htm

£2400 down to £1650 for a brand new limited edition - jeezo @ditchboy ;;

Wazmeister · May 2023

Ive only played a few Larrivee, and was imprEssed with them all tbh.

ditchboy · May 2023

Hell of a deal! Think I’m going to have to wait until I have paid for my new kitchen first. But I have also just gotten a new job so feel like I deserve a treat. Decisions.

thomasross20 · May 2023

Haha

Mellish · May 2023

@ditchboy ; go on, be a devil

thomasross20 · May 2023

Hahahahaha I've kept my OM05 purchase quiet but my girlfriend just noticed I've got a new, 4th acoustic lol. Didn't take her long

thomasross20 · June 2023

@mgaw ;;;;
Let's keep this where it belongs

So I recently acquired an OM-05 and L-05. Which means I now have five Larrivee (all of these have maple trim which is nice btw).

From left to right (and pics don't do them justice).

OM-02:
Satin sitka/sapele, 25.5" inch scale. Fitted a K&K myself. This is 20+ years old and has "aged" well. Sapele is a great tonewood imo. Flatter frequency response than mahogany so when you strum, the mids don't overpower as much. It has a top end sparkle that is really nice.

(BTW re scale length, I read the change in tension is < 5% going to a ~24.75" scale length whilst changing strings down from 12s to 11s is more like 10-15%, which is what I do. Higher scale length, easier to detune and play alternate tunings. 25.5" scale length and 14 frets, you can't lose, it's like the standard).

L-05:
Gloss sitka/mahogany, upgraded trim and higher ratio tuners. 25.5" scale. L-body is larger so you get more bass (not sure if more lower pitch or just an increase in the bass volume... I think just an increase in the bass volume). This guitar sounds better strummed, almost like a dreadnought, and still has balance for fingerstyle. This particular one has the Santa Cruz hi-fi thing going on and is really, really lush. The body is a bit deeper than an OM so it's not as comfortable to play as an OM.

OM-03BH:
Satin bhilwara with moon spruce top, 25.5" scale. Vine inlay on headstock is glorious. Bhilwara sounds fantastic. It's a rosewood but the mids are a lot more present than with other rosewoods I've tried. Sustain slightly less than a typical rosewood, deep bass and the moon spruce top definitely colours the sound. It takes the edge of the rosewood metallic twang that you sometimes hear - none of that here. I describe it as "spongey" - I like the moon wood tops and their milky colour.

P-03:
Satin parlour, 24" scale, sitka/mahogany. Most folk say to go with an OO but I specifically wanted the parlour size to lug to my girlfriend's place at the weekend. It has a Santa Cruz hi-fi sort of sound to it. The 12th fret neck join and bridge lower bout placement gives this a really nice sound. I do wonder about a larger 12-fret but would have to be cutaway.

OM-05:
Gloss sitka/mahogany, upgraded trim and higher ratio tuners, 25.5" scale. Mahogany definitely has a different sound to the OM-02's sapele despite folk saying sapele/mahogany sound the same. They 100% do not. Maybe to the average listener. A very rich sound, I call it "syrupy" - I wonder about getting a ToneRite or similar to speed up the ageing on this as I feel it needs to break in.

I like how Larrivee uses good quality materials and builds - you can pay extra £££ for finishes or inlays, custom options etc but the value afforded is unreal. Love every one of these!

Tannin · June 2023

My reaction to that can be expressed in five words. Wow, wow, wow, wow, and wow!

thomasross20 · June 2023

I just awarded you a wow

Mellish · June 2023

Ah, the family!

ditchboy · June 2023

That BH is particularly nice. I mean they’re all bloody gorgeous but that one is certainly blowing my frock up.

Tannin · June 2023

ditchboy said:

That BH is particularly nice. I mean they’re all bloody gorgeous but that one is certainly blowing my frock up.

Ohhh! I'd like to see that.

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Larrivee guitars are rubbish

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