Larrivee guitars are rubbish

thomasross20 · June 2023

I't's certainly unique, especially paired with the moon spruce top. And the vine inlay is gorgeous.
Played alongside a very balanced (for a rosewood!) OM44R, the mids projected a bit more and I knew I had to have it.

mgaw · June 2023

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

bertie · June 2023

mgaw said:

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

yes - nice vintage look, open back tuners and bound f/board
(the OM44 that is)

There's an OM40RW for £1k on Marketplace at the moment

earwighoney · June 2023

thomasross20 said:

I't's certainly unique, especially paired with the moon spruce top. And the vine inlay is gorgeous.
Played alongside a very balanced (for a rosewood!) OM44R, the mids projected a bit more and I knew I had to have it.

I've got two guitars with moon spruce soundboards and they are really high fidelity if that makes sense, lots of clarity but seem to highlight bad technique worse than my other guitars if that makes sense. Do you get that or is that just me?

What a fantastic collection though! I absolutely love them all! Fine work on assembling a wonderful collection of guitars. I think your comparison between Sapele and Mahogany is spot on, makes perfect sense now I come to think about it. Btw with your collection, you could probably use each guitar for a different set of open tunings. One in Open G, C, D of their variants. Living the dream!

thomasross20 · June 2023

Lol @mgaw

(BTW I can't detect sarcasm but I'm sure we are having a joke here lol)

@bertie I'm not usually into rosewood but the OM44R I tried was really nice. Sounded way better than a 2x £££ Breedlove I tried with same woods.

@earwighoney hmm can't say have noticed that. The soundboards definitely have differences, though. It's not some voodoo as I've heard folk say. I think adi tops have more overtones over time but they apparently take ages to break in (10+ years unless torrified) and they seem to highlight treble frequencies (which tbh I'm not keen on, though that works better on Martins which are naturally darker) - adi to me is also like a cannon, you breathe on it and it booms (I prefer softer, more dynamic). Sitka is more mellow and breaks in quicker - I think I prefer sitka. Haven't tried Engelmann and others. Moon wood has this spongey feel to me, I like it and the way it looks. Fundamentals come out more (more direct than sitka - not sure which I prefer - both are great). There is a LArrivee video comparing sitka vs moon spruce and the differences are clear to me, very clear. I would love to hear it on a mahogany back & sides, in person.

Thanks - they really are all subtly different and have their different uses. I would love to lower the nut height on the L-05 a hair but I'm scared it would make it rattle, wouldn't want that. Sapele is massively under-rated and given it's the most balanced tonewood (imo!) and folk say Larrivee have "balance," this makes it the most balanced guitar that ever was!

BTW this is how great Sapele can sound:

(The Guitarist OM-02 video is very accurate re OM-02 sounds)

Re bass response, sometimes more isn't better. It's glorious on the L and the way it's done (bigger body -> natural) is the way I like it done. Scalloping the braces on the Larrivee's I feel you lose some of the fidelity in the sound, not sure why (or maybe the OM40 I sold just wasn't a great one). But yeah, more bass can at times be trying on the ear, lose fidelity and can be muddier when recording (e.g. the age-old D28 vs HD28 argument).

earwighoney · June 2023

thomasross20 said:

hmm can't say have noticed that. The soundboards definitely have differences, though. It's not some voodoo as I've heard folk say. I think adi tops have more overtones over time but they apparently take ages to break in (10+ years unless torrified) and they seem to highlight treble frequencies (which tbh I'm not keen on, though that works better on Martins which are naturally darker) - adi to me is also like a cannon, you breathe on it and it booms (I prefer softer, more dynamic). Sitka is more mellow and breaks in quicker - I think I prefer sitka. Haven't tried Engelmann and others. Moon wood has this spongey feel to me, I like it and the way it looks. Fundamentals come out more (more direct than sitka - not sure which I prefer - both are great). There is a LArrivee video comparing sitka vs moon spruce and the differences are clear to me, very clear. I would love to hear it on a mahogany back & sides, in person.

Thanks - they really are all subtly different and have their different uses. I would love to lower the nut height on the L-05 a hair but I'm scared it would make it rattle, wouldn't want that. Sapele is massively under-rated and given it's the most balanced tonewood (imo!) and folk say Larrivee have "balance," this makes it the most balanced guitar that ever was!

BTW this is how great Sapele can sound:

I think your observations about the different spruces are seem spot on. Btw, the 'Moon Spruce' is largely just very good quality European Spruce. I think my observation about it, is maybe down to the guitars I have with it, both have Amazon Rosewood, one steel string, one flamenco. Both guitars are on the louder side of things, the flamenco guitar in particular might even be too loud, I find both guitars to be hard to control their dynamic range if I am honest. I think it could be the back and side material too.

I own all the different types of spruce, but I think Sitka is my favourite. Englemann is a little like European spruce, but a bit softer sounding (I think)

That SCGC sounds incredible! I've played some great Sapele guitars over the years, in particular a luthier built OM with a Redwood soundboard. http://www.propsomguitars.com/galleries/om/1 (middle row on the right, is the one I played)

bertie · June 2023

earwighoney said:

(middle row on the right, is the one I played)

there's 4 rows ?

but I assume you mean complete rows

- the one next to it (back) Zircote ? (or cocobolo perhaps ?)

Tannin · June 2023

Zircote ? (or cocobolo perhaps ?)

Oh now don't tease the man. You know he has to dive off and buy one of every timber.

earwighoney · June 2023

bertie said:

earwighoney said:

(middle row on the right, is the one I played)

there's 4 rows ?

but I assume you mean complete rows - the one next to it (back) Zircote ? (or cocobolo perhaps ?)

Second row from the top. The OM with redwood & sapele in the gallery.

ditchboy · June 2023

bertie said:

mgaw said:

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

yes - nice vintage look, open back tuners and bound f/board
(the OM44 that is)

There's an OM40RW for £1k on Marketplace at the moment

There is. I looked at that but when I do pull the trigger it will be a mahogany. It has a big ding on it which puts me off too rightly or wrongly. I’m pretty taken with the all mahogany om that’s on there now for £2400. Beautiful sunburst finish.

thomasross20 · June 2023

Link to marketplace one? There a sunburst OM03 I tried (new) which sounded fantastic.

@earwighoney ;
sweet lord that looks amazing, though I love the quilted sapele even more!

ditchboy · June 2023

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/150414594573393/?locale2=en_GB

thomasross20 · June 2023

Just bought it - sucker!!

Only messing. Honestly, I vastly (!!) prefer their non-scalloped ones. There is a big difference imo.
The above is one of the scalloped ones.

ditchboy · June 2023

Where did you see an OM03 in sunburst ?

bertie · June 2023

ditchboy said:

Where did you see an OM03 in sunburst ?

there's an all hog one on Marketplace (or there was at the time I posted the other one)

EDIT - that's the one you just posted, innit ??

ditchboy · June 2023

Yes. Sure is pretty.

thomasross20 · June 2023

ditchboy said:

Where did you see an OM03 in sunburst ?

It's new (and not cheap) - Merchant City Music Glasgow. It's really good - I played it.
https://www.guitar.co.uk/larrivee-om-03-sunburst-top-special-edition

You are paying for the burst top. I was surprised how good this one sounded.

ditchboy · June 2023

Very nice but not a kick in the arse what I paid for my Martin. I’m still confident I’ll find an 03 in mahogany for about a grand when the kitchen is paid off.

mgaw · June 2023

Enjoying this thread any chance of some sound samples? I followed the link to the one at peach which sounded great strummed

thomasross20 · June 2023

The Larrivee is worth it

I played a custom shop Martin OOO-18 adi/sinker £5k and it was on par with my old £600 OM02.
That was a decent Martin. But I hear you... you will be able to get one used for less.

My YouTube channel doesn't use best recording, need to get better at that.

ditchboy · June 2023

Yeah I have decided to never buy new again. Just got to be patient for the right thing.

Gandalph · June 2023

bertie said:

mgaw said:

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

yes - nice vintage look, open back tuners and bound f/board
(the OM44 that is)

There's an OM40RW for £1k on Marketplace at the moment

Would you be able to post a link to this @bertie please, I can't see it....unless it's sold already.

ditchboy · June 2023

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/156919013946132/?locale2=en_GB

tomjax · June 2023

bertie said:

There's an OM40RW for £1k on Marketplace at the moment

What is this mythical marketplace I keep hearing mentioned, or do you mean the fretboard classified section?

tomjax · June 2023

Ah, should have read further down, the FB marketplace!

ditchboy · June 2023

Facebook marketplace. I put the link above for @Gandalph ;

Gandalph · June 2023

ditchboy said:

Facebook marketplace. I put the link above for @Gandalph ;

Top man, thank you!

bertie · June 2023

tomjax said:

Ah, should have read further down, the FB marketplace!

hence the capital "M"

thomasross20 · June 2023

earwighoney said:

thomasross20 said:

I't's certainly unique, especially paired with the moon spruce top. And the vine inlay is gorgeous.
Played alongside a very balanced (for a rosewood!) OM44R, the mids projected a bit more and I knew I had to have it.

I've got two guitars with moon spruce soundboards and they are really high fidelity if that makes sense, lots of clarity but seem to highlight bad technique worse than my other guitars if that makes sense. Do you get that or is that just me?

What a fantastic collection though! I absolutely love them all! Fine work on assembling a wonderful collection of guitars. I think your comparison between Sapele and Mahogany is spot on, makes perfect sense now I come to think about it. Btw with your collection, you could probably use each guitar for a different set of open tunings. One in Open G, C, D of their variants. Living the dream!

I have come back to this... As tonight I tried to record myself in the OM03BH with moon spruce top and you are correct... It highlights bad technique, maybe because it is more fundamental than mahogany. A great top wood but are 100% correct here, sir!

ditchboy · June 2023

Sell it. Cheap.

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Larrivee guitars are rubbish

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