Larrivee guitar

jcor · #1 05-01-2002, 07:54 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm curious as to what your opinion is of Larrivee guitars. More specifically their Parlor guitar. How would you compare it to a Baby Taylor?

I've spent a lot of hours reading this forum and I've come to respect the opinions of the members.

Thanks everyone.

cpmusic · #2 05-01-2002, 08:07 PM

Larrivee makes excellent guitars, but like all others, they don't appeal to everyone. Some of them impressed me a lot, others have been merely nice. I can't say I've played a bad one.

The Parlor is an excellent small guitar that's all solid wood and very well made. Compared to the Baby, its voice is bigger and richer, and it's got a more standard scale (at least 24.75") that makes playing and intonation a little more like normal. Compared to the Big Baby, however, I think the Parlor loses some points, not the least of which is price. The mahogany Parlor sells for at least $450 these days, without a gig bag. Some other alternatives to the Parlor are the Seagull Grand and S6 Folk, both of which have laminated cherry sides/back and solid cedar tops.

jcor · #3 05-02-2002, 04:18 AM

Thanks Cpmusic, that's a big help.

rbachman · #4 05-02-2002, 11:08 AM

I wonder if the Parlor would hold up to travel as well as the Baby?

cpmusic · #5 05-02-2002, 11:21 AM

I'm sure the Parlor is a good, sturdy instrument, but it's definitely larger than a Baby. It's also all solid wood with a dovetail neck, so a little extra care would be in order.

Lisa · #6 05-02-2002, 12:31 PM

I have a Larrivee Parlor. I really like it. If you want to read a lot of reviews check out Harmony central's reviews. I think there are about 25+ reviews of it.

Here are the reasons I chose it over the Baby or Big Baby:
*I wanted an instrument tuned the same as a full size guitar.
*I thought the Parlor had a fuller, warmer voice.
*The Baby was a laminate so the sound wouldn't mature over time
*I wanted a solid wood guitar in a travel size for on the sofa playing times.
*The Parlor had the same nut width as my Taylors, 1 3/4, whereas the Baby and Big Baby has 1 11/16
*The body shape of the Parlor was more conducive for my young daughters to play, therefore it could double as a "learning guitar" for them. A dreadnought body shape is harder for small kids to play.
*Final point is purely cosmetic: I couldn't warm up to the look of the exposed screw head in the fretboard of the Baby.

I felt that all of those reasons justified the additional $100 to me. Of course I got a great price, a free gig bag, and a curly koa back, so that helped!
Others needs may be different than mine. The Big Baby is a nice sounding travel guitar. If I were buying just for my own needs I might have bought it.

rbachman · #7 05-02-2002, 12:37 PM

taylorsmitten,
Does the Larrivee Parlor fit into an overhead? Have you ever taken it on a flight?

grip · #8 05-02-2002, 04:44 PM

The rosewood Parlors are nice, better bass than the mahogany and much wider tonal range out of the small guitar but sell for around $600-650. I would still probably rather have a mahogany Parlor vs. a baby Taylor for an extra $100 or so. It's solid wood and seems to be more of a "real" guitar. The baby Taylors are great for what they are.

Lisa · #9 05-02-2002, 05:46 PM

rbachman,
The Larrivee parlor is approx 36" long. When I called United they told me "no can do" for carry-on, but I don't know if the carry-on rules are the same for every airline.
I haven't taken it on a flight (yet) there are hard cases available for them at FQMS. I plan to just pack mine in tightly in my Taylor SKB case with some towels around it.

Flatfish · #10 05-11-2002, 10:56 PM

I have a couple Larrivee Parlor Guitars, the Rosewood one is about 3 years old, and sounding better each day! Its really opened up. It sounds better than most full sized guitars in that price range. As far as Price goes, I've purchased a couple of them at GC for about the same price as a taylor big baby! you just have to shop around a little. The rosewood one is warm for finger picking, the magogany is a little brighter for picking and struming, however my new Walnut one is fantastic for both pickin' and strumin'

.
As much as I like taylors, their baby and big baby can't hold a candle to the Parlors! After all they are solid tone woods!
<))))>{

Jim · #11 05-13-2002, 03:50 PM

The Parlour vs. Baby is not a fair fight in that the Parlour will always sound far richer. I think if you put the Parlour against a Big Baby you might have a reason to pause and think about which you prefer, though the all solid woods of the Parlour would win me over since it will open up over time far more than a Big Baby which only has a solid wood top.