Which Larrivee OM is the best for a singer/songwriter?
 

Greetings guitar lovers,

I'm planning to get rid of a Gibson which (hopefully) will give me between $1500-$2000 to buy a used Larrivee.
I've fallen in love with the OM series Larrivee's but I'm curious as to which one would be the best fit for my traveling,
singer/songwriting career?

Here's a list of some of the things I'm looking for:
-Either mahogany or rosewood back and sides (gloss preferably)
-smaller body, but not lacking too much bass.
-Cutaway
-and a good pickup

thanks in Advance!

-Drakeford

P.S. The gibson I have is a 2006 Cj-165 R, non-cutaway. It's got a nice tone,
but the fretboard doesn't give me enough room, and I don't quite enjoy the
feel.

It depends...

I had countless Larrivees and would like to help but you need to tell more than just "Which Larrivee OM for singer songwriter..."

For starters,
What type of tone do you like? What type of wood? Why are you not liking about your Gibson, why did you narrow down to just Larrivee, etc etc.

Good luck!

Update: Also I see one of your post that you have Gibson 165 and you like the sound but don't like the way it feels. What is about the feel you don't like? Shape, neck, frets, or finish???

sorry about not being too descriptive. I'm a fan of mahogany and rosewood. I do like a smaller body, but not so much so that it cuts into the depth of the bass. I'd prefer a cutaway, and I like the look more of the gloss back and sides, and lastly, a good pick up

Unless things have changed in recent years,

-05 series and above gets gloss finish. 04 series too but they are harder to find.
-"V" designates cutaway so you are looking at OMV and not just OM.
-Generally speaking rosewood has more bass so 09 series is what you would want. 09 for rosewood
-Electronics can be had from factory or you can add your own to your liking.

So OMV-09(e)?

But at this point, you are probably over $2K.

However it's always best to try these as I highly doubt any of these OM will have bass response of your Gibson.


So what feels not good with your Gibson and why did you narrow down to Larrivee?

Thanks! I'll check it out

Drake- welcome to AGF!

Larrivee builds some great guitars! I'm a big fan of their quality and tone.

I think the OM40 would be sweet.

*like many acoustic guitar players- you seem sensitive to feel.

The only problem I had with Larrivee was the relatively flat fret board radius.
When playing for extended periods it just worked my finger tips over- and creates a feeling of higher string tension...

This doesn't seem to bother some folks- and I am sure it would depend on style of play etc...

Just a thought- good luck with the hunt!

madhat.

Here'a a new one like you want
 

Wildwood... great place to buy... (see link)

If you do want a mahogany or a different p/u system they wil order it for you.

They have very reasonable prices. A mahogany should cost less than this rosewood.


http://www.wildwoodmusic.com/larrive...5&locale=en_US

Thanks!!! This is really helpful. The string tension feeling is a big thing. I often play coffee shop gigs and house concerts with 2 hour sets and my style is sort of folkish, so I do a lot of finger picking. I appreciate the heads up:)

I had some work done on mine, as initially, the strings felt tight, especially near the nut. The adjustment required installing medium strings, straightening the neck nearly flat, checking the frets so they were level (the first fret was a little high) and cutting down the nut slot under the B string. With the action having been previously set to a comfortable height by the previous owner, that was all it took to make it very playable.

Many people think that all that should be done to make the action reasonably comfortable is to lower the saddle, something that my guitar's previous owner obviously thought. The extra thirty minutes worth of adjustments finished what he started. Something to consider.

... JT

Drakeford, my suggestion is that you get a rosewood OM and put a John Pearse armrest on it. The armrest lifts your arm off the top, resulting in quite a bit more tone and volume, particularly in the bass response.

The Larrivée OM-03R is in satin finish, not high gloss, but if you can live with the satin finish that's by far and away the best deal in a rosewood OM you can find, at least among guitars built in North America.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

I have a OM-03 Custom, with Peruvian Walnut back and sides and Cedar top. It sounds wonderful and has more bass than some Dreadnoughts I have played. I tried quite a few OM-03's before making my decision and I found that the type of woods used is not a terribly good predictor of the tone you will get on any one guitar. So do try a selection and don't buy without playing. If you can make the trip to Ohio, Wildwood Music has a great selection and great prices. Nice people, too!

V = Venetian cutaway (soft cutaway)
C = Florentine cutaway (sharp cutaway)

Both have been made, though the V shape is more common. I don't actually see a lot of cutaway OM models at all, the cutaway seems more available on Larrivees L model, which may be to big for the OP if he wants a smaller body.

There are several OMs worth considering. Every one of them can be had—brand new—for well under $2000. The OM9 and OM5 give you the gloss you want, with great, full, balanced tone. Hard to argue with either one of those. We tend to sell many more OM9s than OM5s, but they're both fine, fine instruments.

Our bestsellers this year have been the OM40 guitars, and while they won't give you a gloss finish, you'd get some killer tone and save quite a few bucks:

OM40 (our single best selling guitar for 2015 so far):



OM-40R

Jean stopped offering cutaway OMs as a standard build several years ago. Any dealer can order them easily enough, but they're never on any of our price lists or availability lists from Larrivee.

Contact Howard Klepper, he can build you a guitar with both mahogany and rosewood back and sides! ;) No need to choose one or the other. :)