[247hoopsfan]

I have owned 2 Larrivee D10 guitars that were identical except that one was EIR and one was Brazilian. There is no question that the Brazilian guitar was better in most every way. The sustain and clarity were superior to the EIR guitar, and there was more bass and more clarity in the upper register. The Brazilian had a certain glassy, reverb quality not present in the EIR. I sold the EIR and still have the Brazilian D10. As far as the upcharge question, I was lucky to find the used Brazilian and I paid the same for it as I had paid for my EIR. I certainly would not pay the price premium of $2-5K that seems to be the going rate.