Just ordered a Yamaha LL36

Matt McGriff · #1 03-11-2022, 06:44 PM

I have churned through so many guitars in my life of playing, including phenomenal Taylors, Martins, Larrivees, Breedloves, among so many great guitars. But for some reason (GAS) I always seem to move on to the next one.

I’ve always wanted to find a lifetime guitar and now is the time, even though the inventory is pretty slim. The demos and reviews I have seen on the L Series really show these guitars to be fantastic instruments. I went into my local dealer (Lane Music in Memphis) and spoke with Mr Lane and Chuck about different guitars, ETAs on Martins, etc and ended up ordering the LL36. I am confident that a sight unseen L Series is a better bet than most any other builder’s guitars. We called Yamaha and it looks like September. Should be a fun 6 months of waiting!

eljay · #2 03-11-2022, 07:30 PM

Good on ya, Matt! My LL56 is the finest guitar I've ever owned or played and I gotta believe that your 36 will be right up with it as a lifetime guitar. Congratulations!

Dbone · #3 03-11-2022, 08:55 PM

You will not be sorry. Very wise.

sakar12 · #4 03-11-2022, 09:03 PM

I've always wanted one of these, but they don't make lefties of anything higher than the 16.

So I'm jealous!

Matt McGriff · #5 03-11-2022, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dbone

You will not be sorry. Very wise.

We looked into a 56. He actually pulled it up on his Yamaha page. They are a premier dealer and still the dealer cost was so high and margin so low that it would never work for either of us. I’ll respect the pricing discussion rule, but very close to MAP.

Proclaimer888 · #6 03-12-2022, 01:27 AM

Owned an LL26 but had to sell. Wonderful guitar and I have heard the LL36 is all the nicer. Congrats!! The neck is amazing

perttime · #7 03-12-2022, 01:29 AM

LL56 is certainly the top of the line. A quick comparison on a Yamaha site mainly finds some more bling on the 56, compared with the 36.

Yamaha know what they are doing. It will be a wonderful guitar, as long as the size, shape and neck proportions suit you.

Charmed Life Picks · #8 03-12-2022, 03:04 AM

I would be enormously surprised if you're not bowled over by that guitar. Yamaha knows what it's doing. A heckuva company.

Scott Memmer

lowrider · #9 03-12-2022, 05:26 AM

That's a great guitar. Good luck with it!

I once played one of those high-end Yamaha's at Music Zoo and it was the best guitar in the store.

Dbone · #10 03-12-2022, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt McGriff

We looked into a 56. He actually pulled it up on his Yamaha page. They are a premier dealer and still the dealer cost was so high and margin so low that it would never work for either of us. I’ll respect the pricing discussion rule, but very close to MAP.

Yeah, the difference in price between the 2 is pretty ridiculous if I’m being honest. Here in Canada the difference is $1700. That is a lot of money, and you are not typically getting discounts on a guitar like this in the Canadian market.

When I was first purchasing, I actually went the route you did and bought an LL36, because it seemed a more sensible thing to do. I still think it is probably the more sensible purchase all things considered.

Yamaha messed up my original order big time somehow. I had waited 6-7 months, expecting to have my 36 within a month, only to find out it was NOT coming. It was quite a let down. Yamaha handled things very professionally, and I ended up getting a very significant discount for my troubles if I stayed with them on a new order. I stayed with them and took the discount. That’s how badly I wanted the guitar.

In the end I ordered a 56 for the final replacement order. The discount, and the much lower pricing at the time, made the possibility more appealing. I decided to go for it.

Don’t get me wrong, the extra touches on the 56 are absolutely beautiful. I particularly like the uniqueness of the headstock area of the 56. I just love it. The guitar is so much more tasteful in person. Pictures would have one believe that it is blingy, but it is absolutely not in person. It is very tasteful.

In theory you’re also paying for the 56 being made by one master luthier, as opposed to the 36/26 being made by a number of that Master luthier’s highly skilled underlings at his supervision. How much of a difference does this actually make? I really couldn’t say. It’s so hard to back-to-back play these thing in NA, given that they are basically built to order over here.

At the end of the day both are made to the same incredible high tap tuning based standards and whatnot. It’s like anything else. There are diminishing returns. Even if the 56 were “better”, is it 1700 dollars better. Only a given individual can answer that question based on their own ideas and budget.

The closest thing to a good comparison I could find are the 2 videos JP Cormier did on the 2 guitars. To my ear there is a difference that is somewhat evident in his 2 videos, but was it just the mic setup/differences of some kind? Who knows…

My common sense tells me that there is likely not a ton of difference between the 2, but it’s so hard to say given the rarity of these thing. I would need to back-to-back play them myself to know for sure…

Which brings me to the other nice aspect. You won’t be playing a common guitar that everyone and their dog has. I kinda like that aspect too. These are very special guitars, and I personally kinda like it that they are still one of the best kept secrets in the industry ;-0.

The other reality is that your 36 will be at or above the quality of most guitars out there, despite it being “just a Yamaha”…lol. Yamaha makes beach guitars, right?…lol…People who make such comments have no idea what they are talking about…

The comments people make about them being “the best guitar in the store” on some of their shopping trips, when they are fortunate enough to encounter one in the wild….This is so true in my experience.

I often go in stores and play various guitars and compare them to my Yamaha. I come out of the store realizing even more that Yamaha has something special going on here, let’s put it that way. No other brand competes with Yamaha in a value for money sense when talking about these upper echelon Yammies. Their upper tier is as good or better than some guitars twice their price. This is a fact as far as I’m concerned. For anyone that is not what I call “brand conscious”, and is someone who actually can look past brand and consider only the quality of the instrument itself, these types will be heavily rewarded with a purchase of one of these instruments.

I don’t often bother spend much time singing the praises of these guitars. For anyone in the know, these guitars speak for themselves.

I find it hard to say if this 56 is the best guitar I own, because the range of guitars that I have are not really easily comparable….different materials, sizes etc…If someone had a gun to my head and said choose your favourite it would be my Yamaha I think.

Good luck getting through the wait ;-o It will be worth it.

All the best!

Wellington · #11 03-12-2022, 07:29 AM

Oh man that's exciting, make sure you do a ngd when you get it, I would love one of those or a 26, but I'm very happy with my 16 still.

hubcapsc · #12 03-12-2022, 07:45 AM

In theory you’re also paying for the 56 being made by one master luthier

So I just read through Yamaha's LL page... 16... 26... 36... and 56...

They're all spruce and rosewood.

36 and 56 have lacquer finishes and lots of abalone, by the time
you get to the 16 there seems to only be an abalone ring on the
rosette.

I was wondering about other differences... so - the head dude makes
the 56s and different levels of the crew work on the other ones which
seems like it would for sure make a difference. Are there significant other
differences?

-Mike

brancher · #13 03-12-2022, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

In theory you’re also paying for the 56 being made by one master luthier

So I just read through Yamaha's LL page... 16... 26... 36... and 56...

They're all spruce and rosewood.

36 and 56 have lacquer finishes and lots of abalone, by the time
you get to the 16 there seems to only be an abalone ring on the
rosette.

I was wondering about other differences... so - the head dude makes
the 56s and different levels of the crew work on the other ones which
seems like it would for sure make a difference. Are there significant other
differences?

-Mike

Yes, I have seriously considered a Yamaha L series, having played the LL and LS 16, but aside from the bling, what specific quality/build differences lie between the 16 and the 36? I think the 16 is a great value, but never played a 26 or 36 so I cannot compare.

Thx.

Dbone · #14 03-12-2022, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brancher

Yes, I have seriously considered a Yamaha L series, having played the LL and LS 16, but aside from the bling, what specific quality/build differences lie between the 16 and the 36? I think the 16 is a great value, but never played a 26 or 36 so I cannot compare.

Thx.

In theory you get progressively better wood selections as you go up the range as well.

Wellington · #15 03-12-2022, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brancher

Yes, I have seriously considered a Yamaha L series, having played the LL and LS 16, but aside from the bling, what specific quality/build differences lie between the 16 and the 36? I think the 16 is a great value, but never played a 26 or 36 so I cannot compare.

Thx.

Yes I'm in the same boat, the 16 being made in their Chinese factory. My 16 is really really well built from what I can see, no glue, no rough cut braces, excellent finish etc.
The higher levels have way more hands on with the building and higher grade wood I think as well as they are lighter built.