Larrivee guitars

[cotten]

Originally Posted by BigMo66

Hard to find much negative to say about Larrivee guitars. They are well-built, dovetail guitars that still have a "handmade, small outfit" kind of feel to them. The have some great vintage looks to some of the models that is really appealing. I've came so close to pulling the trigger on one several times, but the models I really want are out of my range in price.

DITTO!

And another warm welcome to the AGF, Todd. Always room at the table for another Georgian!

cotten

[slewis]

There's no arguing that Taylor makes fine guitars, but I too shopped around for about a year before buying my LV-03E a year or so ago and I haven't regretted it for a second. I play pretty frequently and this baby stays in tune so well I can't believe it. Plays great, sounds great and is really a versatile guitar. I've read it many times and agree: Larrivees are maybe the best dollar-for-dollar value out there right nw, and this 03 series is maybe the best bang for the buck around. Enjoy!

[dreamsinger]

Originally Posted by axememan

mmmmm Larrivee good...i have a DO-2..GR8!..THEY ARE KINDA UNDER THE RADAR AT THIS TIME....GOOD BANG FOR THE buck.....those DO-2'S are gr8 bargains

The D-02 was a special model with a Sapele body that Larrivee only made for Guitar Center. At the time I got mine ('99) it was by far the best bang for the buck you could get. The problem was that they were such a good deal that they really dug into sales of the -03, -05, 09 and -10's. I don't think they're made anymore, are they?

JD

[classicalgasp]

Originally Posted by dreamsinger

The D-02 was a special model with a Sapele body that Larrivee only made for Guitar Center. At the time I got mine ('99) it was by far the best bang for the buck you could get. The problem was that they were such a good deal that they really dug into sales of the -03, -05, 09 and -10's. I don't think they're made anymore, are they?

JD

Nope, no 02's right now. They are sweet though.

[laughingskunk]

I have a Larrivee D-02 which i got used. Bought at a local store for under three figures. Got it so cheap because had some cracks on the back which had been fixed, and this store didnt cary Larrivee. On the tag they called it a Garrivee-guess person couldnt read the headstock. As mentioned these were great guitars. Sound as good as the -03 series but were less expensive. Mine was a 2000 with sapele. Larrivee is a great company responded quickly to emails about my guitar. I had a Taylor 110 also which I traded in for a CA Bluegrass Performer. The Larrivee is probably the easiest playing guitar I have had, the neck is extremely comfortable for my small hands , and the action was set up great. Got it as a beater-and treasure it as a wonderful sounding guitar. Patrick

[notamartinfan]

Larrivees are great guitars. Build quality is awesome, and the prices even better. The string to string balance is much better than Taylors in general, as well.

Someone mentioned that Larrivee was an up-and-comer. Not sure what was meant, but Jean Larrivee has been making guitars longer than Bob Taylor, and actually taught Bob a lot of what he knows about bracing a guitar top.

Dollar for dollar, none better.

Josh

[dreamsinger]

Originally Posted by notamartinfan

Larrivees are great guitars. Build quality is awesome, and the prices even better. The string to string balance is much better than Taylors in general, as well.

Someone mentioned that Larrivee was an up-and-comer. Not sure what was meant, but Jean Larrivee has been making guitars longer than Bob Taylor, and actually taught Bob a lot of what he knows about bracing a guitar top.

Dollar for dollar, none better.

Josh

Actually, by the time Bob Taylor and Jean Larrivee got to be fishing buddies Taylor was way bigger than Larrivee and his bracing was pretty much proprietary. That's why you don't see Taylors with symmetrical bracing. If anything, Larrivee learned how to integrate CAD/CAM into his process from Bob Taylor. You're right that Jean's been building longer but a lot of those years were spent building in his home garage or a small shop without CNC. This is where Taylor changed the entire industry.

[mjz]

Welcome to the AGF.
Larrivee is making some very good guitars right now. I own the 000-60 and can't say enough good things about it. As long as you found "the" one, that's all that matters!

max

[mjz]

Originally Posted by dreamsinger

If anything, Larrivee learned how to integrate CAD/CAM into his process from Bob Taylor. You're right that Jean's been building longer but a lot of those years were spent building in his home garage or a small shop without CNC. This is where Taylor changed the entire industry.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't neccessarily believe this is a good thing. CNC consistency is not something that interests me. I think there's been some sacrifice in complexity of tone for consistency across the Taylor brand. Even different models with different woods sound eerily similar to me lately.

On the other hand, Larrivee is putting out guitars that are more individual -- each with a distinct voice, if you will. I like that.

max

[DavidHoffman]

Originally Posted by Todd W

I'm just wondering what the general concensus is on Larravee guitars. I just traded my Taylor 110 for a new Larrivee LV-03CE. I play in church and enjoyed my Taylor. I had an interest in a new guitar and my brother turned me on to the Larrivee. He does have a Taylor 310 and is an avid Taylor fan. He said look for a guitar that speaks to you. The Larravee did the first time I played it. Nothing against Taylor but I like my Larrivee more than the Taylor, and it may have been that particular guitar. The Larrivee is also solid wood where the Taylor was laminated sides and back. They are really two different class guitars. Just wanting some feedback on what to expect from Larrivee.

I played quite a few recently as I was making my final decisions on what to buy. I was looking at a Taylor 814 to buy. Man, the thing sounded great! I could play Rocky Mountain High, as clear as bell.... Finger picking was great... WOW...what a guitar...

Then I played a LV-10 Deluxe...Man, the thing sounded great! I could play Rocky Mountain High, as clear as bell.... Finger picking was great... WOW...what a guitar...

I liked them both, they both had a great sound, the sound I was looking for... The Larivee had a B-BAND dual pickup already installed...

The owner of the store quoted me a price for the Larivee and I walked out with it that night... That was 3 weeks ago (9/30/05) and I havent regretted it. Though I'd still like to own a Taylor one day...

[StanW]

Been reading and learning here for a long time, but I figured I might as well follow my brother and start posting. Sounds like you all approve of his recent purchase. While it's true I own a Taylor 310(which i love), and am currently gassing for a 714CE, I told my brother to ignore the name on the headstock and just buy the guitar that "speaks to you". That's what I did and have enjoyed playing more, and have gotten better because of it.
And since Todd and I live close, I'll get to play his new Larrivee alot! It's a
great guitar.

Stan

[dreamsinger]

Originally Posted by mjz

I'm one of those guys who doesn't neccessarily believe this is a good thing. CNC consistency is not something that interests me. I think there's been some sacrifice in complexity of tone for consistency across the Taylor brand. Even different models with different woods sound eerily similar to me lately.

On the other hand, Larrivee is putting out guitars that are more individual -- each with a distinct voice, if you will. I like that.

max

I understand your feeling but nonetheless, without CNC Larrivee (and probably a few other big names) would be making a lot fewer guitars and the -03's would be a lot more expensive. Because of CNC, the average guitar is way better than what we got 30 years ago. Nearly every part of a Larrivee (and Martin and Taylor as well) is CNC'd with index holes to place them perfectly together. It's the subtle nuance of assembly that makes the difference as witnessed by Olson and Ryan. Both are CNC'd but hand assembled to a degree of precision that you just cant teach the average $10.00/hr factory worker.

I don't have any problem with Taylor's consistency; when I pick up a 414 it sounds pretty much like every other 414 I've played. That's not a bad thing. Where we diverge is that I can hear the difference in the models. I'm not fond of how Taylor does rosewood but ovangkol, mahogany, koa (especially koa) and walnut are wonderful. I'm not a dread fan at all and I suspect that since the majority of players seem to gravitate to that body style Taylor gets a very unfair rep for the "thin and reedy" cliche. The differences in their 12 strings are even more dramatic (to me anyway). One of the factors that most players understand about tone is how important the *quality* of the body/neck interface is to the tone. Notice I didn't say *type*. Since the neck/body join is in the vibration chain, gaps and neck angle will make a lot of difference in the tone. Taylor's joint is a slam dunk to get a perfect interface with no gaps and a consistent angle (there's that "consistent" word again). Dovetails, OTOH, need hand fitting even under the best of circumstances. That's another one of those arcane luthier tricks that takes time to learn and more time to do correctly. The manufacturing workaround for this is to either machine the slot bigger or the dovetail smaller and have the assembler jam paper, card stock and too much glue in until it's about right. Sometimes the joints are good to start with but they aren't always in varying degrees. This is where tone differences (individual distinct voices as you call it) come from. There's not that much room for differences anywhere else. It's pretty hard to find a really doggy sounding Larrivee but OTOH it is possible to find varying degrees of good all the way up to the occasional outstanding one. I don't like that particularly, especially since I like to buy guitars online.

Cheers

JD

[mjz]

Originally Posted by dreamsinger

There's not that much room for differences anywhere else. It's pretty hard to find a really doggy sounding Larrivee but OTOH it is possible to find varying degrees of good all the way up to the occasional outstanding one. I don't like that particularly, especially since I like to buy guitars online.

Cheers

JD

JD, I am aware that CNC and automation is certainly not exclusive to Taylor. Here's the thing though - the "good" in the varying degrees of good may be completely different for you than me. In fact, I'm sure it is. I'm glad you have found a tone that you like, but if someone doesn't happen to like the that same tone, well, sorry that's all you got.

And while neck joint quality is certainly a huge influence on tone, it is but one. In fact I would argue that bracing placement, material, dimension, and shaping is way more influential. To me there will never be a suitable substitue for the hand for this process.

My point about Taylor's models being eerily similar was just that -- not that I can't tell a difference, just that the differences are so slight as to sound eerily similar. Again, that consistency is great if you like the tone and want to shop online, but for some of us who would like to add a Taylor to the fold it's unfulfilling.

I think you are right about the dread rap. But when I went looking for a smaller body style a year or so ago I played all sorts of 12 series. They all sounded very good and very the same. Then I found Larrivee. There was a whole pallet from which to choose. Viva La Difference.

m

[Bobalouie3]

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but there is a Larrivee forum, www.larriveeforum.com where you can get a ton of information about Larrivees. Matthew Larrivee (Jean's son) Brian Trepanier (head of customer relations) post there from time to time.

I absolutely love my 2004 Parlor. I'm currently working with Holloway's to "find" my next Larry, probably an LV-09QM. I played an L-09 at Holloway's on Saturday that was very nice, great treble clarity and the bass response from the Rosewood was not overpowering.

Oh, and Larrivee is a great company to deal with. When I purchased my Parlor, the dealer forgot to send the warranty registration card with the guitar. After dealing with him for several months with nothing to show for it, I send an email to Larrivee (used the generic email off their website) and within a day, Brian responded. We had a nice exchange of emails and I had a new warranty card within 7 days of the email! Larrivee also held a raffle to raise money to assist a company employee who got hit by Katrina. The prize was an -03 guitar, configured however you wanted (D, L, OM, 6er or 12er). Then they surprised us (on the Larrivee forum) by giving away not one, but two -03s!

Yes, they are a growing company, but they have not forgotten where they came from and who they're making guitars for. I'm a big believer in buying the guitar that "speaks to you" regardless of brand, but based on my Larrivee experience, they will be the first guitar I try when I'm looking for a new one!

Of course, this is just one man's opinion, your experience may vary.

[dreamsinger]

"And while neck joint quality is certainly a huge influence on tone, it is but one. In fact I would argue that bracing placement, material, dimension, and shaping is way more influential. To me there will never be a suitable substitue for the hand for this process.'

Unfortunately, Larrivees braces are all cut to the same dimensions either by CNC or a fixture and they are all placed in the same location by jigs. IOW, there is no individual top tuning going on, not even on "custom shop" guitars. Fortunately, the bracing process is about the most consistent thing Larrivee does, ergo one wouldn't expect a lot of differences from the top beyond the minor inconsistencies of the tops themselves. Larrivees tops have always been of a consistently high quality. It still seems to me that in light of all this the only real differences between Larrivees of identical models has to come from the dovetail. This massive difference in my Larrivee from before its reset to after confirms my belief that the joint quality has a huge bearing on tone quality. The principle behind this is something any builder of boutique 5 string basses could expound at length on.

"My point about Taylor's models being eerily similar was just that -- not that I can't tell a difference, just that the differences are so slight as to sound eerily similar. Again, that consistency is great if you like the tone and want to shop online, but for some of us who would like to add a Taylor to the fold it's unfulfilling."

I don't know; identical examples of a given model *should* be consistent. I went through the grief of looking through every Martin in Veneman's inventory in search of a good one back in the late 60's. Believe me, I'll take consistency every day. The Taylor catalog has enough depth and breadth that you should be able to find something that suits your taste. If they all sounded "eerily the same" I doubt I'd have any preference as to which model I got. Consistency within a model is a good thing and tells me that they're being built with a high degree attention to detail.

"I think you are right about the dread rap. But when I went looking for a smaller body style a year or so ago I played all sorts of 12 series. They all sounded very good and very the same."

I find it hard to believe you found a 412, 512, 612, K12 and 712 that all sounded the same. Granted they have some basic similarities that body size would contribute to but beyond that I find them all to be distinctively different.

" Then I found Larrivee. There was a whole pallet from which to choose. Viva La Difference."

Vive l'difference, indeed.