Show Us Your Small Canadian Builder Guitars - Northwood Webber OTHERS

[guitarman001]

Thanks for the replies. Long post to follow......

I had the same Larrivee OM-02 for 20+ years.
My wife sadly passed some years ago and I guess I thought I'd treat myself.
Now I have 5 Larrivee.
The original, Canadian-made OM-02 is the lightest and I think the best.
I think the small builders who build them light, that's the key.
And Canadian is right up my alley.
I'm assuming below that Larrivee use Khaya.


OM-02 (sitka/sapele). Sapele is THE most balanced tonewood. Has treble sparkle.

OM-05 (sitka/khaya). More mids than the L-05 below. Heavier than my OM-02. Has a throaty mid-hump which has a lot of character though the mid-hump maybe masks the bass.

P-03 (sitka/khaya) - 12 fret and short scale give this a lovely fingerstyle sound. Bass obviously less.

L-05 (sitka/hog) - deeper body makes it a tad more difficult to play but VERY resonant, great when strummed. Really great. Deep bass. So I get the mahogany throatiness with the bass - win-win.

OM-03 moonwood / Bhilwara. Snappier response, very deep bass for an OM (almost same as L-05 bass). Moonwood is more fundamental, slightly quicker decay than sitka. The only "rosewood" I own - better than EIR etc as this one has a good mid-range.

I absolutely LOVE the Canadian school of luthiery and how they all help each other out. The Larrivee balanced sound is great. I prefer softer woods (like mahoganies) as feel they have a natural ring to them.

Point taken re Northwood - brighter not necessarily my thing.
But I'm sure they are great.
Have heard but not tried Boucher, Webber, Halcyon, Northwood etc.

Big risk spec'ing something new but if I wanted, for example, a cutaway on a Larrivee, it's an extra $1500 option (!). I can get a custom lightly built Halcyon for 2x that (I think I need to add ~60% for duty, VAT etc as I live in the UK).

jazzereh you've tried all the Canadian brands...... can you compare?

I may get in line for a Halcyon.

I hear the bracing is between a Larrivee and Martin.

I vastly prefer the Larrivee sound. Not keen on trebly Taylor sound.
Martin is a bit meh to me, though their adi tops of late couple with their dark sound to create a greater tonality imo.

I need to find out how lutz spruce compares to sitka. Top wood is so important. I prefer overtones. Not keen on adi as it's stiffer, takes ages to open up and you breathe on it and it howls. I like dynamics. So I know Ed likes lutz and need to find out about it. I've only ever tried sitka & moonwood. Oh and cedar (maybe too mellow, doesn't do AS well strummed).

Back & sides, no idea. He says he has nice walnut which leans closer to mahogany. But I know walnut can be drier sounding, doesn't necessarily have the mahogany syrupy tone. Though is thunderous in the bass. A safe bet would be SA mahogany (which he rates over khaya and then lastly over sapele). Unsure. There are other woods has has like sassafras etc.

--> jazzereh, keen to know how your lutz/walnut sounds compared to say, a lutz/hog or sitka/walnut.

His NL-00 (which looks great) is 4.75" deep (wow).
Don't know what NL model is all about tbh.

He says his bodies for OM/OOO are 4.5" deep.
My L-05 feels deep to me and that's 4.5" (thinner than the procution 4.75" by fluke and thank heavens else I'd never be able to play the thing).
It's on the cusp of being too big, but ofc this moves air and helps with lower-end response (which we all like).

I would MUCH rather get low end response from moving air than scalloping. I have an allergic reaction to the sound and feel of the Larrivee 40 series - I don't gel with them.

Then there are his bigger models. Need to think. I will have 2 years to think lol. So I sympathise with the poster above!

I have so many 14 frets already.
I am debating 12 fret cutaway for optimal tone (though the heel still restricts access)... or 13 fret cutaway (middle-ground).

And he says 25" scale length is what he goes for, so leaning slightly more toward my P-03 short scale. So looks like what I get will be more a fingerstyle guitar than a strummer but wouldn't mind if it could do a bit of strumming, too (which I do maybe 20% of the time).

Is the neck not the same as Larrivee? That is exactly what I want. And he uses tusq nut & saddle which I prefer over bone (I think...).

Not sure on the standard rosewood fretboard as I'm so used to ebony now.

I'm thinking the Halcyon could be the "one" great mahogany guitar - sell all others (don't know if could bring myself to it!!) OR I take the risk to go for something different (OOO 13 fret cutaway lutz/walnut!?)

Well. That's all I wanted to say lol.

[MBee]

Here are some photos of my Webber Roundbody: cocobolo and sitka

[PTL]

Ted Thompson T3 Deluxe Cutaway Mastergrade Woods. Tone matches the appearance.

[guitarman001]

Sweet Lord......

[ssstewart]

i love Canadian built guitars, i have a ton of them around. as far as small canadian builders here are 2 of my favs

George Rizsanyi Custom maple "banjo killer" old growth high elevation NS spruce with the most perfectly quarter sawn top of any of my guitars (amazing silking/medullary rays), beautiful quilt maple fingerboard, maple back/sides/neck/bridge.

2017 James Malejzcuk custom OM Black limba ( 3rd commissioned build in his career- i think hes almost at 80 or builds now) 400 yr old wind horse farms red spruce top, Black Limba back and sides, 3 on a plate Waverly's with ebony buttons, inlay galore. maple neck, zircotte fingerboard over ebony, gold/white/black bindings. LR baggs iBeam system. <--- prob the nicest built of my collection- 6 month build duration, James put a ton of care and attention to detail in this one.