The Larrivee Sound

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by j3ffr0

balanced, full, with a certain sweetness

I agree w/this as well. I've owned two for years, D-19 and L-09, both spruce over RW. I suppose tone comparisons won't necessarily hold true for all body shapes and woods but general I think Larrivees are somewhere in between the Martin and Taylor sound...less bass and a bit less complex than a Martin, but not as "modern/focused" as Taylors. It's probably why I -and others- often describe the sound as balanced. These are of course generalizations. I'd add that while the larger bodies don't have boomy bass, it is a nicely rich and defined bass.

Originally Posted by fantex

00-40M - Vintage Tobacco Burst, Abalone rosette, full gloss

fantex, I think Larrivee sunbursts are beautiful. Here's my L-09.

[fantex]

Originally Posted by fingerling

I think the all gloss would make it an 00-44M rather than a 40 which would be matte finish.

Yeah, that's right. I just happened to have ordered it the other way around.

Originally Posted by gmel555

I agree w/this as well. I've owned two for years, D-19 and L-09, both spruce over RW. I suppose tone comparisons won't necessarily hold true for all body shapes and woods but general I think Larrivees are somewhere in between the Martin and Taylor sound...less bass and a bit less complex than a Martin, but not as "modern/focused" as Taylors. It's probably why I -and others- often describe the sound as balanced. These are of course generalizations. I'd add that while the larger bodies don't have boomy bass, it is a nicely rich and defined bass.

fantex, I think Larrivee sunbursts are beautiful. Here's my L-09.

Beauty!

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by mageñtto

I'm wondering how you all would describe the Larrivee sound? I just picked up an OM-03R Rosewood Vine and I've gotta say, it is one of the nicest instruments I've ever played. I've had it for about a month now, and it seems to be opening up more and more every day. It definitely has a distinct sound. I'm hearing an almost chorus-like shimmer to the amazingly long sustain, dreamy harmonic overtones, & a very balanced EQ and balanced string-to-string projection. Quite different than the scooped mids of the mostly dreadnoughts I've owned/played throughout my life. It's got a mid-to-low growl which I really dig as well.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear others' thoughts / comments on the matter.

Cheers!

My Larrivee OM-03R is 17 years old and you've basically described it to a T.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

As an owner of Three Larrivee D40's, I have to say your BlueGrass model is by far the prettiest I have seen.

The JCL inlaid emblem on the 12th fret...is just perfect. Just a little bit of bling that adds a lot of excitement. I have loved many of Larrivees inlays...but this particular one is just right. The size adds a central balance to the aesthetics of the guitar.

Got huge GAS now thanks to you!

Is the nut width on the bluegrass model 1 & 11/16th?

Oops, sorry for the delay in responding! Yes, 1 11/16" inches at the nut but it feels bigger as the string-spacing is splayed a bit more outward toward the fingerboard edges which should make thumb-fretting easier for most players.

[BlueBowman]

Originally Posted by Bowie

I've owned many Larrivees and they are simply the best factory guitar for the money today. Also, the most well-balanced in terms of tone. While Taylor has a strong treble, Martin bass, and Gibson midrange, Larrivee has more of a classical sensibility in that they are very even handed and no portion of the spectrum overpowers the other.

This can't be overstated, IMO. There are experienced hand builders I know that still sometimes struggle with balancing out the volume of each string. The fact that JCL and company can consistently nail this quality in guitar after guitar in a factory setting is downright amazing to me.

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by boneuphtoner

I don’t know the answer about what the scale length Martin used for the vintage 12-fret 00s and 000s, but I am fairly certain they always used long scale for the 12-fret dreads. I asked George Gruhn about why his custom shop 12 fret dreads were long scale, and he said that was what they used in the golden era. I thought the shorter scale 14-fret 000s came later to differentiate it from the long scale OM, but someone can correct me if I’m wrong. In any case, if the long scale 000s and 00s was the way they were made in the golden era, I could see why Larrivee followed suit. Also the only 12-fret 000 in Martin’s lineup without a custom shop order is the 000-15, and it is long scale.

Having said that, I agree with you in that I wouldn’t mind having a shorter scale 12-fret 000.

The only explanation that I recall reading about Martin’s convention (such as it was) regarding scale lengths on different models was in Greig Hutton’s magnificent tome on Martin guitars. I packed the book away temporarily, so I’m going by memory, which could be faulty.

What I recall Greig saying is that scale lengths got longer as the models got bigger, up to a point. When Martin introduced a larger model, Martin would often/sometimes (?) shorten the scale length of the previous, now next-largest model. That seems to bear out in the sense that the 0 had a 25-1/8” scale length in the 19th century. When the 000 was introduced in 1902, it had scale length of 25.4” (and of course, was a 12-fret model). I’ve seen 00s from the early 20th century with 24.75” scale lengths, but can’t say for sure if Martin shortened the scale length on 00s when the 000 was introduced—if someone has Greig’s book, perhaps they can check.

In any case, when the OM was introduced in 1929, it was the 14-fret version of the 12-fret 000, and both had standard 25.4” scale lengths (or not, according to TJ Thompson, but that’s a whole nother rabbit hole). When the Dreadnaught (with an “a”) was introduced, it also had a 25.4” scale length. I recall reading in Grieg’s book that the switch to short scale on the 14-fret 000 when the OM was replaced by the 14-fret 000 was consistent with Martin’s practice of reducing the scale length of the now next-smaller model. Martin continued to offer “Standard” 12-fret models in 0 and 00 sizes after 1934, at least as shown in catalogs. Not sure if they made any 12-fret 000s off-the-run and, if so, what the scale length would’ve been.