Larrivee guitars are rubbish

ditchboy · May 2023

Hell of a deal! Think I’m going to have to wait until I have paid for my new kitchen first. But I have also just gotten a new job so feel like I deserve a treat. Decisions.

thomasross20 · May 2023

Haha

Mellish · May 2023

@ditchboy ; go on, be a devil

thomasross20 · May 2023

Hahahahaha I've kept my OM05 purchase quiet but my girlfriend just noticed I've got a new, 4th acoustic lol. Didn't take her long

thomasross20 · June 2023

@mgaw ;;;;
Let's keep this where it belongs

So I recently acquired an OM-05 and L-05. Which means I now have five Larrivee (all of these have maple trim which is nice btw).

From left to right (and pics don't do them justice).

OM-02:
Satin sitka/sapele, 25.5" inch scale. Fitted a K&K myself. This is 20+ years old and has "aged" well. Sapele is a great tonewood imo. Flatter frequency response than mahogany so when you strum, the mids don't overpower as much. It has a top end sparkle that is really nice.

(BTW re scale length, I read the change in tension is < 5% going to a ~24.75" scale length whilst changing strings down from 12s to 11s is more like 10-15%, which is what I do. Higher scale length, easier to detune and play alternate tunings. 25.5" scale length and 14 frets, you can't lose, it's like the standard).

L-05:
Gloss sitka/mahogany, upgraded trim and higher ratio tuners. 25.5" scale. L-body is larger so you get more bass (not sure if more lower pitch or just an increase in the bass volume... I think just an increase in the bass volume). This guitar sounds better strummed, almost like a dreadnought, and still has balance for fingerstyle. This particular one has the Santa Cruz hi-fi thing going on and is really, really lush. The body is a bit deeper than an OM so it's not as comfortable to play as an OM.

OM-03BH:
Satin bhilwara with moon spruce top, 25.5" scale. Vine inlay on headstock is glorious. Bhilwara sounds fantastic. It's a rosewood but the mids are a lot more present than with other rosewoods I've tried. Sustain slightly less than a typical rosewood, deep bass and the moon spruce top definitely colours the sound. It takes the edge of the rosewood metallic twang that you sometimes hear - none of that here. I describe it as "spongey" - I like the moon wood tops and their milky colour.

P-03:
Satin parlour, 24" scale, sitka/mahogany. Most folk say to go with an OO but I specifically wanted the parlour size to lug to my girlfriend's place at the weekend. It has a Santa Cruz hi-fi sort of sound to it. The 12th fret neck join and bridge lower bout placement gives this a really nice sound. I do wonder about a larger 12-fret but would have to be cutaway.

OM-05:
Gloss sitka/mahogany, upgraded trim and higher ratio tuners, 25.5" scale. Mahogany definitely has a different sound to the OM-02's sapele despite folk saying sapele/mahogany sound the same. They 100% do not. Maybe to the average listener. A very rich sound, I call it "syrupy" - I wonder about getting a ToneRite or similar to speed up the ageing on this as I feel it needs to break in.

I like how Larrivee uses good quality materials and builds - you can pay extra £££ for finishes or inlays, custom options etc but the value afforded is unreal. Love every one of these!

Tannin · June 2023

My reaction to that can be expressed in five words. Wow, wow, wow, wow, and wow!

thomasross20 · June 2023

I just awarded you a wow

Mellish · June 2023

Ah, the family!

ditchboy · June 2023

That BH is particularly nice. I mean they’re all bloody gorgeous but that one is certainly blowing my frock up.

Tannin · June 2023

ditchboy said:

That BH is particularly nice. I mean they’re all bloody gorgeous but that one is certainly blowing my frock up.

Ohhh! I'd like to see that.

thomasross20 · June 2023

I't's certainly unique, especially paired with the moon spruce top. And the vine inlay is gorgeous.
Played alongside a very balanced (for a rosewood!) OM44R, the mids projected a bit more and I knew I had to have it.

mgaw · June 2023

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

bertie · June 2023

mgaw said:

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

yes - nice vintage look, open back tuners and bound f/board
(the OM44 that is)

There's an OM40RW for £1k on Marketplace at the moment

earwighoney · June 2023

thomasross20 said:

I't's certainly unique, especially paired with the moon spruce top. And the vine inlay is gorgeous.
Played alongside a very balanced (for a rosewood!) OM44R, the mids projected a bit more and I knew I had to have it.

I've got two guitars with moon spruce soundboards and they are really high fidelity if that makes sense, lots of clarity but seem to highlight bad technique worse than my other guitars if that makes sense. Do you get that or is that just me?

What a fantastic collection though! I absolutely love them all! Fine work on assembling a wonderful collection of guitars. I think your comparison between Sapele and Mahogany is spot on, makes perfect sense now I come to think about it. Btw with your collection, you could probably use each guitar for a different set of open tunings. One in Open G, C, D of their variants. Living the dream!

thomasross20 · June 2023

Lol @mgaw

(BTW I can't detect sarcasm but I'm sure we are having a joke here lol)

@bertie I'm not usually into rosewood but the OM44R I tried was really nice. Sounded way better than a 2x £££ Breedlove I tried with same woods.

@earwighoney hmm can't say have noticed that. The soundboards definitely have differences, though. It's not some voodoo as I've heard folk say. I think adi tops have more overtones over time but they apparently take ages to break in (10+ years unless torrified) and they seem to highlight treble frequencies (which tbh I'm not keen on, though that works better on Martins which are naturally darker) - adi to me is also like a cannon, you breathe on it and it booms (I prefer softer, more dynamic). Sitka is more mellow and breaks in quicker - I think I prefer sitka. Haven't tried Engelmann and others. Moon wood has this spongey feel to me, I like it and the way it looks. Fundamentals come out more (more direct than sitka - not sure which I prefer - both are great). There is a LArrivee video comparing sitka vs moon spruce and the differences are clear to me, very clear. I would love to hear it on a mahogany back & sides, in person.

Thanks - they really are all subtly different and have their different uses. I would love to lower the nut height on the L-05 a hair but I'm scared it would make it rattle, wouldn't want that. Sapele is massively under-rated and given it's the most balanced tonewood (imo!) and folk say Larrivee have "balance," this makes it the most balanced guitar that ever was!

BTW this is how great Sapele can sound:

(The Guitarist OM-02 video is very accurate re OM-02 sounds)

Re bass response, sometimes more isn't better. It's glorious on the L and the way it's done (bigger body -> natural) is the way I like it done. Scalloping the braces on the Larrivee's I feel you lose some of the fidelity in the sound, not sure why (or maybe the OM40 I sold just wasn't a great one). But yeah, more bass can at times be trying on the ear, lose fidelity and can be muddier when recording (e.g. the age-old D28 vs HD28 argument).

earwighoney · June 2023

thomasross20 said:

hmm can't say have noticed that. The soundboards definitely have differences, though. It's not some voodoo as I've heard folk say. I think adi tops have more overtones over time but they apparently take ages to break in (10+ years unless torrified) and they seem to highlight treble frequencies (which tbh I'm not keen on, though that works better on Martins which are naturally darker) - adi to me is also like a cannon, you breathe on it and it booms (I prefer softer, more dynamic). Sitka is more mellow and breaks in quicker - I think I prefer sitka. Haven't tried Engelmann and others. Moon wood has this spongey feel to me, I like it and the way it looks. Fundamentals come out more (more direct than sitka - not sure which I prefer - both are great). There is a LArrivee video comparing sitka vs moon spruce and the differences are clear to me, very clear. I would love to hear it on a mahogany back & sides, in person.

Thanks - they really are all subtly different and have their different uses. I would love to lower the nut height on the L-05 a hair but I'm scared it would make it rattle, wouldn't want that. Sapele is massively under-rated and given it's the most balanced tonewood (imo!) and folk say Larrivee have "balance," this makes it the most balanced guitar that ever was!

BTW this is how great Sapele can sound:

I think your observations about the different spruces are seem spot on. Btw, the 'Moon Spruce' is largely just very good quality European Spruce. I think my observation about it, is maybe down to the guitars I have with it, both have Amazon Rosewood, one steel string, one flamenco. Both guitars are on the louder side of things, the flamenco guitar in particular might even be too loud, I find both guitars to be hard to control their dynamic range if I am honest. I think it could be the back and side material too.

I own all the different types of spruce, but I think Sitka is my favourite. Englemann is a little like European spruce, but a bit softer sounding (I think)

That SCGC sounds incredible! I've played some great Sapele guitars over the years, in particular a luthier built OM with a Redwood soundboard. http://www.propsomguitars.com/galleries/om/1 (middle row on the right, is the one I played)

bertie · June 2023

earwighoney said:

(middle row on the right, is the one I played)

there's 4 rows ?

but I assume you mean complete rows

- the one next to it (back) Zircote ? (or cocobolo perhaps ?)

Tannin · June 2023

Zircote ? (or cocobolo perhaps ?)

Oh now don't tease the man. You know he has to dive off and buy one of every timber.

earwighoney · June 2023

bertie said:

earwighoney said:

(middle row on the right, is the one I played)

there's 4 rows ?

but I assume you mean complete rows - the one next to it (back) Zircote ? (or cocobolo perhaps ?)

Second row from the top. The OM with redwood & sapele in the gallery.

ditchboy · June 2023

bertie said:

mgaw said:

They look great, off to find nearest stockist!

yes - nice vintage look, open back tuners and bound f/board
(the OM44 that is)

There's an OM40RW for £1k on Marketplace at the moment

There is. I looked at that but when I do pull the trigger it will be a mahogany. It has a big ding on it which puts me off too rightly or wrongly. I’m pretty taken with the all mahogany om that’s on there now for £2400. Beautiful sunburst finish.

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Larrivee guitars are rubbish

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