Eastman vs. Larrivee
 

For those people have EXPERIENCE ON BOTH guitar brands, which one do you like the most in terms of the tone, quality and playability??

Larrivees have a subtle elegance and a solid feel that I love. Also appreciate their overall playability and balanced tone. Can't speak to a comparison with Eastmans since I've never played one....

Don't own a Larrivee but the one's I tried sounded too "woody" to me. Love my Eastman AC412.

Have played and owned both. Eastman and Larrivee are both great guitars, but I would choose Larrivee every time.

Ive played both and while Larrvee's are no doubt quality instruments I find the tone to be somewhat ....boring.

Eastmans to me seem to have a bit more mojo and soul in their tone.

Of course that could be just me as a lot of it is in the fingers but for a hack like me I found Eastmans to have a tone I can get more inspired by.

I liked the 2 Larrivees I owned.

When I was interested in Eastman a query by email and phone did not answer questions Larrivee answered about their treatment of employees and environment. Pretty simple answer for me - an importer of stuff from China who can't answer simple questions or a family owned business who answered how they handle people and toxic materials in their US and Canadian locations. Next came a great Larrivee dread and OM.

My sample is pretty limited, but I like my E10D more than the 4 or 5 Larrivees I played. I was impressed with the fit and finish and overall quality of the Larrivees, but the tone did not grab me. To be fair, my experience with them was pretty much in a single sitting and some of them clearly had old strings -- a different day and different conditions and I might have a different impression, even of the same instruments. Larrivee is clearly a great company that's worth supporting, but the handful of instruments I've played haven't pushed the right buttons for me. (One I did really like was a JCL Anniversary L model ... that one was really, really nice).

I voted Larrivee (and with my feet, too), but it's really a toss-up. I'm really enamored with my Larrivee, but Eastman offers a quality guitar at a very reasonable price. And the cool thing about Eastmans is that they have their very own tone.

I was blown away by the Eastman E20OM I played, but I fell in love with the Larrivee neck and balanced woody sound. Just suits me perfect. It may be the intangibles like that will help you choose between the two.

My next guitar will likely either be a Larrivee 00 or the new Eastman ET5-SS small-body. I too will have trouble deciding.

JD

You called a guitar company and asked what they do with toxic waste to base your decision on buying a guitar? Maybe greenpeace needs to start building instruments.

Tonewise, which IMO is the number one factor in making a guitar purchase, Eastman wins between the two for me.

Own both. Love both. Voiced very differently.

Larrivees tend to have clarity and a fundamental tone with sweet trebles, while the Eastmans tend to have more bass, volume, and harmonic content.

I'm going to have to Google "too woody" and get back with you.

That cracked me up ...:D

What makes the JCL so special, than other L series?? Is the bracing different?

I don't know, honestly. It's supposed to be a kind of reissue of the early Ls that Larrivee made, but I don't know any of the specifics about what's different. Maybe someone who knows more can chime in?

Wow, that blew my mind! While I respect this position, I would never think of contacting the company with these questions. I would buy the guitar based on sound and comfort. If I could not decide, perhaps I would add some more factors, like American or foreign made or resale value. But contacting the company with questions about toxic materials and employee's treatment... that sure is an extra step!
:D