Dying to hear a Larrivee Silver Oak in Southern California

[AcousticDreams]

I am absolutely Dying to hear a Larrivee Silver Oak..L or D in Person-live Southern California. Wondering if anybody has one that I could come over and give a quick tingle-jingle on.
I think this could be my next guitar..but hate to order before playing one to see if it suits my style of playing.
The Factory is only an hour away..but they may not make one for a couple of months..

[HAMFIST]

Can't help you immediately, but can tell you they do have a distinctive sound.
i played one a number of times at a local shop before it was bought out from under me. They are extremely robust but yet bright. Fantastic!

[fregly]

If you like a Mahogany type sound you'll likely love it. I had an Larrivee L with SO and thought it fantastic sounding.

[roylor4]

Unless you have spent some time playing Larrivee L's I would strongly advise that you do so before purchasing. They ARE NOT somewhere between a Martin and a Taylor in tone - they have their own unique voice. They are not for everybody. And yes, I used to own an L-03W.

Mine was good at some things and not so good at others. They are high quality and record extremely well though. They have a fairly flat fretboard and thin necks - the neck profile didn't agree with my hand.

Like I said - you should try before you buy.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Unless you have spent some time playing Larrivee L's I would strongly advise that you do so before purchasing. They ARE NOT somewhere between a Martin and a Taylor in tone - they have their own unique voice. They are not for everybody. And yes, I used to own an L-03W.

Mine was good at some things and not so good at others. They are high quality and record extremely well though. They have a fairly flat fretboard and thin necks - the neck profile didn't agree with my hand.

Like I said - you should try before you buy.

Could you be more specific? Why exactly might someone pull an L from the case, give it a few strums and then wail, 'I don't like it!'

[moctzal]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Could you be more specific? Why exactly might someone pull an L from the case, give it a few strums and then wail, 'I don't like it!'

I find Larrivees to be a bit mid-rangey/honkey. Play one back to back with a dobro in a shop if you ever have a chance.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by moctzal

I find Larrivees to be a bit mid-rangey/honkey.

I realize that sound is difficult nail in words, but that description doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Do you mean that the bass and treble responses are lacking in some way?

[HAMFIST]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I realize that sound is difficult nail in words, but that description doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Do you mean that the bass and treble responses are lacking in some way?

To pipe in, Larrivees are more heavily built than some other guitars. They are very even ... so they record well. There tends to not be a preponderance of bass nor treble. But in a mix, that is kind of what you want. The attack profile seems to be rather gentle, which can also be desirable.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by HAMFIST

The attack profile seems to be rather gentle, which can also be desirable.

Does that mean they're not very loud?

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Could you be more specific? Why exactly might someone pull an L from the case, give it a few strums and then wail, 'I don't like it!'

Please take these opinions as such - they reflect how MY Larrivee sounded to me

1) Heavily built with a neck profile that didn't agree with my hand
2) Not very responsive - played with hard attack didn't yield much more volume than a medium one. Very TAME sounding.
3) Not very loud (my Eastman OM is far smaller and has just as much volume)
4) Uncomfortable - I purchased because Dreads didn't work for me. The L was JUST AS UNCOMFORTABLE - for me. Even though it has a tighter waist and sits lower on the leg, the L body is actually longer than a GA - this pushed the lower bout further to the right and was uncomfortable for my strumming arm. Dug in pretty good.
5) Poor customer service. E-mailed them twice about an issue and never received a response of ANY kind.

#2 was the biggest deal-breaker for me. I play a lot of bluegrassy stuff and the guitar just wouldn't give me the volume I wanted when it was pushed.

Any other questions?

[HAMFIST]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Does that mean they're not very loud?

Yeah, kind of. But they are not boomy nor do they tend to have a that ice pick to the forehead treble. And they are pretty structurally robust, so they don't ring out as much as the Breedloves I am playing these days. I had a Larrivee L and an OM and got buried in larger jam settings. My Breedlove American concert size punches through just fine. But that American has been criticized by some reviewers for being treble-heavy, which helps it cut so well. So I am not sure if what is required is volume as much as a single element of the tonal spectrum that blows through an acoustic mix. For recording, Larries are highly regarded just because the frequency response is so even. They may require less compression and EQ.

All of these statements have to be qualified. Quantifying this stuff is difficult without recording something and analyzing the signal. I have owned two Larries though, and will probably own one again before too long. Just got bowled over by a couple fine Breedloves over the last couple years and traded both Larries away.

But my Breedloves have bolt-in necks and plastic binding while every Larrivee has a dovetail neck joint and solid wood binding. So Larrivee presents a remarkable value proposition that is unique to their price range.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by HAMFIST

To pipe in, Larrivees are more heavily built than some other guitars. They are very even ... so they record well. There tends to not be a preponderance of bass nor treble. But in a mix, that is kind of what you want. The attack profile seems to be rather gentle, which can also be desirable.

I totally agree with this. ^^^^

I DID NOT find my L to mid-heavy or nasally in any way.

Nice enough guitar but not for me.

[ewalling]

My curiosity was sparked by roylor's negative comment, particularly since I'm toying with owning another Larrivee. I love the feel and the 'vibe' of Larrivees, and one model, an L05, I thought the best guitar I'd ever played back in 2007. An L03R I briefly owned was a bit disappointing - it lacked the sparkle on the trebles that the L05 had.

[HAMFIST]

Originally Posted by ewalling

My curiosity was sparked by roylor's negative comment, particularly since I'm toying with owning another Larrivee. I love the feel and the 'vibe' of Larrivees, and one model, an L05, I thought the best guitar I'd ever played back in 2007. An L03R I briefly owned was a bit disappointing - it lacked the sparkle on the trebles that the L05 had.

People say that Larrivee uses tone woods that are just as good on the 03 series as the more high-phalutin' models. I sometimes doubt that is the case as some of the higher end models DO sound better to me. Not enough of a geek to be able to define that further, however.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by HAMFIST

People say that Larrivee uses tone woods that are just as good on the 03 series as the more high-phalutin' models. I sometimes doubt that is the case as some of the higher end models DO sound better to me. Not enough of a geek to be able to define that further, however.

Yes, a rosewood L09 I once played in Sam Ash sounded really gorgeous - deep and resonant. It far surpassed the L03R I owned, which led me to wonder if the 5-and-above models weren't a cut above the 3s.