New Larrivée 12 string day!

[JSett]

West of vintage Vox and of Germany...that only really leaves France, Spain, Portugal, a tiny piece of Belgium and the UK (discounting northern African countries). After that it's the pond then Freedomsville USA.

Gordon Smith?

[sal paradise]

He’s already said it’s Canada… so Godin or maybe Larrivee…?

[Larry Mal]

West of vintage Vox and of Germany...that only really leaves France, Spain, Portugal, a tiny piece of Belgium and the UK (discounting northern African countries). After that it's the pond then Freedomsville USA.

Gordon Smith?

Well, in this scenario, I'm also west of Germany.

Am I wrong about where vintage Vox was made? I thought they were from the UK.

[Larry Mal]

He’s already said it’s Canada… so Godin or maybe Larrivee…?

Well, it's not a Godin...

So, yes, it's a Larrivee, and made in Vancouver at this point (1999).

So we will call you the winner!

[Larry Mal]

It's a barebones, entry level D-02 12 string from 1999:

[BoringPostcards]

Great score, Larry. Larriveé makes great guitars, and we all know the Canadian made ones were better.

[Embenny]

Dang it, I just saw this thread, and before I hit the second page, I was definitely thinking Larrivée.

It's also April 1st though, so for a second I was thinking it was going to be somewhat kind of Fender with Gibson pats on it. You know, the real creative type with those tuneomatics that wiggle on their posts and have nice sharp knife-edge saddles.

[Larry Mal]

So, anyway, I bought the thing for $750, so not a lot of money. I wanted a couple things out of it, namely, to try Larrivee again and to try a different 12 string body shape.

I've had a Taylor 12 string for years (and before that I had a Seagull), but the Taylor is an OM type guitar, and it's very, very treble heavy. It plays like a dream but I've always found it a little harsh and metallic.

Although I have to say this Larrivee also plays like a dream, so maybe my Taylor isn't really all that exceptional. I need some setup work on the Larrivee, a truss rod adjustment or a fret level, I don't know yet. But even as it is, it plays great.

How to adjust the truss rod, don't quite know. Funnily enough, there is an Allen wrench and a nice set of instructions (and what I think are some bone saddle shims) in the guitar case.

The instructions are very thorough and show you how to remove the truss rod cover and use the Allen wrench, however, it's all moot since there is no truss rod cover and I can only surmise that this is a heel adjust truss rod, like what you see with some Martins. I guess someone in the Larrivee factory just threw the usual kit in there.

I still have a Martin truss rod wrench, but have no idea if it will work here.

Now, I just got it, but I've had a lot of guitars at this point so I'm going to talk about what I'm thinking so far.

This is very much an entry level Larrivee, and from what I am reading they don't always do the -02 series because they don't want to handicap the entry level stuff but by making them at the usual Larrivee standards the entry level stuff is just too good a competitor to the higher end guitars.

Is that true? Don't know. But it's very plausible, because this guitar is fantastic.

Firstly, it's beautiful, the woods look fantastic. The satin finish is great, the neck is wonderful, the action is super playable. If this is entry level...

I won't go into the sound too much, just got it, but my hope was that it would be a good recording guitar and I feel it will be. There's more bass than with my OM Taylor (duh) but it's not booming or overpowering, I feel I can emphasize it when I want it and it will recede when I don't.

You always hope when you buy an inexpensive guitar that it be so good that it makes the idea of buying a more expensive version of it seem kind of moot, I feel like I might have done that here.

Anyway, I'm thinking I might have to look more closely into the Larrivee thing.

[Larry Mal]

Dang it, I just saw this thread, and before I hit the second page, I was definitely thinking Larrivée.

This is my second of theirs, I had a very nice 00 type guitar from the -40 series, which is designed to be more "traditional" by which I think they mean more "Martin". However, it was great, with maple binding on there and just a wonderful guitar. But, it was not a Gibson, and at the time I was all "Gibson, Gibson, Gibson" so it went back.

I've regretted it ever since, and tried to buy the same guitar at the same price, but unbeknownst to me I also got a tremendous deal on what was a NOS model.

[JSett]

West of vintage Vox and of Germany...that only really leaves France, Spain, Portugal, a tiny piece of Belgium and the UK (discounting northern African countries). After that it's the pond then Freedomsville USA.

Gordon Smith?

Well, in this scenario, I'm also west of Germany.

Am I wrong about where vintage Vox was made? I thought they were from the UK.

Ahh, I was think of the Italian Vox

I see it has been revealed. I actually was going to go down the acoustic route but assumed you had enough of those GaryPtaszek bought a nice Larrivée last year. I tried a few out but didn't like the necks (and they seemed too 'fancy' for me and my hamfisted playing).

[Fiddy]

Curious about these. I'd like to try a 6 string, I'll check and see if there's a local dealer.. Nice score.

[Larry Mal]

Curious about these. I'd like to try a 6 string, I'll check and see if there's a local dealer.. Nice score.

This model or Larrivees in general?

[Fiddy]

^This entry level preferable... But would like to play a few .

[Maggieo]

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CANADA!!!!

Nice score, Larry! Can't wait to hear what you do with it.

I'm a Godin fan, too. The Radiator is a funky little fiddle.


Tasha And Guitars, June 18, 2015 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

[Larry Mal]

^This entry level preferable... But would like to play a few .

The next step up is the -03 series, and there seem to be some good deals out there. The -03 series seems to be made constantly but the -02 only from time to time. So keep an eye out for both, at some points the -03 is entry leve.

I got a dreadnaught here, but Larrivée has their own "L" series, which looks kind of like an OM guitar but a little different, and I heard some really good videos about those when I was looking at these.