player opinions
Larrivée L-03
Name: Rick Rollo
Band: Church Folk Choir
Model Year: 2006
Price Paid: $960 CDN
Performance
I bought my Larrivée L-03 in 2006 for $960 CDN from Long & McQuade Musical Instruments in Canada. Actually, I traded in a beloved Seagull S6+ Cedar steel string and a La Patrie Etude nylon string, plus a little cash. The L-03 was made in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. By the way, my previous steel string acoustics were all dreadnoughts. The L-series Larrivée has the same sized upper and lower bouts as does the D-series (i.e., dreadnoughts) but it has a more narrow waste. I think the L-series style is both more aesthetically pleasing and is more comfortable to play. And there is no trade-off in volume. The L-body tone is more balanced, with a less over-powering bass and a cleaner mid-range. I've been playing acoustic guitar since 1997. Basically, I like to play folk and blues, but I also play a good deal of soft-rock. I don't think any guitar can do it all, but my L-03 is certainly very versatile. The nut width is 1 3/4" (44.3 mm) and it has a “long” scale of 25.5". Both of these feature make the L-03 a favourite of fingerstyle players, but I’m a strummer and this guitar handles my style very well. This Larrivée guitar is about quality and craftsmanship, fine grade tone woods and construction techniques, great tone and versatile playability. This is a high-end guitar that will impress buyers and players, when compared to similar models made by Martin, Gibson and Taylor, and it cost many dollars less. A truly great guitar at a truly attractive price.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
My L-03 produces a booming, but warm, tone right through the whole range from low E to high E strings. The resonance and sustain of each string is truly remarkable. The balanced sound is clean and discernible when played quietly practicing at home, but the sound can be thunderous and clear when you have the opportunity to really let loose. The original Larrivée setup was for light gauge strings and was perfect right out of the box. There is no fret buzz anywhere on the neck. The tone of my Larrivée was bright, loud and full from the minute I bought it. I have played it (at least for a few minutes, but usually longer) nearly every day since I got it and the sound just keeps getting better. As it ages (i.e., the wood opens up), the sound will be just awesome.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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My Larrivée L-03 is all solid wood construction. It has a Canadian Sitka spruce soundboard with a long, tight, straight grain pattern (excellent soundboard). It has an Ebony fretboard and bridge. It has South American Mahogany back (not sapele) sides and neck and Canadian flamed Maple body binding front and back, which is a really nice, attractive touch. The saddle and nut are Tusq and the pickguard is bevelled Tortis. It has Ivroid fretboard binding and Ping tuners (18:1 ratio). The L-03 has symmetrical X-bracing and a solid dovetail neck joint. I love the satin lacquer finish on both the body and neck. My model has NO on-board electronics, but a variety of pickup/mic systems are available before and/or after purchase. It came with Cleartone light gauge strings, but I replaced them. I use Elixir Polyweb (or Nanoweb) light or custom light (i.e., light gauge E-A-D, extra-light gauge G-B-E) strings on it.
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Construction Rating: 10
Name: Max Ferry
Model Year: 2004
Price Paid: $800 USD
Performance
This guitar is a solid player with a fairly substantial neck reminiscent of an early Martin. The intonation and action were perfect right out of the box, with well-dressed frets nicely rounded at the bindings. The guitar is rated to handle medium gauge strings, which it does nicely — a real boon to players who use open tunings or play a lot of open-position bluegrass, however I found it unnecessary to string with mediums, as the sound with standard light gauge strings is loud, full and balanced through the full range of the neck. The ebony fret-board is absolutely a joy to play, feels very solid and silky and generates no drag on the fingers at all.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
Loud, punchy, full harmonics, can be played really hard without generating undue compression or fret-out, it just gets louder. This guitar sounds better to me than many Martins I’ve played that cost at least twice as much. Very balanced tone.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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Hand made and assembled guitar, very solid with few complaints as to joinery. The nut doesn’t quite align with the binding and the slot, but playability and sound are unaffected. Solid Canadian spruce top with absolutely top-shelf grain and beautiful cross-silking, equal to or better than guitars costing many times as much; solid book matched South American Mahogany (NOT Sapele); beautifully executed maple binding on front and back of body, ebony fretboard with tusq binding and ebony bridge. Small criticism in regard to the following: some players who are used to being able to see position markers might have some trouble getting used to the “micro-dot” markers on the fretboard, and the plastic bridge pins are not up to the overall quality of this guitar and should be upgraded to ebony, brass or bone, etc., upon purchase. I also have trouble with satin finishes making handling noise in sensitive condenser mics, and feel that this finish should be rubbed out to at least a medium gloss if the axe is to be used in the studio. These are minor criticisms, and are for the most part easily remedied. This guitar is very possibly the best value in a high-quality serious players’s instrument.
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Construction Rating: 8
links
Average Ratings
- Performance: 10
- Sound Quality: 10
- Construction: 9
Ratings Key
- 10: Excellent
- 0: Useless
Company
- Larrivée