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Post by philw on May 12, 2014 7:13:07 GMT
so my research continues with a view to my next purchase in the future and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or has played Larrivee guitars? The OM-03 is the one I have heard online thus far which does sound nice but have read differing accounts that its a fingerpickers guitar and not for strumming really?
Also the Taylor 314ce also sounds pretty nice.
Any thoughts team
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,562
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on May 12, 2014 7:18:18 GMT
I have played and owned many Larrivee guitars, including several versions of the OM-03. They are excellent for strumming, fantastic guitars all around.
If I hadn't had my custom all-singing-all-dancing Martin magically arrive in my life, my main guitar would still be a Larrivee. I love them.
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Post by philw on May 12, 2014 7:25:09 GMT
I have played and owned many Larrivee guitars, including several versions of the OM-03. They are excellent for strumming, fantastic guitars all around. If I hadn't had my custom all-singing-all-dancing Martin magically arrive in my life, my main guitar would still be a Larrivee. I love them. I must admit lynn when I heard it (the om 03) I loved it although I haven't listened yet to other models. The taylor sounds nice too but is approx. 300-400 quid more and tbh I am not sure the sound is any better than the larivee? What kinda size is the om o3 model, is that quite small bodied in size? My current guitar (a Faith) is classed as a baby jumbo but really is no bigger than a dreadnought.
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on May 12, 2014 7:30:21 GMT
Great guitars - I had these two before going down the English hand made route with Brook. P-03 and a OM-50. The OM-50 in particular was superb guitar all round Phil
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on May 12, 2014 7:45:53 GMT
Had a very early Larrivee parlour (P-01) for some years and a LO-03 (sapele) for a short while. Both excellent in their own way. The L model was an especially good all-rounder and a unique sort of round-shouldered dread shape. Plenty of oomph for out and out strummage, responsive and sensitive enough for introspective fingerpicky moments. The only OM I've tried was ages ago in my local shop - an OM-01 (unbound) - another excellent guitar, not as much grunt as an L, obviously, but perfectly fine for strumming (which was the original purpose of OM design after all!)
Phil, why not save yourself quite a few quid and seek out the -02 series, which sound every bit as good as the -03. You'll find OMs and L models in both series.
Good luck in your search.
Keith
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Post by earwighoney on May 12, 2014 10:02:56 GMT
Me and Rob tried quite a few guitars a while back and one of the best guitars we played was a Larrivee OM-03W, which is a limited edition Walnut model, a rare guitar that sounded great for all types of music and very easy to play.
I agree with Keith, look for a 02 Series, which I think is near enough the same as the 03 series but with a few minor changes I think one of them is the 03 series has Mahogany back and sides, while the 02 series has Sapele back and sides. FWIW, I prefer Sapele.
Wunjo have the 02 series for less than £800.
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Post by slasher on May 12, 2014 12:25:00 GMT
A pal of mine has a Larrivee OM sized guitar. Not sure of the exact model. It is spruce/mahogany is comfortable to play and souds lovely. Definitely a maker I would consider in the £800-£1800 price range.
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,562
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on May 12, 2014 15:02:00 GMT
you can probably see in the pic above - the OM's aren't that small - same size as I remember as a Martin 000. The 02 series are well worth looking at, and they seem to go for around £500 second hand. My mom has an 0-50 that she has promised will one day be mine...
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Post by philw on May 13, 2014 5:00:43 GMT
thanks guys for the input I really love the sound of both the 03 and 05 models whilst looking at them online some come up as the o5 and some as the 050, are they the same guitars/models but just different retailers listing them differently or is there actually a difference between them?
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marty
Sore Fingers
Posts: 7
My main instrument is: Larrivee om-02
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Post by marty on May 14, 2014 22:06:14 GMT
Hi,
I bought an om-02 a couple of weeks ago. It took me a long time to decide between the L and the om. I liked the larger sound of the L but worried that the alternative tunings that I pretty much play all the time would cause the bottom end to a little less clear than the om.
In fact, for the first few days after I bought the om I was wondering if I'd made he wrong choice. But I have to say that I really like the tight bass of the om. I think it could do with being fractionally meatier but it's not a problem.
Even though the 02 series is the low end of the range, it's incredibly well made, has lovely details such as maple binding and the sapele, for me anyway, gives the whole guitar a fresh kind of look.
I had played one of the new d-40 legacy guitars which seemed slightly more substantial in build but to my hands and ears was less lively.
Hope this helps.
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Post by ocarolan on May 14, 2014 22:12:28 GMT
Hi marty, and to the Forum. Great first post. Why not say Hi to everyone in the Introductions section and maybe tell us a little about yourself? Keith
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Post by philw on May 15, 2014 4:52:33 GMT
Hi, I bought an om-02 a couple of weeks ago. It took me a long time to decide between the L and the om. I liked the larger sound of the L but worried that the alternative tunings that I pretty much play all the time would cause the bottom end to a little less clear than the om. In fact, for the first few days after I bought the om I was wondering if I'd made he wrong choice. But I have to say that I really like the tight bass of the om. I think it could do with being fractionally meatier but it's not a problem. Even though the 02 series is the low end of the range, it's incredibly well made, has lovely details such as maple binding and the sapele, for me anyway, gives the whole guitar a fresh kind of look. I had played one of the new d-40 legacy guitars which seemed slightly more substantial in build but to my hands and ears was less lively. Hope this helps. Hi marty - thanks for the info. My only experience is listening to them on the likes of youtube and the sound of both the om-02 and om-05 models really appealed to me and I class myself as a beginner player as I am still pretty new to playing compared to everyone on here. My current guitar is a Faith FKN Neptune, which is a pretty nice guitar - the the next acoustic I buy I would envisage being with my for a looooong time so want to make sure its a suitable 'upgrade' from my current one - and originally was thinking of a Martin, but the Larrivee's I think have stolen it for me
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marty
Sore Fingers
Posts: 7
My main instrument is: Larrivee om-02
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Post by marty on May 17, 2014 23:46:45 GMT
Well I've also looked at various clips of guitars but quickly realised it wasn't going to get me anywhere. There're too many variables in these clips to be able to get a "true" sound of the guitar.
You come across the advice all the time that you have to play the guitar to find out for yourself which I think is pretty valid. I also don't doubt that many have bought blind and had great results.
I had an interesting example of how a guitar sounds when I was selling a Gretsch electric to fund the Larrivee. Now I bought this Gretsch back in the late 80s and used it for a couple of years but could never quite get the sound that I was looking for. When I put it up for sale I had one potential customer come round and when he played it, it sounded terrible and I was quite shocked at how rough and raw the sound was as it was never quite like that all the times I played it. A few days later another guy came round and he made it sing. So me and the two buyers had all got different sounds and feelings from the same guitar and if you'd seen video clips of this you'd be left wondering how 1 guitar could sound so different.
So like philw I wanted a guitar as a keeper. I'm not big into buying loads of acoustics, I'm comfortable with just one. So I had envisaged trying various brands. I've played a few Freshmans and the necks have always been excellent but I wanted something different. The Stonebridge/Furch guitars are really excellent actually and worth a look. It wa sver important that I tried them out and I'm glad I did. Ultimately though, they didn't quite suit my occasional strumming – sounded a bit broken-up. I also tried Taylor and Martin cos you have to really. I was very interested in trying out a Guild F30 but I didn't quite get to that as the Larrivees had got a grip on me by then.
I know it's their lowest level range but that's fine. I also know that if I'd bought the Guild at twice the price of the om, I'd be very delicate with it and I'd end up being scared stiff of damaging it or something. With the om-02, I'm still careful obviously but it's less of an issue.
I've been playing for around 30 years, more so on electric, but if you can try a Larrivee out and the neck works for you and it also feels and sounds alive then it's a winner.
Sorry for the long post but hope some of it's been useful.
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,562
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on May 18, 2014 6:30:51 GMT
The 02 03 series of Larrivees are built with the same specs as the higher series guitars, with the exception of the new bluegrass series and possibly the 50 and 60 line. The only difference is cosmetics. An OM-03 will sound the same as an OM-05. Jean picks out all the wood personally and the company takes a lot of pride in putting out excellent "affordable" guitars. That's why the 02/03 series are such bargains. Larrivee have recently closed their factory in B.C. and moved the entire operation to Oxnard, Calif. (Oxnard is as lovely as it sounds... we used to call it the 'armpit of So. Calif') I was able to go to the original Larrivee store in Victoria B.C. when it was a one man show and Jean was working behind the counter. He was very nice and encouraged me to try them all. I was 17 and had only recently started playing, so looking was enough for me.
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Post by philw on May 18, 2014 6:51:14 GMT
perfect thanks people
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