I am soon to be the proud owner of my second F33. Not entirely sure I'll keep them both but you never know. They are quite rare these days. This one popped up on eBay at a reasonable (IMHO) auction price, and I was the only bidder. It comes from Anchorage and is described as "mint condition", and the pictures appear to agree. This one has a beautiful little flower inlay on the headstock, and is about three months older than my first one. The flamed maple looks gorgeous in the photos.
Beauty!
Two More pics
Congrats, a review when it arrives and you get some time with it.
As far as the *other* one, you can send it to me, I wouldn't mind learning to play a mandolin. :thumb :roll :roll
The F33 showed up today, and the seller wasn't kidding when he described it as near mint. Excellent+++ condition, and it came with a strap and a pretty sweet velvet/felt case blanket. It has a noticeably brighter sound than it's sister, though I suspect it has lighter strings. Absolutely love it so far. The action is perfect as is, and the fit and finish is impeccable. The tailpiece even has a felt cushion between it and the strings. Also came with a nice removable armrest. It really doesn't look like it was played at all. Flamed maple is spectacular and the spruce top is choice stock. Seller said he bought it, and a Larrivee guitar, from someone who fell on hard times and was desperate for cash. He then decided to pass it along to someone who actually played mandolin.
I feel incredibly blessed by good fortune.
I am trying to contain my envy. Well done! Two of them though? :ohmy:
Quote from: ducktrapper on July 16, 2021, 04:48:56 PM
I am trying to contain my envy. Well done! Two of them though? :ohmy:
The "plan" is to choose one, sell the other. This "plan", however, may take a long time to come to fruition. Then again, our eldest son plays guitar and bass. We also have 5 grandchildren, some of whom are approaching a good starting age. Heaven help me if I see an oval hole Larrivee mandolin come up for sale. :whistling:
Quote from: Riverbend on July 16, 2021, 05:21:24 PM
The "plan" is to choose one, sell the other. This "plan", however, may take a long time to come to fruition. Then again, our eldest son plays guitar and bass. We also have 5 grandchildren, some of whom are approaching a good starting age. Heaven help me if I see an oval hole Larrivee mandolin come up for sale. :whistling:
Indeed. I'll have to content myself with my Kentucky KM-900. :cheers
Quote from: ducktrapper on July 16, 2021, 05:27:33 PM
Indeed. I'll have to content myself with my Kentucky KM-900. :cheers
The KM-900 is a very nice mandolin. :cheers
RB, nice find! I've ran across a few Larrivee mandolins over the years at guitar shows and I always like them. The condition of yours doesn't surprise me because I think most mandolins don't ever see much play-time. There are a lot of guitar players who own mandolins and occasionally play them, but dedicated mandolin players are a much smaller lot. When I started playing mandolin about 15 years ago I really wanted to become a full-time mandolin player. There were years where I didn't play much guitar and only mandolin. But these days I hardly play my mandolin. So much for plans! They are both so much fun. Play both your Larrivees in good health!
Quote from: Silence Dogood on July 17, 2021, 08:32:03 AM
RB, nice find! I've ran across a few Larrivee mandolins over the years at guitar shows and I always like them. The condition of yours doesn't surprise me because I think most mandolins don't ever see much play-time. There are a lot of guitar players who own mandolins and occasionally play them, but dedicated mandolin players are a much smaller lot. When I started playing mandolin about 15 years ago I really wanted to become a full-time mandolin player. There were years where I didn't play much guitar and only mandolin. But these days I hardly play my mandolin. So much for plans! They are both so much fun. Play both your Larrivees in good health!
Thank you!
Quote from: Riverbend on July 16, 2021, 06:46:05 PM
The KM-900 is a very nice mandolin. :cheers
Yeah, it is. Especially for a guitar player who only dabbles on the mando. Pretty too.
Quote from: ducktrapper on July 17, 2021, 01:24:16 PM
Yeah, it is. Especially for a guitar player who only dabbles on the mando. Pretty too.
We need a :nice guitar: but for mandolin! I've always been partial to the snakehead and paddlehead headstocks. Wasn't too fond of the scroll...until I got the Larrivee and it just looked right up there. That was one of the (many) digs that followed the F-33 from a few mando (snob) purists, is that they were quite critical of Jean's shaping. They tossed the word Loar around quite a bit in comparison. All I know is that I love my F-33's. I'm just an old guitar guy, as well, but spending more and more time on mandolin these days, together with a guitar/bass, guitar/dobro and guitar playing buds. Learning a lot, how to play and when to play. Whole different ballgame.
Quote from: Riverbend on July 17, 2021, 01:43:32 PM
We need a :nice guitar: but for mandolin! I've always been partial to the snakehead and paddlehead headstocks. Wasn't too fond of the scroll...until I got the Larrivee and it just looked right up there. That was one of the (many) digs that followed the F-33 from a few mando (snob) purists, is that they were quite critical of Jean's shaping. They tossed the word Loar around quite a bit in comparison. All I know is that I love my F-33's. I'm just an old guitar guy, as well, but spending more and more time on mandolin these days, together with a guitar/bass, guitar/dobro and guitar playing buds. Learning a lot, how to play and when to play. Whole different ballgame.
Mando snobs won't give Kentucky's the time of day and don't you know bluegrass requires your mandolin to have a scroll and it has to be the traditional scroll. Jean, apparently, got it all wrong. It merely sounds great and plays fine. :ohmy:
After spending significant time with my newest F-33 I'm not only thoroughly in love with it, I'm convinced that it has barely been played. There are no cosmetic issues at all, no signs of wear, the tuners are still squeaky tight and the case shows virtually no wear. There are some very, very minor and tiny scuffs on the over-the-edge part of the gold plated tail piece around the strap button, but other than that, it is as new. The frets look like brand new. It was somebody's case queen, and I thank them for having taken such good care of her. Serial number dates to August 1, 2008, and I'm pretty sure it's seen more playing time in the past few days than in all of the previous 13 years put together. I know there were valid reasons that Jean stopped making these way back when, but I assure you, they are absolutely wonderful instruments.
Well...don't keep us in suspense...did you keep them both??? Lol
Quote from: Ian Rossiter on July 16, 2022, 12:56:03 PM
Well...don't keep us in suspense...did you keep them both??? Lol
In a moment of weakness, I sold the 1st one to a really cool knucklehead (endearing term, that is...) up in Edmonton. And can you believe that by some strange quirk of fate, or chance, or pure luck, he's sending me his A33? Life is sure an ongoing curiosity, eh?
real beauty congrats.
Love the A style mando.I need to get something much better the the Rogue I got as a gift.
Now to make trouble you should try some nickle strings on your mandos whole new world in tone more vintage and less bright.
Keep smilin and keep dancin. :nanadance