I'm thinking of buying a 00-40M without getting to play it first and no return policy.
I played only one of these before and I really liked it but wondering if these guitars are fairly consistent as far as the sound they put out ?
Speaking from experience and playing the same models of other brands the sound output can vary a lot .

Personally, I would have no problem buying a Larrivee without playing it first. Their process and quality is superb. The 00-40M is a fantastic guitar. 

I would echo StringPicker6's comment about the quality of Larrivee's. Since 2004, I have ordered and purchased three new Larrivee acoustics without playing them first and the quality and craftsmanship has been off the charts for all three.

One question. Why is there a "no return" policy on this transaction?

Larrivees are remarkably consistent. I've owned maybe 9, all purchased online. No issues.
That said, I always urge common sense precautions when buying online. Use a payment method that provides recourse (credit card, PayPal) in case things aren't as promised. Never pay a stranger with friends and family, wire transfer, etc.

I've purchased 6 of 7 Larrivee instruments without playing them first and I've not been remotely disappointed in any of them!

As the others above have posted, no worries as the Larrivee quality control is excellent.

I've purchased 4 Larrivees online - including a 00-40 MH - and every one has been fine.

Hi, I have just posted mine for sell if you'd like to check it out.

Quote from: mrcolin2u on October 24, 2025, 01:16:15 PMI'm thinking of buying a 00-40M without getting to play it first and no return policy.
I played only one of these before and I really liked it but wondering if these guitars are fairly consistent as far as the sound they put out ?
Speaking from experience and playing the same models of other brands the sound output can vary a lot .

I dunno how acute your hearing is, or what it was about the tone of the OO you played that hit home with you, but generally from the factory side I would guess that there is quite a lot of consistency to all the wood components and their assembly. I've found very little variation in the necks and how well they're set up. The soundboards are always great with very little runout and nice grain.

Having several OO's pass thru my hands, they all had the midrange tone I liked that I expected. If it's that extra bass and midrange that a small body 12 fret offers is what you're expecting then I doubt you'll be disappointed.

FWIW, without playing it I've acquired a 00V-03 from another forum member and recently a 000-40MT from GC from out of state. I was always pleasantly pleased and never regretted either purchase. It's a testiment to the choice of materials, uniform workmanship and QC that is inherent to the Larrivee brand. Just make sure you trust the store/seller, they have a return policy, get plenty of pictures, a detailed hands on description and hearing it actually played.

Quote from: Koamon on October 27, 2025, 03:06:38 PMFWIW, without playing it I've acquired a 00V-03 from another forum member

Sorry if this is nosey, but I'd love to see pics and hear details about the OOV-03. I have a particular weakness for that model. I assume it was part of a custom order that a retailer "name escapes me at the moment" did about 3 of a while back.

I'm picking up a brand new 00-40 tomorrow at the Larrivee factory, it's a custom order that someone backed out of.  :nana_guitar

Hey Jpmist, I owned the 00V-03 close to ten years ago. I believe they were a limited special order by LA Guitars. Very few were issued. It was a great couch guitar. Very  balanced and articulated well for fingerstyle playing but it compressed do to its body size when driven. Unfortunately when I retired I traded it for a Composite Acoustic Cargo guitar as I was traveling out West with my camper trailer and needed a robust guitar when I camped. I had posted pics in a post a while ago. Here is the link:

http://www.larriveeforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=48451.msg426803#msg426803

You'll have to pull download to view the first jpeg the rest of them aren't recoverable. When you do you'll see that I hand polished the satin finish to a semi gloss one.

Quote from: mrcolin2u on October 28, 2025, 08:36:11 PMI'm picking up a brand new 00-40 tomorrow at the Larrivee factory, it's a custom order that someone backed out of.  :nana_guitar

Congrats! Let us know your thoughts on it!

Quote from: StringPicker6 on October 28, 2025, 09:04:48 PMCongrats! Let us know your thoughts on it!

Yes please! Pics!

Quote from: Koamon on October 28, 2025, 09:01:58 PMHey Jpmist, I owned the 00V-03 close to ten years ago. I believe they were a limited special order by LA Guitars. Very few were issued. It was a great couch guitar. Very  balanced and articulated well for fingerstyle playing but it compressed do to its body size when driven.

Thanks! I'm guessing mine wasn't one of the 3 in your order. Pic shows a slightly different cutaway curve. Interestingly your post had a member who worked at the factory with JCL on these. He mentioned the issue was how close the cutaway curve could get to the rosette.

Apologies to OP for highjacking thread, consensus seems to be go buy the dang thing, you won't be disappointed. Keep us posted!


(https://i.postimg.cc/g2kkzrQB/Kaomon-mine.jpg)

I also notice that bridges are different as well. BTW I like your tuners! Gotoh 510s?

I like that rounded pickguard, looks very classy! Without a pickguard also looks great!

I regret selling mine. But after looking for something different from my C10 and DV10 I settled on an my all Mahogany 000-40MT. The 12 fret configuration with the larger sound hole gives it a really big sound. As an aside I put D'Addario nickel bronze lights on it and find with the mahogany top, I really like the pronounced string separation. 

FYI, on my former 00V-03 after I hand polished it, an added OM pickguard to dress it up.

Quote from: Koamon on October 29, 2025, 05:47:04 PMI also notice that bridges are different as well. BTW I like your tuners! Gotoh 510s?

Good eye! This was an eBay buy where the seller replaced the tuners with these nice gold Gotohs with it's ivory keys. This might have been the buy that got me to replace tuners on some other OO's with Gotoh 510s. Best money I've ever spent. I felt like the gold was a tad too rich for an all satin guitar so I replaced them with chrome Gotoh 510s with those butterbean keys I'm really fond of.

I have this guitar in an all mahogany build and I love it. I can't speak to the consistency though I can say three larrivees in without trying them and they've all been stellar, save the neglect one suffered at the hands of its previous owner.

I played a used Larrivee briefly at a music store earlier this year. I can't remember the model, but it had the dolphin headstock. But it sold before I could make an offer. But that brief experience plus all the reviews, videos, discussions, etc., led me to buy a D-03 all mahogany online.

A couple months later I went to a local Larrivee dealer who stocks a variety of Larrivees where I could compare the Recording 03 series and the Legacy 40 series models. That tryout nudged me toward the Legacy 40 series because it was lighter. Bottom line, the D-03 guitar sold me on Larrivee acoustics. In the final analysis, I would have been happy with 03's or 40's. Those are the Larrivee models upon which most of the other models are based.

The D-03 also showed me that a large dread was too big for me, having a bad right shoulder. So, it's on consignment now, but I still have a 000-40 and a 00-40 due to arrive on Friday. But that 03, man, that's a one-of-a-kind guitar. I hate that it's too big for me to play comfortably.

I've had my 00-40MH for a few weeks now and it is definitely a keeper.
It's impressive how I can feel the vibrations in my chest coming from such a small body guitar. The tone is very much different from my other guitars and I love it !
I found this model by accident, they had a used one in GC but I ended up getting one direct from the factory , a custom model that someone backed out of .
Very pleased with the purchase, it's so comfortable to play, not only finger style but handles strumming very well also !
The workmanship and playability couldn't be better!

I'm glad to see that you took the safe course of action and found this custom 00-40 at the factory rather than buying one with a no return policy as you mentioned in your initial post last month. Just out of curiosity, what features does this guitar have to make it a custom?

For a long time, I thought that Larrivee's L body (I have two of them) and Parlor (I also have one of those) were their two best body sizes. The all mahogany 00-24 I got in October 2024 now adds a third favorite body size to the mix.

Quote from: teh on November 25, 2025, 04:21:12 AMI'm glad to see that you took the safe course of action and found this custom 00-40 at the factory rather than buying one with a no return policy as you mentioned in your initial post last month. Just out of curiosity, what features does this guitar have to make it a custom?

For a long time, I thought that Larrivee's L body (I have two of them) and Parlor (I also have one of those) were their two best body sizes. The all mahogany 00-24 I got in October 2024 now adds a third favorite body size to the mix.

As far as I can see it has rosewood binding on the body instead of maple and has an electronics package which includes a built in tuner .

Sounds like a great find! There is a possibility that the binding is Hawaiian koa, not rosewood, but whatever it is, I'm sure it looks amazing!

Quote from: StringPicker6 on November 25, 2025, 10:13:09 AMSounds like a great find! There is a possibility that the binding is Hawaiian koa, not rosewood, but whatever it is, I'm sure it looks amazing!

They told me it was rosewood binding on the customer order list . Either way it looks superb ! I'm very stoked with this purchase 😀

Best part of the 00 size is that it's still able to be strummed pretty hard and still sound great, despite it's size.

Quote from: StringPicker6 on November 25, 2025, 12:46:42 PMBest part of the 00 size is that it's still able to be strummed pretty hard and still sound great, despite it's size.

It's an amazing guitar, beautiful big tone and so comfortable to play 👍

Quote from: mrcolin2u on November 26, 2025, 07:21:57 PMIt's an amazing guitar, beautiful big tone and so comfortable to play 👍

Congrats on your guitar!

Man, I'm really impressed by all the 00 and parlor owners on the forum. Great to see. The game is really changing with players realizing a well-built, smaller guitar can still deliver the goods. And this thread sure isn't helping my yearning for a Larrivee 00!

As for Larrivee consistency, it's been pretty great, IME. I'm lucky enough to live near a dealer who is a huge fan of the brand, so I've played a lot of them over the years. I've also ordered four online, not knowing exactly what I was getting, but every one of those guitars delivered. Getting a poor, or even average, Larrivee at this point would be the thing that surprises me. The only other brands I can bank on when shopping online are the boutique makers (the odds are stacked in my favor). I think that's a real feather in the cap of Larrivee.

I recently saw or read an interview with Tommy Emmanuel. He said that Jean Larrivee told him that building a guitar is just science. Well, I think they have perfected that science so well that every guitar that goes out to stores has zero issues.

I have an OM-60 as well as an OM-40 and just love them both.  I can't say which I like better, but will say that it is surprising how balanced and full sounding that the OM40 is.  Such a comfortable guitar.  I use the OM60 for performance, but reserve the OM-40 just for me at home.  Not that the OM=40 wouldn't cut it for live performance.  Just me, being a little quirky.

Quote from: BlueBowman on December 01, 2025, 09:33:21 PMCongrats on your guitar!

Man, I'm really impressed by all the 00 and parlor owners on the forum. Great to see. The game is really changing with players realizing a well-built, smaller guitar can still deliver the goods. And this thread sure isn't helping my yearning for a Larrivee 00!

As for Larrivee consistency, it's been pretty great, IME. I'm lucky enough to live near a dealer who is a huge fan of the brand, so I've played a lot of them over the years. I've also ordered four online, not knowing exactly what I was getting, but every one of those guitars delivered. Getting a poor, or even average, Larrivee at this point would be the thing that surprises me. The only other brands I can bank on when shopping online are the boutique makers (the odds are stacked in my favor). I think that's a real feather in the cap of Larrivee.

I usually prefer dreads and I still do for certain styles but this 00 size Larrivee is fast becoming my favorite guitar. You can it soft or loud and it delivers and such a wonderful tone !!!

Quote from: mrcolin2u on January 02, 2026, 10:20:14 PMI usually prefer dreads and I still do for certain styles but this 00 size Larrivee is fast becoming my favorite guitar. You can it soft or loud and it delivers and such a wonderful tone !!!

For sure. The responsiveness is different. Immediate and present. 00-size guitars often have thinner tops compared to dreads, too, and it's a big advantage in my eyes. Enjoy it  :thumb

That 00 size is great for strumming because it doesn't break up if you play hard. My P-03 does not like heavy strumming as much.