Serious GAS. You have been warned!!

[dannyOsbourne]

psst... I was at the Vancouver factory today and i stumbled upon these babies.....





silver oak back and sides.... ssshhhh... it has not been officially launched yet

by the way, it sounds divine

[tuffythepug]

Uh Oh

[fumble fingers]

STOP. STOP. I can't take this anymore When will it end?

[prof_stack]

And they let you live after seeing that?   After taking pictures? 

[dannyOsbourne]

And they let you live after seeing that?   After taking pictures? 

at least they didn't take down my information... lol

[bluesman67]

Gulp!  That is going to be a hard one say no to.

[Steve]

Oh boy, I may need to have one of those if the price is right.

When someone hears more about these please shoot me a price. 


I hope Larrivee doesn't get upset that these pictures were posted? 

[G Man]

I want that guys job for a day.  Be the first to string up brand new guitars all day and here that first strum.  Of course, I'd only want it for a day, as I would imagine it could ultimately be its own kind of hell.

On a separate note, has anyone actually played an oak guitar?  I have no idea of what type of a sound oak has as a tonewood.

[Playme]

Oak is a very very hard wood.  Is that black plastic binding or ebony.   And maybe it will sound like a blackwood on GGH(guitar growth hormones)

[dannyOsbourne]

Oak is a very very hard wood.  Is that black plastic binding or ebony.   And maybe it will sound like a blackwood on GGH(guitar growth hormones)

it's rosewood actually... sorry I forgot to mention

[dermot]

here's one take on Oak;

Oak. Oak is coarse and its large pores are hard to fill, but its availability in home improvement stores makes it widely available. Quartered oak is common at lumberyards. The only thing wrong with oak instruments is that they look so much like furniture. Quartered stock displays an irregular pattern of medullary rays that add interest to the ring lines, though filling the pores with dark material draws the eye away from the rays. Oak loves to bend and is seldom cantankerous in this regard. the hardness of the wood varies across the same board, so machine sanding alone will leave the surface wavy. The trick is to machine sand and then block sand with each grit. White oak seems to have a slightly finer texture than red oak, otherwise, I don't distinguish between the two. This wood is so far outside of musicians' expectations that oak instruments always take them by surprise, especially if they hear them before seeing them. In areas where oak is commonly burned for heat, it may be held in low regard for any other use. Be brave, though. Oak is fun to work with.

from The Heretic's Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods, by John Calkin....read more here;
http://www.guitarnation.com/articles/calkin.htm

d.

[ducktrapper]

All I know is that if Larrivee is using oak, it's the best oak.     

[Johnny M]

Never played an oak guitar before ... definitely would want to play one before buying.  It's good to see Larrivee branching out (so to speak) and using tonewoods that wouldn't have been consider not too long ago. 

John

[dermot]

some more on Silver Oak.. it ain't wot it seems to be - from UMGF's wood experts;

Silver oak or silky oak is a common name for Grevillea robusta, an Australian species that has nothing to do with true oak. Perfectly quartersawn it is one of the lacewoods. There's a tread about lacewood in the following link. Last week I added some pictures there BTW:

p082.ezboard.com/ftheunof...=327.topic


BTW, Grevillea robusta, is also a popular shade tree in tea plantations (EIR is used for this purpose, too). Perhaps Jean saw the wood while on one of his recent wood hunts in India, and decided to give it a try on his guitars. Just a guess.


Henk

UMGF thread where i asked about this wood is here;
http://p082.ezboard.com/ftheunofficialmartinguitarforumfrm155.showMessage?topicID=453.topic


and more from Allied Luithire;

SILVER OAK (Grevillea robusta)

      
Variously known as Silver oak, Silk oak, and Lacewood, this beautiful wood is a native of Australia, but is now found throughout tropical and subtropical climates. Similar in density to Bigleaf maple, but easier to work, we've heard good things about this as a guitar wood. While we've sold several hundred sets of this wood, we've yet to see a guitar of it. It is virtually identical to Sycamore in many characteristics, and that is a wood that we know has been used in guitars.

and a piccie of a set from Allied;


read more here;
http://www.alliedlutherie.com/unusualsets.htm



Sounds interesting, maybe selling it as "Lacewood" like John Grevin does.... it may be the next run of 03's that become legends ( like the limited runs of 03K / 03W / 03BW)

d.

[Calvin]

I thought that looked more like lacewood.  I am glad that it is a "lacewood" back/side, great sounding wood family indeed.  I think I have enough guitars for now.  It's funny, I still reach for my cheap (er... if you consider 900 dollars cheap lol) Yamaha first.  All solid wood, and indestructible.  Most importantly, it's the one that gets played.

True oaks are dampening on sounds.  Not saying that they will make bad guitars, just probably not one most would choose to buy.

[LarryDelux]

It's hard to say what Oak will sound like once it has been turned into a guitar in the Larrivee shop. Some folks can recite latin words for wood and cut and paste explanations that are not too important to a guitar player, but JC Larrivee knows wood better than most and I look forward to hearing and playing one. I applaud his initiative, what with the dwindling supplies of mahogany etc. If it doesn't look good in natural, I am sure it would look great with his TSB! Larrivee's are already the best value out there! Imagine if it gets even better?

[Randy_R]

Sweet.... OK who gets the first one?   

[dermot]

Played a D today... it's a really really REALLY gooooooooood guitar

and it's NOT called oak

It IS called "Grevillea Robusta"

Light as a feather

resonant and sweet

incrediabley flamey and textured wood on the one i played

First one to get it shinney-ed up HAS to post piccies

My bet is that a few years from now Buy-N-Sell will be littered with WTB's for one of these..... much like the koa, blackwood, maple 03's of the past

Ta,

d.

[dandy505]

My bet is that a few years from now Buy-N-Sell will be littered with WTB's for one of these..... much like the koa, blackwood, maple 03's of the past

...don't forget the walnut 03's from last year.

I must say these do look tempting. I have an L-03R that I have been looking to unload/exchange for same in something less boooommmmy...
Now now, I must say, these look nice and rosewood binding is the icing!

.danny, hope you don't mind I took the yellow out of your photos to better appreciate the beautiful wood

[dannyOsbourne]

actually dandy, thanks for doing it. The guitar looks a whole lot better now.