Forum III - Rosewood vs Mahogany back/sides

[goa]

Hi,
I'm pretty sold on the Italian Spruce top for these FIII guitars.  It was difficult not to try all mahog.  But now my decision centers on the back and sides. 

I like the idea of the overtones and deepness attributed to rosewood.  So you know, I already have a Sapale L-03. 

But part of me is into "rarity", and I wonder; if true mahogany is getting rare, and it is, why is the RW version of the FIII more expensive?  Is RW also going to become scarce any time soon? 

Do those that are ordering RW believe it will sound substantially different than my sapale L-03? 

I guess what I'd like is something different (I think sapale and mahog are acousically the same, but not the same "value").  I love the look of RW, and want one.  But would I be wishing I had got mahog in 5 years, because it's not on the shelves at that time?

Thanks for all with the good comments and work on the FIII. 

Garrett

[BenF]

I share your doubt.  I am used to pulling the tigger when I buy something, not pulling the trigger and then waiting for 3 weeks until an order deadline.  I guess doubt is bound to creep in.  I have a similar dilema, I have an OM-03 sapele, and a D-09.  I have grown to dislike the size of the Dread and the narrow nut, but before I owned these guitars I had only played dreads.  Since I am selling the D-09, I am sold on RW, but I also wonder if I will regret it in due course.

[Danny]

  I had a switch from RW to hog. It is a hard one. But I have had and still have RW gits so this time for me it's hog and IS. That's the short version. It's just a choice you need to make. Either one will be nice.

[bluesman67]

I think we all feel like whatever we order, we will be questioning what the others sound like.

[strawintogold]

I would not buy this guitar looking at it as in investment. As someone mentioned Larrivee's do not have a high resale price. That being said, yes, this will be possibly a last chance to get SAM in a Larrivee 03. I have a OM 03R and while I was inclined to also get this with a RW back, it was pointed out to me that I already have a small bodied RW. I also have a couple all Mahogany. So, it boiled down to having a wide range of sound.

i also love tha M in the satin finish.

holly

[L-fan]

I do not believe it when I hear that mahogany is getting so rare.  You can still get an all-hog dreadnaught from Washburn for (edit: something just south of $120) - as many of you may have seen on the cover of the latest Musician's Friend catalog.  I do believe that the mahogany that JCL uses, which is the south american hog that is certified as harvested responsibly, is getting harder to get and therefore more expensive.  I wonder if Martin has the same standards as JCL for its hog - probably I would guess.  However my point is just that I really doubt that the good mahogany will so much harder and harder to find that you'd better buy it now because in the future it won't be there.  They will be making all-hog gits in the future, and they will be sweet.  That having been said, JCL's mahogany models are done so well that it's always a good choice, sheerly (sp?) on its sonic merits.

[prof_stack]

Sapele gets a bad rap, I think.  Its a great wood and has a distinctive grain pattern.  The sound is pretty similar to mahagony, with maybe just a little more depth - all else being equal (which rarely happens).

I'm planning on ordering the rosewood back/sides for the Forum III guitar.  Why?  For me its simple:  I had what I considered to be Larrivee's best mahogany guitar, the SD-50, and sold it within 2 years.  Beautiful sweet tone anywhere on the fretboard, great growl to the bass.  Jim H sold me that one and also the guitar the replaced it, the Martin D-18GE.  Before that I had three mahogany Larrivees:  JV-05E (no mid-range to balance the BOOM of a bass), L-05MT (dead low E string but gorgeous), and L-03MT (lacked something to my ears, nothing special with either bone or tusq saddle).  Heck, I even had the wildly popular (see UMGF) Martin 000-15S, all hog, and sold it within 2 years.

So the D-18GE covers the mahogany for me, also with the classic Martin dread tone, which I love. 

I've always admired the L-03R smoothness of tone and believe the Forum III with rosewood back/sides along with the Italian spruce top should be an absolutely great guitar.  I will probably not order the cutaway.

[Safricanplayer]

I would not buy this guitar looking at it as in investment. As someone mentioned Larrivee's do not have a high resale price. That being said, yes, this will be possibly a last chance to get SAM in a Larrivee 03. I have a OM 03R and while I was inclined to also get this with a RW back, it was pointed out to me that I already have a small bodied RW. I also have a couple all Mahogany. So, it boiled down to having a wide range of sound.

i also love tha M in the satin finish.

holly

A valid point Holly. I do think these guitars will command a higher price than comparable Larrivee's, simply due to the limited run and out of production factor, but I would not order one simply for it's resale value, and neither would I choose mahogany simply because it's getting harder to come by. That said Mahogany is a wonderful tone wood, as is rosewood, and that's why I personally own both. Personally, the Italian Spruce is what I'm most excited about.

In the long run you'll probably be happiest owning complementary instruments, both in body style and top and tonewoods. 

Good luck to ya. 

  ~ Ray ~

[goa]

These are good, well thought out answers.  Thanks, just what I needed.  I think I'm going to go with my initial impulse; Rosewood.  To me, it's just a beautiful wood, and I would have gotten it on my first L-03, but decided to save some money.  I also had been playing a bright Taylor, and wanted a Larrivee witha "bright" tone, which the Sapale has. 

I'm pretty sure I'll keep the guitar, I seldom flip any instrument.  But if the soup lines get too long, I was wondering how guitars will fare.  No biggie, I want another nice Larrive for today (er...April), tomorrow has worries enough for itself.  The excitement of waiting is a good thing for me, I live for just this sort of thing. 

Thanks,

Garrett

[Mr_LV19E]

The excitement of waiting is a good thing for me, I live for just this sort of thing. 

Thanks,

Garrett

Are they done yet?