Bluegrass guitar???

[tricky]

Hey everyone, I'm very new to this form, so hello!  Also, I was curious as to which Larrivee would be a top notch bluegrass guitar...right now I have a D-40 which is doing a pretty great job.  Mostly my style is much like Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, Doc Watson...that style.  Any suggestions on a great Larrivee?

Thanks

rick

[Tycho]

A D-40 is going to make a pretty great bluegrass guitar already, so I don't know if there's a lot more you need in that department.

I'm curious though...you mentioned players like Chet Atkins and Lenny Breau.  They're fingerstyle players and I definitely don't think of them as bluegrass.  To me, bluegrass means fast, heavy rhythm flat-picking, and flatpick lead playing in the style of Clarence White or Dan Crary or Tony Rice.  Is that what you mean?  A D-40 will be great for that stuff.  It's also perfectly good for fingerpicking (I love fingerpicking on my D-03), but a lot of people here prefer slightly smaller models like the Ls or OMs for fingerstyle playing.

(Doc Watson both fingerpicks and flatpicks, always on a nice big dreadnought as far as I know.)

[tricky]

I was mainly thinking of when Chet plays with people like Jerry Reed, his fingerstyle is amazing.  It seems as though the D-40 is working our well.  And Tony Rice is amazing as well.

Btw, this is a great forum.

rick

[Zohn]

I was mainly thinking of when Chet plays with people like Jerry Reed, his fingerstyle is amazing.  It seems as though the D-40 is working our well.  And Tony Rice is amazing as well.

Btw, this is a great forum.

rick

The best bluegrass finger-pickers are no doubt the Traditional 12-fretters made popular by Martin (D-18 VS and D-28 VS), Collings, Santa Cruz, and of course my personal favourite the Larrivee SD-50 (hog B&S). The reason I regard them as "best", is they all feature wider nuts, and string spacing at the saddle. They are also very versatile as finger pickers, with lots of power in reserve for flat picking and rhythm. The D-50 and D-60's are probably best suited for using flat-picks, or as a rhythm guitar. Larrivee dreads are renowned for their good string to string balance.
Welcome to the forum Rick.

[ronmac]

The best bluegrass finger-pickers are no doubt the Traditional 12-fretters made popular by Martin (D-18 VS and D-28 VS), Collings, Santa Cruz, and of course my personal favourite the Larrivee SD-50 (hog B&S). The reason I regard them as "best", is they all feature wider nuts, and string spacing at the saddle. They are also very versatile as finger pickers, with lots of power in reserve for flat picking and rhythm. The D-50 and D-60's are probably best suited for using flat-picks, or as a rhythm guitar. Larrivee dreads are renowned for their good string to string balance.
Welcome to the forum Rick.

These are also the style of guitars I think of for that genre. The Larrivee SD series are very nice! If your budget will allow it, try and play a Bourgeois  short scale Slope D. 

[Tycho]

P.S. Rick, as you may know from other threads, your D-40 is basically a D-60 with a bit less bling, so it can do anything a D-60 can  do.

[es-335]

D-40 is an amazing guitar.
I've played a D-60 a few times, it is indeed really nice.
My bro in law has a D-28, compare to his guitar; the D60 played very well.

But the HD-28VS I've played.. was a different story. Much fuller sound.

[rhoen]

 

bought a used kind fo D60 - enlarged soundhole - great sounding guitar for heavy flatpicking
´- tried a few d28'S , lakewood's and and ....
I think the best tonewood for dread's is rosewood

Peter

[rate800]

I'm glad he mentioned rosewood.  A lot of bluegrassers play rosewood.

[ncognito]

tricky--

I also have a Guild D40 built in 1974; at one time I had a Guild D40ce which I bought new and had for maybe three years before I sold it.  I found the quality to be very different between the two.  The ce had much better action, but couldn't compare in tone to my old timer which is a fantastic flatpicking guitar.  Maybe you should keep the Guild, and pick up one of the other dreads in rosewood for variety sake.  Other folks have made some good suggestions along those lines. 

          DAVE

[pkaczor]

ncognito-

I am pretty sure that the guitar being discussed in this thread is a Larrivee D40 and not the Guild D40 that you mention.  As stated above, it is basically the D50 model, but with less bling.

pmk

[ncognito]

ncognito-

I am pretty sure that the guitar being discussed in this thread is a Larrivee D40 and not the Guild D40 that you mention.  As stated above, it is basically the D50 model, but with less bling.

pmk

pmk--

Thanks for setting me straight.  I didn't see D40 listed on the Larrivee site products page so am I correct in assuming it's a discontinued model?  How does it differ in tone from my Guild?

         DAVE

[Tycho]

pmk--

Thanks for setting me straight.  I didn't see D40 listed on the Larrivee site products page so am I correct in assuming it's a discontinued model?  How does it differ in tone from my Guild?

         DAVE

Dave,

The D-40 is (or was) a special edition made only for the Long & McQuade chain in Canada.  It never appeared in the Larrivee catalogue (which is true of most of the special/limited editions they do).  It's basically a D-60 with a satin finish. 

There are a few threads about it around here if you're curious.

[GitLav]

I would go for Martin 000-15SM...You simply cannot beat fingerstyle playing on this thing...Nice roundup of fingerpicking guitars...

[nctom]

GitLav, oddly neither your Martin suggestion nor your cited thread mention Larrivee. I can think of several Larrivees that beat or rival any mentioned.
I didn't catch any mention of the OP looking for a small bodied finger style guitar.

[B0WIE]

It's been 6 years. I hope they got it figured out by now.   

[nctom]

Didn't notice the extreme lapse in dates. WTF?

[Mr_LV19E]

Didn't notice the extreme lapse in dates. WTF?

Troll


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[Walkerman]

Hot pick in Nashville is Larry SD 40.