FORUM VII ORDER DEPOSIT POST

[BlueBowman]

I'm excited for you all! These look stunning.

[B0WIE]

I really love the subtle figure in the ebony headstocks and fingerboards. That was considered a "flaw" until recently, when people wised up and started appreciating the beauty of wood.

[StringPicker6]

I completely agree. It looks much more interesting than solid flat black. These guitars really will be something extra special.

[fantex]

Those look great...wow!

[Rockysdad]

I'll take good old BLACK fingerboard.

There's lots of figuring in the tops, and backs. (for us Walnut guys )

[teh]

Once the Forum VII guitars are finished, I'm confident the final results will be awesome including the necks and fretboards. I really like the photos I've seen so far. FWIW, I have two Martins, one with a black ebony fretboard and the other with a striped ebony fretboard and I love the look of both. One of the nicest features on any of my Larrivee guitars is the radial wood rosette on my Larrivee 00-24. I don't know who came up with that design, but I love it. I think the tops on the FORUM VII will be another winner.

[StringPicker6]

I wonder if they will ship by end of December? If not... I'll just wait longer. 

[Rockysdad]

      

[jasonchamb]

I'm gonna need a few of these to hold out
              

[StringPicker6]

I feel the heavy weight of silence on this forum as we all wait...

[B0WIE]

FWIW, I saw a big name boutique brand post a new guitar on Instagram and the curly redwood top looks like it's probably from the exact tree as the Forum VII. This guitar is likely in the $7,000 range though, maybe more.

[kaos]

joining the Christmas party
         

[BlueBowman]

This build thread is such a credit to the company. Great documentation by John. Larrivee obviously cares about its customer base (a fact I can attest to personally).

I'm eager for you seven (eight) to get your hands on these! What a great Christmas gift. I hope we get to see some of you playing them 

[Riverbend]

So, as an attempt to initiate some friendly dialogue as we wait for our Forum VII guitars, I'm going to wonder out loud about the mysterious "opening up" period we might expect from these flamed sinker redwood tops. I know that it's a subject that can lend itself to lots of different opinions. I've not yet read or heard anything involving sinker redwood. I have one of the Forum VI guitars and am convinced that it started to sonically blossom about 12 months after I got it. And I play it a lot. It's become my main player with fingers and pick. So as we wait, does anyone have any experience or insight into what we might experience as relates to our redwood tops?

[B0WIE]

My personal take on break-in has changed over the years and I feel that conventional wisdom misses what's actually going on. When woods are clamped together, there is tension and resistance. As time passes, they ease into this new shape and the tension is much lower. This would explain the way new guitars sound "stiff", and why older ones seem to vibrate more freely. Explanations I've seen about water molecules, resins, etc never made sense and never explained why old, seasoned woods also change in sound after they've been a guitar for a while. It does help explain why a soft wood like cedar supposedly doesn't need break in time and why stiffer woods like adi spruce and koa take around 7 years (which is something I've seen repeated a lot).

 So, I speculate your sinker redwood guitar will benefit from play as the vibrations help it settle into it's new shape. But, there will be no natural aging of the top wood,hardening of resins, etc. That's just a personal observation as someone who is fascinated by the "break in" phenomena, to the extent of performing numerous experiments. Would love to hear what others think.

[Riverbend]

My personal take on break-in has changed over the years. I speculate your sinker redwood guitar will benefit from play as the vibrations help it settle into it's new shape."
I agree with what you say. As a lifelong woodworker, I've got some strong beliefs about wood, it's character, it's cooperation with other woods and materials, and it's very soul, if you will. When joining all the parts together it creates a new identity for each piece as it becomes something unique and wholly new. And that takes time, and in the case of a guitar, vibration, temperature, humidity, and time. I do think they "open up", but I believe it's more along the lines you described.

[BlueBowman]

As time passes, they ease into this new shape and the tension is much lower.

This is also what I think happens with the "opening up" process. Over time, string tension is pulling the top, sides, and back into an S-curve. Once the woods "give in" to that tension and take shape, you have a "fully relaxed" guitar heading into its best sounding days.

So, ultimately, it's the string tension acting upon the woods that causes guitars to "open up." As Bowie says above, harder woods will take a bit longer to "open" compared to soft woods, and that tracks with the string tension hypothesis.

[StringPicker6]

Interesting thought that the sinker redwood will not mature like a brand new Sitka top. I'm very much in the dark how my 000 with hog b/s will sound, but I have no doubt that I will be pleasantly surprised and very, VERY happy.

[William2]

I wonder if this opening up is even measurable. I'd think you would have to have an original recording and compare it to the present time. For me, the Larrivee's are the only instruments I've kept long enough to think about this. When I got them, they all had a component I require namely a long sustain. But I had heard the instruments before I purchased them. My D-40R is 4 years old and I think it sounds better but I can't actually say that because it sounded great when I got it. I'd like to get an all-hog instrument but if I have to wait 7 years for it to open up, I might not be around to hear it.

[StringPicker6]

The thing I like about Larrivee guitars is that I happy with their sound from the beginning. If they improve that's wonderful. But my satisfaction is immediate, and I'm a happy camper. I had no idea that koa takes that long to mature!