D60 BZ --- can anyone tell me about the tops?

[brazilianhound]

I have an opportunity to buy a D60 BZ... the tones are ...  pretty incredible.  Still, for $4g's plus, I really want an Adirondack top.  Am I getting one?  Also, does $4g's sound too high.  I've heard of them selling for less (around $3g's) and seen some asking for more ($5g's) but I'm curious about the current market.   I'm brand new at the forum and I'm pretty sure I'm okay to ask about the price since it's about a used guitar that is no longer produced... if I made an error, I hope you will forgive me.

Thanks

BH

[ST]

Hi BH,

If you can get the serial number, you can send that off to Larrivée and get whatever details they have in their records.  (Build start date, woods used)

To obtain your guitar's manufacturing date, please E-mail the following information to info@larrivee.com with the subject line "Obtain A Manufacturing Date":

- Name
- E-mail Adress
- Model Number
- Serial Number

More general info about that here.
Larrivée Serial Numbers

--== Click the picture for more information ==--




-=click to see why I ask=-

Just curious - what is the significance of an Adirondack top?

[L07 Shooting Star]

Hi and welcome,
The "current market" is whatever you are willing to pay.  How important is it for you to have a guitar made of Brazilian Rosewood with an Andirondack spruce top and why?  Is it pride of ownership?  Are you a collector?  Is it just so you can say you have a guitar made of these woods and you got it at a good price?  If you must have a guitar like this, then you must be prepared to pay a premium for it.

If you want to know if that model has an Adirondack top, why don't you ask the seller?  I assume you have played the guitar you are considering.  Otherwise how would you know the tones are incredible?  If that is true and you like it for it's tone, why do you care what kind of spruce the top is made from?  Or why do you care what wood the back and sides are made from for that matter.  The decision then is whether you can get a guitar that sounds and plays and looks as good as this one for less money or not.

[BenF]

Must agree here. JCL uses Adirondack on occasion, and Italian spruce etc, but he is often quoted as considering Sitka to be the best top wood. Just because a wood is abundant does not mean it is inferior to rare stuff. Brazillian RW sounds different. Personal taste dictates if it is better or worse.

Price and tone have no relationship.

If you are a collector, then I guess it matters, so email Larrivvee with the SN.

[JOYCEfromNS]

  brazilianhound

The $3 to $5 you quote is about the range. There is currently a Braz OM in our FOR SALE SECTION really as nice as any with a Cedar top. Cedar tops are somewhat rare in Larrivee-land as are Adirondack Tops. Difficult to say which top you are dealing with on the D-60 as most are Canadian Sitka Spruce like THIS ONE who gives a better description of the guitar on EBay then he does at his Brick&Mortar

Your reasoning for wanting an Adirondack are yours, whether you collect or just feel it is preferred by you. Many feel  the note separation or "string-to-string clarity" to be better with Adirondack. But, I think, many times with acoustics you can just throw the rules out the window, because there can be such a difference from one guitar to another even when all parts and specs are equal tho Larrivee is more consistent than most.

Good Luck, let us know what you decide.  

[brazilianhound]

Thanks for the information... well, actually I guess there wasn't any definitive information...  I own a few (well, 7 actually) guitars and I guess that makes me a really modest collector but I play them all, some more than others.  I will email the serial # to Larrivee and see what they say.  I have played the guitar... it IS a real player.  The tone is better than some vintage D-28's that are in the shop where it is selling.  It is also half the price of those guitars.  In truth, I'm probably spending money that I should be saving... but I have sort of gone on a quest for a BZ/Addie guitar.  So much reading about "the holy grail" of tone woods has sent me on my own "quest" so to speak. 

Looking at the guitar, it looks like "wide-grain" Sitka to me.  My current "favorite" acoustic that i own is a Maton Australian Jumbo Player's Choice.  It has a AAA Sitka top.  Australian Blackwood (similar to Koa) back and sides and a Queensland Maple neck.  I sold a Taylor 712 CE (Indian Rosewood/Englemann Spruce) as part of a trade for a 1966 Rickenbacker 12 string.  (I kind of have a think for Beatles Gear too).  My other acoustic is a 1976 Guild G-37.  I crazy maple dreadnaught with some booming bottom.

So, price and Brazilian/Adirondack are important to me.  But this is one sweet guitar.

Again, thanks to you guys

[Randy_R]

There have been a few D-60's made with adirondack spruce. I have a D-10bz and OOO-60 brazilian with adi tops that are fantastic guitars. Although I also have a D-09bz with sitka top that may be the best sounding guitar of them all. see my web page

[prof_stack]

My new SD-60BZ has a sitka spruce top and I am very happy it does.  It has a warmer sound than adi to many people.  It makes this special guitar even better, IMHO.

I once was in the "Gotta get adi or Euro spruce tops" camp.  Well, the Italian spruce Forum III guitar came and went.  My Martin D-18GE has an adi top and it goes well with the hog back/sides. 

At least that is what my ears are telling me.  YMMV.

[brazilianhound]

put the downpayment on it yesterday... will take it home next week.   guess it's the brazillian i was meant to be with.   damn... you don't just hear it... you feel it... in your fingers, in your chest... i look forward to being a "larrivee guy".

[ffinke]

put the downpayment on it yesterday... will take it home next week.   guess it's the brazillian i was meant to be with.   damn... you don't just hear it... you feel it... in your fingers, in your chest... i look forward to being a "larrivee guy".

Good for you! You were listening with your ears and not just your heart. As far as the felling in your chest: I get that, too. But I get it with a Colling OM2H (EIR/Sitka), an SCGC OM (EIR/Sitka) and my "lowly" Larrivee L-03 (Sapele/Sitka). They all have that "vibe in you gut" sound to me and my total investment is about what you'd pay for a Larrivee BZ.

The point is: YOU made the choice that fits YOUR ear.

[247hoopsfan]

I hope your D60 Brazilian is the bomb.  I have owned a D10 Brazilian for almost 2 months now.  It has made me understand what some builders describe as the bell like chime of brazilian.   There is a significant difference in the sonic characteristics of my East Indian D10 and the brazilian D10.  They are both fine guitars, but the Brazilian D10 has remarkable clarity and sustain with a deeper mellow tone. 

Enjoy that D60 BZ ! 

[JOYCEfromNS]

i look forward to being a "larrivee guy".