Parlor as Main Guitar

[stuco]

 

Anyone play a larrivee parlor as their main guitar.  Can you stum them without totally breaking up?  How loud do the get?  Thanks

[saintandsinnerguy]

I have a D-03MT as my main guitar......my satin parlor is in my hands (ALOT!) but it not my main guitar.

[ACE]

My P-05 has been my main guitar, since I bought it
about a year ago. I can't get enough of it!
Sounds good when strummed gently, and it's
loud enough for me. Its my best fingerpicking
guitar of the whole collection.
And it's just great to look at as well.
ACE

[guitone]

I just picked up a P-05MT. It is not a loud guitar but it has a wonderful sound. It can be strummed and due to the mahogany top does not compress, but sounds best when not pounded on. I am not sure if it will be my main guitar, reason for buying it is the continued problems I have with my left hand due to arthritis and this guitar has been wonderful in keeping my hand from aching. I have two short scale Martins that sound better, are wonderful but may be an issue playing..I have known for sometime that a parlor was in my future and now it is and I find it is far more versatile than I thought it would be. If I had no choice this could easily be my main guitar, and may very well be.

[sayheyjeff]

I picked up a parlor with a spruce top and maple back and sides last Friday and it is great fun.  Have already played it for hours and hours.  Don't know why it seems so handy even tho I keep it in its case like my other guitars.  Have a Martin LX1 that was given to me as a present, but that is a travel guitar to me and not much more.  glad to have it for vacations and work trips, but I never play it at home.  this little larrivee is a whole different instrument.  Gushing aside, I don't see it as becoming my main guitar.  I love my L05MT and for the most part, that is my idea of what a main guitar should sound like and feel like.  The parlor is one great addition tho, and I never thought I would say that about a small guitar.   Owe everyone pics.  will see what we can do when the house photographer and system administrator gets back from NYC.

jeff

[UK Mike]

I use a parlour as my main guitar - but not for strumming.

But for me it is not the size, it is just that for strumming I like a guitar with narrower string spacing at the bridge.

I love parlours - but I think they are really particualrly suited to fingerstyle.

Mike

[sayheyjeff]

neglected to mention that I play almost exclusively with a pick.

jeff

[rpg51]

I think it depends on what music you will be playing and what kind of environment you will be playing in.  One person's junk is another's treasure.

[Denis]

Last year, for a few months, I had two parlors and nothign else.  It was fun but when I got the L-03, I quickly realized what I had been missing!  While I don't think it would do me as my one and only, it is a necessary tool in the arsenal.  It really can't be compared to anything else.  I love my parlor but I wouldn't go without my L-03 either!

[stuco]

 

I always picture bob dylan with that nick lucas special guitar that is very close to a parlor sized instrument and think....If bob can do it....but I guess since I'm mostly a pick user I will not pick up a parlor after all, they are just so cute and tempting though.

[bluesman67]

Stuco,

I think an OM is good for a one and only.

[Parlor Picker]

My Rosewood Parlor is the most comfortable guitar to sit with.  It's great on the sofa (or should that be couch for you North Americans?) and just as good sitting up "properly" on a hard chair.

I take it most weeks to a folk session and strum away on it - I don't use picks, just my index finger nail, held like a flatpick between thumb and second finger.  I'm really a blues fingerpicker, so the Parlor gets used mainly for that purpose at home.  It is just under 4 years old and just starting to open up now.  They have a pretty sturdy construction, so I reckon need to be really played a lot to get the best out of them.  It just seems to keep getting better.  The construction and short scale length also demand strings that make the top work more, so I have currently settled on Martin SP 12-54.

It's amazing how ignorant most guitar players are when it comes to parlours.  They've never seen such a small guitar and the invariable reaction is "Oh, isn't it loud!?!"  Apart from anything else, it's good to be different - and I don't like the look of big square dreadnoughts. It's also surprising how many players, well-known and otherwise, list a Larrivée Parlor in their armoury when interviewed by the likes of "Acoustic Guitar" magazine.

I also have a very old Lyon & Healy parlour guitar which has a nicer tone than the Larri, but has a very wide neck, making it not as comfortable to play.  I'm reasonably convinced the Larri will eventually sound just as good, given time and plenty of hard playing.

[hatofthecat]

I love my parlor but I wouldn't go without my L-03 either!

One thing I'd say is its harder to play a parlor "right", sloppy fingering I can get away with on my L03 just won't wash with my parlor 

It's great on the sofa

...but slightly dangerous in my big leather recliner chair by the window...... yes... you CAN play laid flat out 

It definitely needs mediums to get right sound and I've settled on GHS Bright Bronze 13-56 at moment.  Have a really smooth feel too.

Pete

[Tycho]

I was just listening to a studio recording that I did with my satin Parlor the day after I bought it a couple of years ago.  It really sounds amazing in that context.  There are two other Larrivees on the track -- an OM-03 and a D-03R -- and the Parlor is the one that really stands out.  I found myself regretting that I sold it to buy my 00 last year.  But the one-in/one-out rule must be honoured, and I know that another forumite is enjoying the Parlor now.