Amber or Cherry Sunburst?

[Dale_I]

It's SIMPLE...which one do you like...personal choice!!

I'm on GAS suspension for a bit. When I get off, what I would really dream of would be a natural finish hollow body. Maybe the custom shop will be taking orders by then...

[Ignatius]

I was just at a guitar show here in the Chicago area and was able to see my first RS-4 in person. It was tobacco sunburst. I was not able to play it through an amp because the area was busy, but I was able finally at least to get one of these new Larrivee electrics in my hands.

Weightwise, it was a heavy eight pounds. It is not as heavy as the heftiest Les Pauls, but this particular Larrivee was getting on toward Lester range. My wife was the final judge; she is the first to admit that she has little upper-body strength, and she found the RS-4 heavier than any of the Fenders we saw. She at least could lift it easily compared to a '70s Lester, but it still is in the range of the current chambered versions of the LP.

The workmanship is beautiful, but contrary to some people's claims, the body shape did not look that much different in person than it does in the pictures. You will either like it or hate it. Actually, the tobacco burst looks very much like the shots in Larrivees promotional sheet on the new guitars. The cutaway does angle forward as it appears in many of the pictures, giving it that "melted Les Paul" appearance. My wife absolutely loves it; I'm still on the fence.

The detail of frets, inlays, finish, etc. are all absolutely first-rate, and the neck plays very well. It is (to me) a bit flatter than the neck on my OM-03, so it is not an exact match to the Larrivee acoustic neck as I had hoped. It is a very good "electric" take on the Larry's acoustic neck, though. Action is very low and felt quite fast, and I had no sense of buzzing, etc. It was hard to hear how the body sounded; I usually like to evaluate electrics without the amp first, just to get a sense of how the guitar resonates on its own. The noise level made this hard, but then again, there typically is much worse noise in my local Guitar Center so I might be forced to say that the RS-4 body does not appear to resonate as much as a Telecaster with a thin finish.

Short report: the guitar felt great, but it is not a big jump away from the LP/Tele world that I know. I very much hope someone will be able to add how the electronics add to the equation. Absolutely beautiful workmanship that will be too much if (like me) you love your -03 series Larry precisely because it lacks bling. This guitar definitely stands tall with the higher-end Larry acoustics.

Ignatius

[ducktrapper]

Ingnatius. Thanks for the review but lots of the buzz over this guitar is about the yummy combination of pickups and capacitors and such. It's an electic guitar. Would somebody plug one of these in already?

[Ignatius]

Ingnatius. Thanks for the review but lots of the buzz over this guitar is about the yummy combination of pickups and capacitors and such. It's an electic guitar. Would somebody plug one of these in already?

I agree! I started this review even with my limited guitar knowledge because I am amazed no owners have surfaced with reports yet--here or anywhere else. I truly wanted to plug this one in at the show, but amps were few and far between. Many booths had at most one amp for demos so there were lines, or else it was clear that you were allowed to use an amp "for serious inquiries only," if you know what I mean. With a street price of almost $2500 at the show yesterday, I just could not legitimately claim to be serious.

I'll echo, ductrapper, though: please, let's hear a review of how this thing sounds!

Ignatius

[Calvin]

These replies will tell you that you should get the one you like, everyone has different tastes.

Blonde or redhead.  Get the one that cooks you the best meals.  Close your eyes and they are the same.

I personally like brunettes with blonde hi-lights... I mean tabacco burst .  But I assure you I wont force you to see things my way.

[russski1]

Love the Amber.....