Limited Series of Canadian made Koa Wood Larrivees from the early 2000's OM-O3K

[Michael Olsen]

Hi Y'all

I am posting about a Larrivee which I bought new a little over 20 years ago. Thought fans would be interested and I might find out some more interesting facts about it. Its hard to find any online info about it. Its a limited run model made exclusively for Long and Mcquade Music, the more economical no frills satin series made in Vancouver but with solid Koa wood back and sides (spruce top). I think there were something like 100 or so with the Long&Mcquade tag in them and that came in to the Flagship store where i was working at the time. They were divided up into D, L, and OM shapes. (Don't think there was a jumbo). There was also a few parlors and a couple REALLY spectacular all Koa top back and sides OOO/parlor size ones.

This particular one was an OM-O3K picked out of all of them by my manager as being the most spectacular and one of the best sounding. I was getting into fingerstyle playing at the time and Koa really helps your finger work get out there so I bought it. Since then I've used it in pretty much just in the studio and taken good care of it. One day about ten years ago the tuners black plastic buttons just crumbled off, the material was obviously defective. So I replaced them with a set of Waverlys. Other then that its been  just sitting in a case humidified. I thought about it the other day and decided to inquire to the company how many they actually made.

They didn't know how many of the L&M ones they made but I was surprised that they immediately remembered the run of guitars, made from a really special tree sourced personally by Jean Larrivee and  David Iannone (Morgan Guitars) in Hawaii. They said it was the most spectacular Koa wood they had ever seen, and still have seen, which I thought was kind of wild. The fact that its actually a low gloss less fancy guitar with this kind of Koa wood figure is pretty interesting and I would think quite rare. The person from Larrivee said they made probably MAX 400 guitars from that tree in total. And the fact this was handpicked out of 100 guitars as being extra special makes this pretty neat! It certainly sounds great on records too.

I'm not a collector, I play every instrument I own and rarely sell things but I am sort of curious about ball park values for this. Only one was sold that I could find a long time ago online, a dreadnought that wasn't as nice looking as this for about $1400 I think? Seemed like they didn't know what they had. I'm just curious what the experts here think, at the moment I don't think I want to sell it. Just thought id see if anyone had any other info about the numbers, some pics below. Thanks!

[mikey007]

That Koa looks awesome! Cool story. When you're a buyer, Larrivees are awesome for what you get. As a seller, I never feel like you would never get what it's worth if you were to sell it!

[B0WIE]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Koa is one of my favorite woods and I own a couple of all-koa guitars. I can say, if that was mine, I'd be polishing up that satin finish on day 1.    Not that I'm recommending that to you. Only that it's a beautiful set of woods there and curly koa can really shimmer under gloss. One of mine ripples like waves in the ocean when you move it around in the light.

 As far as value goes, $1,400 was a LOT for an 03 model before the pandemic. So, they may have done ok. The market is really down at the moment so if you're thinking of selling it, I wouldn't. Larrivee lovers have to live with the fact that our instruments rarely fetch the prices they really deserve. The money you'd get for that guitar would probably only equal out to a middle of the road Martin or Taylor. Nothing as nice as what you already have.

[unclrob]

You can contact Larrivee for the MLP for insurance replacement value I did this for a D09 Blackwood,an OM03 blackwoodd,an OM03 Pete Anderson and a 98 L10 Koa.Hope this helps.

[StringPicker6]

That's a stunning guitar!! I will agree with what others have said; if you try to sell it you probably won't get a price that is equal to its quality. I highly encourage you to hang onto it.

[mike in lytle]

What is the serial number?
Mike

[jrdavies]

That is really nice looking Koa.

There are quite a few Larrivee Koa guitars listed on Reverb at the moment. If you haven't looked at both the active and sold listings that might help you get an idea of what it would sell for.  Replacement value is a different thing and has already been suggested checking with Larrivee would give you a better idea.

Koa guitars can be inconsistent as to how they sound. I think this makes them a little more difficult to sell.  Having a good sound clip might help, or selling in person rather than online.

Here is a link to an older Forum thread where John Larrivee talks a bit more about the Koa log you mentioned.  I have an all Koa OM9V from around the same time so I saved the link.

[teh]

Michael

Your photo of the back and sides of the Koa used in your satin finish guitar captures the quality of the color and grain in the wood. It's also pretty cool to own a guitar that has passed through the hands of someone whose name is on the headstock while it was being built.

Over the years, Larrivee has offered special editions and limited runs of guitars using rare and/or unusual wood combinations. These have included silver oak, walnut, koa, lacewood and maple (flamed and quilted) to name a few. I've watched videos of Jean, John Jr. and Matt discussing their approach to finding, selecting and preparing wood for guitar building.

[jweave69]

Beautiful guitar! Really love seeing the koa with a satin finish!

[Silence Dogood]

That's a unique model for sure and if it were me, I'd hang on to it.  That's some stunning koa!  Unfortunately, anything from the 03 line won't fetch you much money, even with specialty woods.  The only person that would be willing to pay top dollar for it would be someone looking for that exact model.  It's a terrible time to try and sell a guitar right now. 

BTW, Michael, welcome to the forum!  Is this your only Larrivee? 

[fantex]

Nice, almost like a flamed maple. I've never been that interested in Koa but I'm coming around.

[Michael Olsen]

Here is a link to an older Forum thread where John Larrivee talks a bit more about the Koa log you mentioned.  I have an all Koa OM9V from around the same time so I saved the link.


[/quote]

Thanks for that link and thanks to all for the comments. I suspected Larrivees were less collector and more player in their pricing, so since I have a good player, Ill keep it. :)

One last thing Ill ask. If I wanted to polish this thing up, partially because it will look cool but also to reduce the friction noise against clothes that I hear on mic (which can be surprisingly loud) any tips on types of polish or technique?

Thanks!

[Michael Olsen]

What is the serial number?
Mike

69880

[B0WIE]

Here is a link to an older Forum thread where John Larrivee talks a bit more about the Koa log you mentioned.  I have an all Koa OM9V from around the same time so I saved the link.




Thanks for that link and thanks to all for the comments. I suspected Larrivees were less collector and more player in their pricing, so since I have a good player, Ill keep it. :)

One last thing Ill ask. If I wanted to polish this thing up, partially because it will look cool but also to reduce the friction noise against clothes that I hear on mic (which can be surprisingly loud) any tips on types of polish or technique?

Thanks!

There's a few threads kicking around here. I know I've detailed it a couple times. I keep meaning to make a video for the forum. I need to fix up the headstock on a guitar I'm going to sell so maybe I'll do it soon. If you have questions you can message me. I did professional finishing for a short time and I have polished up a few guitars.