Has your Larrivee significantly improved with age?

[Silence Dogood]

I'm not sure how long you've owned your Larrivee but I've had mine for 23 years (it's my only acoustic guitar). It has been played a lot, probably 10,000 hours at least.  I needed a refret about ten years ago and will probably need another one before I'm done. Definitely not a wall-hanger. 

My Larrivee has always sounded great (it's a D-03BW, and as noted here on the forum many times, the D-03 is the best guitar in the world), but lately I've noticed that it has improved. 

In the past few weeks it's as if it flipped a switch and went up to another level in tone.  It's a joy to just listen to it.  Everything seems just a bit enhanced or upgraded, tone-wise.  Hard to explain tone but the change is real and it's very noticeable to me.  I love it!

How has your Larrivee improved or changed over the years? 

[StringPicker6]

It amazes me that even after 23 years you are noticing improvements! The only long term experience that I can offer is for my parlor P-03. In November I will hit my 5 year mark with it. Initially, I was a bit underwhelmed and didn't play it much. But lately, I've noticed that when I play it softly and pay attention, it sounds very full and lush, so definitely an improvement to my ears.  The improvement has kept up my excitement about it!

[teh]

Congratulations on finding yourself a keeper. 10,000 hours of playing time is definitely noteworthy (A bad pun but accurate) and conservatively equates to about 8.3 hours per week. It's nice to see that this guitar sounds better than ever to you after 23 years of playing. I'm sure that Willie Nelson feels the same way about Trigger.

My experience has been similar. When I bought my Martin D-35 new in early 1977, it was my primary guitar until I bought my first Larrivee in 2004. All of my Larrivee guitars (4 acoustic, 1 electric), were purchased new and sounded great right out of the gate. My two oldest are the 2004 parlor and a 2005 12 string built in Vancouver, BC. The next three came from Oxnard and were built in 2021 and two were built in 2024. I followed John Jr.'s advice and played my Forum VI and 00 for 90 days before changing strings and tweaking the set-ups. Interestingly enough, I never laid hands on my 12 string, FVI or 00 until I took them out of their cases. My dealer made a compensated bone saddle for the 12 string in early 2006 while the other two were shipped directly from CA.

The D-35 turns 50 this year and my first two Larrivees and my 2006 Martin OM-35 are all in their early 20s now. All of my guitars get played regularly and two are out on loan right now. I think the tone and the playability of my guitars has improved over time. I also had Anthem pickups installed at the factory in my Forum VI and 00 which both really sound good when plugged into my Fishman Loudbox Mini amplifier.

[BlueBowman]

I think all guitars improve with age, but my Larrivee OM sure seems to have improved more than any other I've owned. Just shy of a decade since I bought it new, it has hit more new gears than maybe all my other guitars combined. An astonishing thing to witness. I notice more clarity, resonance, and volume.*

The "opening up" thing is sometimes controversial on forums, but too many people I respect (including many luthiers) also hear it in aging guitars. Some of the naysayers attribute it to psychoacoustics, and I do think that it plays a part in our guitar experiences. But that string tension pulling the guitar into a new shape surely has some effect on the sound, generally believed to be a positive one. 

Silence, I'm curious what it is you hear that's different? More of everything, I'd guess?

*Anyone in the east TN area is free to PM me, if they'd like to play it (or any other of my guitars). I'd love to have a Larrivee members meet up. Not sure if there's enough of us in my general area, but I'll put out there in case there's any interest. Nothing like a good afternoon of playing and talking guitars.

[William2]

I think there is some truth to improvement over time. My longest owned Larrivee is my D-40R. I think I got it in late 2020. I thought it had something special when I got it. I play it daily and after 6 years I feel the sustain has definitely improved.