Larrivee Vs. Taylor

Started by D_D_D_Daffy, March 03, 2006, 02:13:52 PM

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Quote from: Denis on March 03, 2006, 08:09:01 PM
A sales guy at the store where my tech has his shop told me Taylors are all made by machine and not just CNC machines.  He made it sound like they are never touched by human hands during construction.  I find this hard to believe...anybody?

first piece of advice. don't rely on this person for any information that really matters. Taylor is arguably the most technologically advanced guitar manufacturer out there, but there's still a lot of people skills that go into it.

I am a GREAT admirer of Larrivee, having owned several. Nobody does it better. As to Taylor, I now play a Taylor 214 as my main guitar. Why? Because it is ASTOUNDINGLY good-sounding and easy to play. By the way, the exact description can be said of several of the Larrivee's I've owned. In the end, it came down to the 214 just having exactly what I wanted sonically and playability-wise. But the two brands are both truly outstanding. Arguably the best in the business. By the way, on the low end, don't miss trying out the Martin 15 series. Just incredible for the money.

We live in the GOLDEN ERA OF GUITAR MANUFACTURE, particularly on the low end of the price spectrum! ain't life grand?
Rob 

Larrivee OM-03R
Art & Lutherie Cedar/cherry Parlor (the best 200-dollar guitars in the world, made in Canada by real guitar craftspeople) :-)
Click to Read About Art & Lutherie Guitars
Peavey Generation EXP

QuoteWhich would you date?  Which would you marry.  Or you can be like fitness 1 and just buy them all and sell the ones that don't work for you.

Ide marry the one with big boobs holding the larrivee!

But thats just me. :GRN>

Quote from: Denis on March 03, 2006, 08:09:01 PM
A sales guy at the store where my tech has his shop told me Taylors are all made by machine and not just CNC machines.  He made it sound like they are never touched by human hands during construction.  I find this hard to believe...anybody?

That's just silly. 
http://community.webshots.com/user/fng45

Life is too short to drink cheap beer.

I played so many acoustic guitars when I was looking for the definitive one for me that I lost count; I know that there were a fair few Taylors amongst them and although they were fair enough instruments there was nothing that made me go "yes!" or for that matter consider parting with the substantial amount of cash that they were going for. 

Now, you may say that it's not fair to judge Taylors just on the ones I happened to encounter and that would be a reasonable point.  However, if I were to judge Larrivee by ANY of the ones I happened to encounter (parlor models excepted), I'd be saying to you they are the best sounding acoustic guitars I've found.  They epitomise what I want from an acoustic. 

I own five Larrivees.  That's more than I've found in any shop in the UK put together.  All mine came from the USA by necessity and naturally I did not try them until they arrived here.  Five out of five isn't bad for consistency of quality (and that's four different dealers, so it's not like one was particularly good at filtering out duff instruments or anything).  You may notice that I favour the 03 series; that's not because I'm into cheap guitars and therefore don't know what I'm talking about, it's because I'm into great sounding instruments and I'd rather have five amazing Larrivees than one over-priced 'legendary name manufacturer''s instrument which doesn't actually deliver the tone.  And I certainly encountered a lot of those in my original quest... 

Of course, that's just my opinion.  But it's right!   :TON>  :GRN>
"Looks like satin, feels like silk!" 

Larrivee D-03
Larrivee J-03R 
Larrivee D-03E Mahogany Top
Larrivee L-03 12 Mahogany Top 
Larrivee OMV-03RE (sold to friend whose style just suited it better!)

QuoteOf course, that's just my opinion.  But it's right!

Oh ya??  Welll. . . harumph!!. . . .. . .. ... . . I agree wi ya.    ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
____________________________

Let's see if I got this right.    You've got $2000 or so to spend on a new guitar.  You used to own a Tony Rice 'Cruz and you left bluegrass to experiment with fingerstyle?   And the next guitar you buy should also have a good re-sale value in case you change your mind again. 

OK.  Here's my take on it. . . . .and just remember. . . .it's right! ^_^ ^_^

Martin for the re-sale value issue hands down.

Taylor for the bling-bling but don't expect much resonance or projection from "most" Taylors.  Almost any guitar can be made easy to play with the right set up.

Larrivee for the tone and value. . . .there just ain't no comparison.  AND, if you decide to change your mind again, the Larrivee family makes enough models and voices to choose from that you can change your mind several times and still be playing a Larrivee for much less than you'd spend experimenting with Martins and Taylors.  For $2000 you could own one new and one used Larrivee guitars: a dread for 'grass and an L for fingerstyle.  Play 'em first, see if I'm wrong.

I can't thing of a better past time than shopping for guitars. . . . ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
Larrivee OM-03R-12 string + IMix external
Martin 000-15S + IMix internal
Martin OM-16GTE + Fishman Matrix
Gretch 5120
Fender Squires - Tele & Strat

whiskeyjack:  Perisoreus canadensis.  aka, gray jay, whiskey jay, whiskeyjack or timber jay.   A small, friendly bird of the northern coniferous forest.

Daffy, if you'd asked that about two women, I'd say you're gay :GRN>
:WNK>
Fender Rosewood Telecaster, Fender '50 Classic Telecaster, late '800 italian classical, Larrivée L05

Some very good responses here. Taylors do have a sweet sound when played light, but seem to lose clarity when attacked. Base response is definitely weak and disappointing. I am going to a dealer today who is about 40 miles away. He has a few Larrivees. I hope to get a better feel for what they sound like. I checked out  Notable Guitars on the web and they have some excellent prices on these things. I can get an L10 or OM10 for less than I paid for this Taylor 810. OM60 is even less yet, so there are definite models I like in my price range. It is just a matter of how they sound.

RE: "Daffy, if you'd asked that about two women, I'd say you're gay"

The upside is that I am SURPISED to find homophobic 'humor' on this website.  The downside is, well, there it is.

Just saw DDDDaffy's latest - glad to see that you've found some Larrivees to play and discovered Jason's pricing.   :mellow: 

Everybody is forgeting to mention....

Larrivée 's incredible customer service and dedication to having satisfied owners.

phill     :mellow:
L-03 BlackWood..... "Pluck"
OM-03- MT Forum #14/17
F-III IS/Hog #63/78....SOLD
Seagull Artist Folk
Pono and Kanile'a Tenor Ukulele's
The real Day Sailer...1966 Day Sailer..the boat, not the person

Hopy you haven't got mad, rwnyc. Nothing against gays, have several friends being so.
The fact is on... 10 people 2-3 might be gay, and not knowing Daffy personally I suppose he's on the women side. There the joke.
Beside that, grab the Larrivée and the Taylor you like the better, play them and see by yourself wich one you prefer.
Simple as that.
Fender Rosewood Telecaster, Fender '50 Classic Telecaster, late '800 italian classical, Larrivée L05

Quote from: D_D_D_Daffy on March 04, 2006, 10:57:03 AM
Some very good responses here. Taylors do have a sweet sound when played light, but seem to lose clarity when attacked. Base response is definitely weak and disappointing. I am going to a dealer today who is about 40 miles away. He has a few Larrivees. I hope to get a better feel for what they sound like. I checked out  Notable Guitars on the web and they have some excellent prices on these things. I can get an L10 or OM10 for less than I paid for this Taylor 810. OM60 is even less yet, so there are definite models I like in my price range. It is just a matter of how they sound.

I would contact Jason at Notable Guitars directly. You might also want to contact Jim Holler at www.trinityguitars.com or Rob at www.andysguitars.com. They're restricted from advertising their real prices on their websites and will give you their best price either on the phone or via email.

All three will never pressure you and they have the best prices and service (before and after the sale). You could probably even get them to play the guitar you're interested in over the phone.
Paragon
Gibson
Webber

Quote from: ronmac on March 03, 2006, 02:16:05 PM
1) Tone
2) Price
3) Looks


OK, maybe # 3 is subjective. If you don't agree with # 3 I'm OK with that, the rest is solid.  :GRN>

#1 is subjective too.  I'm not crazy about the Taylor tone but alot of people like it.    Also Larrivee prices new aren't that much lower than Taylor prices.   Buy a guitar because you like it,  not because of what's written on the headstock or because it was a little cheaper.   

I have played a fair number of Taylors, and for my personal taste, none resonate through me the way I want a guitar to do. I know that's a strange way to qualify a guitar, and I have a lot of performing friends who play Taylors. Some of them sound great, some sound like dogs. I've played a couple of dog Taylors.

But of the Larrivees I've played and owned, not ONE has been less than stellar. They feel right, and sound right to me. I have heard soem Taylors that made me wonder if the player bought it because it said "Taylor" on the headstock. I'm not knocking Taylor,  I think they make some fine guitars, but they just don't suit me. Larrivees suit me. Simple as that.  :mellow:
Larrivee LS-10 Custom "Jesse"
Larrivee 000-50 "Emma"
Larrivee 00-50 "Dublin"
Larrivee 00-60 "Rose"
Larrivee L-03 Koa "Hula"
Martin 5-18 ('57) "Tink"
Banjitar  "Plinky"
Baby Taylor "Lichious"
Taylor GC-5 E
Oscar Schmidt OU-5 concert uke "Abalone & Cheese"
Makai MT-70 tenor uke "Kimme"
Martin M3 Soprano Uke "LJ"
A couple non descript cl

I have owned Taylors for a long time and I now have had a Larrivee for
over a year. I would trade all my Taylors for this one Larrivee, an LV03K.
They really are that much better. I do like the Expression system though.
Try a Larrivee. My LV03K plays and sounds better than the 814, 610,
310,314, and the 414 that I've owned. If a thief broke in to steal my
guitars, I'd let him take the Taylor but he'd have to kill me for the
Larrivee.

Brad
Larrivee LV-05E
Fender P Bass Lyte Deluxe
Tacoma DR14E6
Tacoma EKK19C
Fender Strat Hot Rod
Taylor 414ce L3
LARRIVEE LV03K
Ibanez Soundgear Bass 5

Quote from: D_D_D_Daffy on March 03, 2006, 02:13:52 PM
Why should I choose a Larrivee over a Taylor? (subjective question. Eh what?)

Because we told you to. 

I love how taylor uses woods like sapele and ovonkol(sp?), and they somehow make them appear to be rare exotic woods.  You have to pay out your rear if you want real mahogany or rosewood in the taylor lineup. I've seen straighter grained rosewood on 03 larris than on higher end taylors.  I've also seen AAA koa on 03 larrivees, something you would probably be paying $2000+ on a high end taylor.

Breedlove SD-25 Custom
1973  Martin Sigma DM-5

I owned a Taylor 410 for a few years and it was no better than an OK guitar.  It was the first "name" acoustic I owned and bought it because of the name (and because I knew very little about what I wanted in an acoustic), I bought my first Larrivee (OM9) on a holiday in New York and had gone willing to spend a considerable amount on a good acoustic.  Larrivees simply stood out at every level and so much less expensive.  My other Larrivee I bought second hand form CODA music in Luton (Larrivees are rare in the UK), a CO9 and it too is a stunner.
What no one has mentioned yet is playability and response and here Larrivees really stand above every other make I have tried.  They are so easy to play, so responsive.
Dave
Larry OM9, SC Tony Rice, MciLroy A30, NK Forster Model C, NK Forster Model G, PRS McCarty, PRS McCarty Soapbar, PRS McCarty HollowBody, PRS Swamp Ash Spec, PRS Starla, PRS SE One, Grosh Retro Classic, Blade RH4, Blade R2, Blade T2, Blade Texas Vintage 62, Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro, Patrick Eggle NY Broadway, Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom

Quote from: roknroll on March 05, 2006, 03:02:09 AM
I love how taylor uses crap woods like sapele and ovonkol(sp.
     Sapele and Ovangkol crap woods?  Whats up with that?

kdonovan
kdonovan


QuoteI love how taylor uses crap woods like sapele and ovonkol(sp)
QuoteSapele and Ovangkol crap woods?  Whats up with that?
Don't worry Kevin, RnR doesn't want there to be any doubt about how he feels. :WNK>

Seriously, we had all better get used to different woods on our guitars, down the road.  We shouldn't be as unwilling to change as a lot of the UMGF folk seem to be, judging from many posts about Martin's new "select hardwood" and such.

When did you get the Sapele Larry?  From Notable Guitars?  Sure looks nice.  Have you posted comments about this guitar yet? 
Play it daily for best results.

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