New Bakersfield arrived today

[cynic]

For the most part, I'm blown away, but unfortunately I haven't been able to strap it on and see how it feels when standing.  

I'm sure you can see in the pic why    I guess they figured I could add my preferred strap buttons? I dunno. Anyone else receive their Bakersfield sans buttons?



And before anyone asks, no, I wasn't using the clorox wipes to clean it   I had just set the case on the kitchen counter after pulling it outta the shipping box.

edit: btw the way, the pic is very close range using the flash to best show what I wanted to show. It's not at all indicative of just how beautiful the finish on this thing is.

[JOYCEfromNS]

Nope not me BUT I wasn't long rippin the one's that were and puttin in the Schallers. That woulda saved me a step 

[cynic]

There are no steps being saved, the holes aren't even drilled.

Does Larrivee has authorized service centers where this might be looked after for free?

Aside from that, I'm digging the heck outta this thing sitting down. I got the mini-hum in the neck and there are great sounds in every position, but the bridge is really snappy.

[JOYCEfromNS]

Does Larrivee has authorized service centers where this might be looked after for free?

I'm hoping you purchased from a Dealer nearby

[Mikeymac]

Looks very nice ... is that tobacco burst? Looks very "reddish" compared to the pics on their website...

Bummer about the strap buttons. Another good reason to buy locally, so you can get "warranty work" done.

[cynic]

It is the TB, but it's more red in the picture than in person. It may not be exactly the same, but the finish looks pretty close to what was at NAMM.

I'll post some more pics when I can get some good shots in natural light.

[Xcurrent]

Nice guitar, from your pictures it would appear we purchased our guitars from the same dealer,  although mine hasn't arrived yet.  Not everyone has a "local" dealer nearby, and if everything else was OK, I'd be inclined to install them myself.  Yes you shouldn't have to do that but hassle of delivering it to a repair center would in my case outweigh the effort installing new buttons. It does make one make one wonder how it got out when you consider that it had to be  handled by numerous folks prior to you getting it and no one noticed.

[Stephen Basil]

The burst B'sfield pictured on the Guitar Adoptions site is also missing the strap buttons.  The butterscotch finish one they're also advertising has them.

[PM33AUD]

That thing is nice man!  And I know full-heartedly that the actual finish is super hard to capture with a pic.  My RS4 RB burst always comes out way redder than it actually is.  Maybe they're not meant to be photographed :D

RE: the missing strap buttons.  I think you will find that the guitar will begin to float like an angelic being.  So I'd start playing some beautiful chords through a twin or something - see what happens.

Phil

[fritferret]

that finish is just too purdy to blemish w/ strap buttons.

[cynic]

The burst B'sfield pictured on the Guitar Adoptions site is also missing the strap buttons.  The butterscotch finish one they're also advertising has them.

Yep, judging from the identical wood grain that appears to be mine. Looks like some musical pickguard games were played during picture time though, in the pic on their site it has the single coil.

Dave's pics are a much better representation of the color.

[Stephen Basil]

^ That's interesting about the pickup option changing.  Not knowing electric guitars  I suspected that a run of the bursts might have been shipped out sans buttons.

It's a splendid burst.

[Mikeymac]

^ That's interesting about the pickup option changing.  Not knowing electric guitars  I suspected that a run of the bursts might have been shipped out sans buttons.

I doubt that .. it definitely looks like the same guitar. With the Seymour Duncan pickup harness it makes switching out the pickguard and neck pickup a snap, so if you ordered tobacco burst with the mini-humbucker, it was easy for Dave at GA to make the switch without any soldering and send you the guitar and pickups you wanted.

[bacchus]

That is a sweet looking guitar!  The lack of strap buttons is odd, I'm not sure why exactly they would do that.  Nonetheless, beautiful guitar.

Question: how does that mini humbucker sound in the neck position?  I am thinking about doing a mini HB neck and full HB bridge in the forum V.

[Mikeymac]

Question: how does that mini humbucker sound in the neck position?  I am thinking about doing a mini HB neck and full HB bridge in the forum V.

Just a heads up ... the mini-humbucker on the Forum guitar will be one wound in-house by Matthew Larrivee - the ones in the Bakersfield are (currently, at least) Seymour Duncan models. So a direct comparison won't be possible.

I can also tell you that an ash body with a bolt-on maple neck sounds a LOT different than a set-neck mahogany neck/body - even with the same pickups in it!

[bacchus]

Just a heads up ... the mini-humbucker on the Forum guitar will be one wound in-house by Matthew Larrivee - the ones in the Bakersfield are (currently, at least) Seymour Duncan models. So a direct comparison won't be possible.

I can also tell you that an ash body with a bolt-on maple neck sounds a LOT different than a set-neck mahogany neck/body - even with the same pickups in it!

Ah, i totally forgot that these were the SD's, sorry 'bout that.  Anyway, that is one sexy guitar.  Congrats.

[cynic]

First, I've heard lots of suggestions that these are on par with Fender Custom Shop or even Master Built. They are not. At the price point, I doubt they were intended to be. If it was the intent, they've missed the bar.

After spending a few days with my Bakersfield here's a few observations based solely on hardware and workmanship:

Tone pot should be a solid shaft, but it's a knurled shaft pot with a brass sleeve to allow the mounting of a set-screw knob. Result is out of the box I could turn my tone knob around as many times in either direction as I wanted. Some tightening helped, but it will never be 100% reliable until swapped for solid shaft.

The very nice bridge from Callaham is not mounted square with the body or neck. I didn't remove it to see if the string-thru holes are parallel to the bridge mounting holes, but it's crooked enough that it's obviously askew (see tobacco burst photo on Guitar Adoptions site). It was so bad I had difficulty keeping the high E on the neck when I played. It's been resolved by loosening and retightening neck while pushing it towards the upper bout, ensuring strings were aligned properly while I tightened the neck screws.

The good part of that last note is that I no longer have to worry about the high E string rolling off the fretboard. The bad part is that there was enough slop in the neck joint that it was such a simple fix. I've owned at least a dozen bolt ons, from MIJ Gretsch & ESP to American made Hamer, EBMM and Fender. I've also put together a few parts teles and have never had to pay any attention to correctly positioning the neck to tighten it. There should really only be one position it can be tightened in, the right one.

The neck carve, fret work, and what appears to be some very quality woods are the selling points. The Callaham bridge is very nice, and would be great if not mounted crooked. I'm sure some will suggest the bridge needed to be cocked a bit to achieve intonation, but the bridge is adjustable enough that it should be able to be used as designed unless something somewhere else is off.

It's a great playing guitar once adjusted properly. I'm no Seymour Duncan fan, and this mini-humbucker isn't going to change my mind. The bridge pickup however, is possibly the best sounding SD pickup I've owned. It's my first single coil SD, so I'm not sure if it's something to brag about or if my dislike of SD lies only with their humbuckers.

Bottom line, if you just need any Tele platform and have this kinda money to spend, get a used Fender American Tele or Hamer T-51 and you'll have a guitar of equal (or better) quality as the Larrivee and about a third of your cash still in your pocket. If you're a Larrivee fan and want to support the company (as was my case), buy the Bakersfield, but don't believe anyone telling you it's a custom shop level instrument. Obtaining quality woods and hardware is important, but there's room for improvement in bringing those things together in a finished instrument.

[PM33AUD]

Thanks for the honest review!  Yea, a crooked bridge is something that seems like can't be messed up with the right jig.  Maybe it was aligned off the neck and the neck was shifted to start.  I do not think this is due to intonation reasons at all.  Some Strats I've owned had some pretty sloppy neck joints.  I would imagine with a bolt on there has to be some play though.  Ibanez guitars are notorious for stress finish cracks near the joint and I'd imagine if the pocket was too tight on a strat or tele the lacquer would crack just the same.  But from an assembly/alignment point of view, a tighter joint removes some error in assembly and setup.

[Xcurrent]

Cynic, Thanks for the review. To be honest, I didn't notice the alignment issue (on Guitar Adoptions website) until you mentioned it but its very clear.  I don't much care about the pot issue because I've got an Acme Toneshaper that I intend to drop in in pace of the current controls. I bought this primarily because of the neck profile and wide neck.  Me, I would send it back. I own 4 Strats, 2 Fender American made and two Warmoth partcasters and the neck pocket is tight on all. One should not have to shift the neck pocket on a brand new guitar. As far as the pickups go. I ordered mine with the single coil neck but I have a Lollar mini-hum I plan to put in the neck. I happy to hear you like the bridge pickup. I have several guitars with SD's Humbuckers but they are Antiquities or  Seth Lovers and I'm pleased with them. I prefer the Lollar Mini-hum over the SD or Gibson. I have a set in a Les Paul Deluxe that were a marked improvement over the Gibsons. Obviously YMMV. Thanks again for posting your feedback. rob

[Matthew Larrivee]

The picture on the guitar adoptions sight might be a little deceiving. I think the best thing to do would be to let me issue a call tag and get the guitar back here and make it right. Ultimately we want you to be 100% satisfied. The build quality should exceed fender custom shop, and i'm confident that upon return it will. I've advised our service rep mike that you may be writing him requesting an RA# and a call tag. Simply mail him at info@larrivee.com

Matthew