Em Shorts - Larrivee Dealer

[1954Gold]

I suggest anyone shopping around for a Larrivee get in touch with EM Shorts, Wichita Band in Kansas. They are Larrivee authorized, provide free setup, approval period, return policy, and have generally blown other dealers smack out of the water. I bought my D-03 and my 1957 Les Paul Reissue from them. Don't judge them by their website which badly needs updating and work, but here is the link:

http://www.wichitaband.com/guitar.html

[stevelawsn]

I checked with E M Shorts on a rosewood parlor and they were not even in the same ballpark with Dave at guitaradoptions. Dave is a good guy and will work with you.  

[1954Gold]

I checked with E M Shorts on a rosewood parlor and they were not even in the same ballpark with Dave at guitaradoptions. Dave is a good guy and will work with you.

I checked Guitar Adoptions' site just now... $819 for the D-03, you have to inquire for their price.... I paid $649 delivered from EM, about 40% off MSRP.  FWIW, EM will match or beat prices.

[stevelawsn]

You have to talk with Dave to get the real selling price. They cannot advertise Larrivee's for any less than what the manufacturer will allow (right unclrob?), which is 25% off list. Right now they have a special on the D-03 for less than $600. You can only see this price on the website if you register with them online to receive notifications on special pricing. E M Shorts told me that they would match prices only if the other price includes a "setup" and a two year maintenance agreement in addition to the manufacturers warranty.  I really don't know why you would need to have any "maintenance" done on a guitar other than strings and they would not cover that anyway.  

[1954Gold]

You have to talk with Dave to get the real selling price. They cannot advertise Larrivee's for any less than what the manufacturer will allow (right unclrob?), which is 25% off list. Right now they have a special on the D-03 for less than $600. You can only see this price on the website if you register with them online to receive notifications on special pricing. E M Shorts told me that they would match prices only if the other price includes a "setup" and a two year maintenance agreement in addition to the manufacturers warranty.  I really don't know why you would need to have any "maintenance" done on a guitar other than strings and they would not cover that anyway.

Wow... a D-03 <$600 is a absolute screaming deal, though you would never know it from their site! Any deals on any other Larrivees? I will have to bookmark for future reference... thanks! Never had any hassle with EM at all  immediately beat prices... I think they are referring to their supplemental warranty which complements the manufacturers' warranty: one free fret level, repairs, adjustments, ect.

[stevelawsn]

All Larrivees' are great. If you like one in particular, just email or call guitaradoptions and they will work with you to get what you want at a great price. Don't pay too much attention to the website listed prices because they are more flexible on the pricing than what is shown. They handle some high dollar guitars like Breedlove in addition to Larrivee and the sky is the limit as far as what you might want. I believe that many others on this forum have dealt with guitar adoptions and I went to them because of all of the good references which were given by others here. Hope you enjoy your D-03 as much as I have mine. Unbeatable guitar for the money.  

[1954Gold]

I gotta say the Larrivee quality is absolutely breathtaking. I tried hard to buy a US made guitar - Martin, Gibson, but for for the money, I could only come up with lams. Heard so much about Larrivee from Harmony Central and Epinions I had to check out Larrivee's website. The Larrivee site is one of the best I have ever seen: factory tour, high res of woods, educational section, and video interview with Jean Larrivee. I work in international trade and I am really into manufacturing, so the features on the Larrivee site turned me around; US has a big trade deficit with Canada, so it was hard for me to not buy American made. BUT Larrivee's quality reigned supreme in my decision. As I said in another post, I immediately got rid of the Elixirs, took it to my luthier who grooved the bridge and lowered the action. With Martin Phosphor Bronzes Meds, the D-03 really came alive! Larrivee should get more aggressive with marketing in the States and Japan... Thanks again.

[unclrob]

Steve thats true ALL Larrivee dealers are now under MAP guidelines advertized pice can not be for more then 25% off list.That is why I don't advertise any price anymore except on my used one's.I not knocking any one,but Most of us will give 24 hour approval on any instrument.We do charge shipping and insurance that if the instrument is returned you do lose that portion of the price ,we give you 100% of the instruments purchase price.By the way $600.00 is closer to cost plus maybe 5% which is amazingly low profit margin unless your moving lots of bulk or your selling 2nd's or blem's and not telling anyone.the best I can do is quote a figure to you which I can't even print here.It's not as low as $600.00 for an 03 modal,maybe we should stop carriing Larrivee's if others are going to give them away we've got bill's to pay and we need to make so money and I mean at lest a little more

[stevelawsn]

Unclrob, I can appreciate what you are saying about the low profit margin. You probably would not be in business very long if you sold guitars that cheap all the time. I guess that an occasional short term special like that would serve to get new customers though. Kind of like a blue-light special at K-Mart. I know that I tend to return to the people who have treated me well when I have a need for something. I think that most people are like that. I am sure that selling guitars is a very competitive business. Thanks for your insights into the business and for reminding us that everybody is entitled to make a living.  

[unclrob]

You know me anything I can do to help,always happy to.

[atlantic]

I TELEPHONED every dealer I could find (US and Canada) when shopping for an L-03.  EM Shorts had the best price and have been great to deal with thus far (i.e. Nathan).  I'm picking the guitar up at the local UPS depot this evening but have to wait approx 24 hours for it to acclimate to room temperature prior to opening - given it's been subject to very cold temperatures during shipping. So I'm not going to get fanatical about the dealer until I see how the guitar is.

[1954Gold]

I TELEPHONED every dealer I could find (US and Canada) when shopping for an L-03.  EM Shorts had the best price and have been great to deal with thus far (i.e. Nathan).  I'm picking the guitar up at the local UPS depot this evening but have to wait approx 24 hours for it to acclimate to room temperature prior to opening - given it's been subject to very cold temperatures during shipping. So I'm not going to get fanatical about the dealer until I see how the guitar is.

It pays to look before you leap...prices vary and I heard that Larrivees are sharply discounted to the retailer for some reason. I'm in New Jersey and they shipped UPS ground from Kansas in the dead of December. Took about 5 days to get here on a 10 degree day. I let it warm up for a few hours and the D-03 was flawless. Same as with my R7. What I liked is you can talk to a luthier there on their nickle. Only wish I had EM put Martin PB Mediums on before shipping. FYI, There's discussions of EM over at the Les Paul Forum and Martin Forums if you wish to peruse that. Congrats and enjoy your new L-03! Will you post a review?

[unclrob]

Only factory blems are discounted extra.This may get me in big trouble with a lot of people so Zach if you have to remove it because I made trouble it's ok with me but standard dealer discount is 1/2 of list plus the shipping cost.It works out to around 48% off list......

[1954Gold]

Only factory blems are discounted extra.This may get me in big trouble with a lot of people so Zach if you have to remove it because I made trouble it's ok with me but standard dealer discount is 1/2 of list plus the shipping cost.It works out to around 48% off list......

Interesting post. I take it you buy direct from Larrivee, not from a distributor.  Like car dealerships, I figure that the manufacturers' standard discount is for ones-ees and two-sies... with a sliding scale offering greater discount for volume to reward the big producers. Probably factory incentives, too.

[unclrob]

Non Dist item here.We buy direct.No xtra discount if I buy 1 or 100.They may give me free shipping if I but a 100 at a shot but I think I'd have to ask first.They are the most wonderful people to deal with.

[1954Gold]

Yep, I am thrilled with Larrivee. I'd buy the stock if it were public.

[unclrob]

We've already bought stock there guitars........

[stevelawsn]

Rob, how do they handle the blems? Do you order blems or are they just handled by certain dealers?  If you order one, do you know ahead of time what the blemish actually is? I assume that they are just cosmetic blemishs which do not affect the playing or tone of the guitar.

Sorry for wandering from the thread subject....

[unclrob]

Steve
We get a list every once in a while.If I think I can move it I'll buy it.The Blems are useally so silly I have to work to find them.In most cases other manu. would sell these as blem's but as first.We've had at about 20 or so blem's thru here.No complant's from the buyer's and I tell you if it's a blem.I also sell them at 50% off of list because I get a good enough discount that as I say I make the money on the back side.I know of some dealers who don't tell and some who offer only a $50.00 discount on them and to me that's rippin people off in my book but you can'ttell someone how to run there business you just got to do what's you got to do.I prefer to tell people the truth it's always better.

[1954Gold]

Steve
We get a list every once in a while.If I think I can move it I'll buy it.The Blems are useally so silly I have to work to find them.In most cases other manu. would sell these as blem's but as first.We've had at about 20 or so blem's thru here.No complant's from the buyer's and I tell you if it's a blem.I also sell them at 50% off of list because I get a good enough discount that as I say I make the money on the back side.I know of some dealers who don't tell and some who offer only a $50.00 discount on them and to me that's rippin people off in my book but you can'ttell someone how to run there business you just got to do what's you got to do.I prefer to tell people the truth it's always better.

Interesting post... do the blems carry a unique serial number? During the Norlin era, Gibson would stamp a "2" under the S/N to indicate a factory second. Also, you sell the blem at 50% off list? So that means a D-03 which lists for $1098 would go to the customer for $549? If the blem is truly cosmetic, it may be well worth it to go for a second!