New Morgan

[superdave]

I have one of their new hand oil rubbed finish OMM 's on its way ! I've owned lots of Larrivee's but for the price I thought I should see what their all about.
Dave

[George]

I predict you will love it...

[Mikeymac]

Look forward to your full review... with pics!

[superdave]

Morgan's are similar in a lot of ways to Larrivees but get a lot more detailed attention when built !

[ducktrapper]

Look forward to your full review... with pics!

Yep.

[ducktrapper]

Morgan's are similar in a lot of ways to Larrivees but get a lot more detailed attention when built !

I believe that's an over generalization. A Morgan may get more attention than an 03 but probably not more than a 10. You get what you pay for after all. 

[JOYCEfromNS]

I believe that's an over generalization. A Morgan may get more attention than an 03 but probably not more than a 10. You get what you pay for after all. 

That too has been my findings on model comparisons

[webberink]

Super Dave,
As a Morgan and Larrivee owner, I think you will notice some distinct differences between them.  I know I did and I love the differences.  David Iannone has been developing his own distinct instrument since leaving Larrivee in 1985, with many interesting subtitles, which definitely contribute to his own play and sound. I would not part with any of my Larrivees nor my Morgan, but the Morgan is certainly way more than a Larrivee with "more care to detail when built."
Looking forward to your review.
Sincerely,
not so super, Dave

[ducktrapper]

Super Dave,
As a Morgan and Larrivee owner, I think you will notice some distinct differences between them.  I know I did and I love the differences.  David Iannone has been developing his own distinct instrument since leaving Larrivee in 1985, with many interesting subtitles, which definitely contribute to his own play and sound. I would not part with any of my Larrivees nor my Morgan, but the Morgan is certainly way more than a Larrivee with "more care to detail when built."
Looking forward to your review.
Sincerely,
not so super, Dave

At that, we need to know which Larrivee models you speak of. Can you say that about all Larrivees or just the ones in your possession? And if so, which details get more attention? My fanciest Larrivee is my OOO-50 TSB. I can't really see any details that received too little attention. I've played several Morgans, owned by friends of mine, and they were very nice indeed but my experience doesn't match yours. Although I was very impressed, I wouldn't trade any of them for the OOO.  

[George]

C'mon guys, ease up a little.  Dave is making commentary about the difference between a pseudo-mass-produced Larrivee vs. one-on-one built guitars from small luthiers like Morgan, Northwood and other former Larrivee apprentices.  If I look close enough, I can find flaws with every single guitar I own, including all of my custom models, and that is a lot of them...  I do believe the attention to detail is better on the higher end models, no matter who builds it...  Larrivee has recently faced some tough challenges in the marketplace and their attention to detail has degraded, according to some who have been disappointed with their orders (some have even cancelled their orders because of it.  This is not heresay, it is a fact I hear repeated from dealers).  I do not believe this is uniquely a Larrivee issue, but rather more attributable to the pool of personnel available to hire from.  There seems to be a trend of people that do not care whether they perform well enough to sign their name to their work (very unlike what most of us were taught to do).  I see this issue in just about all of the industries I do business with.  Just my two cents worth on this topic...

[superdave]

I just want to apologize for making a generalized statement without yet having owned both. I love my Larrivee's !
Dave

[Mikeymac]

Larrivee has recently faced some tough challenges in the marketplace and their attention to detail has degraded, according to some who have been disappointed with their orders (some have even cancelled their orders because of it.  This is not heresay, it is a fact I hear repeated from dealers).  I do not believe this is uniquely a Larrivee issue, but rather more attributable to the pool of personnel available to hire from.

I've ordered a number of Larrivee's with no problem, but my most recent custom order was, unfortunately, not correct. When the dealer sent it back, the person at Larrivee receiving gave the reason for return as "a small ding in the top." While there was a very small (acceptable to me) ding in the top, the reason for returning the guitar was that it was supposed to have a hog top, and it was spruce. Why would the person try to cover up the mistake? That's more troubling to me (and the dealer) than the actual error.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Larrivee and every company makes mistakes, but this was not cool.

(Sorry - now we're off topic, but someone opened this can of worms...)

[webberink]

My three Larrivee guitars are all extremely well built guitars.  My point about my Morgan guitar was, not that it was better built but that it was different from the Larrivee.  Many people who don't know Morgan guitars say they are Larrivee knock offs as though David Iannone has not done any of his own work in terms of design and build since leaving Larrivee in 1985.  That is just not true of him or any of the great bunch of luthiers who learned their craft at Larrivee and went on their own to develop their own wonderful instruments.  Besides Iannone, there is Manzer, Wren, McQuarrie, and the list goes on.   Again Super Dave, I look forward to your review of your new Morgan.
Sincerely,
Not so super Dave

[ducktrapper]

I've always seen Morgans as high end Larrivees and that has been my experience. They used to be (mostly|) built in the same shop after all. 

[ducktrapper]

C'mon guys, ease up a little.  Dave is making commentary about the difference between a pseudo-mass-produced Larrivee vs. one-on-one built guitars from small luthiers like Morgan, Northwood and other former Larrivee apprentices.  If I look close enough, I can find flaws with every single guitar I own, including all of my custom models, and that is a lot of them...  I do believe the attention to detail is better on the higher end models, no matter who builds it...  Larrivee has recently faced some tough challenges in the marketplace and their attention to detail has degraded, according to some who have been disappointed with their orders (some have even cancelled their orders because of it.  This is not heresay, it is a fact I hear repeated from dealers).  I do not believe this is uniquely a Larrivee issue, but rather more attributable to the pool of personnel available to hire from.  There seems to be a trend of people that do not care whether they perform well enough to sign their name to their work (very unlike what most of us were taught to do).  I see this issue in just about all of the industries I do business with.  Just my two cents worth on this topic...

The more guitars you build, even a small number mistakes, will mean more guitars with possible problems. That's obvious but that doesn't mean that Larrivee is not paying attention to detail. Let's say Morgan and Larrivee have a frequency of error that is .01%.  If Morgan builds a hundred guitars then one may have a slight defect.  But Larrivee when they build a thousand will have ten.   

[George]

I've always seen Morgans as high end Larrivees and that has been my experience. They used to be (mostly|) built in the same shop after all. 

I feel the same way about Northwood guitars.  It may be my imagination, but I think my Canadian Larrivee builds are a tick above my Oxnard builds, they just appear to have been paid more attention to detail...  no matter, I will still buy Larrivee when the opportunity to get a good one arises, and I patiently await the announcement of the 50th anniversary model(s)!!!

[Tuba Mike]

Hey SuperDave:

Looking forward to seeing your review and seeing pics.  I have been interested in those oiled-rubbed finished OM's for quite a while and talked with Jason (via emails) about them for a bit.  I would love the opportunity to try yours if that would be okay with you.  I live in Ypsilanti which I think is not too far from you.  I could bring my OM-50 and we could compare.  Hope all is well.

Mike

[superdave]

Mike that may just be possible ? The Wife and I just moved into an apartment while our home  in Grand Haven is being built. So I have lots of disposable time on my hands ! LOL
Dave

[Zohn]

  Morgans are consistently great guitars, I love my OMR - congrats with your incoming guitar superdave.
Please share your experience with it!

[superdave]

This is my first experience with an hand rubbed oil finish but I'm looking forward to seeing the difference between this and a sprayed on satin finish. It reminds me of how the old violin makers applied their finish.