New L-03 Silver Oak - Body Stripe Concern

[George]

Update:

While I was waiting for the vendor to send me return shipping information I went out and played a number of guitars to try and decide what I wanted.  I tried everything from a Larrivee L-03 Canada 150th Commemorative Edition, J-45, J-35, Hummingbird, D-18 and a D-16.  Honestly, nothing else was the silver oak...especially considering some of those guitars are well over twice the price!!  I especially wasn't impressed with the fit and finish on the Gibson J's regardless of price.  

I was also contacted by a forum member who shared how special and rare silver oak is and how Jean does not believe he can get much more.  I reached out to the vendor again and asked for a larger discount and we came to a number I found more agreeable.  So, the guitar is going to be staying with me!  It's my birthday today, so I'm going to open the shipping box like it's the first time!!

Well Happy Birthday!  And I think you made a great decision, Larrivee's are very hard to beat...

[markj]

Happy to hear you got it resolved to your satisfaction with the dealer. and are able to keep what is essentially the best guitar you can find. Even knowing about the binding filler you still came back to this guitar. Says a lot about the guitar for sure.

I agree about Gibson acoustics btw. I don't understand the attraction to be honest.

[Walkerman]

I love happy endings... 

[Mikeymac]

I was also contacted by a forum member who shared how special and rare silver oak is and how Jean does not believe he can get much more.

I don't know who told you this, but unless I heard it directly from Jean, Matthew or John Jr., I'd be skeptical of this claim. I have not heard of silver oak being rare or hard to get... 

...and while many of us around here like silver oak, and believe it has some wonderful aesthetic and tonal properties, I don't think it's lighting the world on fire in terms of demand for guitar bodies...

No offense, just sayin' ... 

[rbpicker]

Wise move.
Rb

[tom1]

Well Happy Birthday!  And I think you made a great decision, Larrivee's are very hard to beat...

Thank you!    

[tom1]

I don't know who told you this, but unless I heard it directly from Jean, Matthew or John Jr., I'd be skeptical of this claim. I have not heard of silver oak being rare or hard to get... 

...and while many of us around here like silver oak, and believe it has some wonderful aesthetic and tonal properties, I don't think it's lighting the world on fire in terms of demand for guitar bodies...

No offense, just sayin' ... 

I was told that in a one-on-one conversation:  "Jean says that he is running out of silver oak, and doesn't know if he can get more." 

This wasn't the main reason I kept it obviously.  I really like the sound.  Realistically, how many builders are even using this wood?  To my knowledge Larrivee is the only one doing it on a regular basis. 

[tom1]

Happy to hear you got it resolved to your satisfaction with the dealer. and are able to keep what is essentially the best guitar you can find. Even knowing about the binding filler you still came back to this guitar. Says a lot about the guitar for sure.

I agree about Gibson acoustics btw. I don't understand the attraction to be honest.

They have the "cool" factor I guess.  The biggest thing I saw on the J-45 and J-35 was that the fretboards weren't bound and the side of the fretboards were sprayed with gloss.  Where the fretboard sits on the body of the guitar there was a build-up gloss finish that looked like it accumulated and dried.  The fretboard side facing the sound hole seemed to be unfinished and covered with overspray.  They sounded pretty good though!

[Queequeg]

Happy Birthday, Tom. 

[Rockysdad]

Happy birthday and, enjoy that guitar.

[Riverbend]

If it was like that in just one spot, or maybe two, I'd probably be inclined to ignore it and move on. Your pictures paint the issue as being greater than one or two bad areas. That'd be tough for me. They're expected to sound great AND look great. My OM-04 had a pretty poor spot of binding on the back that surprised me for having cleared QC. I kept the guitar because it sounds great and only had the one cosmetic flaw.  
I didn't read to the end of the thread before commenting, so happy birthday and I'm glad there was a good resolution!

[Paraclete]

Happy Birthday!  I don't think I'd stress about that binding if the guitar itself is not compromised. The sound and playability are more critical factors in my opinion.  It almost looks like a translucency thing with the wood grain, though hard to tell from pics.  Enjoy and play the heck out of it!

[L07 Shooting Star]

All's well that ends well.  Enjoy your hard-earned guitar.

[markj]

I played one of these today at Hatfield Guitars in Janesville, WI. Bill just took delivery of it and 4 additional Larrivees.

The L-01 Silver Oak did in fact exhibit the same trim issue in places. It seemed more subtle on this particular guitar but it was there in several areas.

It sounded and played awesome. Very rich and deeper bass than I expected. Gorgeous to look at as well.

[tom1]

I played one of these today at Hatfield Guitars in Janesville, WI. Bill just took delivery of it and 4 additional Larrivees.

The L-01 Silver Oak did in fact exhibit the same trim issue in places. It seemed more subtle on this particular guitar but it was there in sever areas.

It sounded and played awesome. Very rich and deeper bass than I expected. Gorgeous to look at as well.

Good to know mine is not the only one!