New Larrivee Owner ... had to grab two :)

Started by Casey86, January 17, 2018, 11:26:07 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Hi All

Just picked up a new d-04w and used but unplayed lv-03. Really happy!

After Christmas I decided a nice acoustic was in the future for my lefty wife Marcia. She does not play but I often find her listening and singing along to youtube vids of unplugged rock groups ('more than words' extreme etc).  Went into Long & McQuade to see what they have during the boxing week sale. Saw a nos 2013 Larrivee d-04w hanging with no price tag. The salesmen know me there (I'm a pro bassist with 45 years of gigs under my belt) and they said 'this is the only lefty acoustic in the store and for Casey we can give a special price'. Ha ha! The fact that it is nos from 2013 and a lefty meant I got a great deal on a perfect new guitar! She had been waiting outside in the car and I walked towards her in heavy rain with the guitar and a big grin. She thought I had bought yet another bass...

The d-04w was a special edition made in Calif for L&M Canada. Vine head stock inlay, Peruvian walnut sides and back. Gloss top, hand signed label and nice case.
Being a newbie I cant post pics but here is what it looks like:
https://www.long-mcquade.com/43944/Guitars/Acoustic/Larrivee/Dreadnought_Walnut_Acoustic_-_Gloss_Top_Vine_Headstock.htm

The dreadnought really sounds nice but being a lefty I cant get around it. I stumbled across a 2002 lv-03 at Rufus guitars online here in Vancouver that I could play. We went to look with cash in hand. It is in unplayed condition! Made in Vancouver. I made a reasonable offer, and away we went home with our second Larrivee. Two newbie guitarists with beautiful guitars to learn on!

Really happy with the build quality of the Larrivee's. Being a bassist I have 5 electric basses and 2 uprights, some of very high quality.
(Alembic fretless, handmade upright with highly flamed maple etc) The Larrivee's fit in nicely :)

Technical question:
Marcia's  d-04 has slightly heavier strings than the lv-03 and sounds much deeper & warmer than the lv-03. Is it both body shape and string thickness that makes the difference or just the string thickness? Maybe the dreadnought body has a bigger sound than the lv? Both sound and play good to my ears, but are different.

The new d-04 strings are set higher than the lv-03 but it has never been set up. L&M give a free set up in the first year so after a while I'll get them to do that and maybe install a strap button, the lv-03 could use one too.

Cheers
Casey

Congrats, and welcome!
Regarding your question, yes a D will have a larger and warmer tone than an L.  The L is very well balanced. The D is much more balanced than most dreads, but has deeper bass than the L for sure.   It's in the body shape more than the strings but the strings can contribute too.

Walnut is such a great tone wood BTW.  Good choice!
D-09 Brazilian w/ Eagle inlay. D-02-12
Used to own and love; SD-50, J70 maple Mermaid, SD60sbt, D03R, LV03E.

If your wife is just starting to learn, get the guitar set up for light strings - they won't diminish the tone noticeably, and she'll get along much better with it.

Congrats on the new guitars and welcome to the forum (from another lefty player!).

:gotdonuts:
2021 C-03R TE left-handed
Larrivee owner since 1992

Welcome to the forums Casey. I have the exact same dread and love it. Mine was sitting cased in a back room and they found it when looking for other guitars for me to play. I wasn't sure about Peruivan walnut as a tonewood but only had to play it to know it was coming home with me. I have tried several strings and really like D'Addario EXP16's lights on mine (really balanced) but half the fun was testing to see what my ear liked.

You will find there is a great and knowledgeable group of people here on the forums who really like when new visiters bring them lots of  :coffee :coffee :coffee :donut :donut2 :donut
Larrivee D-04W VHS (Peruvian Walnut/Sitka)
Martin 000-28EC (EIR/Sitka)
Martin HD-28 v18 (EIR/Sitka)
Martin OM-21 Special (EIR/Sitka)

Quote from: B0WIE on January 17, 2018, 01:27:50 PM
Congrats, and welcome!

Walnut is such a great tone wood BTW.  Good choice!

Yes sir yes sir. My SD Sitka/Peruvian sounds great,,,especially capoed up a few.
A Hebrew, under the Spell
Pain is a good thing

 :welcome: 

Wonderful story and congrats on the new Larrivee Guitars!

:nice guitar: :nice guitar:
1977 Classical
2015 OO-40
2017 LV-10 50th Annniversary #2/50
2021 LSV-03 Forum VI
2023 Hatfield BJG Strong Tenor low G Ukulele #003

Thanks for the kind words.

You gave me an idea tonight. I installed some new light strings on the d-04, after cleaning the board with steel wool and oiling it.  Then I took her old heavier strings and put them on my lv-03, just to hear the sound difs side by side. We are having a winter storm here and the power went out. I got to finish installing strings by candle light  :smile:

The result is Marcia's d-04 still sounds really big and warm with light strings. The lv-04 with the slightly heavier strings sounds even top to bottom, very similar as with light strings. I have to say the lv-04 has a great single string sound all around the 12th fret, reminds me of SRV on electric.  What a great guitar. I'll just put lights on it too when the time comes, as heavier did not make any great improvement that I could hear.

I continued to play and explore the guitar by candle light, which is rather pleasant.
It was actually kind of disappointing when the power and lights came back on...

I'm beginning to believe the only real advantage to medium strings is if you want lots of volume in a non-amplified situation playing with other musicians... or if you tune your low E string down a lot to D (or even C). But there are a few sets that have medium low E and high B and E strings and light A, D and G strings that work well for this (and are designed for DADGAD tuning); I use the Martin Retro Monel LJ set which is gauged this way; D'Addario also makes the EJ24 set that is gauged this way - you might try those as well.

Different strings are a great, inexpensive way to experiment with tone...  :donut :coffee :coffee
2021 C-03R TE left-handed
Larrivee owner since 1992

I am another "Larrivee lefty"  :donut :donut :coffee :coffee GOOD MORNING its cold out there

 
Not real good but very slow

Great guitars! Congrats!
1975 Larrivee L style
2006 Larrivee OM-03 MQ
1967 Ovation Josh White signature, 12 fret, shiny bowl
yamaha fg450sa
washburn mg-70
line6 variax 300
Parker pm20 quilted bubinga
epi Thunderbird IV bass

Quote from: Yippie on January 17, 2018, 02:24:32 PM
Welcome to the forums Casey. I have the exact same dread and love it. Mine was sitting cased in a back room and they found it when looking for other guitars for me to play. I wasn't sure about Peruivan walnut as a tonewood but only had to play it to know it was coming home with me. I have tried several strings and really like D'Addario EXP16's lights on mine (really balanced) but half the fun was testing to see what my ear liked.

You will find there is a great and knowledgeable group of people here on the forums who really like when new visiters bring them lots of  :coffee :coffee :coffee :donut :donut2 :donut

Thanks Yippie I'll try the exp16's on her when I get the set up done.

I jumped the gun with new Martin light strings ...put them on, then decided to get a set up to lower the action haha! I'll let Marcia get some mileage out of the strings, see how she gets along with what looks like high action to me, then get a set up that suits her.

Powered by EzPortal