Newbie here: New to Larrivee, Body wood help please

[ducktrapper]

 

[mike in lytle]

The L is like an undercover secret weapon.

Wow. Nice description.
Mike

[jweave69]

Awesome! Congrats on the L-03! And thank you for your service!

[Pathfinder]

Changed the strings and Wow! Magic. So happy..............

[Casey86]

Glad it worked out for you.

I have a LV-03 mahogany and I love it. Just bought it about 2 months ago, but I'm convinced it's sound has improved in that time. It is a 2002, and appeared unplayed. I took it into Blue Dog Guitars and the shop owner looked at it and said 'it's not been played, play it and the sound will get better'. I've played it pretty much every day and he was correct, it really sounds great. The low notes really pop and the high notes have a good sustain.

[dbirchett]

I find mahogany to be a friendlier guitar than rosewood. It seems to not expose my mistakes as badly. If you are playing guitar solo to accompany yourself, I think mahogany is ideal. If you are playing with several guitars and want to stand out more, then rosewood is probably what you want. Unless it's maple.

For myself, I have no rosewood guitars but two mahogany, two blackwood and one koa.

[headsup]

 

Pathfinder handle has a "Nissan" connection?

why you ask?

I have 2 of them, (Pathfinders) BOTH running well both almost 30 years old.
Not bad for harsh Canadian winters.....

[JOYCEfromNS]

I have 2 of them, (Pathfinders) BOTH running well both almost 30 years old.
Not bad for harsh Canadian winters.....

30 years well done! Getting parts now challenging?

[headsup]

not wanting to hijack this thread, I posted some stuff about my Pathfinders ( and other beaters) on the Non guitar discussion forum.

[Mikeymac]

Pathfinder handle has a "Nissan" connection?

He mentioned in an earlier post what "Pathfinder" stands for:

Frank (aka Pathfinder) I was a pathfinder in Viet Nam, so that will give you an idea of how old I actually am. Old..  :-)

[Pathfinder]

First, Pathfinder is NOT a reference to the car. That's funny though!

Well, did get some news today that somewhat thre a wet cloth over my parde. I typed in the serial # to check date of manufacture. Came back Jan 18, 2016?
So I bought a supposed NEW guitar that is actually over 2 years old? That kind of bums me out to be honest. I guess 2016 is still mahogany and not sapele.

EDIT: So, yes I like the guitar, very much. Now I think I would like to have another on, the same, but Rosewood......Different dealer though  :-)

[jweave69]

First, Pathfinder is NOT a reference to the car. That's funny though!

Well, did get some news today that somewhat thre a wet cloth over my parde. I typed in the serial # to check date of manufacture. Came back Jan 18, 2016?
So I bought a supposed NEW guitar that is actually over 2 years old? That kind of bums me out to be honest. I guess 2016 iss still mahogany and not sapele.

Before anyone asks or says, But if you like the guitar, etc, etc it doesn't matter, it does.

I paid, in a music store for a NEW guitar. So I have no idea what this guitar has been thru, was it ever repaired but I cannot see it. Where has it been?
once again, I know if I never knew this all would be fine, but I do.

Live and learn I guess. Not Larrivee's fault of course.

It's funny that you mention that. I was told my guitar was being ordered and coming straight from the factory. But when I checked the dates, it said it was manufactured January 2017. So basically a little over a year old. It looked and smelled new, so I'm not sure what that's all about. 

[Pathfinder]

Larrivee said the date is the START of manuafacture process. Could take anywhere from 3-6 months in the process.So yours is cool. But mine is over 2 years old. so where was it for a year and a half? Only the local daler would know I guess. He said he only had it for a few months. So now I am concerned about the care, etc. Checl the pict I uploaded. The back has that vertical "no color" thing going on and accross the bottom note the horizontal lines?

Hmmm? Anyone no what that is?
thanks

[Casey86]

Our new off the shelf lefty D-04w we bought Dec 2017 was built 2013. Can't really think of any reason it's a bad thing, nos means a better price.

A guy on AGF bought a D-09 ten years ago, after choosing between two D-09's with consecutive serial numbers. Ten years later he goes into the same store and the other guitar is still there, new. The serial number confirms it. He now buys that one too.

[B0WIE]

Larrivee said the date is the START of manuafacture process. Could take anywhere from 3-6 months in the process.So yours is cool. But mine is over 2 years old. so where was it for a year and a half? Only the local daler would know I guess. He said he only had it for a few months. So now I am concerned about the care, etc. Checl the pict I uploaded. The back has that vertical "no color" thing going on and accross the bottom note the horizontal lines?

Hmmm? Anyone no what that is?
thanks

It's nothing to be concerned over. I had a new Larrivee that was 5 years from the start date. Anyhow, it's easy to tell if a guitar has been used by looking at the frets.

[Pathfinder]

Thanks Guys. I have been emailing with Larrivee today and sent them the pict also. I am NOT a wood guy, my Strats and teles are sealed. They explained it perfectly, "the color is naturally occurring in the wood". Also explained the mfg date so an idiot like me can even understand it.

I'm OK with it all and stopped playing the guitar only to type this reply.
Larrivee was so quick to respond it was really refreshing and you folks here have been great!

Thanks, now back to the guitar.

[George]

It is not unusual for one of their guitars to sit in the factory unfinished for a while, or to sit in a store for a while.  I bought one from the factory last year that was built in 2008...  I still have never bought a bad one, regardless of how old it was when purchased. Acoustic guitars usually get better with age, kind of like us old folks think we do...

Off topic;  were you in Nam before or after '70?

[Pathfinder]

1969 and part of 1970. I got out April 1970

I'm good with the guitar and all the replies from the forum and Larrivee. Now tryig to clean the fretboard. whomever played it in the store never washed their hands. To be expected though

[ducktrapper]

It's also not terribly unusual for retailers to move guitars between them either. Especially if a non Larrivee dealer has someone who really wants one. As long as the guitar is not used, I guess it's new. New old stock? Old new stock. The dealer here still has several original RS-4's in stock. It's not like they're cars where year and model really make a big difference in price and buyers would not buy a "new car" that was several years old unless greatly discounted.     

[George]

So now I am concerned about the care, etc. Checl the pict I uploaded. The back has that vertical "no color" thing going on and accross the bottom note the horizontal lines?

Hmmm? Anyone no what that is?
thanks

That is one of the most nicely figured mahogany backs I have Ever seen on an 03 model.  I see nothing wrong with it at all.  You Did Good!