New Guitar Day - 2000 Larrivee OM-02

[SloFinger]

 

I'm going to make a short story long, so bear with me.  My rambling will make sense if you stick with it.  This is a story of love lost and love found.  I'm sure it will bring a tear of joy to all of you Larrivee fans.

My daughter started attending a well-known performance school in Boston four years ago.  She was a musical theatre major, but she had fooled around with guitar before she went to college and still had a need for an instrument for classes and projects.  [As an aside, she was a natural and progressed much more quickly than I did when I was learning.  Jealous.]   
When she first got to school, I figured I needed to upgrade her instrument from the old Yamaha I'd gotten her years ago.  I spent many hours at the local Guitar Center trying out the low-end guitars from Martin and Taylor.  I've always played Martins, and I never liked the balance or neck/fretboard of Taylors.  There were some decent sounding cheaper Martins, but the synthetic materials of the bridge, fretboard, and b/s of their "budget" models turned me off.  I wound up buying her a Taylor 114 just to get her a decent guitar, figuring I'd rather have laminate real wood rather than the synthetic stuff Martin was putting out there.  It was an upgrade from what she had been playing, at least.

Fast forward to her Junior year.  She's been accepted for the songwriting emphasis, and she'll be writing and performing on guitar.  I started looking around for a guitar upgrade for her, since I've never been real happy with the entry-level Taylor.  Basically I wanted a guitar with real wood back/sides/top at a good price, and it would be a bonus to find one with real wood bridge and fretboard.  I'd also been leaning towards an OM body style versus a dreadnaught, considering that it might be more accommodating to the female physique.  Larrivee wasn't even on my radar.  But at some point my internet searches for all-wood guitars brought me to Larrivee guitars.  I'd heard of them, but I'd never played them or known anyone that had one.  I spent a lot of time reading these forums, and it was hard to ignore the praise of the Larrivee guitars.

So I started searching Craigslist and the Guitar Center website for Larrivee, along with Martin and Taylor.  Lo and behold, my local GC has an "OM-03" that just came in, with the ridiculously low price (compared to Martin/Taylor for a solid wood guitar) of $650.  I head to the GC and walk straight to their acoustic room.  No Larrivee in sight.  I ask the guitar dude, and he knows nothing about it.  A few minutes later after he roots around in the back room, he brings out the Larrivee that just came in.  The guitar has dead strings, but as I start playing it, it is obvious that there is definitely something there.  I get the guitar dude to put new strings on it, then head back to the acoustic guitar room. 

Gawd, this guitar is killer.  Incredibly resonant, balanced across all strings.  Sustain like a Les Paul.  The OM body very comfortable to play (and I'm a lanky person).  Where have you been all my life?  I A/B'd it with some of the higher-end Martins and Taylors in the room, but just couldn't get away from it.  Yea, for that price, I'm taking it home.  Walked out with guitar and case for under $700. 

Turns out it was a 2000 OM-02, not an OM-03, which really didn't matter to me.  I assume it has sapele b/s (I can't really tell the difference between hog and sapele).  Doesn't matter.  That guitar was a sleeper.  I put D'Addario Custom Lights on it (figuring the longer scale would make them feel like lights).  And I played that guitar for three weeks solid.  I'm a flat picker, very little finger picking, but that OM-02 could handle everything I could give it.  My main guitars are a 1967 Brazilian Rosewood Martin D-35 and a 90's D-18, and that little OM-02 had me hooked.  An ex-girlfriend had a Martin 000-28 EC that, until I picked up the Larrivee, was one of the sweetest guitars I've ever played.  Dang Jean Larrivee, you sure know how to build guitars!

I was both sad and excited to have to give that guitar to my daughter.  Flew with it up to Boston, and two days later she played it for her songwriting showcase.  Listening to it from the audience, I was blown away again.  It mic'ed great.  Filled up the room, and the balance was amazing.  Plus it complemented and sat in the mix with her vocals really well.  And it blew away all the other guitars the other students played.  She has recorded with it for the past year, and it is just splendid for recording.

So for the last year, I've been obsessing over that guitar.  I've been checking Craigslist and GC, looking for a Larrivee at a good price.  Do I need one?  Probably not.  Would I really like to have one? Absolutely!  Two weeks ago, I watched the video of my daughter's end of year songwriting showcase.  Medium sized room, no mics or amplification.  That little Larrivee filled up the room.  And even though the video was captured on an iPhone, the balance and projection was amazing.  That did it.  I was now on a mission.

I'd seen a 2000 OM-02 on ebay for the past several weeks for under $600, and on Monday I had to pull the trigger.  2000 OM-02, twin to my daughter's guitar.  I'm usually very hesitant to buy an instrument sight unseen without having the opportunity to play it.  But I was so confident in the Larrivees that I was willing to take a chance with this one.

Which brings me (finally, you say) to New Guitar Day.  The guitar arrived today.  It is a year 2000 OM-02, build date four months after my daughter's.  Black plastic body binding.  White binding on the neck.  Three ring rosette.  The previous owner obviously didn't play it much (some fret corrosion).  Poor sucker.  Didn't know what they were missing.  It had dead bright brass strings on it.  In anticipation of its arrival, I managed to find a music store open today, despite the coronavirus restrictions, and bought a couple of sets of D'Addario Custom Lights.  Put the new strings on, guitar polish all around, freshened up the frets.  And yea – what an amazing guitar.  Both of these OM's are incredibly light.  And I guess that is one thing that makes them sustain so much.  It sits in the same tonal range as my D-18, but it just has so much more power, projection, and resonance.  Crazy considering it has a smaller body. 

I've already taken up way too much time writing about it, and I'm now ready to spend the rest of the evening making music.  My recommendation: jump on those Larrivees.  You'll not regret it.

[Rockysdad]

  SloFinger,  

Great story, I doubt anyone here wouldn't agree with you on the Larrivee brand, after all, that's why we're HERE 

And I don't know if you know but, if there aren't any pics,    it didn't happen

Now all you need to do is sample a Larrivee *L* bodied guitar 

[SloFinger]

Pics will follow,

[Mikeymac]

Congrats and welcome to the Larrivee loony bin. If you can stop at just one, you are a man of great restraint (of course, this is really #2 for you, not to mention a twin to the first one you bought for your daughter...but that's really a pretty good testimony to the instrument).

Larrivee's are a rare breed. EVERY Larrivee, whether it's a 02 series or a 10 series or a super fancy (older) 72 series, it will be all solid woods with a one-piece neck and the same bracing and dovetail neck joint across the line. There are a few, short-lived, exceptions to this, but they are rare, and they still all have the dovetail neck joint and the Larrivee bracing (except for the recent 40 series, which have Martin style bracing).

Again,

[SloFinger]

Pics, as requested.

[Mr_LV19E]

Congrats   

   
   

Very nice guitar and cool you got the same as your daughters.  The more you play it the more you'll like it.
I won't spoil the ending. 

[Rockysdad]

Guitar looks great, thanks for the pics.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SloFinger]

Thanks for the encouragement, folks.  Three days of playing it, and not a hint of disappointment.  It's gonna be tough not to want to add to the collection now.  A nice L- or C- sure would look good.  Everybody talks about how vocal Larrivee owners are about their love of the guitars.  I am definitely one of those now. (Psst, hey buddy.  Have you ever played a Larrivee?)

Pick purty