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Neck: Fretboard: Bridge: Electronics: Top: Sides: Back: Cosmetics: |
One piece solid mahogany with Dovetail joint. Ebony - 22 frets. Ebony - Bone Saddle. Fishman Matrix Saddle Transducer. Spruce. Mahogany. Mahogany. Abalone rosette. Mother of Pearl Logo on headstock. Sterling Silver border on headstock. Mother of Pearl dots. Cream binding on fretboard. Maple binding on top and back. Clear pickguard. |
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Back in early 2000, I was looking for a really good acoustic guitar. I wanted an acoustic-electric, but the electric part was secondary. I knew I could always add a Fishman or Baggs pickup to it later. I have always thought I would like to have a Martin, so I tried them first. What a disappointment!. I could not believe a company could build a guitar that sounded this lifeless and charge so much for it! On a recommendation from one of the local dealers, I tried a Taylor. I was knocked out by how it played. I mean, here is an acoustic guitar that plays like a Strat. But the playablility was not all I was looking for and while the upper-end models do sound better than a Martin, and at a better price, they still sound kind of thin. Sort of all mid's and a little high's, but no real bottom end to round out the tone. The acoustic-electric models do sound very good plugged in, but the first thing I'm looking for is a great acoustic tone, the electric part is secondary. A friend turned me on to the Guild DC5E. A gorgeous guitar that plays well and sounds better than either the Martin or the Taylor. With a list price close to 1/2 of the Martin and an average selling price of about $1200(usd), I really thought this was it. Then, one day, I was in Music Alley playing on some Yamaha acoustics, when the store manager mentioned that they were starting to carry a new line of acoustic guitar called Larrivee. He only had one model in at the time, so I played it. It was a beautiful Spruce and Rosewood Jumbo with all the fancy trimmings, and the price reflected it. Listing well over $3000(usd), he just couldn't discount it quite far enough down to reach my budget. Over the next few weeks, he got in a couple more, and I kept coming in and playing them. I knew at this point that I would have to have a Larrivee. The only acoustic I had ever heard that came close to this was an old Martin that had belonged to a friends father years ago. One day the manager told me that he had just agreed to purchase 3 Larrivee's at a special price as they were the previous year's model had been returned from a store that was going out of business. He was going to be able to sell these guitars at 1/2 of list price. He called me as soon as they came in and I went down to try them out. One was a "09" model with rosewood sides and back, and even at 1/2 price would still have stretched my budget. The other two were mahogany back and sides with spruce tops. One of these had no electronics in it and no cutaway on the upper bout. The other one is the one you see in these pictures. It had the sharp, florentine cutaway on the upper bout, and already had the Fishman Matrix pickup mounted under the saddle. It made no difference whether it was plugged in or not..... it just sounded incredible, and since it was a "05" model, it was well within my budget. The only thing I could say was "SOLD". |
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