Larrivee F 33 at TMS

[multidon]

I have been looking at this since it wad put up for sale. 2149 seems to me to be a great deal for an F style with top grade flame and a varnish finish both of which usually represent an upcharge. Doing some research on old threads here I discovered there isnt a lot of love for these. Some things that were said: the sound is merely ok not great. The scroll is pieced together not carved in one piece. The scroll is too large off balance looking and clumsily executed. Of those criticisms the one that would bother me the most is the one about sound. Beauty after all is in the eye of the beholder. Have opinions on these changed any since they were introduced? Has manufacturing method changed any in the past seversl years since introduction to address the criticism? I own a Larricee guitar and I think it is a heckuva guitar. Of course I realize making a good guitar is not the same as making a good mandolin. But I am just curious about this. If one did not know the brand and you were told you could have an Amrrican made F style with great bookmatched flamed back and a varnish finish for 2149 why would that not be an unbelievably good deal? What am I missing?

[AW Meyer]

I remember when the Larrivèes were first dicussed on the Cafe message board. There seemed to be an outpouring of scorn based on the shape of the scroll. I've played only one Larrivèe mandolin and I really liked how it sounded. To me, it was a good mandolin. Fit and finish were excellent. I wasn't shopping for a mandolin at the time, but I was curious to try that one. I think the Mandolin Store is offering a fine mandolin at a very good price.

[John Hill]

Don,

That was my F33. I don't get why they never caught on because the fit & finish is flawless, varnish, binding all around...more importantly this mando sounds really good. More modern / Collings sound than Gibson, even across the strings with a nice thunk on the g & d strings. For the money it's a steal IMO.

Only reason I don't have it anymore is that BRW two-pointer that I HAD to have.

[Caleb]

I'd love to have one of their A-styles. I have one of their guitars and love it.

[Canoedad]

Only reason I don't have it anymore is that BRW two-pointer that I HAD to have.

Congratulations. I think Ben Wilcox makes fantastic looking 2 pointers.

[John Hill]

Congratulations. I think Ben Wilcox makes the best looking 2 pointers out there, bar none.

Thanks. It's everything I hoped it'd be and yeah, love the styling. Ben makes a top notch mando and it's settling in nicely after traveling from Arizona to frigid Louisville.

[Steve Ostrander]

I'd love to have one of their A-styles. I have one of their guitars and love it.

I recently bought a Larivee guitar. Awesome sounding and playing guitar. I matched it up against a Martin DG1M and a D-16. No contest, I bought the Larivee. I've never played one of their mandolins, though.

[sgarrity]

I've played a few of their mandolins and didn't care for them at all. There are better options out there.

[multidon]

Shaun, if you don't mind I would appreciate it if you could be more specific about exactly what it was you didn't like.

[sgarrity]

They sounded thin with no volume. The one at TMS certainly looks nice. I don't care for the logo much though. They have a great return policy if you want to try it. Or just call them. They will give you an honest opinion of the Mando.

[roysboy]

They sounded thin with no volume. .

I've played /heard 2 different A model Larrivees and agree with the quote above.

[Denman John]

I owned a Larrivee A-33 for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. At first I was a little underwhelmed with the tone, but after a couple of weeks of hard playing, it started to open up be a big beautiful voice. It is more of a modern voice than the traditional Gibson sound, but it's a fine instrument. I can see myself having another one some day. I think that this is an excellent price for an instrument of this quality.

[allenhopkins]

...you could have an Am[e]rican made F style with great bookmatched flamed back and a varnish finish for 2149...

Well, North American -- Canadian, to be specific.

[multidon]

Allen- Larrivee has 2 manufacturing facilities one in Canada and one in Oxnard California. My research says that although detsils are somewhat nebulous at present all production is in Oxnard with the exception of their satin finished entry level guitars which remains in Canada. I say nebulous because apparently there was a period of time between approximately 2001-2003 when some assembly took place in Canada and then the partially finished instruments were then shipped to California to be finished. Supposedly all production was changed over to the California facility by the end of 2003 with the aforementioned exception. This is why I made the assumption the Larrivee mandolin was madr in USA. I could be wrong but I based that statement on what.data I was able to find.

[almeriastrings]

I think it is fair to say these were not a raging success. The specs are nice, the materials are nice enough, the fit and finish good, but, somehow they did not take the market by storm. Consequently, their resale value is pretty bad. I know someone who paid €3,000 for one.. and had a real hard time getting even €1,200 when he decided it was not a keeper. He changed to a Northfield 'S' series. Not made in North America, and not varnish, but he likes it a whole lot more and says it sounds way better.

[BBarton]

I'm not sure how much of their guitar manufacturing remains in Canada now, but I heard on the news a few weeks ago that they are moving everything to California indicating that taxes were just too high in Canada (BC) to continue there (at least that's what the reporter said).

[John Hill]

Dang. If you move to Cali for lower taxes then yes, your taxes are too high.

[multidon]

I bet his taxes are lower in CA because he was offered some nice big juicy tax incentives to relocate. Probably the state made him an offer he couldnt refuse in the name of business devrlopment and job creation.

[pheffernan]

While I know that Taylor does it, I would think that California's strict environmental policies would be a deterrent to relocating a company that finishes instruments.

[sgarrity]

Hmmm, let's see......we have Taylor, Santa Cruz, Fender, G&L, Deering, Larrivee, and countless smaller boutique builders. Responsible use of chemicals and finishes is not a deterrent to running a successful business.

[pheffernan]

I'm not knocking California. I've just read that regulation of nitrocellulose lacquer in particular is higher there, making the process more expensive and therefore less profitable. I found a mention of that concept here: http://www.music-man.com/faq/music-man-guitars/why.

[multidon]

Someone I know in the music industry told me years ago when Fender introduced their Highway One series, touted as an affordable USA made guitar with a thin satin nitro finish, that they were having the bodies finished in their Mexico facility just across the border because there weren't all those pesky environmental regulations over there. Then they would ship the bodies to CA for completion of the instrument. Generally speaking most Fenders made in CA use poly finishes. Taylor uses a catalyzed polyester finish as does Larrivee for many of their instruments. I'm pretty sure Santa Cruz uses nitro. They must have just found a way to deal with it. I'm sure the higher cost of dealing with the regulations regarding nitro is simply reflected in the price and passed on to the consumer.

Wow, has this thread ever morphed! No one would have any idea we were discussing this based on the thread title.

[sgarrity]

That it has! LOL

[multidon]

While we've been going off topic here someone bought it! Its gone. Wasnt me.