Post by Lefty Rev on Apr 15, 2020 12:40:13 GMT -5
The OM-40R (I mentioned ordering in the Larrivee thread) arrived Monday - right on time in spite of viruses and snowy weather, thanks FedEx!
PROS: Lots of them: high quality woods, impeccable build, perfect (satin) finish, balanced sound - both low end and trebles right out of the box (these are the Larrivees with the Martin style diagonal braces below the X-brace); interior of the guitar completely clean - not a drop of glue anywhere. I'm actually very surprised and pleased with the build quality. Price was an absolute steal - because of the great price I got, I thought this thing might have some glaring "B" stock issues, but I can't find anything wrong with this guitar.
CONS: The nut slot aren't spaced properly (D and G too close to each other, how hard is this to do?) and I had to lower them to the proper height (but I've had to do this on most of my Martins as well). Really that's it for CONS; the sound needs to open up some and mature...as I said above, it's balanced, but the sound of the strings is a little "soft" - notes don't sound as solid or strong as on my other, older guitars. Will opening up help this? I think so, but who knows? I'm comparing the tone to my 26 y-o Larrivee OM-05 and my 15 y-o Martin OM-21.
One thing to note: the Larrivee's dimensions aren't identical to the Martin OM-21 (or even to my old '92 Larrivee OM-05). The OM-40R is about 1/4" - 3/8" deeper than the other OM's, and you can definitely feel it when you hold each guitar in succession. Not better or worse, but just so you know, Larrivee doesn't slavishly follow Martin's dimensions (I had a Larrivee D-03 that was wider (16") across the lower bout than my D-18 Standard [15 5/8" I think] which I had at the same time).
Overall, an impressive "entry-level" all solid wood, Made in USA guitar. Not every 03 Series Larrivee I've put my hands on has been this impressive...maybe Larrivee's kicking it up a notch.
PROS: Lots of them: high quality woods, impeccable build, perfect (satin) finish, balanced sound - both low end and trebles right out of the box (these are the Larrivees with the Martin style diagonal braces below the X-brace); interior of the guitar completely clean - not a drop of glue anywhere. I'm actually very surprised and pleased with the build quality. Price was an absolute steal - because of the great price I got, I thought this thing might have some glaring "B" stock issues, but I can't find anything wrong with this guitar.
CONS: The nut slot aren't spaced properly (D and G too close to each other, how hard is this to do?) and I had to lower them to the proper height (but I've had to do this on most of my Martins as well). Really that's it for CONS; the sound needs to open up some and mature...as I said above, it's balanced, but the sound of the strings is a little "soft" - notes don't sound as solid or strong as on my other, older guitars. Will opening up help this? I think so, but who knows? I'm comparing the tone to my 26 y-o Larrivee OM-05 and my 15 y-o Martin OM-21.
One thing to note: the Larrivee's dimensions aren't identical to the Martin OM-21 (or even to my old '92 Larrivee OM-05). The OM-40R is about 1/4" - 3/8" deeper than the other OM's, and you can definitely feel it when you hold each guitar in succession. Not better or worse, but just so you know, Larrivee doesn't slavishly follow Martin's dimensions (I had a Larrivee D-03 that was wider (16") across the lower bout than my D-18 Standard [15 5/8" I think] which I had at the same time).
Overall, an impressive "entry-level" all solid wood, Made in USA guitar. Not every 03 Series Larrivee I've put my hands on has been this impressive...maybe Larrivee's kicking it up a notch.
