Larrivee 000-60

2004 Larrivee 000-60 made in USA. 12 fret slothead with 1 13/16" bone nut. 18 frets total. Spruce soundboard with herringbone trim around perimeter of the body and soundhole. Curly maple body binding. Oversized soundhole. Ebony pyramid bridge with compensated bone saddle. Mahogany neck with ebony, diamond inlayed fingerboard. Stainless steel machines with brass rollers and gears. Ebony buttons? Indian rosewood back and sides. Striking, tortiseshell type pickguard. Gloss finish. Voiced for medium guage strings.

The jury is still out on how I feel about the sound of this guitar. I own quite a number of high end guitars, including several other Larrivees, and this guitar sounds unlike any other instrument I've ever owned. For a small guitar, it puts out a lot of volume and can be played hard without getting nasty. I play mostly fingerstyle using a thumb pick and Ernie Ball picky, picky, pickies. The guitar has a strong, and I mean strong, midrangy tone. The fifth and sixth strings, however, have a strange, "down in a well" kind of reverberation mixed in with the strong midrange sound. I have a feeling that the large soundhole combined with the 000 sized body is what is creating this unique tone quality. I have had the guitar for three months now and sometimes I like the sound of this thing and other times the guitar sounds rather foreign to me. Therefore, I am giving a "no opinion" rating for the sound. I would love to hear what others think about the tone of this Larrivee.

The guitar is stunningly beautiful in a traditional way. It is quite a departure from the usual Larrivee look. It is quite obvious that Larrivee is trying to directly compete against Martin in creating their "traditional" line of instruments. Like all my other Larrivees, the workmanship is virtually impeccable. Everything fits together, the woods and finish are gorgeous, and the action was set up just to my liking right out of the box. I bought this guitar mainly because of the 1 and 13/16" neck, which just feels perfect to me for fingerstyle playing.

This is an extremely well made guitar, but like any solid wood instrument, it needs to be treated kindly. I keep all my guitars in a humidity controlled room and pamper them. This thing wasn't built to thrash out power chords on, it was built to make music on. If properly taken care of, everything on this guitar, save the saddle, nut, and perhaps the machines, should last a lifetime.

Never had to deal with the company with any of my Larrivees. Comes with a lifetime warranty to the original owner, so I guess you're as protected as you can be.

I love how this guitar plays. It is perfect for my kind of fingerstyle playing. I think the tone may have to become an aquired taste, though. It seems to sound best playing oldtime music and rags. Stuff like Gordon Lightfoot sounds odd to me on it. Only time will tell if this one is a keeper. I have been playing for over forty years and own several other Larrivees, along with several Martins, a couple of Lowdens, a couple of Taylors, a Breedlove, an old A. Yairi classical and a handmade classical by British luthier David Whiteman. Then there are the electrics! If you are into fingerstyle and like the idea of a wider than normal neck, this guitar may fit the bill. Just be prepared for a very unique sound.