Larrivee C-05E

The C-05E is an all-solid wood spruce topped, mahogany bodied, Florentine (sharp) cutaway guitar with a Fishman natural piezo pickup (no onboard controls). The body is similar to Larrivee's "L" series, sized between a dreadnought and OMs. The neck is mahogany, attached via dovetail joint topped with an ivoroid-bound rosewood fretboard, which is inlaid with simple mircodot fretmarkers. The body has a maple binding. This is all finished to a well-buffed gloss. Oh yeah, it does have a pickgaurd, it's just the transparent one that's you see on all Larrivees.

I've owned this guitar slightly over a year now and the tone continues to be sweet and balanced. Using Martin mediums, it has a clear, ringing high, a strong mids, and warm bottom end. Typical of any good mahogany guitar, when strummed it's about as loud as a dread, with a great room-filling presence. It stands up easily to my occasional heavy-handed chord bashing, never distorting or sounding overdriven. Yet the smaller body is extremely responsive when switching to a softer fingerstyle playing

I play unplugged 90% of the time but having the pickup is a good just-in-case feature to have. It's Fishman's simplest setup, an under-saddle piezo with no volume or tone controls so you have to either use the amp settings or be at the mercy of the guy at the mixer. Once plugged in, the sound is good (listeners will know you're playing an acoustic) but nothing to get excited about. Compared to more elaborate pickups, it may sound somewhat thin. However, it's a minor issue to me since I rarely plug in.

The action was a little high when I bought it but it's probably more the fault of the vendor than (Guitar Center) rather than Larrivee. Once adjusted, it played flawlessly. There was some minor buzzing when I tried light gauge strings but it's gone now that I'm set on using mediums. Also, the cutaway gives you good access above the fourteenth fret.

The guitar itself was assembled almost flawlessly. I didn't see any glue smudges, no rough edges, and all the frets were set properly. The top is an even, tight-grained spruce and the mahogany back and sides have this beautiful, koa-like coloring to it. The maple binding adds a classy touch.

It's held up well so far, and I get the impression this guitar will hold up as long as I care to own it. It has a few dings in it but that's to be expected if a guitar comes in contact with anything harder than wood (metal doorknobs for example).

Tuners are pretty solid as well. I've played gigs that last an hour and I've rarely had to retune in the middle of a set.

I've heard and read a few others dealings with Larrivee customer support, all who speak highly of them. I've never had to contact them, however.

I recall having saved a long time for my first "good" guitar and since buying a C-05, I haven't looked back. I was prepared to pay about $1300 but that I got it for just under a thousand was icing on the cake. Had I paid that much, I would still have no regrets. The only, somewhat minor, gripe is not having an onboard mixer. Otherwise I've been very satisfied with this purchase. When I started shopping around, I hadn't even heard of Larrivees. Now that I own one, any future purchases, whether it is a 12-string or OM, Larrivees are one of the first brands I'll look at.

This guitar is a basic Mahagany body and neck ax with a sitka spruce top done in a very strong and scratch resistant transparent finish. The headstock is done in ebony veneer and lined with silver.It has an ebony fingerboard and bridge and a fishman piezo pickup. It also has a florintine cutaway, and Gotah tuners. I really liked the fact that it does not have a big black equalizer sticking out obstusively off the side like other amplified acoustics. This guitar looks stately and the clear pick-guard adds to its understated elegance.

I have played this guitar for a year now and I will simply say that it sounds very sweet- it makes me happy. I changed from the medium guage Gore Elixer strings to Thomastic Enfeld Plectrum lights (theser are great strings). It retained most of its volume and now has a softer more intricate voice retaining clear highs (better than with the elixirs) a rich midrange and non boomy lows. I play mostly pop, and some Complex versions of Christmas Songs from the Baroque period like "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", "Ode to Joy", I can also do R. Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" all be it at slightly slower tempo and a handfull of other classical pieces normally done on nylon stringed guitars (I have been practicing them for close to a decade). Jean Larrivee really knows how to make a guitar. I have played it through my SWR California Blond 100 Watt amp and the guitar sounds great without hardly having to mess with knobs ( I really like this set up- its simple.) I haven't noticed much noise though my amp that I would not expect from even the highest end guitars. I have received many comments on the guitars sound. This guitar really is the best investment I have ever made in an instrument(and I own lots of them- harmonicas, basses, guitars, and a Synth)- I don't have any regrets at all. I can't say that about any of my other instruments (except my Carvin because it was so inexpensive for what I recieved).

Larrivee has made this particular guitar with the best materials and no flaws that I saw when I bought it. I can only complain about two things one small and the other not so small. First the guitar's set up immediately out of the shop was buzzy with the low E and G stings buzzing at the first register's fret. I had a luthier do a professional set up and I can say now that this guitar is very easy to play. Now the bad news- for some reason this guitar clunks when I tap or jerk the neck. I called Larrivee and they were really nice and asked me to send it to their certified repair center in Arizona. I decided I didn't want to take a chance and expose it to any possible radical temperature changes and was afraid it might ding or get major damage so I didn't send it. The truss rod works fine and I have adjusted it many times as has my luthier- it just clunks. He, my luthier has told me it needs to be wrapped with cloth, but it is of little importance since it wont affect it an any adverse way. They would have received a 10 for the quality of workmanship and materials, but I have to lower it to a 9 for my clunk. I would rate it lower if the clunk had more severe consequences. Oops, I almost forgot, the intonation on this guitar is as perfect as can be. I always check it on every guitar I play because I am very nit-picky and rare is the guitar I can say this about- regardless of price. Of all my instruments and the instruments of my friends my Larrivee is the only one I can say this about. I am amazed at the level of quality in this guitar.

This guitar is very light. I have accumulated an assortment of dings on the face and sides. These are mostly due to bumping into metals. I have walked into wooden doorjams (made of pine) and not received so much as a tiny scratch however, even the semi-light bang against steel and brick has caused some really noticable damage (at least to me). For the most part All I can say that the pins are in firmly, and I can trust it for professional use.

Like I said Larrivee responded to my requests for customer service immediately, but I declined sending it away for reasons of time, and concern over transportation.

I have been playing on and off for 18 years, but very intensly for the last two. I have owned an all mahagany takamine, a Yamaha dreadnaught, and Yamaha concertina size guitar(I used to think Yamaha and Takamine guitars were great- not!), as well as a Carvin and Kramer electric guitars. This guitar makes my Takamine and my Yamaha FG335 look like junk. I have played Martins, and Taylors and am a big fan of both especially the Martin Vintage series guitars. I can say my Larrivee easily domes the other two manufactures on a price to performance ratio. Not only does it look better than the other two, and sound better (in my opinion) it also plays better than the other two (the only exception being Martin Vintage series guitars with the Vintage style necks- and they're only about $2,800.00). Overall I have to say if you are in the market for a great guitar at a reasonable price try a Larrivee. My freind says the only reason they can sell them so inexpensively is that they, the Larrivee company, is subsidized by the Canadian government which makes sense to me since nobody else seems to come close in the price range.

Larrivee's are manufactured in Vancouver Canada. The C-05e is all solid wood with a spruce top, mahogany sides and back, Ebony fingerboard with micro dot inlays and Sterling Silver border and Larrivee name inlay on the head stock. A beautiful deep finish, high-gloss transparent. The wood grain is just gorgeous and lighter in color than some mahogany guitars that I have seen.
It has 21 frets, all of which are accessible because of the cut-away. (I love the cutaway. I am not a lead player but I often play open and full chords past the twelfth fret) The tuners are Silver(Chrome) Larrivee
The C-05e comes with a Fishman matrix pickup and an active fixed pre-amp. ( I was concerned about not having an adjustable eq and volume on board, but I quickly forgot about it when I plugged it into the system for the first time. This pre-amp is primo. My only complaint is that I have to take the strings off to get to the battery. But on the up side there are NO HOLES IN MY GUITAR and batteries last a long time.) It came with a standard Larrivee case, featuring a uniquely beautiful black velvety padded plush interior, with four locks on the front and one lock on the hinge side (back).

I am primarily a rhythmic strummer in playing style. Incorporating several types of music from Rock, Blues, alternative, Black and Southern gospel. I play all of these styles within a church and youth ministry context to assist people in worship and glorify the Living God and His Son Jesus Christ.
This guitar sounds incredible from the low end all the way to the top. It is very true and clear with every picked note or chord. Punchy and true at the low and mid-range, sweet and clear in the highs. (I love the tone when I muffle the strings for that bassy rhythm. It really projects.) A very balanced sound in my estimation, bright AND full, never tinny or boomy. Every time I pick it up and strum a chord it is a sweet experience. I have waited for years for this guitar. (Now I can walk into the Guitar Center for the first time in thirty years and honestly say, there is nothing here I need.)
I am practicing and playing for pleasure at least twice as much as with my old guitars. ( Epiphone Skunk Baxter, and Epiphone PR-5e)

I shopped for a long time before I found this guitar. Every time I stopped into the Guitar Center (The premier luthier and guitar dealer in Rochester NY), The only guitars that really suited my taste were Taylors. No matter what else I played, when I picked up a Taylor, it felt and sounded so much better than all the rest. But I just could not afford even a used one. Until one day when playing a Taylor there, I spied a Larrivee, D-03. An entry level Larrivee. I picked it up and began to play. To me it was every bit as smooth to play and as rich sounding as the Taylor 410ce that I had just been playing. So I began a search for a Larrivee Cutaway with electronics and found this C-05e on E-bay and purchased it for several hundred dollars less than any Taylor I had previously looked at.
I play acoustically at home Bible studies and as I practice. On Stage, I use a ZOOM 504 for eq, delay, Chorusing and as a tuner. I always plug directly into the PA system. The 504 is quiet with the settings that I use but the output jack makes noise if bumped(needs resoldering) after only a couple years of use.

The action as purchased was just a tad low. It plays awesome but gets a very slight buzz when fretting the bottom string on the first couple of frets. I have an appointment for a setup at the Guitar Center. The appearance is terrific from color to matched wood grain to a perfect high gloss finish with no flaws.

I've only owned the guitar for a couple of months but it certainly seems solid. The finish is hard and does not scuff easily. (It has been knocked over and bumped a couple of times without even a hint of a mark in the finish.) It also has a clear pickguard to protect from my sometimes macho strumming, which it does very nicely.
Strap buttons are very solid (the rear one is the 1/4" jack).
I would trust this guitar without a backup, except that something in my playing style causes me to regularly break G and D strings. I am working on learning to be careful even when I am passionate in my playing. But in the mean time I keep my daughter's Epiphone PR-5e handy for a quick change. (Which I used to love playing, but now sounds like a cardboard box in comparison to my Larrivee)

Have not dealt with the Manufacturer.

I bought it used from a dealer in Roswell Ga. So I beleive it is without a warranty.

Although my ability does not show it, I have been playing guitar for 34 years and in bands since my older brother drafted me for his band when I learned to play "Pipeline and Walk Don't Run" with the Ventures. When Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton came on the scene I had no one to teach me how to play like that so I switched to Bass. I began playing acoustic guitar again after becoming a Christian in 1978 and the home Bible study we attended needed a guitar player. That was 22 years ago. I have played guitar and bass in several Christian Rock, and alternative bands as well as being a regular player and worship leader for our rollin' in the aisles Pentecostal worship team. My favorite intrument to play is still Bass and I own a Carvin 5 string (Which I love), a Hartke 3500 head and A 15" Black Widow cabinet. I have sold all of my other acoustics (and alot of other stuff) in order to get this one.
I have a Zoom 504 acoustic effects pedal and often play through either a Soundcraft Spirit board or a Mackie 24 channel.

I would buy this guitar again in a heartbeat! Especially at this price. (List Retail is over $1700, Actual new selling price around $1400. Market price used is $1100-$1300. I got it for $850.

As I stated above, I compared this guitar to the Taylor's and it measured up in every category except it cost less.