Larrivee D-03R

canadian spruce top, rosewood back and sides, all solid construction.... Not alot of frills..

Excellent sound... Great tone.... I went in to the music store set on a martin d-16... I left with a larrivee d-03r... It just sounded better, don't get me wrong I love Martin's, but hands down this guitar sounded better than the d-16gtr.. deeper more solid tone greater complexity.. I was amazed..

Great action great neck feel... All frets smooth, no buzzing...

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guitars to me are all about sound... and this one really does it...

No fancy inlays or things like that, but still a beautiful guitar. I even love the smell. Solid sitka top, solid rosewood back and sides. The rosewood is dark and beautiful. I look at it as much as i play it.

This is what makes this guitar so great. i had a birthday coming up and really wanted a new guitar. i was still playing my very first guitar, a Washburn d-94 limited edition. i was looking at Martins, Taylors, Guilds, and some cheaper brands like Seagull and one Blueridge. This guitar was on consigment at Jackson's music for about $830. WOW!! i only played it for a few minutes, no need even for one. It beat the crap out of every guitar in the building. even the 2 and 3 thousand dollar taylors and martins. it takes the booming bass of the martins and the bright, resonant treble of the taylors and combines them into the perfect sound.

Action.... i dont really seem to notice action, but it is way easier to play than my Washburn. The fit and finish are just fine. i dont need anything super fancy, but everything is perfect with this one.

I REALLY baby my instruments, so no real test here, but it doesnt look frail. I would definitely be ok with this being my only guitar for all occasions... it is.

Ive never had a problem, but if its summer theres no ice for the canadians to play on so they shouldnt be that busy.

Ive pretty much already given the best reviews possible but here: this is the perfect guitar, at least for me. Definitely worth all $1700 of the list price, in my case 830 =)

Satin finish, rosewood back & sides, ebony fretboard, solid spruce top -- honestly wish their were more bells & whistles, and a nicer finish, but that's perhaps why it is a value.

With the appropriate setup, this is an incredible sounding guitar -- very strong rich bass, clear, crisp treble, sustains incredibly well -- Taylor style sustain with a more balanced and full sound. Also - what I like most is that it is a very versatile guitar. The sustain and balance makes it excel in rhythm, finger-picking, and as you can see in the Justin King videos, tapping. However, it needs extra light strings -- I use .11 strings, and it sings.

I compared it to my former favorite a Martin hd-35, which costs approximately $2,000 more -- it compares quite favorably. Tough to believe that this quality of guitar is within reach to most average players.

As mentioned, I use .11 strings and did my own setup, adding a Tusq saddle, and adjusting the truss. Now -- the neck is like an electric, but you don't lose any tone, as you do with some really easy to play guitars. The action is almost TOO easy, making a few acoustic techniques a little more difficult, but it is worth the extra effort. The tuners, I think, could be a little better -- but maybe that's a good upgrade for the future.

Honestly - the finish and build don't seem overwhelmingly durable, but I clanged it once or twice, and didn't get any damage -- so I'm leaving this rating out.

Very responsive. I e-mailed them and they answered my questions immediately.

I've actually run through the gamut of brands in my search for a great guitar -- Martin, Guild, Taylor, Ibanez, even Composite Acoustics. If you set this instrument up appropriately, and make a few minor adjustments, this is the best value in acoustics available today, and will suit most styles. There is no such thing as a perfect guitar -- as your style changes, you may find one instrument or another makes more sense for you. However, with incredible sustain, rich bass and clear treble -- this is probably the best value and one of the most veratile acoustics available today. With the appropriate setup, this competes favorably with most guitars in the $3,000-$5,000 range.

I recommend you try this setup -- adjust the tusq saddle, brass tone pins for sustain and overtones (really brought out the sound), .11 strings, and set the action to your liking.

Made in 2008, satin finished dread, solid rosewood back and sides and sitka spruce top, maple bindings, tortoise shell pickguard etc etc. Nothing fancy just a beautiful classic dread.

I went into the store hellbent on buying a Martin. Played a few (D-16, HD 28) the store clerk insisted I played a Larrivee. I sat back and had him play a Mahogany D-03 and the Martins. Holy Cow! What a difference. The Larrivee beat them hands down (to my ears). I asked if he had a D-03 with in rosewood and 2 minutes later it appeared. I played it for 10 seconds and knew this was my guitar. I was prepared to spend $2000+ and ended up only spending $1100 on an unbelievable sounding guitar. The thing is a cannon.

Excellent workmanship. You can tell these are built with care. The action was a little high but I quickly adjusted it to my liking and could not be happier. The rosewood is stunning, excellent grain and finish.

I'm looking forward to this beauty aging with me

Lifetime warranty, what more can you ask for.

I've been playing for about 5 years. Own an Elitist Les Paul and a Strat as well as this. I've owned Masterbilts, Gretch, a few other Epiphones and this is without a doubt the best guitar I've owned. I would not hesitate to buy another.

solid rosewood back and sides, solid spruce top, solid mahogony neck, ebony fingerboard, bridge and headstock inlay. maple body binding, ivoriod binding on fingerboard. satin clear finish. top is a AA to AAA quality. interior braces are perfectly crafted. fit and finish are excellent. no signs of adhesives or build up of finish. the quality of the woods is excellent. there's nothing flashy about it, it's a classic design - on the understated side. i don't care for the larravee headstock shape, but there's nothing about that that draws attention from the guitars overall pretty lines. gibson-style pearl tuners would look really nice though...

first, mine is the older model shaped like the classic dreadnought with square upper boughts and a clear pickguard. not the newer model larravee makes with sloped shoulders like an om model guitar. i've had a lot of really nice rosewood bodied guitars - including martins d18, d35, d28's, guild d55 and others...this instrument sounds very comperable with anything high end i've ever owned. the solid back and sides help produce a really nice, interesting and complex tone that laminate body guitars don't have. the tone is closest to the newer martin d28's. well-balanced, good projection and with the nice bell-like tone associated with those instruments. there aren't any dead spots.

i'm used to electric guitars. the action here is just right. intonation is right on the mark all the way up the fingerboard. the neck is very comfortable. not at all chunky. no buzzing. the bridge is set correctly. i'm told this is typical-that larravee is good about doing a first class set-up on all their guitars before they ship from the factory.

i'm sure it's as durable as any guitar that's made from solid woods can be. obviously you can't use it to paddle a canoe and expect much service from it. the frets are high quality, so wear shouldn't be an issue. the bracing is standard and about what you get on any martin or gibson flat top. the satin finish seems very light (thin), so maybe wear where it rubs against the body may be a problem down the line but i can't predict. so, i'm not going to assign any number here.

no experience here-i bought the guitar used on ebay.

the more i play this guitar the more i like it. it just has a nice sound, and plays like a dream. it's so comfortable. it wasn't played much by the original owner so i'm still breaking it in. i haven't felt let-down at any time by the tone yet. the highs are crisp and bell like, the low end is tight and precise with enough depth, the mids have lovely resonance and harmonic overtones. the sound is full and balanced. it sounds like a high-end instrument, the tone is complex. i think an experienced player will not get tired of it's tone.

I happen to like a satin finish, so the lack of gloss is a plus for me (although back and sides look better with gloss). I've heard Jean Larrivee acknowledge that the satin finish opens up faster than gloss. I've replaced the nut, saddle, pins and tuner on this. I thought bone would be an improvement. I'd heard a lot of complaints about Ping tuners. I had no problem, but then I found she didn't hold a tune well, so I replaced then with Gotoh 510s. Better looking, and they seem to work better. Overall, I give it a 7, for the money, I'd have to say 9 or 10.

This guitar is one of the best-sounding I've heard at any price. My dealer said that you can't find a factory guitar--not Martin, Taylor, Santa Cruz, Collings, etc.--at any price better made than Larrivee. I a/b'd it with a Martin D-28 that cost significantly more money and preferred the Larrivee. I liked the Martin, nice, deep sound with powerful bass. The Larrivee matched the bass and came up better in the mids and highs. I definitely recommend the rosewood. I didn't care for the mahogany or sapele or ovankol sounds nearly as much. I've heard three or four D-03Rs, and each one sounded the way I want a guitar to sound. To me, the model has always been the Collings rosewood dread. I find the Larrivee to be its equal. No BS.

No flaws. This guitar played nicely out of the box, although I had it set up again when I replaced the nut and saddle. I didn't replace the nut because I didn't like the Tusq nut, but I wanted my tech to space out the strings as much as possible, to come as close to 1 3/4" at the nut as possible. I still think it's a bit narrower than a 1 3/4" neck, but I guess there's just so much spacing you can add to a narrower neck without the strings falling off the sides.
The top is gorgeous. Beautiful color and grain--narrow in the middle, wider toward the edges, Jean Larrivee's ideal. It has a bit of bear claw to make it interesting. Larrivee says it saves its better tops for the upper models. I find it hard to believe there's a nicer top than this one. It looks and sounds great.

I've only had the guitar a year. I coddle it, so I haven't tested its durability. It's always in a humidified case when I'm not playing it. A well-maintained guitar should be better than new after a year of playing, and this one is.

No idea.

I have some ergonomic issues due to neck and back injuries, so I recently purchased a smaller guitar. But I was so impressed with Larrivee I didn't look at any other maker. I got the same model in an L series (L-03R). So far I don't like the L as much as the D, but I'm a dread guy. My plan was to sell the D, but I can't do it. Maybe as the L opens up and I make some upgrades, it'll sound as good as the D and I'll be able to sell the D. But not yet. I'll post a review of my L-03RE in about a year. Value? This is one of the best guitars I've heard regardless of price. If you blindly tested it with Martins or Collings costing thousands more, you might prefer this one. It's that good. There's no better value in an all-solid guitar, and few if any better instruments. But I paid $800 and change. It will likely cost hundreds more now.

Sitka Spruce top. Rosewood back and sides. Ebony fret board, headstock and bridge. One piece mahogany heck with dovetail joint. The maple binding is beautiful, wood bindings are features you don't see on other brands in this price point. Tusq nut, saddle, bridge pins. Average hard shell case. It is not a flashy guitar, but the materials used, the high quality craftsmanship all come together to produce a beautiful instrument.

Very rich, nice base. Strums well. Lots of sustain, well balanced. I am getting more into finger style and it sounds great playing this form as well. Intonation is spot on. Play it soft or dig in, it sounds great. Beautiful sound. Very nice sound.

Fit and finish is very very good. Clean inside, all joints seams etc are very tight. Finish is even, smooth. I have never picked up a Larrivee guitar and found a flaw or sloppy finish or fit. I can not say this for other brands I have looked at. Action is spot on for me.

Time will tell. No issues to date. Don???t expect any. Instrument is about 2 years old

Very good support. Contacted Larrivee to obtain build date info and other questions. Quick feedback.

Like many, I shopped around for months, looked at guitars in several price points by the major US/Canada brands. Larrivee had always stood out above the rest. The craftsmanship, sound and value is excellent. I was leaning towards another brand, but could never find a guitar that was comparable to the Larrivee DO3R in craftsmanship, materials or sound for the same price. With Larrivee, I felt I was not paying for a name or history first, then getting a guitar second. With Larrivee, I got a very high quality instrument, very nice sounding instrument very fairly priced first. The Larrivee history is rich as well. Jean Larrivee has a lot of pride and history and experience in crafting guitars and it shows.

Quality solid wood construction; this is not plywood!

No frills or shiny clear coat finish.

Finger board is great and plays well.

For this price range, a true winner for sound.

I bought this guitar without even thinking about brands. Just picked up several makes and kept playing until I heard the magic.

Level and great here - nice finger board.

Guitar is solidly built. Do not baby it - use it and have fun!

I emailed Larrivee with my serial number and they were prompt in letting me know the manufacturing date. Nice personal touch!

Nice quality guitar that focuses on using good wood/materials and workmanship without the fancy sound hole inlays etc.

If you care about sound and having a well made guitar from good materials, go and buy this one. Just play it and compare with others.

I think the rosewood back is what helps gives it the rich and articulate sound.

Pretty plain guitar...you're not buying it for the features though!

Amazing, rich sound. I've had a bone bridge and nut put on it, which gave it more sound separation, improving on an already excellent sound.

Amazing action, super low but never buzzes, up and down the neck. It's so fast, you can almost forget it's an acoustic sometimes!

I decided after I bought it that I wasn't such a fan of the satin finish, since you could hear a very quiet brushing sound when strumming (from your arm rubbing on the front of the guitar - I'm nit-picking here, I realize). So I paid $100 and had a luthier polish up the front of the guitar - so now I've got a gloss top on it, eliminating the brushing sound completely.

I've been playing 20 years, and buying this was me finally getting my 'dream guitar' (acoustic that is!). So I tried all the biggies - Martin, Taylor etc...I liked the D-28's sound, but not its playability so much. This guitar sounds as good but plays much better. The only knock against it is the finish (see my comments above) and that it's not a 'name' guitar (if that's worth something to you - it's not to me, particularly once you realize its price as a result!)

Mine was a black plastic trim rosewood. Just the basics

The sound of this guitar is the best I've ever heard compared with Taylor, Gibson, Takimine, Alverez, Tacoma, Epiphones.

Played almost as good as a Taylor, but not quite. I owned a Taylor 214 and A/B'd it against the Larrivee and the Taylor beat the Larrivee hands down on action. Not sure if they were set up the same.

My first Larrivee D03R was sent back because of fret uneven. Musicians Friend made them exchange it. The second one was great and after a couple of years the lower bout of the front surfaced began to rise until the rear bridge saddle was shaved to nothing and the the truss fully tighted, yet the strings were still too far from the neck. I sold it for cheap on ebay. Giving a 5 only for the good times we had together. Maybe a fluke. I only know it was kept in climate controlled studio.

Larrivee told me they would not fix it because it was 'probably' dried out too much. Hey I live in Louisiana our humidity is unbearable! I heard they were tired of taking a beating on returns, thus cutting loose Musician's Friend. I gathered this from talking with them as well as MF. Though I can't substantiate this. I was left holding the bag. Giving them a 2 for at least talking to me.

Despite my poor experience, the DO3R sounds so sweet that I'm planning to purchase another one someday. What gives? A chance I'm willing to take.