Larrivee D-09

This is simply the most beautiful acoustic guitar I have ever seen. I t was given to me 12 years ago and it is my most prized possession. I would run into a burning house to get it. The craftsmanship is superb, the finish has aged beautifully, the sound is ridiculous (as evidenced by EVERY player who has picked it up and testified to this comment). It's durable - this baby has done some living I can tell you and despite a painful scratch on the topboard it looks like a million bucks. The tuning pegs have loosened a tiny bit but after 12 years not unexpected they still are very very good. This is an amazing guitar.

I am not a professional player but have been playing for 25 years. This sound was love at first strum. It's sound is so full it rivals a Gibson Jumbo and its so specific that every note rings true which has made me a better player. I have recorded with this guitar and it's great in that arena - the mixers have all commented on how great it sounds. For 12 years I have looked in guitar shops for something better and haven't found it yet.

I don't have huge hands - the neck fits my hand perfectly. I prefer smaller necks so it might be an issue for the Jimi Hendrix huge hands player. Bar chords to top of the register solos the action is easy and smooth, the fret are not huge so you can play all kids of styles. I don't but friends have on it - it works for everything.

As I said this baby has been around the block - had kids knock it over, drop stuff on it, I have traveled internationally with it, been in humidity, desert, cold and it doesn't affect it at all. The case is great as wewll.

Never needed it.

As you can see I love this guitar. Every musician who has ever heard it or played it is amazed by the sound. If you don't try this guitar you are missing out on an opportunity equal to turning down a date with Marylin Monroe or Sophia Loren. It's a noticeable guitar, people look at it and comment on it. You play it they comment on it (even if you suck!). You will hear it for your self and while you may not fall in love at first strum like I did, you would definitely date this one for awhile.

I bought this guitar used but in MINT condition from a retired Air Force Colonel who wanted to thin out his herd. The finish, maple binding, clear pick guard abalone sound hole...all just beautiful.

I use this guitar when I am playing songs that are to be strummed with only a little picking. This guitar is like a Ford GT...you cannot ease up on the accelorator; it ust will not let you. Once I pick this guitar up to noodle around, I am on it for hours. The sound is very balanced although a little bright in the treble area but still better than any other Gibson or Martin that I have played.

All perfect!

This is my main gigging acoustic. this thing is made to be played!

Never had to deal with them.

Incredible guitar. It blows Martin and Gibson away in this class of dreads. I would probably buy a D-03R to replace this one if it got lost or stolen only because I know I copuld not find the type of deal I found on this guitar ever again.

This guitar is the most beautifully built I've ever seen. The maple binding is so classy! The rosewood is almost purple and I special ordered this with tobacco sunburst top that Jean Larrivee did himself. It's stunning.

I've owned this guitar for over a year and it just gets better and better. I use Elixor mediums and flatpick mostly.

I wish it had factory strap button because it is so beautiful I am scared to drill a hole in the heel.

I played a few chords forty years ago but got serious after not playing for thirty years. My wife and daughter bought a Larrivee D03 for Christmas and I fell in love with guitar! I would have to replace this D09 asap. I own LarriveeD03,D09,Parlor(hate it), Fender Tele,Marrs pedal steel
Since I love flat picking, I feel like I should own a Martin, but every time I play one, the sound,action, and overall comparison just does not make me purchase one.

2003 Made in Southern California (apparently moved factory from Vancouver).
Solid Rosewood back and sides, Solid spruce top, clear pickguard, solid mahogany neck and ebony fretboard. Gloss Finish. Abalone Rosette. No pickup yet, but will soon install Fishmann Acoustic Matrix Natural II.

I play mostly Christian worship/acoustic rock using mostly strumming/flatpicking and occasionally fingerpicking. This guitar is great because it is so balanced. It doesn't overwhelm in any way, except that perhaps the trebles are a little high. Strumming can get a little on the bright side, but I have yet to see if will be better when plugged in. Even though it is bright (could be the elixers), I love the tone. It is RICH and very pleasing to the ear, even to notives and those unfamiliar with guitars in general. Perhaps the only thing is that it can be a little bright sometimes, but other than that, nothing beats its overall sound. Before buying this particular guitar, I played a half dozen other Larrivees, about 2 dozen various Taylors and about the same number of Martins. The Larrivee wins hands down. Taylor is way too bright and empty. The Martins can sound dead at times. For what I need, which is medium strumming mostly, this guitar is perfect.

Action is a little high, but I'm purposing leaving it for the time being to get used to it. I think they ship high so that buyers can have it set up to their tastes. The gloss finish is stunning and had no blemishes. The guitar had no stractchs or imperfections of any kind (I pored over it for 10 minutes to make sure it was perfect).

The guitar is solid. Everything is extremely well built, and it will probably last me for a lifetime (considering that Larrivee warrantees it for a lifetime).

Limited Lifetime warrantee is a big plus. It would have been to have done it online instead of having to mail it, but only a small inconvenience.

I have been playing for about 4 years. I own an old Ovation and a kick-around acoustic. This guitar suits me perfectly because it is versatile for everything I need. I would definitely not need a backup, and I would easily buy another if I were to get it stolen (God-forbid).

I LOVE the sound of the guitar. It surpasses (no joking) 900 series Taylors and D-45 Martins (I've played both in comparison). Plus, it's only a fraction of what the others will get you. I should have gotten the B-Band pick up, but it was hard enough trying to find this particularly good sounding guitar, let alone find one with factory electronics.

If you need a guitar for Christian worship music, I tell you there is no better guitar than Larrivee. I've seen dozens of Taylors used (they were too bright) and a few martins (decent). Larrivee is what you need. Even the low end -03's are great (they virtually sound the same, just have a few less features), and they are MUCH better of a deal. For example, 1000 bucks will get you a mahogany Taylor 310CE or a rosewood Larrivee D-03RE. 1500 will get you a Larrivee D-09 or a Taylor 514CE/Martin DC-16RGTE. Larrivee beats both easily. Think twice before getting an overpriced Taylor or Martin.

Built in internal real basic pick-up system (no external controls)sounds okay live but doesn't compare to mic-ing it up. Nice Rosewood neck. Bought/made in 1999. If clean acoustic is your thing, I recommend this guitar hands down over anything at any price. It rarely goes out of tune. Dreadnought style, light brown, no major bells and whistles but highly detailed beautiful trim in abalone on the edges and around the sound hole. I've seen prettier (gaudier) for 3 to 4 times the price, but none sounded like this to me.

Pickups don't convey the natural beauty too well, but I've never cared too much - would rather mic it. For strumming around the home, it's the most perfect balance of highs/mids/lows I've ever heard anywhere. It's bright yet the lows resonate through my body like good bass should. I can play a G chord for an hour and never tire. In fact when buying it I had the salesperson hand me my final choices of guitars while I closed my eyes and played a G over and over. After a while, he yelled out, "Don't you know any other chords?!"

Nealry flawlwess craftshmanship. Action was a tiny bit higher than I was used to, but I quickly forgot about that because of the incredible sound. I think it needs a fret sanding. Everything else is museum quality.

Haven't toured too much so I can't say more on reliability but it seems with decent care it'd be fine. The finish has withstood a few very accidental nicks quite well. The built in electronic pick up has failed me twice due to loose wiring but I guess we can't have everything.

Haven't contacted them. I brought it back to the store when the neck warped, but they taught me about humidity and its effects on high end guitars and its been okay since.

I've been playing 23 years and playng this guitar changed me from an angry metal playing shredder to a mellow acoustic playing man. I'd buy a Larrivee agian no questions asked. It came with basic strings and sounded great, but when I put on Elixers it made me auricularly erect, ahem...in fact I recently put on light gauge by accident and noticed it lost a bit of sound, so back to the mediums it was! Elixer was like the whipped cream on the sundae, the sundae was practically orgasmic as is, but the whipped cream took out the word 'practically'!

This guitar is amazing! I was looking for a D-03 whenever I ran across this particular D-09 for a really reasonable price. I had played a TON of guitars in the music shop. From Martins to Takamines to Taylors and the Larrivee just felt right. I had only briefly picked at the D-09 because it was out of my price range at $1900 bucks. So I thought I had definitely found a bargain on this older model D-09(not sure specifically what year) The top is spruce and the back and sides are rosewood. The wood is absolutely beautiful with a straight grain. The guitar fits me perfectly and its almost like we were meant for each other.

This guitar fits perfectly in with the style music i play. It is excellent for strumming. Fingerpicking sounds pretty good on it but if bluegrass is your thing then I would shoot for the Martin or the Larrivee Traditional series. The guitar is extremely balanced from E to E. Not too or not enough of anything, be it bass or treble. It has a cut to it like no other guitar I've played. Such great response as well. The elixirs make this guitar sing beautifully. I can't wait to put it into action in a performance situation all plugged up.

Since I bought the guitar used I don't know anything about the factory set up. I know that it comes from Larrivee set up for Elixir Lights. The action is amazingly low, and there is absolutely no buzzing from any of the strings. I don't know if this guitar has ever been refretted or anything but the fretboard and the frets look like it just came from the factory. The back looks like one solid piece instead of the two that it is. The finish was a little scratched up in the back from a belt buckle but it appeared to be holding up fairly well. The "invisible" pickguard did seem to look like it had little air pockets in it. At first glance i thought the wood was wavy, but soon determined that it was indeed just the pickguard.

Since I haven't performed with this guitar yet I don't know what exactly it's going to sound like plugged up. I do know that if the pickup fails to portray the true sound of the guitar the Shure SM-57 will not let me down. This guitar has got to be one of the most solid instruments I've ever played. I'm not scared to play it like I am with some of those fancy guitars with mother of pearl out the rear end and a finish i can see my reflection in. I has already become the main guitar in my collection.

N/A- bought used

I've been playing for 3 years and have played a lot of guitars over the course of those three years. And this guitar stands up to even the most expensive. Out of my Nashville Tele, Takamine acoustic, and my Chet Atkins SST this guitar is no doubt my favorite. I can say that if it were gone i would have to replace it as soon as I could even if I had to pay the $1900 for it. I was absolutely sold on buying a taylor until i played the larrivee and was blown away at the sound of a guitar with a price tag FAR below its equals. I can say that I wish I would have bought the guitar with the factory pickup in it because I miss not having level controls. Overall though this guitar whips its competition hands down. It's simply an amazing guitar.

2003 Made in Vancouver, British Columbia. 22 fret, ebony fingerboard and bridge and top of headstock. Mahogany neck, solid rosewood back and sides with a bearclaw sitka spruce top. No pickups or eq anywhere in site (which is a great thing as far as I'm concerned). Maple bound top and back of body with a white bound neck. An absolutely beautiful guitar. Abalone rosette. Does not have any strap buttons which could be a problem if I decide to stand up and play anywhere. Gloss finish with standard Larrivee tuners. This guitar came with a nice hardshell case.

The main reason I bought this guitar was the sound it makes. I happened to pick this one up while waiting for a friend of mine working at Corner Music in Nashville while he was calling Lindy Fralin about some pickups on my behalf. Well, one strum of this guitar and I was hooked. I've really grown fond of Larrivee's as I can't really find the feature/sound/dollar ratio to be offered from any other manufacturer. This guitar easily sounds as good as my uncle's Martin D28 and I can rest assured I spent quite a bit less than he did. In fact, I loved this guitar so much, I sold my Larrivee Jumbo because I knew it wouldn't get much playing time with this baby in my hands.

Honestly, it's hard to get a bad tone from this guitar. And as I said, I have a tough time putting it down or going into my guitar room without picking it up. It's trully an isnpiration for me to play and write, and that's what an instrument should do for you....Inspire you....The Jumbo was a gorgeous guitar and sounded good, but I've just longed for a quality dreadnaught that sounded like this. Very smooth, but bold and most of all, very well balanced. As I said, I can't get a bad sound from this guitar. I also am glad I did away with all my electric/acoustic guitars. If your guitar has a great natural sound, then why in the world would you want to artificialize that? Does a good singer plug a chord into his/her neck? Well, then why would you want to change the original properties of an acoustic instrument unless is sounded like crap to begin with? For any past recording, I've always bypassed the pickup on the guitar and just miced it. I know for live applications, having a pickup and eq can be beneficial, but I'm sick of the artificial spit sounding noise that comes from todays electric acoustics. Plus, having a black eq on the side of your wood really detracts from the beauty of the premium wood. Nope, for me, I like it as natural as can be. Which also leads me to my preference of a non-cutaway acoustic. For some, it's a necessity. Especially for soloists playin in the upper register. For others, it's just a reason to look hip. I personally hate cutaways. I used to not feel that way, but for the most part, there is a degradation in tone and most people just don't need the access. I don't think it's worth the sound loss for the hipness. Plus, I've come to really like an acoustic guitar in its natural state that way it was originally made. Anyway, that's all my opinion, but I like the classic look and sound over the trendy, less tone, spit like pickup sounds many manufacturers are putting out these days. And hey, my Jumbo was a cutaway with the lates Fishman eq on it.....Needless to say, it's somebody else's guitar and I'm playing all night long on my dread.

Just perfect. All A's....No flaws to speak of. Beautiful, great sound, smooth action and perfect finish.....Just wondeful.

This is my third Larrivee and they've all held up like champs. The poly finish they use is certain to resist against cracking like nitrocellulose does. Arguments are nitrocellulose produces better tone, but I can't imagine getting a better tone from this guitar. Plus the finish will last longer.

Never had to deal with them which is always good. Plus, a lifetime warranty is usually pretty hard to beat. On top of that, the folks at Corner Music in Nashville are all Pros and treat everyone the same (which is very well) regardless of skill level or musical status.

My first real acoustic was given to my by my uncle about 15 years ago. That was a 1976 Alvarez dreadnaught patterned after a Martin. I still have that guitar and it still sounds great. However, it doesn't sound like this guitar. As I said, I love Larrivee guitars. They are a lot of guitar for the money. I'm over having to have the most exotic looking or most unique guitar around. I just want something nice, but most importantly, something that plays and sounds great. With Larrivees you get all three. A very well made, easy to play and great sounding guitar. And, for the money, it's not cheap, but it's not ridiculous either. For what Taylor now charges, you don't get the same guitar. Even if the prices were equal, I'd still go with the Larrivee. I've had Taylor and like their stuff, it's just I prefer the Larrivees because of their construction, their warranty and product selection. Don't want electronics? Well, they still make it the classic way. Want electronics and cutaways? Well, they make those too. I sold my Jumbo, which was nice, and I still have an OM that sounds and plays great too, which also makes a nice compliment to the larger sounding dreadnaught.

I hope I always have this guitar as I am absolutely in love with it. It's really inspiring to play and hard to put down. Dollar for dollar, tone for tone, I think it's really hard to beat this guitar.