Larrivee D-09M

This is a @1996 Quilted maple D-9, which is just beautiful. The Sound hole is trimmed nicely with mother-of-pearl, the body is trimmed with wood rather than "ivoroid", good quality, chrome Grovers. The neck is fairly fat, but comfortable, I'm not sure what wood, it's reddish like mahogany but could be the stain. I don't like flashy, highly decorated acoustics, so for my tastes this is a really nice looking guitar.

I like to flat pick, or use a kind of hybrid bluegrass/rock and roll pick and strum, mixing melody and rhythm. The wide neck makes hitting good clean notes a lot easier than my first guitar, a so-so fender. This guitar booms! The large dreadnought shape and maple body make for tons of volume, but it does have nice balance. The highs come through just fine. I can play it softly and not lose the clarity, but its really at home on a more driving song.

This guitar came to me used, as a Christmas present from my wife! The action is a little high, particularly down near the sound hole part of the neck. I wanted to wait and get used to playing it before going in for any adjustments, although I did switch from the mediums it was strung with to light guage, which helped. I will probably get a professional set-up done on it. For the most part, fit and finish is flawless. There is one spot on the top where the finish is thin or it didn't get applied properly, what a painter might call a "holiday", and a couple of small gaps where neck meets body. The frets can be a little rough when sliding notes, but not overly so. Otherwise, this is a finely crafted instrument that I'm proud to own.

I can't say, since I've only had it about a year, but I do expect to play this guitar for a long time to come.

I started playing seriously about 8 years ago, and wanting a new guitar pretty seriously about two years ago. I played everything in my search, vintage and new, Martin, Guild, Taylor, Gibson, AlvarezYairi, etc. and never found "the" guitar. I had seen this one hanging in a local shop and didn't bother to pick it up. The ironic thing is that a couple months later it came to be mine, and I love it. For the money, I don't think you could find a better made, nicer sounding guitar. I would definitely buy another larrivee. The only thing I really don't like about this guitar is its size, it can be uncomfortable to play sometimes when sitting down. That is more to do with the style than the maker, I guess.