Larrivee D-10

1995 larrivee D 10 e presentation model brazilian rosewood englemann spruce top with a fishman acoustic matrix natural pickup with pre-amp.mahoghany neck and the "mucha"woman on the headstock ,orange lined custom carlton case.

In my opinion this is a fingerstyle guitar,but it projects quite well with the brazilian back and sides,and is reasonably balanced between the top and bottom strings.the fishman pickup still presents the blat or quack noise that is somewhat lessened running this through my mackie mixer.

this guitar D17101 was poorly set up from new,with a 12th fret fouling on the 13th.the dealer Mark morse at rock city music installed the pick up and put the battery clip in with velcro(more on this later.)the bridge was not adjusted for string height,and because the dealer didn't think I had paid enough money for the guitar,and told larry the guitar tech (in front of me.)"don't waste a bunch of time on that".

In my opinion this guitar did not seem up to the rigors of road use,and the variations of temp and humidity played hell with the less than satifying set-up.the bridge pulled off after less than five years,the irony being that this guitar was purchased to take the stress off my 1895 martin 1-21(which after more than 106 years is healthier condition than my 5 year old d-10larrivee).I would say this is not a guitar one would own without a GOOD backup axe.

I have been playing over thirty years, and have twenty some guitars,and please heed my advice; these companies do not sell guitars. quite simply,they sell SERVICE ,Martin knows this and responsible dealers know this But I can assure you that LARRIVEE and ROCK CITY MUSIC only care about the guitar they sell tomorrow.SPECIAL THANKS TO VINTAGE GUITARS and Red BAUER in post falls for being the only one to try to help with this problem. SOLUTION? I swapped for a 89 taylor dan crary cutaway(i'll review this guitar soon)OH, by the way, the folks at taylor will return your phone calls,and so does VINTAGE GUITARS post falls,so TAKE THAT LARRIVEE, you SOULESS ETHICLESS CHUCKLEHEADS!!!!

1999 or 2000 Spruce/Rosewood dreadnaught with lots of pretty inlay...see Larrivee web site for details.

Great sounding guitar; incredibly loud. It has opened up quite a bit in 10 months of playing. Great harmonics. I'm impressed.

Action is a 10 - perfect and very playable. Action is low for an acoustic; intonation perfect. Finish is excellent except for a minor flaw on the back that is hard to desribe...almost like a fingerprint on the wood causing a slight discoloration. There are a couple other flaws that I would not expect on a top of the line Larrivee. There is a small black mark at the joint of the neck and body at about the middle of the side (the top side as you hold it in playing position). I don't know the cause...almost like a small hole that had been filled with epoxy. There is also a slight flaw in the top where it was routed for the rosette. These flaws are minor but mean the guitar is not perfect cosmetically. These flaws appear to be factory caused (they are under the finish). They do not affect sound or playability at all. There are some sloppy glue marks on the inside.

Hard to say as I've had it for about 10 months. So far no problems. I wonder about a one piece neck.

I did e-mail Larrivee with a question and never got an answer.

The price included a high quality Larrivee hard shell case. The best things about this guitar are its great sound and great play-ability. It is also a very pretty guitar with all the abalone and mother of pearl. Nice cross-grain silking on the top. For the money it is hard to beat. I had a nice Martin HD-28 purchased in 1986 new that was a great guitar for roughly the same price (in 1986). It is hard to compare with the Larrivee by memory. Because of the inlay work, the Larrivee is more in line with a D-41.

See larrivee website on features. This review pertains to Larrivee
quality and customer support.

I love the sound of a Larrivee acoustic guitar - very sonic and
lots of projection. Awesome resonance.

Here's the critical part of the review. I've been on a quest for
the perfect Larrivee guitar. I first bought a D-9 with a Dragon
inlayed headstock (got two thumbs up from the wife on this one).
The D-9 has finishing problems around the sound hole. The laquer
around the rosette has imperfections, a grove in the finishing which
followed the rosette. I took the guitar to a luthier in town and he
said it probably happened shortly after the factory applied the laquer. Talking to a music shop downtown, they mentioned that Larrivee has had some quality issues with finishing the tops of guitars. Larrivee has had some labour issues with their workforce and workmanship has declined significantly over the last couple years.
The other thing worth noting on my D-9 was that the wood in the sound hole had cracked a bit, which my music store rep said was crappy workmanship on Larrivee's part. In the end, I took the guitar back to my dealer for a refund. One thing to note on the finishing flaw -
I saw the same quality issues on about 5 guitars at the dealer. Beware!

Next, I bought a DV-09E. The action on the guitar was set too high and again after taking it to a luthier, seemed uncorrectable. So the guitar went back to the dealer again.

The third attempt at buying, I stepped up to the plate and purchased a D-10 from the US. The D-10 was shipped to me, and upon unpacking I noticed an enormous crack down the back of the neck (like someone took a key and scratched the damn neck). The crack basically followed the truss rod and extended about 6 inches in length. I immediately sent the guitar back to the dealer (out the shipping costs) and was returned the same guitar repaired. The guitar still had a small crack (it was supposed to be fixed). I took it to a luthier master craftman in town and got the assessment - the crack originated from the truss rod cavity. So I was screwed and sent it back. I eagerly waited a replacement from the dealer, who had problems dealing with Larrivee. Please see Customer Support below on
Larrivee's poor support.

Didn't have it long enough to comment on this.

Larrivee's policy is to deal directly with the dealer from whom
you bought the guitar. On purchasing the D-10, the dealer was in the
US. I happen to live in Vancouver, BC. Larrivee is located in Vancouver, BC. The D-10 had been shipped back and forth from the US
to Canada several times and I was already out of pocket several $$
on shipping. My dealer attempted to arrange for me to pick up a D-10
off the line at Larrivee. Larrivee didn't come through on that. In fact, the dealer experienced problems even getting a replacement from Larrivee and ship it to them. My opinion is that Larrivee needs to improve their support in order to keep people happy. My experience has deterred at least my co-worker from buying a Larrivee. I hope my experience will make people think twice after they read this review.

By the way, John at Wichitaband was extremely helpful. Thanks so much John for trying everything in your powerful to get me a new guitar!

This is a "new-old-stock" 1996 model. It is made in Vancouver, BC. It has a beautiful honey-colored solid spruce top. It is typical dreadnought size. The finish is gloss and the rosewood back and sides are incredible. The back is so well matched that it appears to be one piece. The inlay is eye catching, but not over done. The model was produced before Larrivee put their name on the headstock. It has the small floral motif. The neck is 1-3/4" at the nut.

I should mention that it has no strap button, which is fine with me as I only play seated. Some others may find this to be a negative.

This guitar has tones of tone. The best way I can describe it is "harp-like". I would say this is a folk acoustic rather than a bluegrass, which suits me fine.

The action is medium low. I might bring it down a bit, but I'm in no rush. The workmanship is top shelf. The abalone and MOP inlays look very nice. The wood is presentation grade.

I baby this guitar. I hardly take it out of the house as I'm still in the honeymoon phase. I plan on it lasting my lifetime and then being given to my daughter. It won't leave the family...ever!

The warranty is lifetime. Brian at Larrivee has been very accessible via e-mail. He sent me a catalog of accessories and clothing.

I've picked up the guitar on three seperate occaisions during my life. I am re-learning and this guitar makes the process easier. The playability is awesome. It beckons to be played. The sound, even while I practice, is pleasantIf this guitar is lost or stolen, I would offer a reward as it is essentially irreplacable.

I tried MartinD-28s and Taylors and even ordered a 2001 810, but this really left it standing still in my opinion. It just seems that Larrivee delivers more guitar for the dollar.