Product: Larrivee MX
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
02/02/2009
at
11:34am
by
Craig
Email: guitarfromthegreengoo at hotmail<dot>com
Features
:
9
My larrivee MX was purchased in Calgary Alberta at Vintage 88 in the fall of 99. I paid $250 cdn. Origionally it was pearl white and had a origional Larrivee Humbucker.
These guitars were made in the mid to late 80's. Sadly the serial # for mine was recorded but lost. Larrivee produced these guitars in the North Vancouver Shop. The same shop that made the Kramer Signature series Paul Dean amongst other Kramers from the hey day, the ( Neal ) Schon Signature guitars, Signature guitars and some other brands. Sean Mara was a big part of the team that created this line. There is a lot of good info on the web... a quick search for Larrivee Electrics will get you there.
Description...
Eastern Hard Rock Maple Neck through design with Alder sides or wings if you like. 22 Fret, 25.5 inch scale, 12 inch radius Ebony fretboard. One Larrivee humbucker, Dimarzio Vintage Gibson Style Vol and Tone pots, Kahler "knock Off" non origional tremolomade to the same spec ( as far as I can tell ) to the Kahler USA 2300. Since the Tuning machines are Schaller it's likely the trem was made by Schaller too.
The body style of the MX is like a vintage Gibson V with refinements that were common in the 80's.
Sound
:
10
This guitar is well suited for Blues, Rock, Classic Rock, Hard Rock and Metal. Depending on pickup choice... the tone wood is there so you can taylor it within this range.
One of the downfalls of this line of guitars is that there is no electronics shielding... so yes it can be noisy depending on pick up choice and amp settings.
This guitar has a very rich and full sounding acoustic voice and like other well made V style guitars much of this can be attributed to it's unique body shape.
Within it's intended range of tone this guitar sounds excellent. I would put it up against anything out there.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
Factory fit and finish is very good. The medium wide jumbo tall frets are installed and finished as good as any $3000 dollar PRS. I own a several guitars... PRS, GMP, ESP Custom Shop, Gibson, Music Man etc... all are very high end guitars and this larrivee matches them in build quality. There are no noticable flaws in these guitars build wise they are exceptional.
This guitar was recently set up by Craig squires of CTEK in Airdrie... it plays Killer now.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This is a solid guitar... by now you have read most of my review and know i own several guitars. Over the years I've owned over 40 guitars. These Larrivee's can match anything out there... they are of exceptional build quality for a production guitar.
All materials and hardware are well selcted there are no week points of short cuts taken to save $$$. After 25 years this guitar is still performing excellent.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
no opinion as I have not dealt with Larrivee however I will say that efforts have been made by Larrivee to provide excellent information about their Electrics from the 80's. Kudos to Larrivee fo that.
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing for over 25 years and have owned over 40 guitars and approx 20 amps. This guitar is a diomond in the rough... usually found laying about in pawn shops next to other guitars that are tuely crap. The resale value is low for many reasons non of which are build quality and style.
Aside from no shielding which is a simply and inexpensive upgrade this guitar could use a different pick up. The Larrivee pickups are ok but there are many other much better pick ups out there.
The fretboard access is unobstructed and the overal fretboard feel is slim and fast. This guitar has a great feel.
It's easily comparable to Kramer, Jackson, ESP etc...
If it were stolen the thief better run and hide. It's a rare hard to replace guitar.
I challenge anyone to find a better guitar for the money hell even three times the money I paid! It's an Exceptional value!
