Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2018 19:43:17 GMT -5
Today, I went to Willie's American Guitars to check out a Larivee PV-09 parlor guitar they have in stock. Larry Pattis, who is active over at AGF, used to play one. I think his first 3 CDs were done with it, and several of his youtube videos feature it. He has since moved on to more boutique/custom builds. I figured if that instrument is good enough for him, it would be worth my checking out.
As it turned out, I didn't like it at all. The build was fine, typical high quality for a Larivee, so no problem there. What I didn't like was that even with the 1 3/4" nut, the strings felt way too close together for my taste because the spacing at the saddle is only 2 3/16". Also, it felt a bit too stiff for me. What a shame, since otherwise it was overall a nice instrument.
Anyway, I looked around and found a used, but mint, Huss and Dalton 00 12 fret. This instrument has a 1 7/8" nut and 2 5/16" string spacing at the saddle. It is a short scale, at 24.9", and impeccable build quality. This guitar feels "looser" than most in terms of ease of string play. Both this and the Larivee have light gauge strings, but the Huss and Dalton just felt much easier on my fingers all over the neck. The string spacing feels just right, not so wide as to require hard finger stretching across the fretboard, but wide enough to mix open and fretted strings without buzzing adjacent strings.
The sound is warm and full and has surprising volume for a smaller body instrument. There is no cutaway and no pickguard. It is (in my opinion), the ideal fingerstyle steel string. Also, it has no electronics. The tuners are Waverly and it has both saddle and nut as bone. The top is Englemann spruce, and the back and sides are Madagascar rosewood. This instrument was a custom build.
Needless to say, I snapped it up and am working out some trade/sales of some of my other guitars to cover it. That should be completed tomorrow.
Yes, it did happen...
Tony
As it turned out, I didn't like it at all. The build was fine, typical high quality for a Larivee, so no problem there. What I didn't like was that even with the 1 3/4" nut, the strings felt way too close together for my taste because the spacing at the saddle is only 2 3/16". Also, it felt a bit too stiff for me. What a shame, since otherwise it was overall a nice instrument.
Anyway, I looked around and found a used, but mint, Huss and Dalton 00 12 fret. This instrument has a 1 7/8" nut and 2 5/16" string spacing at the saddle. It is a short scale, at 24.9", and impeccable build quality. This guitar feels "looser" than most in terms of ease of string play. Both this and the Larivee have light gauge strings, but the Huss and Dalton just felt much easier on my fingers all over the neck. The string spacing feels just right, not so wide as to require hard finger stretching across the fretboard, but wide enough to mix open and fretted strings without buzzing adjacent strings.
The sound is warm and full and has surprising volume for a smaller body instrument. There is no cutaway and no pickguard. It is (in my opinion), the ideal fingerstyle steel string. Also, it has no electronics. The tuners are Waverly and it has both saddle and nut as bone. The top is Englemann spruce, and the back and sides are Madagascar rosewood. This instrument was a custom build.
Needless to say, I snapped it up and am working out some trade/sales of some of my other guitars to cover it. That should be completed tomorrow.
Yes, it did happen...
Tony