Have you always desired a Larrivée but never quite had the funds? Now’s the time to open your eyes and pin back your ears for something more affordable...

Master of tone wood selection and luthier Jean Larrivée has made the decision to make a fascinating new range of guitars – their O2 series and yes this does mean that there is a substantial drop in price compared to the bigger brother O3 series, but what has changed apart from that and does it still feel like a Larrivée?

Build Quality

This is a very exciting guitar because it really does epitomise the concept of understated classic design with a highly tuned engine under the hood. In fact more than this, the new O2 series represents some of the best value for money acoustic instruments from the Larrivée factory ever seen. Why is this the case? Yes they are less expensive, this model retails at £799, but more significantly it has the look and feel of some handmade instruments normally conveyed from some of the UK’s best luthiers. It achieves this with consummate minimalism bordering on Feng Shui principles. There is nothing ostentatious, gold or overly saturated in superficiality to be seen or felt from this guitar. The matt finish similarly compliments this set of design principles and allows for maximum resonance from the solid sapele back and sides and Solid Canadian Sitka spruce top. Additionally the neck is made from just three pieces of mahogany and the entire instrument is made for the UK market in Vancouver in California, not Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam or China. This range of guitars is set to be a giant killer. And so, you the customer are the true beneficiary of many component elements which make this fantastic guitar. It has been assembled by the same craftsmen that make their higher end models without additional years of education and training often required when employing a foreign factory. Also, this particular model is worthy of extra note, because as the L or Larrivée body shape, it promotes the company’s refined insights into what they deem as a great alternative to the dreadnought and traditional style instrument offering good all round strumming and fingerpicking performance.

The machine heads are made by PING and over the years the popularity and quality of this brand has greatly improved, from arguably poor on some budget instruments, to cleverly unbranded and unexpectedly excellent on some better quality guitars. You can often tell where a manufacturer may have had need to economise a little somewhere, (using lighter metals for their casing for example), and yet these tuners offer a precision 18:1 gear ratio and are entirely sufficient, stable in use if slightly light to turn.

It also is supplied with a very well furnished, blue crushed velvet effect lined and arched top hard case with tough clasps and substantial carry handle. This quality case adds incredible value for money. The binding on the body is in a very attractive light coloured wood which appears to be spruce or maple and is a welcome quality addition rather than simple plastic trim. This, and the ebony fingerboard add quality where it counts.

Sound Quality

The sapele back and sides of this guitar really come into their own. This tone wood is often considered as a very practical alternative to mahogany and although it isn’t a true mahogany as it comes from a different family and genus of woods, it does have very similar properties in terms of density, wood grain, strength and behavioural properties and importantly tone. It is an African wood and offers almost equivalent properties but is currently less expensive than its colleague woods and relative snip when compared to something like Cuban mahogany. This guitar sounds every bit as rich and complex as you could hope for at this price point. The sapele is detailed and filters the Sitka wonderfully leaving ample ripples of sustain and intrigue drawing you in to play with varied attack and rhythmic approaches. It is strident, bold and full of interplay within the harmonic and musical qualities to be enjoyed from the Sitka itself. The harmonic detail is also excellent and you have no real reason to believe from listening and playing the guitar that it is anything other than a higher priced O3 series – it is that good. The presence from the guitar is also brilliant with a full resonant bass and sonorous nature throughout its mid range clout and pushy nature.

Conclusion

Even though the guitar doesn’t quite have the sonic qualities of Adirondack spruce, it is still more than impressive and arguably something which Larrivée may find starts to snap aggressively on the heels of their higher priced instruments. I would challenge anyone to be able to hear the difference between a three piece neck and a single piece on a like for like guitar body and here the demonstration of Larrivée’s wisdom in select wood choice and construction is proven once again, except with honours of the highest order and less impact on your wallet than ever before. Expect to be on a waiting list to take one home and keep your eyes peeled for the equally as highly anticipated OM and OOO models. This range is one to watch.

Russell Welton

Are you planning an extreme excursion or just a pleasant stay at your favourite camping park? Now you can travel with more acoustic style in a bijou form.

Emerald Instruments share an immediate synergy with their name – and, of course, their country of origin, that being none other than the Emerald Isle of Ireland itself. Being an island, this guitar is up for some tough treatment, even having been subjected to use as a paddle when canoeing! Thanks to its petite proportions and ability to be readily stowed in even the most compact of car boots or even boat hulls, the portability of the Emerald is heightened due to its robust endoskeleton.

Build Quality

The body is ostensibly at one with the neck. At the neck block area you may normally anticipate a reinforcing mass of wooden material adjoining the two component body and neck parts, but you are instead left to discover that there is nothing there. In fact, the neck itself is hollow throughout its entire length. Given this hollowness and the lack of internal heel block you have an immediate benefit in saving weight – there is no need for a truss rod.

Similarly, due to the lack of an end block inside the lower bout normally required for adhering the back and sides together. There is also no requirement for additional bracing. The carbon-fibre composite comes into its own for demonstrating its incredible strength-to-weight ratio at the bridge area. The bridge itself is moulded within the top and the bridge pins go straight through this moulding and into the top. No additional internal bridge plate is required, and given that a smaller instrument often needs greater tension in stringing to get up to concert pitch, you can rest assured that this material will outlast most wooden competitors.

The carbon itself is very versatile as it has its own identifiable weave pattern, which makes for a dynamic visual appeal. As the light catches the alternating weave, a flip-flop and almost holographic effect takes place on the top, and the surrounding black burst frames a dark kirsch cherry hue and this contrasts well. The carbon has also been well moulded to produce a very smoothly executed sound port or offset soundhole for monitoring yourself with. The edges are cleanly finished and encouragingly professional in the lack of rough-edge feel. Carrying these principles further, the top of the guitar also has a cleanly cambered lower bout on the bass side, making a suitable armrest, the type of which you would pay a huge premium for on a wooden instrument, and yet here it is as a standard feature.

The Grover machine heads are trouble-free to use thanks to their 18:1 gear ratio and are well seated on a headstock, albeit hollow, but there is a tendency for the head to dip down because of its weight. When you are playing this isn’t really noticeable.

The neck profile has a substantial C cross section to it, a Graph Tech nut and highly lacquered feel, and has clear side markers with a 15-fret body join design. Even the bridge pins are Graph Tech, completing a suite of high-grade appointments. The guitar weighs less than one and a half bags of sugar and has stainless steel frets.

Sound Quality

When strumming this little instrument you can hear that the carbon has an inherent tone all of its own. There are overtones of harp-like qualities in the attack. There is a smoothness which blends well with the surprising projection from the whole body and not just the top. This is a resonant instrument and you can feel this easily both in the body and the neck itself with your left hand. The sonorous nature of the X7 OS carries forward exceptionally well because there is so little material to dampen its vibrations, as there are no compromising structural additions where they are not needed. There are no electrics in this model, which you may be looking for at just over £600, but at the same time you would then lose a little of its robust ‘play in the rain’ appeal.

Part of the brightness to be had from this guitar is found in the stainless steel frets and this embellishes the mellow nature of the guitar’s timbre and sweetens up the top end well. It is a loud guitar when strummed and it maintains a good balance in volume when fingerpicked as well, with additional mid-range plummy subtle honk. It’s not a traditional tone at all, but it is rounded in its own tubular field with redeeming treble and harmonic character outgunning the fundamental tone.

Conclusion

This instrument is excellent at what it does and is capable of resisting variations of climate and humidity. It is highly engineered and is a superb example of modern engineering, employing the best in premium appointments. If you were to consider buying such a tool you know that it will last and last and last. However, at £629 perhaps the attraction of this guitar will be more limited, appealing to regularly travelling, professionally paid singer-songwriters.

Russell Welton