“With their smart satin finishes and no-nonsense performance, these guitars feel more ‘professional workhorses’ than ‘pampered show pony’, and we’re sure they will more than comfortably fill this role”.

The Larrivee -03 Recording Series provides guitarists with their first step into the Larrivee line.  Manufactured in Vancouver, these simple yet elegant guitars have many of the features found on the higher end models, including all solid wood construction, ebony fretboard and bridge and a single piece, hand fit dove tail, mahogany neck.  Guitar Buyer Magazine this month reviews two models from the -03 Series, the L-03E and OM-03RE.

“Overall, these Larrivee guitars are very well crafted and constructed.  They feel strong, though not heavy, and we found no tell-tale signs of lapses in quality control – not even when snooping around the innards of the guitars.  While not being the most decorated or glamorous of acoustics, the elegance and simplicity of the 03 range is most appealing”.

“The L-03E’s body shape was designed by Jean Larrivee in an effort to combine the volume and clout of a dreadnought with the delicacies of a smaller-bodied instrument designed for fingerstyle playing…These tweaks certainly help giving the Larrivee L a unique voice…The bass is solid and tight and, coupled with a strong mid-range response, there’s great projection and bags of volume”.

“…the OM-03RE has a more familiar voice, one that is understandably far more suited to some good old fingerstyle playing.  The overall tone is softer than that of the L-03E, which creates much more evenness across the tonal spectrum”.

“Plugged in, the L.R. Baggs electronics preformed admirably...Whether you’re looking for something smooth and woolly, nasal and brash or simply a well balance medium, the Element performs as well as any undersaddle transducer system we’ve seen for some time”.

The Larrivee L-03E and OM-03RE are available now at £1058 and 1185 RRP respectively.

To read the full review, pick up the October Issue (Issue 98) of Guitar Buyer Magazine on sale now.  For more information go to http://www.welovelarrive.com