NUD: Larrivee Silver Oak Concert

OhioBelle

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My ukulele journey of the last few years has lead me to this conclusion: concerts are my jam.

Campanella is the style I love to play the most. Sopranos are perfect for the precise fingering required. But sadly, too much soprano clutching gave me tennis (uke) elbow. Playing my concert ULO gave me the answer: concert! This gorgeous new-old-stock Larrivee is the answer to my quest.

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Fiero is always happy when there's a new sound hole to enjoy.

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Could this truly be the end of UAS? I have a treasure of beauties. As I always do in winter, I spend weekends filling humidifiers & saying hello. I love them all. But it may be time to say goodbye. Considering selling all but the vintage Martin, the Kala, and this perfect new concert.
 
Oh this concert is so delectable! The sitka spruce top and silver oak (lacewood) back produce sparkling campanella. The Grover tuners are the smoothest I've ever touched. And just look at Jean Larrivee's art nouveau design etched on the buttons! Echoed inside on the neck block, too. Like a secret only for me.

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Lovely!! Congrats
 
Oh wow! What a beautiful cat!! :love:

Oh, sorry. Nice uke, too! :p
 
Great acquisition OhioBelle! The silver oak (Lacewood) is gorgeous and a particularly nice tonewood. Larrivee ukes are nicely built and finished with equally great sound and playability. That is a keeper.
 
Thanks, Hodge! I feel very lucky to have found this one. There are Larrivee silver oak guitars to be found, but I'm not seeing any ukuleles when I Google. I really like the combination of softwood top with hardwood back for that bell-like tone I'm after. I had high hopes when I ordered it.

I've been playing it all day, enjoying the sound of the wood starting to awaken. It's had a long sleep since it was built in 2014 (the date the shop put on it.) It sounds happy to be in my house. :eek:
 
Very lovely instrument, congrats! I love what Larrivee is doing with ukuleles.
 
What a lovely uke, glad you've found 'your size', it took me almost two years & many ukes to find my 'perfect' fit, (long neck concert/small body tenor). :)

It looks like moggy is not too happy at the uke taking all the attention though. ;)
 
What a lovely uke, glad you've found 'your size', it took me almost two years & many ukes to find my 'perfect' fit, (long neck concert/small body tenor). :)

It looks like moggy is not too happy at the uke taking all the attention though. ;)

Yes, Keith, my moggy (as ya'll on the other side of the pond call them :) ) looks with a skeptical eye upon anything that distracts from his beauty. LOL!

Glad to know I'm not the only one who took 2 years to figure it out! I'm working on Samantha Muir's arrangements, Daniel Ward's new Arpeggio Meditations, and James Hill's Duet's for One. My fumble-fingers need HOURS of practice to make this music. I finally have the right uke for that.

The Kala tenor sounds spectacularly good, but Low G doesn't work for the campanella stuff. It's awesome on some chord melody, though.

The Martin soprano is perfection for campanella, but spending hours with it leads to arm/hand pain for me.

This Larrivee is wonderful for ALL of that! The neck and fretboard feel so good. I took a chance with the Reverb acquisition, trusting my instincts. My instincts were right! :)
 
While I've yet to play a Larrivee ukulele, I've been a fan of pretty much everything Larrivee has done-- wonderful company with a wonderful vision. I used to have a gorgeous guitar filled with Wendy Larrivee's inlay work... wish I still had it!

Congratulations!
 
While I've yet to play a Larrivee ukulele, I've been a fan of pretty much everything Larrivee has done-- wonderful company with a wonderful vision. I used to have a gorgeous guitar filled with Wendy Larrivee's inlay work... wish I still had it!

Congratulations!

Thanks, Rich! I've seen pics of that incredible inlay. Especially love her take on the "Mucha Lady." Just gorgeous! The art of Alphonse Mucha makes me swoon! Did you have one of those?

https://www.larrivee.com/inlay-artwork
 
Congrats Ohiobelle,
That's one sweet lookin' uke.
And what a sweetie Fiero is.
My furry, Mrs Hudson, does not care for soundholes....
 
Thank you, Nickie!

Fiero says Mrs. Hudson doesn't know what she's missing. Soundholes are like catnip for him.

Catnip for me too! :love:
 
Thanks, Rich! I've seen pics of that incredible inlay. Especially love her take on the "Mucha Lady." Just gorgeous! The art of Alphonse Mucha makes me swoon! Did you have one of those?

https://www.larrivee.com/inlay-artwork

Yes, here's my guitar, since sold:

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It is a beautiful instrument for sure, congratulations. Solorule (Brenda) bought a Larivee spruce topped baritone and it very nice as well. I am biased as Jean Larrivee is Canadian but I have always admired his work. You Silver Oak/ Lacewood also goes by the name of sycamore and I owned a Mya Moe tenor that had front, back and sides of sycamore which gave a very articulate sound.

Enjoy
 
Articulate is a very good way to describe this sound. Just what I wanted!

Your mention of sycamore is interesting. I was admiring Jonathan Dale's sycamore ukes on Jupiter Ukuleles, thinking the speckled pattern and honey colors resembled my silver oak. Per that source of all wisdom (ha!) Wikipedia, sycamore is platanus occidentalas, and lacewood (aka London plane) is the related hybrid platanus x acerifolia. Per that same wise Wiki, the silver oak used by your fellow Canadian Larrivee is an unrelated grevillea robusta (and nothing to do with actual oak!)

Whew! Too much science for me! I suspect more than one kind of tree is generically called "lacewood." But what do I know? LOL! I just know I love trees, especially those with pretty-looking and sounding wood. :)
 
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