Any thoughts on Larrivee Ukes??

markallen

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Hi,
New to the Uke world and am considering purchasing a Larrivee Koa Soprano. I couldn't find anything in the review section on the Larrivee's, so I thought I would throw it out here. Any love for these ukes here? Anything I should watch out for? Thanks in advance for any help.
Cheers,
Mark
 
In my book, Jean Larrivée is a top of the line luthier. I own one of his fine guitars and it sounds amazing. He does not issue many ukuleles and, I have never heard one but, I would be really surprised if it was anything less than great. Jean is an expert at choosing woods
 
I've heard a soprano Larivee and I used to own a concert Larivee. The sop had the short sharp sound of the old Martins. Short sustain to my ear but that's what a lot of people are looking for in a soprano uke. The concert sounded too heavily braced to me and that made it a bit muffled. Similar short sustain but the muffled bothered me.
 
I have heard a Larrivee concert that sounded wonderful... an old one (made several years ago). Larrivee stopped producing ukes for quite a number of years and has only recently resumed building them. The new ones may out-perform the old.
 
I talked at some length with Jean Larrivee earlier this year at the Sarzana Guitar Festival in Italy. I asked him why he had stopped making ukes. His reply was a bit vague, but he said he was considering starting again. i don't know whether he has made any yet, but if so, they would certainly be a great option for someone looking for a high end non-Hawaiian style uke.
 
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Thanks everyone for the info. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the Larrivee. Your comments have been very helpful.
Again, many thanks,
Mark
 
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