I dropped by the 12th Fret today (in Toronto) and much to my suprise there was a new Larrivee tenor ukulele. So yes I grabbed it up and played the heck out of it. Was just recentley out of the box so out of tune and strings had not settled or stretched out yet. Bear this in mind with my comments about the sound.
Interesting facts
It is only 12 frets to the body
It is small in size. I kept looking at the label inside to confirm it was a tenor. It was not much bigger than the Kala concert beside it and noticably smaller in body length and depth that the two Kalas beside it.
it is indeed a 17" scale length which is achieved by having the bridge low on the body, but still in the middle of the lower bout. It is long waisted but very very well proportioned. I like the complete over all look.
Build quality is excellent as would be expected from Larrivee.
The satin finish is VERY lightly applied. No gloss here and minimial thickness. But again this is super high quality because this all mahogany body and neck showed zero open pores and felt very smooth to the touch.
Ok now the important part, sound and playability.
Playability was great, well balanced, light and good string height out of the box. Barr chords and everything else were very easy.
A disclaimer before I talk tone, volume and over all sound. This was new, new and strings were just starting to settle.It held it's tune through a full song but that was about it. This uke has that sweet mahogany sound, it is true to it's wood type. Finger picking was clear and clean, very good note seperation. Strumming produced that nice warm full midrange sound mahogany is noted for. I was not swept away but I truely thought this uke had a lot more to offer. I just got that feeling that with a full month of playing the strings would sweeten and the uke would open up a bit and it would really sing.
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Interesting facts
It is only 12 frets to the body
It is small in size. I kept looking at the label inside to confirm it was a tenor. It was not much bigger than the Kala concert beside it and noticably smaller in body length and depth that the two Kalas beside it.
it is indeed a 17" scale length which is achieved by having the bridge low on the body, but still in the middle of the lower bout. It is long waisted but very very well proportioned. I like the complete over all look.
Build quality is excellent as would be expected from Larrivee.
The satin finish is VERY lightly applied. No gloss here and minimial thickness. But again this is super high quality because this all mahogany body and neck showed zero open pores and felt very smooth to the touch.
Ok now the important part, sound and playability.
Playability was great, well balanced, light and good string height out of the box. Barr chords and everything else were very easy.
A disclaimer before I talk tone, volume and over all sound. This was new, new and strings were just starting to settle.It held it's tune through a full song but that was about it. This uke has that sweet mahogany sound, it is true to it's wood type. Finger picking was clear and clean, very good note seperation. Strumming produced that nice warm full midrange sound mahogany is noted for. I was not swept away but I truely thought this uke had a lot more to offer. I just got that feeling that with a full month of playing the strings would sweeten and the uke would open up a bit and it would really sing.
u
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