Know anything about the Larrivee OM-03RE? or Taylor 314 CE?

[delayed delay]

I didn't win the Taylor 510E I wanted, so I'm still in the market for a great left-handed acoustic-electric..... (looking for a good strummer)....

 

Does anyone know anything about those 2 guitars (the Taylor 314 or the Larrivee OM-03RE) and how good they are for strumming? I play mostly rhythm with occasional picking....

 

The Larrivee right now is at $630 on EBay and the Taylor is over a $1,000.... what do ya'll think?

[Freeman Keller]

I can comment on the 314 and there are several others here with Larrys. I happen to belive the x14 is Taylors best and most versatile size - it will do almost everything pretty well. Would not be my choice for a bluegrass jam, but for both strumming and fingerpicking it is ideal. We have talked before about the C's and E's - make sure the early ES issues have been resolved. Most people who play my Taylor comment on the sweet neck and playability. Don't know what year yours is, but that price is high for a used one (I think my wife gave around 750 for essentially a brand new one a few years ago that even had an unregistered warranty). My rule of thumb is that a used guitar should never be more than 50% of list (which you can get from Taylor's site), I then take off for any issues.

 

I'm going to add one thing to this pretty picture - if it had not been a gift from a very wonderful woman I would not have kept that guitar. I simply am not a Taylor sort of guy (for several reasons) - if I were selecting it on my own it would have been an OM-21 (but I would have looked seriously at Larrivees too).

[TESmith]

The OM-03's take strumming fairly well I went back and fourth between the OM and an L. Many on the Larrivee Forum http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?board=2.0, said no to an OM for strumming, but it was mostly from those that had other models, not the OM's. The OM owners generally spoke well of them for strumming, But again for lots of serious hard core strumming an L-03 would probably be a better choice. (I play an OM-03) But I have had no problems with strumming on mine. I have played with both light and medium strings, still deciding which I favor.

 

As far as the electrics go, generally on the Larrivee boards they suggest adding your own electrics, say you will do better without the big barndoor cutout in the side of your guitar, however except for the cutout there were not really any negatives said. When I was whopping for my Larrivee, I considered one with electrics, but was told by many what I said above, or to just mic it. Other than that my experience is with the non electrics.

 

I believe you can often find the L-03's for simular prices used But either way The 03 series Larrivees are truly nice guitars. Either model is well versed for all styles, and flexible. Can not comment on the Taylor, never touched one, But I know many who really love their Larrivee!

[TESmith]

A quick add on, I had just tried lights for the first time on my OM-03 last night, changed just before bed. Played it off and on today, I do not care for lights (at least these strings) Going back to mediums tomorrow (Gotta buy some) I am doing a mix of play but with the lights I did not like the sounds from the Larrivee with strumming, it was very nice picking singular notes though. Just wanted to add this to my previous comments, So if you go with the OM I would start with the mediums!

[Hudman]

I have an OM-03R. I use it for everything. Best guitar I ever owned.

[kwakatak]

The 314 (no bloody "C" nor "E") was in front running for awhile the last time I had "productive" GAS (as opposed to the "window shopping" variety) but when I came across the OM-03R and it was love at first pluck (I was in a serious fingerstyle phase.)

 

It wasn't even so much the tone (which IMO was "sweeter" than the Tinny Taylor) but the whole quality vs. price ratio. At around $800 the 03/03R series include many features that the 200 series and even the 300 series (circa 2004) did not have.

 

I've since acquired a nice OM-03R (with a little help from my friends) and love almost everything about it, but bow that I'm back into strumming a little more I've been window shopping again and have to say that the Taylor GA's (even the "lower end" 100 and 200 series ones) have more bass. Still, the price vs. quality disparity still seems silly to me.

 

Nah - if I want to strum I'm gonna need more bass and Taylor still doesn't have it; I've been spoiled by the "Martin tone." Try a Martin 000-15 and you'll know what I mean.

 

That being said, do I think a $1000 used 314CE (which is overpriced IMO) is better than a $630 used OM-03RE? Heck no. Broaden your search to include the Larrivee L-03 or L-03R - or even a LV-03RE (if you're into the whole "CE" thing) and you'll have a fairer comparison with regards to tone.

 

BTW - you should also check out the Breedlove Atlas series AC25/SR. My old Tak F360 has one of those JLD's in it (that comes pre-installed inside the Breedloves) and IMO it helped to flesh out the typical flat Tak tone somewhat, making it sound remarkably like a BA AD25/SR.

 

PS: an aftermarket bone saddle always helps sustain and clarity too, IMO. It really helped pull out the socks and wake up the tone of my Elixir PB Nano light-equipped OM-03R, making it a passable strumming guitar. Keep that in mind if you try a guitar that has everything else that floats your boat but still sounds like it may have socks stuffed inside it.