Larrivée Steel String Guitars

I bought this puppy for $679 (gotta have that hardshell case, partner) at Buckdancer's Choice in Portland, Maine. What's not to like? All solid woods, ebony fretboard, very excellent balance -- good low end, but it doesn't take over, even though this is a dreadnought.It's easy to see that this is a CNC (Compter Numerically Controlled) guitar, essentially untouched by human hands. Very plain, almost Soviet in aspect, stamped out of a mold -- which explains the low price. There are one or two little wah-wahs. For instance, a good chunk of fretboard was filed off when the fretwork was capped on the sides. On first glance, it sorta looks like each and every fret was sawn right through. But this is a clean, solid, resonant guitar, with a dovetailed joint in the neck and great choice of wood stock. You could pound nails with this thing in the morning and seduce women with it in the afternoon. This is one of the better guitars I've ever owned. I play in a band with a guy who is a systems administrator, makes a lot of money and owns some fine guitars -- Taylors, Martins, what have you. But every time we play together I catch him looking at/listening to the D-03, and he has said on many occasions that there's nothing that can touch it. That's a little strong, in my opinion, unless you restate it a little: You can't touch it for the money, and maybe not even for twice the money -- unless you're exceptionally fortunate. this review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com