❌SOLD❌ Larrivee SD60 SH Slope Shoulder Dreadnought, 2003

The Larrivee SD60 SH is a take on possibly the earliest Dreadnought sized guitar designs – those built from 1916 by C F Martin for the Ditson company. At the time, guitars tended to be small, with the Parlor size being most common.

The Dreadnought was an unusual size for a guitar, but sales were poor, the model was discontinued, and the model disappeared until Martin launched its D size models in 1931. Sales history did not repeat itself and the D line rapidly became the dominant steel string acoustic guitar design for all kinds of genres except Classical and Flamenco.

Here we’re looking at a Larrivee SD60 SH, a Slope Shoulder Dreadnought with a long Ditson-style body and slotted peghead. The ’60’ refers to the trim level and materials – Indian Rosewood for the sides, back and head plate, and Maple binding around the body. The bridge and faux-ivoroid bound fingerboard are Ebony. The SH indicates a Sitka Spruce top with Herringbone purfling.  

The body blocks and neck are Mahogany, and the head has a relatively shallow tip-back angle allowed by the slotted peghead. The tip-back angle indicates the amount of downbearing the strings have at the nut, with greater downbearing adding to open-string sustain and clarity. With a slotted peghead, the strings go into the center of the head to meet the tuning gear posts, so the angle can be reduced. This has two main effects – it is less prone to breakage along a short grain line, and it’s a bit cheaper to produce as the neck blank does not have to be as thick.

The Rosette is abalone, and pickguard is a faux-tortoise teardrop.  

Like other guitars of this period,  the fingerboard is 12 frets to the body.   The now standard 14 fret neck was not introduced until the early 1930s when many banjo players migrated to guitar,  and wanted access to more frets.   On this older model, the neck is fairly wide at the nut, 1.89 inches or 48mm.   

This Larrivee SD60 SH is dated by its serial number to October 21, 2003 and was built at the Larrivee shop in Oxnard, California. It is in overall good condition and plays well. The finish has a few small dents on the top, and an expected amount of natural finish sinking, but little wear otherwise. Fret wear is light.

This guitar plays well, and has a full, rich tone – and it’s fairly loud.  

The original Larrivee hard shell case is included.