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This Larada USA Master Series guitar features an okoume body, paired with a gorgeous roasted and figured maple neck and fingerboard. Each piece of wood is hand-selected, with great attention paid to quality and weight.
Master Series Laradas come equipped with Tosin Abasi’s signature Fishman Fluence pickups, Hipshot Tuners, and D’Addario NYXL strings.
Posting an update, and response to the feedback.
I was correct, the truss rod was not installed properly and pushing out the bottom of the neck into the neck pickup.
I had to have the truss rod tapped in a set correctly.
The pickups horrid excuse for sound, was due to the neck pickup wiring not being full 'inserted', and one of the wires was almost falling out of the slide on clip.
again - should not have made it through QA, and no amount of shipping/climate changes are going to improperly install a truss rod or improperly setup the wiring.
Also, I noticed that a foam insert is used under the pickups instead of proper springs. The foam will break down over time and make the pickup loose. Which in turn will need proper springs installed.
I own (and have owned) several high end guitars, Suhr, Mayones, Standberg, USA made Jacksons, etc.
Abasi Larada literally being the most expensive I have purchased.
the build quality is average and setup was poor ( i know this is subjective, but the neck was near flat nothing but fret buzz, I adjusted to taste, but having difficulty getting clear notes without buzzing). the truss rod is not properly installed. The wheel is too far down and looks like it smashed the neck pickup into the bottom of the cavity. a 3700 guitar shouldn't make it out of QA like this. The pickups are utter garbage. no dynamics, can barely tell the difference in switch positions. Full on neck and or bridge selections are nearly identical in sound.
my gut told me to not buy because previously I purchased the Legion model that arrived completely wired up wrong and the bridge pickup screws were not attached to the body, which resulted in the pickup popping out the body. I had to send it back for repair, only for the guitar get lost when it arrived for repair. Once it was finally found, it was repaired and shipped back.
When I received it back, the finish on the back had damage (deep scratches). Like the repair tech was sliding it around on a dirty table top, scratching the finish all over. so, it was sent back again for full refund.
Guitar will likely head to Reverb soon. I really don't enjoy posting poor reviews, and rarely do, But I have seen no discernable difference in the poor quality and QA from the import vs USA 'Master' builds.
Thanks for reaching out and I’m sorry to hear about your disappointment. I have shared your feedback with our team.
Each guitar gets several passes of QC and we have a detailed list of check points that have to be approved for each guitar before it goes in the box.
Our setups are in line with Tosin’s playing preference: low action + relatively little relief. The height at the high E 17th fret, for example, should measure close to 3/64”. Each truss rod is tested for functionality, and we would not be able to set the guitar up to our specs without a functional truss rod.
All this said, we are shipping a wood-based object across the country during the summer, with various handling conditions and temperature shifts - things can move. It is standard procedure that a professional setup may be required upon arrival. Please note, adjusting the truss rod improperly may cause irreversible damage to the guitar.
Short of any mishandling by the carrier (which would be indicated by the Shockwatch label on the box), we are confident a professional tech will be able to set the guitar to your optimal playing conditions. We find a small degree of buzz on the low strings desirable (it should not come through the amp), but if you are aiming to eliminate as much of it as possible, we recommend setting the guitar up with higher action and more relief.
Everyone has their opinion, but the Fluence set of pickups we use is revered for its sound and celebrated for how many tones it contains. The assessment that the neck and bridge sound identical is strange, even by virtue of where they are on the guitar - Literally even an identical pickup in both positions would sound different as it’s positioned in a different listening window. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the pickups, but would encourage you to revisit them if you decide to hold on to the guitar.
