Larrivée (guitar company)

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Jean Larrivee is widely regarded as a pioneer of modern guitar luthierie. His Larrivee, or "L"-style guitar was perhaps the first guitar designed for fingerstyle performance. His "C" or cutaway guitars, originally designed at Bruce Cockburn's request, were among the first acoustic guitars to offer extended upper-fret access by cutting away part of the upper bout.Cutaways have since become a common option on modern acoustics, and are considered necessary for many contemporary musicians in order to execute certain techniques, and to reach higher notes. Larrivee's proteges include some of the finest builders in the world, such as Grit Laskin, Linda Manzer, David Wren, Shelley Park, Sergei de Jonge and David Iannone. Larrivee guitars are considered some of the finest hand-crafted instruments in the world. However, unlike many of his proteges and followers, Larrivee has choosen to focus on instruments for the working musician rather than collector's pieces. While Larrivee combines traditional craftsmanship with modern CNC machinery, they still heavily rely on handwork, with Larrivee himself joining all the tops, and setting many of the necks in both facilities. He has said that it's very important for Larrivee Guitars to maintain their "small shop" mentality.

Because of their design, Larrivee built their reputation with fingerstyle guitar players. In fact, many fingerstyle champions have chosen their "L" and "LV" guitars as their primary instruments,such as Peter Huttlinger, National Winner 2000; Richard Smith, National Winner, 2001; John Standefor, National Winner 2002; and Shane Adkins, International Winner, 2005. However, in recent years they've attracted many flat-pick players as well, including Jim Glasby, the 2005 Texas State Best Flatpicking Championship. Other well-known players who use Larrivee guitars include Bruce Cockburn, Peter Yarrow, Justin King, Brad Paisley, John Hiatt, Leslie West and Scott Henderson among many others.

Current Models

Larrivée's current lineup includes the following series:

* 03 Recording Series-In terms of construction and wood materials, the 03 series offers options almost identical to its 05 and 09 siblings but aesthetically they are garnished with modest appointments. A standard 03 will also feature sapele, or African mahogany, instead of South American mahogany, which is becoming increasingly expensive. However, rosewood 03 series include the same high-quality East Indian Rosewood as the 09 series. Rosewood 03 series are designated "03R." Micro-dot inlays, a simple rosette, and a satin-only finish are indicative of an 03 Larrivee. It should be noted that the 03 series is produced in Canada while the 05 and 09 are now produced in the USA.

* 05 Mahogany Select Series
* 09 Rosewood Artist Series
* 10 Rosewood Deluxe Series
* 11 Fingerstyle Series
* 50 Mahogany Traditional Series
* 60 Rosewood Traditional Series
* 30 Series Classical Guitars

All Larrivee guitars feature woods hand-selected by Jean Larrivee himself. Most feature Canadian Sitka Spruce tops, which Larrivee feels are the most stable, and when of high-quality, the best-sounding wood available for acoustic guitars.

Body Styles:

The majority of the guitars in the Larrivee's catalog are based around three body styles.

*LThe "L", or Larrivee bodies are an original design, in some ways similar on an enlarged classical guitar designed for steel strings. Its characteristics include a clear, bright and complex tone. Bass, middle and treble frequencies are evenly balanced, making it especially suitable for fingerstyle playing, but also very adept at flatpicking and strumming styles as well. Because it is so versatile and well balanced, many players find it a wonderful instrument for recording situations. It features a wide 44.5 mm (1 3/4")nut, and 406 mm (16") lower bout, and Larrivee's trademark symmetrical and tapered bracing.

*LSVThis model is currently only available in the 11 series. It is a fingerstyle instrument modeled on the "L"-sttyle body, but reduced in size by one in in the lower bout, 15". It also features a slightly wider nut width of 45 mm (1 13/16".)It produces a sound in many ways reminiscent of the "L", but due to it's smaller size, produces less volume and bass. It retains excellent clarity, balance, and dynamics with a rich tone. More modern than the OM design, (see below,) it offers an alternative for players who focus mostly on fingerstyle performance.

*DThe "D"-style bodies are Larrivee's interpretation of Martin's classic Dreadnought design. These are large guitars designed for flatpicking and strumming often used by bluegrass and country guitarists. They are especially suited towards playing with other instruments or the accompaniment of a vocalist. It is characterized by a loud voice, leaning towards the bass frequencies, with a bright treble end and less midrange. It features a regular width 43mm (1 11/16") nut, and a 406 mm (16") lower bout. It primarily differs from the Martin design in it's bracing, which is symmetrical, and tapered, rather than scalloped.

*OMThe OM, or "Orchestra Model" is based on Martin's OM of the early 1930s. The original Martin guitar was developed as a rhythm instrument for the jazz bands of the day, but in later decades, players realized Martin had created a wonderful instrument for fingerstyle playing. It is smaller than the "L" body and lacks some of that design's bass response and volume. OM's are known for their rich, balanced voice. Because of their size, they are also often favored by smaller players. They feature a wide 44.5 mm (1 3/4")nut, and 394 mm (15 1/2") lower bout, and again differs from the Martin design by nature of Larrivee's symmetrical and tapered bracing, and its slightly larger lower bout.

Larrivee offers all of these body styles with a Venetian, or rounded cutaway, which allows for much-improved upper fret access. Models with a cutaway are designated by a "V" following their body letter, for example: LV-03R would indicate am "L" body with a cutaway, with 03 series appointments and a rosewood body. "L"-style guitars are also available with a Florentine, or sharp, cutaway, but only in the 09 and 10 series. The "C" shape was Larrivee's original cutaway model, originally built at Bruce Cockburn's request for an acoustic with great upper fret access.

*Other ModelsIn addition to the models listed above, Larrivee offers other body styles in more limited availability. The "P" or Parlor guitar is a very small bodied instrument with a short scale length neck. The "000" is a 12-fret design based on an early 20th-century Martin, and is smaller than the OM model, but larger than the Parlor. It is often favored by guitarists performing traditional music such as ragtime, blues or folk. Larrivee has also produced a Jumbo, or "J" body guitar, (not currently available.) As the name implies, Jumbos are very large instruments, 17" across the lower bout. While often used for strumming, some modern fingerstyle players, such as Justin King, prefer the Jumbo's superior volume, bass response, and unique tone.

History

Origin of the company

Jean Larrivee Guitars was actually started by a misunderstanding due to a language barrier.

In 1967, Jean Larrivee was living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was studying classical guitar with the Toronto Classical Guitar Society (http://www.guitar-toronto.on.ca). Jean was attending a student concert where fellow society member Eddie Monch was performing. Eddie’s family was present including his father Edgar Monch Sr., whom was a renowned Classical Guitar builder from Germany. Eddie was playing one of his father’s guitars, and Jean spoke to Edgar wanting to comment on Eddie's Guitar. Edgar had recently immigrated to Canada and spoke almost no English, some French, and perfect German. Edgar immediately took a liking to Jean (Who spoke French, and English) and the two started talking. Making conversation, Jean make an off-the cuff remark saying “I’d give anything to be able to build guitars”, but lost in translation Edgar took the remark seriously and proceeded to tell Jean “You can start tomorrow”. Jean jumped on the opportunity- he left his job as a mechanic for General Motors and immediately started his apprenticeship with Edgar Monch Sr.

The first two guitars Larrivee built were made under Edgar’s tutelage. Those two guitars are in the Larrivee Family Collection today. Larrivee stayed with Monch for a year-and-a-half before starting his own shop.

Inlays

The first Larrivee Guitars were based on European classical Guitar designs, and therefore had no inlay designs on them; it wasn’t until 1971 when a man named Jim Hale added some very basic inlay designs (Snowflakes, diamonds, etc) to the guitars. Jean met Jim through a friend named "Eric Nagler" who owned a music store in Toronto called "The Folklore Center." Jim did only a few guitars though, as mostly classicals were being built.

It wasn't until 1977 when a man named Tony Dougan-Smith joined the company that modern inlays were seen on the instruments. Tony produced inlay designs such as birds with minimal engraving, and it was during this time that the silver border was first seen on the headstock, but a slightly different design from the current version. Tony moved from Toronto to Victoria with the company, but after six months moved back to Toronto with Linda Manzer.

In 1978, Jean hired Heather McCray who created several "Figure" inlays with heavy engraving and scrimshaw. She worked on and off with the company for two years, and during this time Wendy took over the inlays. Wendy had an education in art, and the number of designs and inlays increased quickly.

Over the years the inlaying of pieces has been done by several employees and family members, but since 1979 all of the engraving has been done by Wendy with one exception: in 1998 an employee named Sarah Briggs was brought on to assist Wendy with Engraving fretboard inlays. Under Wendy's guidance, Sarah designed one inlay called the "Joker." In order to bring inlay work to more people in a cost effective manner, in 2007 Larrivee began experimenting with laser engraving on traditional materials.

Guitar Label History

The very first Larrivee Labels that were put inside Larrivee guitars actually had several errors. The first labels used the Anglicized spelling of Jean Larrivee’s name “John” and Larrivée was miss-spelled “Larrive”. The border and text were all produced from Letraset. The year the guitar was made was hand written in the bottom left hand corner of the label in a two digit format (i.e. 70 for 1970). Jean did not start signing the labels until 1970, and he signed his name “John Larrivee”. The label itself was printed on standard light-ivory card stock, and was glued into the guitar before the back was glued to the frame.

The label was changed in mid 1970 to include the location that the guitar was built (Toronto), change the spelling to “Jean-Claude Larrivee”, and a title of “Luthier” was added. A small line was added on the bottom right side of the label for the two digit year to be hand written. A new Letraset border was also added to the label. These labels were all hand signed “Jean Larrivée” fully spelled out. This label was also printed on standard light-ivory card stock, and was glued into the guitar before the back was glued to the frame.

In approx 1973-1974, a personal friend of Jean's by the name of Alan Magee (a now famous Superrealism artist) designed a new label for him. The design featured a border done in pointillism style, and a hand-drawn classical guitar viewed as if looking down the fretboard to the bridge. The “Magee” label as it became known featured the text “Jean – Claude Larrivee”, “Toronto”, and a small line where the two digit year was hand written. Each label was hand signed with the “Jean Larrivée” fully spelled out. In 1976, Jean changed his signature to a simpler “Jean” and all Magee labels past this point have this new signature. When Jean and Wendy moved to Victoria in 1977, the “Toronto” on the label was changed to “Victoria” to reflect the change. The label itself was printed on a solid dark-ivory linen paper, and often had a thin layer of finish sprayed on top of it. The label was glued into the back of the guitar before the body was assembled.

In 1980, Wendy Larrivee designed the first of two “Dual-Cherub” labels. The design featured two flute playing cherubs sitting amongst ribbons and roses. The text at the top of the label read “Jean Larrivee Guitars” and at the bottom read “Victoria Canada”. At this point Jean ceased signing every guitar label. This was due to the number of guitars being made at the time and the fact that Jean had to travel to source wood. Also removed at the request of dealers was the two digit date, as this “dated” inventory in music stores. This label was printed on a plain textured medium ivory colored card stock, and was glued onto the back of the guitar during body assembly.

In 1982, Wendy Larrivee redesigned the label into the second of the “Dual Cherub” labels. This label had a similar overall design to the first, but with substantially more detail. The spelling of the word “Guitars” Changed to the French spelling “Guitares”, and the two digit provincial abbreviation was added to the label. When the shop moved from Victoria, BC to Vancouver, BC in 1983 the label did not change. It continued to read “Victoria, BC” until the inception of the next label design in 1994. There was no direct reason for not changing it to read Vancouver. When the company moved and set up shop in North Vancouver, the acoustic market was very soft, and the focus of the company almost immediately shifted to electric guitars. With the focus on electrics, no one even thought about the acoustic label.

The next label was created in 1995, is the current standard issue, and became the first asymmetric label design for Larrivee. The design paid tribute to the previous labels by featuring a single large cherub and numerous roses. The label was drawn mostly in pointillism. The design of the label has a large open space for text, and or signatures. Up until this point in time, all of the labels were printed by professional printers and glued into the guitar before it was fully constructed. This label was the first design that was manipulated by computer. For the first few years each label was printed on a laser printer and contained the guitar model and serial number. After about 10000 guitars, the serial number was dropped from the label, and Larrivee began having the label professionally printed again (About 40 separate labels were printed including one for each base model). In 2001, when the factory in California opened, labels were once again produced by Laser printer but only on the -05 series and up. The Vancouver factory continues to use professionally printed labels. All of these labels are now glued in the day the guitar has the strings put on.

In late 2006, the factory in California started working towards a vintage looking print on its labels. The original dark ivory color of the 1970’s “Magee Label” was painstakingly color matched and professionally printed on a white linen paper. A limited test run of 8 different models produced excellent results and the company plans to switch completely over to this method in mid 2007.

Facilities

Since Jean Larrivee started building in 1967, the company has moved to several different shops / factories. Below is a chronological list of these facilities.
* An old house in Toronto, ON, Canada (1967)
* Basement of Jean’s Townhouse in Toronto, ON, Canada (1968 -1971)
* Above the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, ON, Canada (1971 -1972)
* Storefront on Mount Pleasant in Toronto, ON, Canada (1972 - 1973)
* Portland Street Shop in Toronto, ON, Canada (1973 - 1975)
* Dwight Street in Mimico, Toronto, ON, Canada (1975 - 1977)
* Esquimalt Shop, Victoria, BC, Canada (1977 – 1982)
* 267 E. 1st Street Shop in North Vancouver, BC, Canada (1982 -1992)
* Victoria Diversion shop in Vancouver, BC, Canada (1993 – 1998)
* Cordova Street Factory in Vancouver, BC, Canada (1998 - Current)
* Yarnell Place Factory in Oxnard, CA, USA (2001 – Current)

External links

* [http://www.larrivee.com Company website]
* [http://www.larriveeforum.com Larrivée Guitar Forum discussion board]