Tell a story about a guitar find!

[Myopic Squirrel]

As a Larrivee newbie have been all over the forum when I came across this post, so I'd like to add. I had messed  around a little with the guitar in HS ('61-'62), lost interest and gave it to one of my brothers. It was now 1980 and became interested again, so went looking for another. Found a 1978 Takamine 370 SH (the "lawsuit" years) in a neighborhood paper. Knew nothing about the brand but it looked cool! The kid selling it appeared wealthy & it had a finish crack, so I got it for $75. Just started playing w/o doing any research on it. People kept asking me how much the "Martin D28" cost (nobody I played with could afford a Martin) yet if you stood the 2 side by side from 5' hard to tell the difference - Takamine even copied the Martin script on the headstock. When I finally contacted Takamine for the details, the MSRP in '77 was $499.50! Great sounding & great playing guitar, this is my "acorn". Sad the shoulder can no longer handle the dread.

[StringPicker6]

Fantastic story!! It's a great reminder about the days before the internet when you had to read the classifieds in the paper to find things for sale.

[guitarman001]

I once climbed a hill and at the top, with the sun beating behind it, was a unicorn being ridden by a Canadian who handed me down the axe on his back... My now OM-02.

That's what it felt like, anyway.

[eded]

Got an email from Larrivee concerning new models. Seeing the price on the Willie Watson OM-01 model, I guess my original OM-01e was a real find for $380.00. I'd truly love one of those new Bakerfields too.

My '99 O-01 was $365 new. Worth every penny!

I think about that whenever I see one of the old parlors listed for many times that.  But this one is mine.  I have too many hours logged on it to see it belonging to someone else.

Ed

[ducktrapper]

My '99 O-01 was $365 new. Worth every penny!

I think about that whenever I see one of the old parlors listed for many times that.  But this one is mine.  I have too many hours logged on it to see it belonging to someone else.

Ed

All the original O1 models were incredible deals. I find it a little odd that putting Willie Watson's initials on one increases the price so much. I guess that's marketing. 

[Queequeg]

All the original O1 models were incredible deals. I find it a little odd that putting Willie Watson's initials on one increases the price so much. I guess that's marketing. 

I just completed the most exhaustive and thoroughly comprehensive "man on the street" interviews and neither my wife nor my dog ever heard of Willie Watson.
 

[ducktrapper]

I just completed the most exhaustive and thoroughly comprehensive "man on the street" interviews and neither my wife nor my dog ever heard of Willie Watson.
 

 

[Silence Dogood]

I think Willie Watson is going for a Willie Nelson vibe with his guitar.  It's looking pretty rough these days.  I always think it's cool when someone pretty much plays the same guitar all the time.  It becomes part of the show and an extension of the player's personality and vibe.  But, yeah, I'd not pay extra to have WW's name on my guitar.
 

[StringPicker6]

Willie Nelson's guitar has to be one of the coolest looking guitars ever.

[johnr]

I walked in to a small junk store in 1975 and the guy if he had any National steel guitars. He reached behind him and pulled out an O model that I found was built in 1930. I still have it and play it, never had anything done to it. Wish I knew it's history.

[StringPicker6]

Well, at least you know the last 48 years of its history! That's an impressive find, I'm glad you kept it All these years.

[ducktrapper]

Here's the story of my first Larrivee (and the one I just got back from a repair job). I lived in Montreal in the mid 70's where I first encountered Larrivee guitars. Cockburn and few other Canadian guitar players had switched to Jean's guitars. My musical partner, the now famous Lauri Conger of The Parachute club, and I hung out at The Yellow Door and played many a hoot night as well as a couple of gigs there. During that period we encountered a few people playing these remarkable Canadian guitars. If you're old enough to remember, those days there were Martins and Gibsons and Guilds and not much else in the high end market. Our friend Ben Russell had one and I really liked it. I walked into Renaissance Music on Atwater St. one day and there on the wall, selling on consignment, was a very fancy Larrivee guitar. Price $675.00. (Jean had just raised his price to $825.00 and a Martin D-28 was about $1250.00). I took it down and my first thought was, "Who do I have to kill to own this?" LOL
I had owned a red label Yamaha FG 180 and a Magenta dread (wish I still had both of them), played a Martin or two and being a total newbie on high end guitars basically knew nothing about them. Laminates? Solid wood? This guitar was German spruce and Brazilian rosewood. OK. If you say so.
Now I was a poor folk singer, doing day jobs, and we were busking in downtown Montreal making a few bucks so $675.00 was a lot of money. But for reasons I only found out later, this one Larrivee hung on the wall for weeks and weeks and did not sell. Being an idiot it didn't occur to me that the funny finish on the neck was not original. Later on that.
So the fact that this guitar, for reasons unknown to me, didn't move, allowed me to eventually gather the money together and finally buy it.
The seller was none other than Headsup who used to post here but doesn't much anymore. After buying the guitar, I ran into Kevin and asked him why he sold it and he mumbled something about it being too pretty for him and he didn't like worrying about it getting scratched. Fair enough. I later found out that he had shaved down the neck and all those people who, unlike me, were in the know about high end acoustics were saying that he had ****ed this guitar up, voided the warranty and that the neck was compromised and would probably become U shaped soon. Anyway, that's why it hung on the wall so long and allowed me to buy it. Turns out that the joke is on everyone but me. 48 years later, the neck is solid, the guitar is wonderful. In fact, Andrew Madsen, who did the recent repair, and I just had an interesting conversation about how much we liked the neck on this guitar and how unlike any other Larrivee it was. Thanks Kevin!     

One other interesting thing. I played at a folk festival 20 years ago or so and a guy there had a 1976 Manzer. It was virtually identical to my guitar. I emailed Linda Manzer, told her about my guitar, described it and how it got to me and she told me that she built it. Larrimanzer? Maybe she was kidding. It is signed by Jean Larrivee.
   

[mike in lytle]

Here's the story of my first Larrivee (and the one I just got back from a repair job).

That is a really cool story and I am happy you shared it with us enthusiasts.
And I have always been a follower of Kevin, who seems to be even a bit closer to "the source".
You guys are treasures.
Mike

[ducktrapper]

That is a really cool story and I am happy you shared it with us enthusiasts.
And I have always been a follower of Kevin, who seems to be even a bit closer to "the source".
You guys are treasures.
Mike

Yes, Kevin went to Toronto and personally picked this guitar out of the ones Jean had available at the time. I believe Kevin had three Larrivees, including one of, if not Jean's first dread, when he decided to part with this one.

[Mikeymac]

Yes, Kevin went to Toronto and personally picked this guitar out of the ones Jean had available at the time. I believe Kevin had three Larrivees, including one of, if not Jean's first dread, when he decided to part with this one.

I remember when he shared pictures and the story of finding that first dread... if my memory is working, it's on the way to being cosmetically a "Willie Nelson" guitar. Lots of mojo.

[ducktrapper]

I remember when he shared pictures and the story of finding that first dread... if my memory is working, it's on the way to being cosmetically a "Willie Nelson" guitar. Lots of mojo.

Right. The dread he had in '76 was one of Jean's first but I believe he acquired the first Larrivee dread much more recently. Old beat up guitar! Maybe his ears are burning and he'll check in to set us straight. 

[StringPicker6]

Up in heaven, Jerry Jeff is grinning right now. 

[ronmac]

A few years ago a Larrivee L35 classical was posted on Kijiji for a ridiculously high price. After a few weeks it disappeared, only to be relisted a few weeks later for a slightly lower, but still ridiculous, price. This went on for months, with the guitar listed just a bit cheaper each time. Each time I chuckled and thought this guy will never sell that guitar.

Then one day.... it was relisted, but this time at a ridiculously low price. WTF!! So I sent the guy a message and he responded right away with his telephone number. I called him and an hour or so later I was knocking on his door.

He invited me in and showed me the guitar. It was beautiful and sounded OK, considering the strings were likely 20 years old. I told him I wanted the guitar but was uncomfortable taking it at such a low price. He insisted that I "was the right guy to buy the guitar" and recounted the many insulting messages he had previously received from his previous sales attempts.

The guitar was owned by his father, an "accomplished amateur" who scraped together the cash to buy the best guitar he could.

As I sheepishly handed him the cash for the guitar he said "I have something else I think you should have". He handed me a book, Julian Bream's "A Life on the Road". The book was purchased by the original owner while taking a masterclass by Mr. Bream!He also signed the book.

The guitar (serial number indicates ~1983 build*), and the book are still prized by me and will be sold together, if I ever have a weak moment.

* Larrivee do not have records of serial numbers from that time period. When I contacted the factory they deduced that as most likely year, considering records before and after and Jean's output (he personally built a few high end acoustics during that period, while everyone else in the shop were turning out the electric models to keep them in business).

[ducktrapper]

A few years ago a Larrivee L35 classical was posted on Kijiji for a ridiculously high price. After a few weeks it disappeared, only to be relisted a few weeks later for a slightly lower, but still ridiculous, price. This went on for months, with the guitar listed just a bit cheaper each time. Each time I chuckled and thought this guy will never sell that guitar.

Then one day.... it was relisted, but this time at a ridiculously low price. WTF!! So I sent the guy a message and he responded right away with his telephone number. I called him and an hour or so later I was knocking on his door.

He invited me in and showed me the guitar. It was beautiful and sounded OK, considering the strings were likely 20 years old. I told him I wanted the guitar but was uncomfortable taking it at such a low price. He insisted that I "was the right guy to buy the guitar" and recounted the many insulting messages he had previously received from his previous sales attempts.

The guitar was owned by his father, an "accomplished amateur" who scraped together the cash to buy the best guitar he could.

As I sheepishly handed him the cash for the guitar he said "I have something else I think you should have". He handed me a book, Julian Bream's "A Life on the Road". The book was purchased by the original owner while taking a masterclass by Mr. Bream!He also signed the book.

The guitar (serial number indicates ~1983 build*), and the book are still prized by me and will be sold together, if I ever have a weak moment.

* Larrivee do not have records of serial numbers from that time period. When I contacted the factory they deduced that as most likely year, considering records before and after and Jean's output (he personally built a few high end acoustics during that period, while everyone else in the shop were turning out the electric models to keep them in business).

Cool story. Did he explain his reasoning for the initial very high asking price to the very low? Merely the insulting messages?

[StringPicker6]

I'm not familiar with Julian Bream. Is it a book I should consider reading?