Nashville Star and Larrivee ?

[lw216316]

I've been watching ' Nashville Star ' and have not seen a Larrivee.

It's hard to tell what guitars are being used. They seem to avoid showing the headstock on the close ups.
To me, most of them look like Taylors. I did see one Gibson used in practice.

The old traditional COUNTRY icon  - Martin -  seems to be out of the picture.

Did anybody identify any of the ' Nashville Star ' guitars ?

- Larry the Nashville Cat

[Makarovii]

I have never watched that show. However, lastnight I caught part of the rerun of the "Crossroads" show, from the CMT channel, with Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson. One of the guitarists had what could have been an OM-09(E). Unfortunately, they came close but never showed the headstock. 

[love2play21]

some of them for the first few weeks were playing cheaper guitars then all of a sudden almost everyone is playing taylors. not my cup of tea but there doing great at product placement. 

[Danny]

some of them for the first few weeks were playing cheaper guitars then all of a sudden almost everyone is playing taylors. not my cup of tea but there doing great at product placement. 

I've never seen this show , but product placement is usually why you see or don't see a headstock logo. Just like Coke in a movie or every new car is a Ford, or a Lexus, Like in the futuristic movie with Tom Cruise.
                But if it's Willie Nelson be assured he will be playing his old Martin "Trigger" And Emy Lou Harris will most likely have her Gibson J-200 3/4 and on and on.

[bud0505]

Seems to be mostly Taylors and Gibsons acoustics and the only electrics I've seen have been Gibsons.

[musicrowscott]

I've never seen this show , but product placement is usually why you see or don't see a headstock logo. Just like Coke in a movie or every new car is a Ford, or a Lexus, Like in the futuristic movie with Tom Cruise.
                But if it's Willie Nelson be assured he will be playing his old Martin "Trigger" And Emy Lou Harris will most likely have her Gibson J-200 3/4 and on and on.

God forbid we ever see Willie Nelson or Emmylou Harris on this year's Nashville Star!! Surely this would be the harbinger of the apocalypse..."shudder". Now speaking of product placement, I can't believe Chris Nolan couldn't have found a way to get a Larrivee' in the new Batman movie! 

Cheers,

Scott

[jeremy3220]

I've never seen this show , but product placement is usually why you see or don't see a headstock logo. Just like Coke in a movie or every new car is a Ford, or a Lexus, Like in the futuristic movie with Tom Cruise.
                But if it's Willie Nelson be assured he will be playing his old Martin "Trigger" And Emy Lou Harris will most likely have her Gibson J-200 3/4 and on and on.

I've noticed that almost all acoustic guitars you see in movies are Gibsons. August Rush and Stranger Than Fiction are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head.

[Tycho]

I've never seen this show , but product placement is usually why you see or don't see a headstock logo. Just like Coke in a movie or every new car is a Ford, or a Lexus, Like in the futuristic movie with Tom Cruise.
                But if it's Willie Nelson be assured he will be playing his old Martin "Trigger" And Emy Lou Harris will most likely have her Gibson J-200 3/4 and on and on.

Apologies in advance for the drift, but product placement makes me laugh.  In one of the Bourne movies, every character was using a particular brand of cel phone to make incredibly rapid phone calls, detonate explosives, etc.  Just before I saw the movie, I had finally ditched my second of those particular phones in disgust.  I couldn't help thinking that in real life, the characters would be removing and re-installing the battery to try to unfreeze it, angrily banging the phone on hard surfaces, activating the camera or the MP3 player by mistake, etc. etc.

[Danny]

Apologies in advance for the drift, but product placement makes me laugh.  In one of the Bourne movies, every character was using a particular brand of cel phone to make incredibly rapid phone calls, detonate explosives, etc.  Just before I saw the movie, I had finally ditched my second of those particular phones in disgust.  I couldn't help thinking that in real life, the characters would be removing and re-installing the battery to try to unfreeze it, angrily banging the phone on hard surfaces, activating the camera or the MP3 player by mistake, etc. etc.

Apologies in advance for the drift...me too... Tycho , how do you like your 00-50tsb and is it a total burst? Danny

[rockstar_not]

There's a paradox in one of the above posts which mentioned the traditional COUNTRY axe being a Martin, then being surprised they aren't showing up in Nashville Star too often.

Here's the problem.

Traditional COUNTRY is and was nothing like Nashville Star output.

Nashville Star; and modern 'Country' music is primarily warmed over 50's era rock and roll and blues these days.  Very little 'traditional' left in it.  I'll refer to the host's smash hit of 15-20 years ago as a prime example of the sad state of affairs of popular country music.

10 years or so ago, pop country seemed dominated by Takamine, particularly those painted black.  I think Taylor has taken their place recently.  Taylor's marketing machine runs circles around everyone else.

With that said, I'm not even sure Larrivee would want Taylor sales volumes - haven't asked Jean myself, but my guess it would mean a multiple shift operation at Oxnard, if not an all-new factory somewhere.

I met Jean at the Oxnard factory on a Saturday where he was fitting necks to bodies for the California model.  He was the only guy there except for one other worker buffing some bodies.  That was soon after that facility opened; perhaps a year at the most.  There didn't seem to be any shortage of guitars in process.  I never asked him if he had plans for yet another factory (I think there was talk at one time of a Nashville area factory), but it seemed like the company was 'right sized' at the time.

-Scott

[Tycho]

Apologies in advance for the drift...me too... Tycho , how do you like your 00-50tsb and is it a total burst? Danny

It's a total burst.  It's a beautiful guitar.  It took me a bit longer to warm up to the sound (it wasn't love at first play for me, as it was for Denis), but I've figured out how to use it in a way that works for me and now I really like it.

Surprisingly, I really enjoy it for folkie or old-timey strumming.  For fingerstyle, I still tend to go to the OM.  And I have to say that I think my D-03R is still my favourite Larrivee.

[Danny]

It's a total burst.  It's a beautiful guitar.  It took me a bit longer to warm up to the sound (it wasn't love at first play for me, as it was for Denis), but I've figured out how to use it in a way that works for me and now I really like it.

Surprisingly, I really enjoy it for folkie or old-timey strumming.  For fingerstyle, I still tend to go to the OM.  And I have to say that I think my D-03R is still my favourite Larrivee.

Thanks, that's a new view. I guess I need to take a 2000 mile trip somewhere and check one out.  Danny

[lw216316]

I think there was talk at one time of a Nashville area factory),   

Oh yea,,,that would be sweet !  - since I live in the area.   

[prof_stack]

Taylors do rule the roost on Nashville Star.  I've been watching the show with my wife this summer and have come to respect the judges more and more as they prep their charges to perform on stage. 

I keep telling my wife that the music is not really country music, but a hyped up pop country.  But that is what sells these days.

I'm still bummed that my squinty-eyed blonde cutie Ashley was eliminated this week.   

[DrLeeDetroit]

I was at an old-time music festival in northern lower Michigan last week. It's a hammered dulcimer festival (my wife plays), but with 3200 attendees there are loads of guitars around too. I always like to see what other guitar players are playing, not because I'm a headstock worshiper but because I love guitars. My sample was incomplete of course -- just the people who were sitting next to me in workshops or jams.

Martins were by far the most prevalent brand -- ranging from their low-end stuff all the way up (including at least three D-42s that I saw; those are beautiful boxes!). Lots of D18s and D28s.

Gibson was the second-best represented brand, with maybe a third as many as Martin had. Many of the Martins and Gibsons had a LOT of miles on them and were really great-sounding guitars.

I saw only one or two each of Taylor, Ovation, Yamaha, Seagull. One of the Seagulls sounded fantastic. Not a single Larrivee, alas.

One conclusion we can reach: Taylor's marketing machine has not yet reached the acoustic musicians who converge on northern lower Michigan each July. I doubt that this worries Taylor much though!

--Lee

[Tycho]

At the songwriting workshop I attended this week, Larrivee was probably the single most represented brand, followed closely by various Godin products -- but then again, it was in Toronto.

Most of the songwriters were not guitar geeks, so many of them made do with guitars that most of us would consider fairly cheap 'n' nasty. My favourite in that regard was owned by a guy about my age who owns about 30 guitars, many of which I'm sure are great.  But the one he brought to the workshop was a "Marlin" dreadnought that was his first acoustic.  He bought it at the old Eaton's department store in the early '70s.  He didn't even bother carrying it around in a case.  It actually sounded pretty good!

At the other extreme, there was a guy with a guitar that he made himself about 20 years ago.  He made it under the supervision of one of Jean L.'s apprentices whose name I can't remember (not one of the really well-known ones).  It was a beautiful guitar that played and sounded great, very much in the '70s Larrivee L mode.

[Brodie001]

I got the impression there was some serious Gibson product placement going on on this show.  I've seen a couple Taylors, but just in the hands of the few musicians that seemed to bring their own.  There are Gibsons set up behind the judges during the performances, and during the practice sessions clips people are frequently just holding a Gibson guitar for no apparent reason. 

[Danny]

I got the impression there was some serious Gibson product placement going on on this show.  I've seen a couple Taylors, but just in the hands of the few musicians that seemed to bring their own.  There are Gibsons set up behind the judges during the performances, and during the practice sessions clips people are frequently just holding a Gibson guitar for no apparent reason. 

It's apparent to me.

[lw216316]

Yea, I noticed those Gibson headstocks in the background too. Since Gibson has its headquarters in Nashville - that may explain it...

I'm predicting that when the 'fat lady sings' the opra will be over -
no disrespect about her size - just using a play on words -
I predict the big lady will win it tonight when she sings.....if she picks the right song..

[Calvin]

I prefer my Yamaha LL-16 now days, sick of the maintenance (eventhough Larrivees are not exactly Prima Donna guitars).  My 3 larrivees have been in the closet for a while now.  Maybe it's time to wake them up.