The Inlays of Wendy Larrivée

[J M Larrivée]

 
  When Jean Larrivée started building guitars in the late 60s, he had no idea they would become the canvas for his future wife's amazing artwork. In 1973, Jean met and married Wendy Jones, a collage art student with a rare talent - Wendy could design, cut and engrave delicate materials like pearl, abalone and ivory (legal at the time!) to create amazing pieces that could be inlayed into wood. Lucky for Jean, his guitars would become the fortunate recipient of Wendy's work. Spectacular dragons, fairies and mythological characters were soon dancing across the headstocks of his instruments. As the company grew, so did her talent. Her designs became more elaborate, no longer appearing just on headstocks, but on fingerboards and bridges alike. Her work is peerless and it can often take weeks, even months, to produce a new design. 39 years later, Wendy is still engraving and designing for Larrivée - from production inlays, to limited runs, to custom creations. But with no obvious successor, the future of Larrivée inlay is uncertain. So if you have a guitar adorned with Wendy's work, treat it well - you're one of the lucky ones...

 To see some of Wendy's creations from the last 4 decades, go to our Facebook page and you will find an album with some of her spectacular works of art.

 John Jr.

[BenF]

Amazing talent! It's nice to see some of the custom ones too.

[unclrob]

What there isn't one of you kids or maybe a talented wife who would like to learn at the knee of the master......

[guitom]

I DO feel lucky to have my genie!

[boomklever]

My L-72:

[cbarclay]

I am amazed every time I see her work. It seems to me that she pioneered the whole artistic inlay industry.

[Walkerman]

Here's a before/after of one of mine.....

[cbarclay]

That's super cool!  Are there any other before/after or 'in the process pics'?

[ryler]

Very interesting, Walkerman, to see the before and after.  It never crossed my mind that when Wendy stops doing these, there won't be another artist to continue the tradition.  John Jr. and Matthew, let your second apprenticeship begin!

[unclrob]

Very interesting, Walkerman, to see the before and after.  It never crossed my mind that when Wendy stops doing these, there won't be another artist to continue the tradition.  John Jr. and Matthew, let your second apprenticeship begin!

BIG 

[axeman]

I have an LS-10 with a unicorn.  Although it wouldn't have been my first choice, I still feel blessed to have found it at all.  A while later I passed on an L-10 with a joker, which would have been among my preferences.  Still regret that.

[cbarclay]

I remember meeting a man in a small guitar shop in Houston who had a mermaid on his L.  He liked it so much he had it tattooed on to his arm.  

[ST]

low maintenance

[LeftyBlake]

After seeing all the cool inlays on Facebook, it makes me want a guitar with one even more. Can you custom order them?

[dgshoote]

those leave me speechless. Something to look forward to after I win the lottery.

[psr-740]

Beautiful 

[sgarnett]

In 1994, I bought an OM-10 Deluxe with the Griffin/Gryphon inlay in Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto.

I later asked Larrivee (in the serial number email) if it was a custom design for Gryphon. The answer was no, it was a standard design, but I've never seen another one. It also has the fingerboard inlay pattern that, to me, resembles a head-on view of flapping wings. I have seen that on other samples, though the spiral vine seems to be more common. I think it makes a cool tie-in with the Gryphon.

[flatlander]

That's super cool!  Are there any other before/after or 'in the process pics'?

He didn't mention that inlay is a custom of his bride. Really cool and great work.     

[Walkerman]

He didn't mention that inlay is a custom of his bride. Really cool and great work.     

You are correct...here is the original wedding photo that was used.  You can see that the train had to be modified to fit on the headstock.

[cbarclay]

WOW!  that's even more amazing!