Chris Hadfield played a Larrivee Parlor guitar as he performed David Bowie’s Space Oddity for YouTube on the International Space Station.
Viewed by over 340,000 people to date, this lovely Larrivee model P-01 is possibly the most famous guitar of 2013.
The 12 fret neck-joint moves the bridge further back from the sound hole typical of any early 20th century vintage guitar. Thus the bridge is placed where the Sitka top is less stiff and more responsive to bass frequencies; further from the apex of the X brace.
12-fret neck-joint parlor guitars have noticeably more volume and bass power than any 14 fret neck joint of the same body size. Coupling Mahogany back and sides to a spruce top nicely mellows out the trebles which are normally quite brash on a parlor built of rosewood.
Ultimately, with the Larrivee P-01 ISS, one gets the voice and feel of a lovely 100 year old parlor guitar, without any of the repair and playability issues that come with historic guitars.
Larrivee will be building a limited run of this model in the Vancouver workshops over July and August. A very special guitar that Larrivée has not produced in many years.
Larrivee Limited P-01 ISS Commemorative Parlor Guitar
- An exact replica of the Larrivée P-01, the same guitar used aboard the ISS.
- All solid wood construction
- Mahogany back and sides
- Canadian Sitka spruce tops
- Custom soundhole label
- Custom neck block stamp by Matthew Larrivee
- Certificate of authenticity
- $999 CAD with case.
- The Parlor design is small enough to be carry on for your next run to the Space Station!
Note: in the interests of ” Full disclosure” …and before my father calls me to scold me for misspelling “Parlour” throughout the entire posting; Larriveé Guitars chose to spell Parlour the “American” way. So if you have issues with my spelling, please take it up with Matthew Larriveé !
Below, you can listen to International Space Station Commander, Chris Hadfield, performing a revised version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity.
Here is Commander Chris Hadfield talking about playing the Larrivée in space.
