What the Folk!

I've seen a couple of videos of FOTC on YouTube, and I really like the look of Jemaine's guitar. After a bit of searching I found out that it is some sort of classical guitar, anything that can shed some more light on this would be much appreciated!

Here's a picture of him holding the guitar:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/wp-c ... /fotc6.jpg

Hee! A fan after my own heart. I'm similarly obsessed with finding out what instruments people play, as evidenced by this thread. I haven't dedicated myself to finding Jemaine's yet, mainly because he switches around a bit more than Bret does, so keeping track of what he's playing at any given moment can be tricky. But yep, this does seem to be his favourite acoustic guitar these days:



You're right, it's a classical guitar of some sort, which might make identifying it harder, as the decorative elements on classical guitars vary quite a bit. It's also slightly smaller than a standard classical guitar, as well as being curiously thinner than others that I've seen.

If anyone can find a good close-up of the body and/or headstock, I'd be delighted to do some investigative work for you. I like solving mini-mysteries, and I've been feeling guilty for focusing so much on Bret's axe and ignoring the sweet little guy Jemaine likes. It's not fair, and I should do better. I'd love any and all insights anybody might have, especially among you guitar players out there.

AcousticFanootic, it may take us a while, but we'll get there!

I have read an article where Jemaine talks about his acoustic guitar (the make, why he likes it etc...)

I'll have a look in my archives and get back to you if I can find it...

(P.S. ASmallTurnip - research on Jemaine's bass guitar, please?) *pleading eyes*

You're so cute when you're making me feel guilty. Okay, okay, I'll get back to work on it. I'm a sucker for those pleading puppy dog eyes of yours.

Thank you ASmallTurnip... *continues to make pleading eyes*

A little bit of information to help you on your way...

"In my previous post about Flight Of The Conchords I briefly mentioned Bret McKenzie's Casio DG-20 digital guitar. However, I'd been wondering, what is that retro-looking bass that Jemaine Clement plays?

I've found a very similar looking Russian bass over at Cheesy Guitars in their Unidentified Guitars section. Unfortunately the only information we have is that it was made in a factory in Belarus. Still it narrows things down a bit, as I had previously suspected that Jemaine's bass was a Teisco or some other 60s/70s Japanese bass."



From: http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

Still looking for that guitar article...

Here's the best close-up of Jemaine's guitar I've found, hope it helps!

http://flickr.com/photos/corey_bayless/2649944011/sizes/o/in/photostream/

You can see that there isn't a specific logo on the headstock and you can see the design on the body. (I didn't know their guitars were so beat up )

It's a "La Patrie".

http://www.lapatrieguitars.com/guitars.html

Thank God for you dandy lyons
These are very pretty guitars.

NO. WAY. You found it! Yay! Dandy, you are awesome. Seriously, it's been driving me bonkers, so thank you, thank you, thank you. Here, have a biscuit.

*gladly accepts biscuit* No worries. I remember he said what kind it was in a radio interview once... I think the one where Oscar Knightly was interviewing him for Radio NZ National? My brain retains odd stuff.

Oh, my brain too. And yet! I often find myself standing still in the supermarket, wondering bemusedly what the hell I went in there for. Brains are weird.

Just for a little photo comparison, here's Jemaine's guitar:



And here's the La Patrie Motif guitar:



Yep. Dandy's got it.

The Motif's body is smaller than their other guitars, although interestingly, the neck is full-sized, so you get the same note range as a typical classical guitar, just with a slightly different tone. It's got mahogany back and sides, with a cedar top and rosewood fingerboard. Lovely. If you'd like to read some reviews of it, you can find them here. The consensus seems to be that it's a really wonderful little guitar. One person describes it like this: "This parlor classical has a very soft, sweet tone when using only fingertips, but is brighter and lounder, and has some bite using a pick. Nylon strings have short sustain, making individual notes very distinct. There is no deep, deep bass, and the higher treble is very soft, so the midrange dominates chords. The solid cedar top yields a unique sound coloration that is a bit more complex than a spruce soundboard (sort of a "spicy" quality)."

One thing that is repeatedly noted by reviewers is that the laquer finish on the body is very thin, which is good for sound quality, but means that "the cedar soundboard can be dented by a hard stare." But as someone else points out, it "may ding and dent easier and show it, but guitars without dings or dents are guitars that aren't played. I personally think they add character."

Sweet.

Nice. I know nothing about guitars but I did notice that his appeared smaller than others I'd seen.

In the close-up you can see how very well-played and probably well-loved this guitar is by him.

Yep dandy is definately correct. I met Jemaine in Vancouver on the 10th and my friend asked what make his guitar is, he said it was La Patrie and commented about how it was from Quebec and that it was a nice guitar. My friend co-incidentally has the same make of guitar, hers is bigger though.

Hi guys,

Sorry to dig up an old thread - how about this one???

I've searched around for acoustic bass baby mini short scale travel etc..

That's a Kala Bass Ukulele

I really fancy one but they do come at a price!