I stumbled across a fascinating article in Modern Guitars Magazine today. It centers around John Page, co-founder of the Fender Custom Guitar Shop, who is blurring the lines between function and art with his latest project, the 016 Custom Guitar.
Page, who left Fender to follow a career in fine art, returned to his guitar making roots in 2006 by releasing his P-1 line of hand-made guitars, and has since been commissioned to build a new guitar, the 016.
Despite the lo-fi sounding name, the idea behind the 016 came when a client gave Page the opportunity to blend his two greatest passions - high quality custom guitars and visual art - and build an instrument which is both playable, and aesthetically pleasing.
The guitar, which is still in development, is based on an art-piece created by Page in 2005, “Woman Is The Machine”
By taking elements from the piece, Page created this design, using dozens of Photoshop layers to portray a stunning three-dimensional representation.
The perception of depth you see in the finished design (left) will be achieved by placing the art ‘inside’ the guitar body, covered by a film of plexiglass.
The end result, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a beautiful looking guitar which looks equally playable.
I for one will be following the development of the 016, especially since it’s being hand-made by one of the world’s most respected luthiers.
You, too, can follow the story, and learn more about the 016, by following this link.
Until next time, thanks for reading, and as always I welcome your comments and feedback.
