Seeing as I am featuring a work of art today on Guitar Noize I thought I should find some guitars that were also works of art. Introducing Painted Axe a company that specialise in painted customisations of guitars. They not only custom paint acoustics, but also electrics too. I just really liked the blues themed acoustics pictured above and the guitar on the left was actually commissioned by John Lee Hooker Jr, son of legendary blues guitarist John Lee Hooker! You can see a Hi-Res version here. Painted Axe is the brainchild of Michael Gauf, an entrepreneur and basement musician who believes that musical expression transcends cherry red, black, white and natural – the basic colors nearly every guitar manufacturer produces.
“Painted Axe employs multiple mediums to get the look and “feel” customers seek, incorporating India ink to water slide decals and airbrushing to sponge painting. We have used 1970s wallpaper, children’s spin art and vintage pinball machines as inspiration. In our commissioned work, extensive research – contacting musical libraries, photo archives, historians and more – is often required before we even touch the guitar.”
All guitars are pre-owned, carefully mined from pawn shops, garage sales and online auctions. Each is evaluated prior to the painting process for sound hardware and electronics. Once a design theme has been developed, the stripping, sanding, painting and finishing process can last anywhere from 5 days to several weeks.
“The renewed guitars are not meant to be hung on a wall and admired. Instead, we encourage you to use and enjoy the instrument as it was intended“.
Prices for the guitars start at about $500.
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