Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter St. Vincent can be considered a bit of a burgeoning Jill-of-all-trades: besides her highly-lauded solo career, the indie musician has collaborated with iconic musicians like David Byrne and Andrew Bird, and has garnered acting cred for guest appearances on IFC's comedy Portlandia, created by her friends Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, as well as a few music videos.
Her next venture? A guitar designed by St. Vincent (real name: Annie Clark) in collaboration with the guitar and guitar accessory manufacturer Ernie Ball — one customized specifically for female musicians.
The Ernie Ball Music Man Guitar has been in the works for a while. Back in August 2015, the musician announced her collaboration with Ernie Ball and the upcoming release of the custom instrument in an Instagram post. Accompanied by a picture of the artist with the guitar, Clark stated the spec prerogatives for the model.
"I wanted to design a tool that would be ergonomic, lightweight, and sleek," wrote Clark. "There is room for a breast. Or two."
A photo posted by St. Vincent (@st_vincent) on Aug 27, 2015 at 11:28am PDT
Unlike other celebrity guitars, which usually are based upon previous designs (for instance, like Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's Fender, which is based off of the Mustang design, or Willie Nelson's famous "Trigger," an acoustic Martin), Clark's electric is based off of an entirely original body design, meshing "1980s German synth-pop aesthetics with American muscle-car colors," as Fast Coexist aptly described.
The reasons behind the guitar design — made out of African mahogany with a high-gloss polyester finish, equipped with a sleeker rosewood neck for a better grip, and three DiMarzio custom mini-humbucking with chrome covers — stemmed from Clark's issues with guitars traditionally designed for men. Unlike other "for her" products that have incurred negative backlash, like BIC's lady pens or Fujitsu's 2012 gender-specific laptop, Clark's guitar stemmed from the problems she encountered with standard guitars created solely with male musicians in mind.
"I would need to travel with a chiropractor on tour in order to play those guitars," the musician said in an exclusive interview with trade magazine Guitar World. "It's not that those aren't great guitars, but they render themselves impractical and unfunctional [sic] for a person like me because of their weight."
"I was always finding when I was playing onstage and wearing various stage outfits the guitar would cut across one of the best features of the female body, which is your waist," she added.
Check out St. Vincent's Ernie Ball Music Man Signature Guitar in action in the video clip below, featuring Annie Clark. You can order your own axe, which costs $1,899, through the Ernie Ball website here.
Source: Ernie Ball
