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View Winners → Fender Custom Shop at 30 Years: Stunning Photography, Stunning Instruments
Arcadia Weekly Apr 12, 2017
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– Courtesy photo
Book Review
By Terry Miller
My friends over at Music Marcon are truly wonderful, funny and creative marketing communicators who do things right and know a heck of a lot about music.
However, what they didn’t perhaps know this time is that that they really piqued my interest trying to plug a new book about Fender Custom Shop which features “72 Centerfolds.” Nice, this warped mind thought!
Needless to say, this caught this red-blooded British chap’s eye as I imagined the interminable possibilities of beautiful women with stunning guitars draped over their positively electric bodies. Think Jimmy Hendrix and Electric Ladyland.
But I digress! This is a books with beautifully photographed and printed centerfolds indeed but these are birds of a different feather (I knew this all along, but I just loved the parallel.).
The book is perhaps one of the most stunning pieces of work I’ve seen in a long time with each instrument creatively lit, so much so that you want to pick one up and start playing right off the centerfold.
What makes this book stand out from the crowd is that it is literally filled with (centerfold photos by Stephen Pitkin) custom Fender guitars created at the world famous shop that caters to the eccentric musician in all of us, especially the ones who can afford such amazing precision axes.
Since 1987, the Fender Custom Shop has been producing guitars that are to playing what Ferraris are to driving, and since 1995, Steve Pitkin has been photographing those guitars, capturing the craftsmanship and artistry that go into every instrument.
Fender Custom Shop at 30 Years showcases both Pitkin’s photography and the work of the supremely talented master-builders.
There is something special about the Custom Shop and the people who work there. They love their work, and they know their work is loved. These craftsmen are true mojo makers, building each guitar with artistic expression, skill, and innovation. They do this while holding true to Fender’s time honored traditions and working in close collaboration
As Pitkin writes in his introduction, “I hope every page of this book is a window of discovery for you, inspiring curiosity and encouraging your imagination to dream of a masterpiece when it is in your. hands.”
A guitar from the Fender Custom Shop may not be within reach of every guitar enthusiast, but with Fender Custom Shop at 30 Years, every musician and fan can share in the beauty of these playable works of art.
Available at BackwingStore.com
$30
Hardcover, 10″ x 10″
160 pages
9781495073915
www.halleonardbooks.com | backwing.com
