Annie Clark, also known as St Vincent, has commemorated a year since the death of David Bowie by unveiling a new guitar designed by herself and inspired by the late idol. It’s available in four colours – Stealth Black, Tobacco Burst, Heritage Red, and Polaris White, which has been affectionately, and officially, co-named the Thin White Duke after Bowie himself.
The nickname was perhaps given in response to a gift Clark received back in 2015, of a signed white guitar from Bowie himself.
According to a press release, “Featuring an African mahogany body, Ernie Ball Music Man tremolo, gunstock oil and hand-rubbed rosewood neck and fingerboard, St. Vincent inlays, Schaller locking tuners, 5-way pick up selector with custom configuration and 3-mini humbuckers, the guitar also comes complete with Ernie Ball Regular Slinky guitar strings and will retail for $1899.”
This is not Clarke’s first venture into guitar design; the artist has been collaborating with Ernie Ball Music Man. In February last year, she was praised for crafting an ax specifically designed to be comfortable for women to wear, as most guitars get pretty annoying to cop around the chest area.
The guitar itself was first seen in 2015, when Clarke performed with Taylor Swift in LA, but it will only be made available to consumers in March this year.
In an interview with Guitar World, she said, “It’s a classic, elegant-looking guitar. I’ve been playing it every single day, putting it through its paces and writing song after song on it.” In the same interview she also spoke about a new album she will be releasing this year. She pointed out that it’s been inspired by some of the many recent terrible global political happenings, claiming, “it’ll be the deepest, boldest work I’ve ever done. I feel the playing field is really open for creative people to do whatever you want, and that risk will be rewarded – especially now that we have such high stakes from a political and geopolitical standpoint.”
Her last album, St Vincent, was released in 2014.
Here’s a video delving into the guitar a little further:
Image: Consequence of Sound