JOHN PAGE
Throughout his life as a player and luthier, John Page has been striving for that intimate connection that helps musicians feel at one with their guitars. If you don’t play, it’s a notion that might seem peculiar, even kinky, but the importance of truly bonding with a guitar can’t be overstated.
“That connection between the guitar and me as intimate writing partners became key,” says Page. “It was the main thing I wanted in my guitar, this relationship and that vibration, you know? The connectivity between the guitar and myself, that vibration is critical. When I pick up a guitar and feel that before I even plug it in, that’s key to me.
“Some guys use a lot of effects and stuff – and, the way I do my guitars, some of that might get lost on them. But the guy, the tone collector, the cat that sits there and really wants to hear it and feel it, that’s who I build for. But I’m not trying to sell 350,000 guitars a year. It’s a lot easier when you’re just trying to build a dozen or so.”
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
Page grew up living the Californian dream that defined the image Fender Electric Instruments cultivated in the 1950s and 1960s. Such did his interests and influences converge that we might conclude he was simply fated to end up a mover and shaker at the firm – and maybe he was. The fact that rock ’n’ roll was frowned upon in the Page household
