Linda Manzer

Linda Manzer
Occupation(s) Luthier
Website Linda Manzer Guitars

Linda Manzer (born July 2) is a Canadian master luthier renowned for her archtop, flat-top and harp acoustic guitars.

She received her training from Jean Larrivée between 1974 and 1978 and later studied with Jimmy D'Aquisto in Greenport, Long Island, New York.

She has built many custom guitars for jazz musician Pat Metheny including the Pikasso which has 42 strings and four necks, the 30 Guitar "Metheny-Manzer Signature 6" project - a special limited edition celebrating 30 years of working and designing almost 20 instruments for Pat Metheny. Metheny also has several baritone guitars which he plays exclusively on his album One Quiet Night along with his Pikasso on What It's All About. Many professional musicians own one of Manzer's guitars including (among others): Julian Lage, Carlos Santana, Henrik Andersen, Stephen Fearing, Gary Larson, Milton Nascimento, Liona Boyd, Heather Bishop, Bruce Cockburn, Paul Simon, Roy Patterson, Marie-Lynn Hammond, Susan Crowe, and Gordon Lightfoot.[1]

Manzer currently builds 12 to 18 instruments per year in her Toronto, Ontario workshop and has a wait list of several years.[2] Her instruments start at $18,000 for her flattops and $25,000 for her archtops. Custom instruments such as the 42 string Pikasso and the 52 string Medusa guitar are priced individually.

The Pikasso Guitar

The Pikasso Guitar
Pat Metheny with the Manzer Pikasso guitar.

One notable instrument designed and built by Manzer is the Pikasso Guitar (or Pikasso I), its name ostensibly derived from its likeness in appearance to the cubist works of Pablo Picasso. The instrument is a harp guitar with four necks, two sound holes, and 42 strings. It has a unique wedge-shaped body.

The original was built in 1984 for jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.[3] The Pikasso guitar can be heard on a number of Pat Metheny's records. Another was later built for guitar collector Scott Chinery.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Larrivee Tradition of Handmade Canadian Guitars, by Zak Morgan". Cjtm.icaap.org. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  2. ↑ Sterling Guitars
  3. ↑ "Manzer Guitars - Pikasso". Manzer.com. Retrieved 2013-06-15.

External links