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Hot rods and guitars have always been kindred
spirits, sharing a bond that extends
all the way back to the earliest days of
rock ‘n’ roll. As devotees raced souped-up
coupes across California, the first solidbody
guitars emerged from Fullerton, poised
to offer a new world of performance and
style. Both worlds would eventually intertwine,
drawing in the same “fringe” members
of society—the rebels, the outsiders,
the gearheads—into a culture of technical
and visual experimentation. Charlie Ryan’s
“Hot Rod Lincoln” appropriately summed
up this new American aesthetic, where
speed and power conspired with raw sex
appeal to drive parents crazy and all the
girls mad.
The automotive hot-rodders saw their
enterprise burst onto pop culture’s radar
in the fifties. Guitar hot-rodders really
got their start in the late seventies, but
reached center stage during the mid-eighties
in the flashy, over-the-top environment
of metal, when shredders began using
specially-modified custom guitars more
conducive to the speed and tone of their
chosen style.
The automotive and guitar worlds have
never strayed too far apart. It’s still about
being noticed and having the fastest
machine on the block. It’s about transforming
an existing guitar into a dream axe…
dropping in a set of hot pickups, a custom
paint job, upgrading the neck. Hot-rodding
remains a personal expression of passion.
This month, we take a look at five people
who can help you realize the hot rod guitar
of your dreams. From one who can wind
you the perfect set of pickups (Lindy Fralin)
to one who can promise you the fastest
neck you can imagine (Ken Warmoth) to
artists who live to paint and design (Lee Garver and Sara Ray), and one builder
who completely embodies the “Hot Rod”
lifestyle in both worlds (Jim Cara), these
people love to soup things up. We talked
to each of them, and we found out what
“hot-rodding” guitars is all about: giving
you what you want
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