Link Wray, godfather of surf and rockabilly guitar, has been honoured with a new twin-pickup guitar from Canadian guitar company Eastwood, featuring a unique retro-style illustrated finish by artist Vince Ray.
Despite appearances, the guitar's pair of humbucker-sized pickups, selectable via a three-way switch, are in fact single-coil units from Airline's Vintage Voiced series. The quirky in-line control plate offers independent volume and tone control for each pickup.
The Link Wray Tribute also features a bolt-on, 20-fret maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard, block markers and a Gibson-like 24.75-inch scale length.
The nostalgic package is rounded out with a matching, illustrated-finish hardshell case an Airline curly guitar lead and 'Rumble' strap. Production will be limited to 24 guitars initially, with another run to be produced in April 2015.
With an expected street price of $799, the guitars look set to pique the interest of surf-guitar aficionados and have them delving into the pockets of their skinny blue jeans to own this eye-catching tribute to a master of minimal but majestic guitar riffs.
Born in 1929, Link Wray was dubbed the 'inventor of the power chord' and his trademark jagged twang tones featured on landmark tracks such as Rumble and Apache, the latter famously covered by the Shadows.
Wray, who died in 2005 after a long and active career, influenced guitarists ranging from Hank Marvin to Jimmy Page and was a godfather to the punk movement, via artists such as Iggy Pop, who took inspiration from the raw, untamed energy of Wray's playing.
