St Vincent says that Mike McCready has helped change her mind on the Fender Stratocaster, admitting that she was “scared to touch them” before the Pearl Jam guitarist gave her one of his new Custom Shop signature models.
Speaking to Guitar, St Vincent, aka Annie Clark, said she had never even played one before McCready presented her with one. “I never ever would have picked up the Strat if Mike hadn’t given me the guitar,” she said.
Clark explained that she had always avoided Leo Fender’s most successful electric guitar design of all, arguing that those who picked one up were immediately saddled by the “cultural baggage” that comes with playing an instrument associated with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Those two are the first players you think when you think Strat, she said, and that can be an intimidating prospect for anyone.
“They’re some of the greatest guitar players of all time, of course, but there’s history to Strats,” she said. “And there’s also a history of people trying to play like Jimi Hendrix and sucking.”
This is why Clark’s Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitar is not like a Strat, and not like any other guitar. The whole design ethos behind it was that it would be ergonomic – particularly for the female form – and that it wouldn’t look or sound like anything that came before it. Though upon its release, Clark did admit that her Harmony Bobkat was an inspiration – at least as far as the lightweight okoume body design and vibrato went.
“What I love about that guitar is that it was super-light, and the whammy bar on it was really unique,” she said. “So that was another guitar inspiration for the signature model.”
Clark got turned onto EBMM after it sent her Albert Lee’s signature model. With its less-than-mainstream look, and more importantly, its versatility, she was sold on the brand.
The EBMM St Vincent might eschew traditional guitar designs but Clark did reference retro designs from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s for an idea for how it could look.
“My design aesthetic for it is based around what was happening in the 1960s and the 1980s, and what was happening in Japan in the 1970s, as far as the look of guitars goes,” she said. “If you look further back in history, the work of artists like [Kazimir] Malevich were also an inspiration.”
Between her gold-foil equipped Goldie edition and regular HHH signature model with its trio of DiMarzio humbuckers and five-way switching, Clark has all the tones she needs, so don’t expect her to be retiring it any time soon or ever.
But she did admit to Guitar that she used McCready’s Strat as a pinch-hitter on her latest studio album, All Born Screaming, and it was a bona-fide epiphany.
“This guitar is great,” said Clark. “It’s so playable. Now, I understand. I didn’t get it before because I was too scared to touch them.”
Meanwhile, Clark’s Ernie Ball signature model is getting around, with Olivia Rodrigo taking one out on tour with her, and Emily Roberts of the Last Dinner Party playing the St Vincent Goldie.
“It’s iconic-looking and quite trebly and really sticks out,” said Roberts, speaking to Guitarist magazine. “I’m only 5ft 2in as well, and some guitars give me backache, but this one fits really well. There aren’t many guitars designed by women, so it was kind of a no-brainer.”
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