As Premier Guitar put it, “Annie Clark’s signature model is visually striking, but its distinctiveness is more than skin-deep. It’s as bold, imaginative, and thoughtful as Clark’s extraordinary guitar work.” The new St. Vincent Signature Collection will be available for pre-order on March 3rd in four bold new colors: Stealth Black, Tobacco Burst, Heritage Red and Polaris White.
St. Vincent can be seen holding the Polaris White model on the cover of this month’s Guitar World. “I call that one the Thin White Duke,” she says. “It’s a classic, elegant-looking guitar.”
St. Vincent unveiled the guitar in summer of 2015 at a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles, during which she performed alongside Swift and Beck. “I’ve been playing it every single day, putting it through its paces and writing song after song on it,” she says. “It’s been the gift that keeps on giving.”
Guitar Player described the quality as “nearly flawless,” adding “there’s only one Annie Clark, and there isn’t another guitar out there like the St. Vincent. Lucky us.” Guitar World lauded St. Vincent for being the latest in a line of genre-defining artists to release their own signature guitars with Ernie Ball Music Man and spotlighted the guitar with a Platinum Award. And as Esquire put it, “it looks badass.”
“First off, the Ball family and I get along like a house on fire,” says St. Vincent. “I have played and respected their infallible craftsmanship for years. With the Ball family’s generosity, support, and expertise, I was able to put all of my years of playing, touring, and recording into a truly one-of-kind guitar. I could not be prouder of the guitar or the company.”
Adds Ernie Ball CEO Sterling Ball, “You never know what will develop when you meet someone for the very first time and that first time involves diving into the design process. Simple, ‘Annie meet Sterling, Sterling Meet Annie, now make her guitar vision a reality.’ This happens on TV but never in real life. It did this time. I was very aware of Annie Clark’s talent and artistry. I was not prepared for the instant synergy and ease in which we all worked together. I’ve been doing this for a long time and the Annie Clark/St Vincent collaboration/relationship is a career highlight.”
Featuring an African mahogany body, Ernie Ball Music Man tremolo, gunstock oil and hand-rubbed rosewood neck and fingerboard, St. Vincent inlays, Schaller locking tuners, 5-way pickup selector with custom configuration and 3 mini-humbuckers, the guitar also comes complete with Ernie Ball Regular Slinky guitar strings and will retail for $1899. January 25th sees the release of the Sterling By Music Man model, which is available in the original Vincent Blue for $599.
We’ve got behind-the-scenes footage from the Guitar World cover shoot, as well as exclusive footage of St. Vincent talking about the guitar at the Ernie Ball Music Man factory in San Luis Obispo, CA.
It’s also important to note that the St. Vincent guitar is by no means a US-only phenomenon. Outlets from around the globe have been praising the collection, such as Poland’s Gitarzysta (Guitarist) magazine. They recently awarded the St. Vincent guitar their first-ever perfect score of six stars across the board, in categories measuring playability (wygoda gry), tone (brzmienie), quality (wykonanie) and price (cena).
Guitars and Strings
Annie Clark plays her Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitars and Ernie Ball Slinky strings. Learn more about the St. Vincent and our other guitars here, and check out Ernie Ball Slinky guitar strings here.