I started building guitars out of necessity. I was a kid in my early teens with a lot of desire to play guitar and virtually no money to buy one. Figuring "it can't be that hard", I proceeded to attempt building my first guitar. After weeks of work, filled with anticipation and excitement, I threw it in the trash... it totally sucked. That was over thirty years ago, but I continued on building guitars, until I got it right. Years later I was fortunate enough to be hired on at Fender Guitars. I spent 21 years there, as a Guitar Designer in Research and Development and finally as the co-founder of the World Famous Custom Shop. I designed and built hundreds of guitars and worked with some of the finest musicians in the world for decades... and then I got burned out on the industry, and walked away.

These guitars, the "P-1", mark my return into guitar building. I have not produced a guitar under my own name since selling my old shop in 1981. Every guitar I designed or built from then until 1998, was under the Fender name. So I am very excited and proud to release these new pieces, under the name "John Page Guitars".

In a world where automated machines and off-shore sourcing have taken over the guitar business, I am extremely proud to make each of these guitars, with my own two hands... with some help from some old friends. J.W. Black does the final fret dress and set-up, John Suhr and Fred Stuart make my pickups, Gerry Germain from G&G Quality Case makes my cases, Lawrence Berndt supplies my neck wood, Peter Kellett does my anodizing and the list goes on. These are people I trust and respect from my past, and they help make my guitars "complete".

In an effort to make the very best guitar that I can, I am only going to make a very limited number of these per year. Initially, I will only accept 12 orders at a time. Once I have taken twelve orders, I will suspend order taking until those instruments are nearing completion. I will, however, probably build a few spec guitars a year as well, just to keep everyone guessing, and to have some fun too.

After years and years of wondering "what I was going to be when I grew up", I finally realized that I'm an artist. An artist that likes to create functional works... "Functional Art". My guitars are right at home here, and if you look closely, you can see the family resemblance.

John Page Guitars are hand-built in Sunny Valley, Oregon, USA.


Additional links:

John Page Interview on Modern Guitars
Restoring Buddy Holly's 1958 Strat
The Brian May Guitar Story