Gary Planken had this guitar custom built for Johnny V who plays with his band The RELATIVE FUNKtion, besides working with a few other working and touring bands.
It was a vision Gary had some 30 years ago as he sat listening and watching Jimmy Page/Led Zepplen.
Thinking how great Jimmy Page’s double neck guitar was, he had a vision of a guitar that splits open and could be played by pounding his fingers on the strings.
With now funds and no knowledge or the technical skills to build such a guitar, the idea sat for almost 30 years, but never forgotten.
One day at a backyard party he heard a young guitarist playing the daylights out of his guitar and thought, “I wonder if this kid would be interested in my idea”. That was Johnny V and he was interested in the challenge. He went back into his basement for 2 years and began learning to play guitar with the opposite hand.(left handed)
At this point in his life Gary had the funds and knew the right people to build this one of a kind guitar that had waited for 30 years to come to life. He set out with the build team and with his child-like drawings, Gary explained the design he invisioned.
As they went threw a few changes along the way to get the lightest wood, the proper neck angles, and the precise cut so the guitar would fit Johnny V, the weight shift and balance points were adjusted again and again until they got it just right.
Johnny V came out of the basement and was now proficient at playing lefty and righty guitars, now the challenge of playing 2 necks at the same time was the next task. He could no longer strum the strings. He had to pound, bend, tickle and slide his fingers (both hands) to make it all seamlessly pleasant to the listener.
The kid rose to every challenge, every occasion presented to him.
Beleive me this kid is no one trick pony. When he plays his standard one neck guitar, he gets the attention of everyone in the room, he is a skillfull player of the highest order, but when he pulls out the custom/splitting double neck, it gets the attention of the complete room, even those few who are to cool to stop talking when someones leaving their guts on the stage for them, yeah you know the ones, even they can’t help but shut up and pay attention.
“It’s so great to see a vision that stayed in my head for so long, become a reality, take on it’s own life. To see it and feel it is so beautiful, I can almost die happy(but I’ll wait awhile, there’s still a few other things I want to do), but to see this kid with such dedication and heart, well….. it takes it to a whole new place, a level I never saw coming.”
Thought for the day…………..
Don’t quite five minutes before the miricle/Users/garyplanken
Best Regards,
Gary Planken