Guitars have historically been designed for men, and can be awkward if not downright impossible to use for women given their weight and, in some cases, size. If you didn't know that, well, you're probably a dude. "For me a guitar that is not too heavy is really important because I’m not a very big person," St. Vincent says in an interview published by Guitar World over the weekend. "I can’t even play a '60s Strat or '70s Les Paul. I would need to travel with a chiropractor on tour in order to play those guitars."
So she set out to rectify that in designing her new signature guitar for Ernie Ball, which is due to be released next month. The St. Vincent Music Man model — which comes in black and her own custom color, Vincent blue — is designed to be lightweight with a thin waist. The result, as she put it on Instagram, is that, "There is room for a breast. Or two."
St. Vincent points out that the guitar is by no means intended strictly for women — its benefits should apply to anyone of a smaller build, male or female — but admits that she's happy to be a role model, should she be thought of that way.
"I’m certainly glad to be a beacon for women and for anybody who likes music and my music," she adds. "I’m glad that another guitar exists that is sympathetic to the female form. I’m glad that that exists and I hope that people will enjoy ... that men and women will enjoy the ergonomics. But smaller people and women, especially."
