Back in 2016, St. Vincent launched what would quickly become an ergonomically game-changing guitar with Ernie Ball Music Man – in doing so joining the ranks of fellow EBMM endorsees John Petrucci, Albert Lee, and Steve Morse.
Perhaps one of the most distinct (not to mention eye-catching) features of the model is its angular – or, in Annie Clark’s own words, “slightly unorthodox” – body shape: a completely new guitar design that broke the mold of what we then expected a guitar to look like.
“For me, a guitar that is not too heavy is really important because I’m not a very big person,” she told Guitar World, just before the signature model's launch.
“I can’t even play a Sixties Strat or Seventies Les Paul. I would need to travel with a chiropractor on tour in order to play those guitars. It’s not that those aren’t great guitars, but they render themselves impractical and unfunctional for a person like me because of their weight.
“I carry my guitar pretty high, so I had to make all of these costumes based on the fact that you wouldn’t be able to see if I had a waist or not. I wanted to make something that looked good and not just on a woman, but any person.”
Indeed, pop and rock connoisseur – and, as solidified by her headlining Glastonbury performance – bona fide contemporary rock star Olivia Rodrigo, is quick to mention St. Vincent as one of her top inspirations, and this extends to her signature model.
“I read an interview about it, and she made a guitar that's specifically designed for women,” Rodrigo tells riot grrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna on the Music Makes Us podcast. “Because she plays her guitar really high up, and it's cut so that you can have boobs and play guitar, which is so awesome. So it's such a fucking cool looking guitar, but she's rad.”
Rodrigo speaks from experience, having gigged with a custom purple-finished Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent Goldie signature guitar since early 2024, coinciding with her Guts tour.
“Olivia killing it opening night of Guts tour,” St. Vincent confirmed on an Instagram story after the guitar was unveiled. “Playing a custom purple STV Goldie. So proud!”
And, speaking of St. Vincent signature model wielders, The Last Dinner Party’s lead guitarist, Emily Roberts, is a true champion – having adopted the model four or five years ago in her quest for “something that sounds and looks different, for the sake of being different.”
