Pheo Lapocaster

If you're new to Pheo Guitars, read on. These fractured, yet crafted, random yet profoundly organized instruments are the creations of Phil Sylvester of Pheo Guitars. They are the very epitome of functional art – they play, beautifully, even startlingly well. They are consummate instruments that press hard at the boundaries of what we normally think an instrument “should” be. From Pheo you will find remarkable guitars and amplifiers made from found objects and crafted elements – old instrument parts, hairdryers, grills, vacuum cleaners, etc. all deconstructed and reassembled into a whole that only vaguely resembles, and certainly transcends it’s origins.

Pheo Lapocaster - $3500

Wish you had a '52 Esquire but can't afford it? This guitar is made from an unrestorable, early fifties, Champion/Student lap steel. These lap steels had basically the same parts as an Esquire but in a different format, same swamp ash used for the bodies, same pickups (sans base plate), same pots and caps. I attached a 9.5 radius, medium C, 25.5 inch scale, rock maple neck. The guitar uses all the original parts except for new pots, tuners, knobs, and brass slant compensated bridge saddles. The body can be used in the small format or with the swamp ash ring that makes it more the size of a regular guitar. You also get the Pheo pledge, "no part of this guitar has been sanded or finished unless absolutely necessary to the guitar's performance". No other custom guitar maker makes a comparable pledge.