The Pheo Sputnik

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Sputnik:
This amp is housed in a Hoover Constellation, the early sixties vacuum cleaner that floated on a cushion of air. The amp itself is a revoiced and restored Raymer, using an EL84, a 12AX7, and an EZ81 rectifier, maybe six watts. The top of the vacuum holds a vintage Jensen C10Q surrounded by balsa wood. The bottom holds the head, which rises when one pushes the secret button. Controls are volume and tone. The head goes from jazzy clean to screaming lead. Price: $2000.

No, you didn’t forget to put on your glasses! 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.

Artist’s Statement
"My last twenty five years have been spent as a fine art painter, drawer, and sculptor. What I have learned from 20th Century master artists, Giacometti, Cezanne, Matisse, Johns, and others, is an economy of technique, doing what is necessary to get the job done, nothing more, nothing less. The work of these great artists is about expression above all, and all gratuitous craft is rigorously paired away. Most fine guitar making is obsessive about craft perfection. Mine is not. I strive to build instruments that sound exceptional, play beautifully, and are extremely interesting to look at. The instruments
aren't gratuitously tidy or perfectionistic or consistent. I tear them apart and rebuild them until I find them exciting. Perfect guitars are great, but there are plenty of those. I'm searching for something more raw, more direct." - Phil Sylvester