Icon Guitars - Hear My Message Portrait Edition Stratocaster
ICON
As a person - one who is venerated or admired uncritically, unequivocally.
As an image - one that has become a visual symbol or a totem significantly engrained into the cultural awareness of generations.
Combine the two and you're somewhere between a saint and a brand.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix's tragically brief career, cut short thirty years ago, continues to arouse the passion - not to mention the bewilderment - of musicians of all ages and in every field: blues, rock, jazz, classical, experimental, amateur or professional. His innovative and seemingly limitless abilities inspire, entangle and frustrate young guitarists today as much as they did in the sixties. As an icon of the great twentieth-century rock guitarists, Jimi Hendrix continues to hold a position of undisputed prominence above any other contender.
Fender Stratocaster
No less an icon is the Fender Stratocaster itself.
Brilliantly conceived and designed by Leo Fender in the early fifties, few instruments
have become such an enduring symbol of the rock guitarist of the last fifty
years, have bettered its subtle contours, or surpassed its breathtaking tonal
versatility. Its status as a benchmark, as the standard by which others are
measured, is unmatched. As an icon of popular culture, few other instruments
capture the imagination or aspiration of guitarists around the world, professional
or amateur, as much as the Fender Stratocaster.
The Icon Guitars Portrait Edition Stratocaster
Over three years in development and design by partners Gered Mankowitz and
David Costa, the 'Hear My Message' Portrait Edition guitar is a customised '69
Stratocaster NOS in Vintage White, painstakingly overprinted with a hand silk-screened,
cobalt blue and black two-colour image, oversprayed and refinished to the most
exacting of standards as would be expected of such a high-quality instrument.
The screened image extends over the edges of the guitar, is repeated to match
on the pickguard and the whole is secured by an expertly applied overspray of
tough polyester. In Hendrix's own handwriting the words 'Hear my message' appear
above the pickguard on the upper bout, bass side. The reverse of the instrument
features a chromed backplate, engraved with a repeated image of Hendrix and
numbered individually.
The guitar is presented in a numbered edition necessarily limited to only 375
instruments worldwide.
Designed with the full co-operation of the Hendrix Estate, each instrument is
presented with a certificate of authenticity in appropriate plush-lined hardshell
case as supplied by Fender. Our selection of the '69 NOS Strat as the most desirable
carrier for this unique treatment reflects our concern for integrity. As a collector's
piece this is a highly regarded instrument in its own right; nevertheless it's
still essentially a player's guitar and very much intended to be so. The '69
Stratocaster NOS (New Old Stock) is generally referred to as the 'Woodstock'
model, and is one of the great family of reproductions turned out by The Fender
Custom Shop in Corona, California. These are constructed to the highest standards
and exacting specifications to match the originals - in this case the '69 Strat,
with its distinctive larger headstock, has a finest grade maple fingerboard
on a maple neck, with original spec pickups and optional 5-way switching.
Alongside its intrinsic value as a unique collector's edition featuring one
of the most coveted images from the Gered Mankowitz Archive, the 'Hear My Message'
Portrait Edition Stratocaster is a guitar to be played hard and enjoyed.
Ink Icon
Ink Icon is a venture shared between photographer Gered Mankowitz and art director
David Costa, dedicated to producing exquisite limited edition art pieces, initially
based on Gered's extraordinary archive.
Gered Mankowitz photographed Jimi Hendrix in 1967, early in his distinguished
career as one of the world's foremost rock and roll photographers, subsequently
celebrated for his much acclaimed work with The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds,
Eurythmics, Free, The Jam, Kate Bush, Elton John, Phil Collins, George Harrison,
Oasis and dozens of other artists in a career spanning four decades and every
conceivable pigeon-hole of popular music. His work is now much sought after
by collectors and galleries worldwide, regularly turns up in auction houses
and has been the subject of several books including two sold-out limited edition
volumes published by Genesis Publications. His continuing career as photographer
is constantly interrupted by the demand on him to lecture and exhibit around
the world.
David Costa is a renowned designer, art director and proprietor of Wherefore
Art? whose clients have included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Genesis, Jimi
Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins
and The Traveling Wilburies. Production of high-quality books such as the award-winning
'The Beatles Anthology' now occupies much of his time, as does an ongoing involvement
with the British guitar makers community for whom he originated the acclaimed
'Art of The Luthier' exhibit in Spring 2001. A long association and friendship
with Gered Mankowitz produced the collaborative venture Ink Icon - following
a successful series of silk screens and lithos, the launch of the 'Hear My Message'
Portrait Edition Stratocaster through Icon Guitars represents the latest and
most exciting venture to date.
Order Downloads Contact
Please be aware that these hand-finished instruments are made to order and
that therefore a delivery period of between 8 and 12 weeks should be expected,
subject to notification at the time of ordering.
Please also be aware that the nature of such silk-screened applications may
possibly result in slight variations of colour and position, neither of which
will ever detract from the look of this superb instrument.
How to buy?
You can: purchase your guitar now with a credit card via our secure server operated
by WorldPay; download an order form and mail the completed form with a cheque
or money order; supply us with your credit card details and fax us the order
form; or pay us by credit transfer. Full details of all these services will
be found on the order form.
Before continuing to our Secure Online Payment page at WorldPay, please select
where you wish the guitar to be shipped: (UK shipping by InterLink Express.
All other areas by FedEx at an organised special reduced rate):
UK - £40
EEC - £60
Rest of Europe - £115
US / Canada - £85
Japan / Hong Kong / Australia - £125
Rest of the World - £215
The shipping charge will automatically be added to the cost of a guitar (£3995
inclusive of all taxes). For security reasons we can only permit one guitar
to be purchased at any one time. You will be given the option to pay in the
following currencies: GBP, USD or EURO.
Icon Guitars (a division of Ink Icon Ltd) PO Box 7556, London, NW2 6LX, UK.
sales@icon-guitars.co.uk
GOTO MAIN WEBSITE
Terms & Conditions
If you are not satisfied or if the guitar is damaged during transit you have
7 (seven) days to return the instrument in the original packing via FedEx, or
a shipper of similar standing, at your expense and the full purchase price will
be refunded.
Icon Guitars reserve the right to change delivery dates but will make every
effort to keep you informed of any such changes in a timely manner.
How Secure is WorldPay?
Security is probably one of the most significant concerns for both the shopper
and the retailer during an online transaction. In reality an online transaction
is probably more secure than a card transaction in a shop or conducted over
the telephone or by fax, as the information transmitted online is highly encrypted
using complicated logarithm combinations.
The WorldPay payment system uses a combination of both established and innovative
techniques to ensure the security and integrity of all sensitive data. Furthermore,
our public web servers are certified by Thawte, a public Certificate Authority,
ensuring that both the shopper and retailer can have confidence that nobody
can impersonate WorldPay to obtain confidential information.
Transaction Encryption - The transfer of the purchase details from the retailers
site to Worldpay are encapsulated using our own encrypted and digitally-signed
protocol. This uses a combination of standard methods such as PGP, RSA and MD5
to ensure that the information passed is secure and tamper-proof.
Data Storage - Data storage on WorldPay systems, and the communication between
WorldPay and the worldwide banking networks, is regularly audited by the banking
authorities to ensure a secure transaction environment. We also ensure that
we stay up-to-date with the latest versions of any third-party code we use,
and continually review our own proprietary code.
Refund Policy
Customers will have 7 days to notify us of any problem they might have with
the guitar and if they wish to return it they must use the original packing
and send it by FedEx or another courier of similar standing at their expense.
A FedEx waybill will be included with the package to assist in this process
should it be needed. We undertake to refund the full purchase price as soon
as the guitar is received back in the UK.