Special to the Idaho Statesman John Bolin has made custom instruments for rock stars on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 greatest guitarists. He has handcrafted guitars out of bamboo, fur, car parts, neon tubes, even a chunk of the cabin where blues legend Muddy Waters grew up. Bolin’s work has been featured in “Electrified: The Art of the Contemporary Electric Guitar” and the 2015 Nieman Marcus Christmas catalog, which offered 10 of his limited-edition models for $30,000 a pop. ZZ Top frontman Billy F. Gibbons — Bolin’s design partner and pal — has commissioned several hundred Bolin guitars since the mid-1980s. As Texas Monthly put it, the Houston musician’s “guitar collection is almost as legendary as his beard.” Bolin’s work is a large part of it. Steve Miller has commissioned nearly as many. What all of those famous guitars have in common is that they were custom made here in the Treasure Valley. Bolin Guitars is one of the most celebrated names in Boise’s small but thriving music industry. “This is home base,” says Bolin, a 63-year-old, third-generation Boisean. “I don’t know if [staying in Boise] was really a sacrifice, because I was busy building guitars. I never looked...from News Page http://ift.tt/2DueFeV https://youbrandinc.com
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