Linda Jane Manzer (born July 2, 1952) is a Canadian master

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

renowned for her

archtop An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Typically, an archtop guitar has: * Six strings * An a ...

, flat top, and harp guitars.

Career

Manzer was a folk singer in high school and played guitar. Her career began when she wanted a dulcimer, but she couldn't afford to buy one, so she built one from a kit. She attended two art colleges, where she studied painting. For the craft of making flattop guitars she studied with

Jean Larrivée Jean Larrivée is a Canadian luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used ...

from 1974 to 1978. She went to New York in 1983 and 1984 and studied archtop building with

Jimmy D'Aquisto James L. D'Aquisto (Brooklyn, November 9, 1935 – California, April 17, 1995) was an American luthier who concentrated on building and repairing archtop guitars. He served as an apprentice to John D'Angelico beginning in 1952 and later developed ...

. In addition to her standard models, she has designed and built by hand over 50 guitar prototypes, including soprano guitar, and an acoustic baritone guitar, she also designed the first acoustic sitar guitar plus several multinecked harp guitars. She has designed and built over 25 instruments for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

, including the Pikasso, which has 42 strings and four necks. He has played the Pikasso on many albums including ''

Imaginary Day ''Imaginary Day'' is the ninth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was strongly inspired by world music from Iran and Indonesia, and won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary J ...

'' , '' What's It All About'', and ''

Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories) ''Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories)'' is a jazz album by the bassist Charlie Haden and the guitarist Pat Metheny. It won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance. Composi ...

''. He played her baritone guitar on the album '' One Quiet Night''. She built and co-designed with Metheny a limited edition of 30 handmade Metheny-Manzer signature models to celebrate their 30-year collaboration. Professional musicians who own Manzer guitars include Julian Lage,

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

, Henrik Andersen, Stephen Fearing, Ted Ludwig, Tim Lerch, Milton Nascimento, Liona Boyd, Heather Bishop,

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

, Roy Patterson, Marie-Lynn Hammond, Susan Crowe, and

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

. Her custom designs include the 52-stringed Medusa owned by Danish musician Henrik Andersen. She was appointed as an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2023. She currently resides in both Toronto and

Almonte, Ontario Almonte ( ; ) is a former mill town in Lanark County, in the eastern portion of Ontario, Canada. Formerly a separate municipality, Almonte is a ward of the town of Mississippi Mills, Ontario, Mississippi Mills, which was created on January 1, 199 ...

Pikasso Guitar

In 1984 Pat Metheny requested a guitar that had "as many strings as possible". Manzer came up with the Pikasso, a guitar with 42 strings arranged in four string sections, including a hexaphonic pickup to interface with Metheny's

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

synthesizer. The Pikasso has two holes for mounting the guitar on a stand, allowing the guitarist to play the guitar without having to hold it. Metheny plays the Pikasso on "Finding and Believing" from '' Secret Story'', "Montevideo" and "Dismantling Utopia" from ''

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

'', "Into the Dream" from ''

'', and "The Sound of Water" from his ''Quartet'' album with

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, touring and recording while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's quar ...

. While building the Pikasso, Manzer invented "The Wedge" body geometry: Because there were so many strings crisscrossing, Manzer wanted Metheny to be able to see all the strings while looking down at the guitar. She settled on a

wedge A wedge is a triangle, triangular shaped tool, a portable inclined plane, and one of the six simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by conver ...

shape, with the sides of the guitar being skinnier under the arm and wider on the knee. This enabled Metheny to have a slight aerial view of the strings because the guitar leaned back a little. The added benefit was it was more physically comfortable. In the 1980s she began using the "Manzer Wedge" design for all of her guitars.

References

External links

*
"The Larrivee Tradition of Handmade Canadian Guitars"

''The Canadian Encyclopedia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzer, Linda Living people Guitar makers Canadian luthiers 1952 births Women instrument makers Officers of the Order of Canada People from Almonte, Ontario Musicians from Ontario

Career

Pikasso Guitar

See also

References

External links