TALL STORIES & MORE…
The twisted mind behind Joe Doe guitars, Ben Court reveals his own backstory
How did you first get into the guitarbuilding business?
“It’s not my first job. I’m a screenwriter and guitar building is a passion project. I make about three or four guitars a year.”
How does your screenwriting side fit in with the story of Joe Doe guitars?
“I’ve always loved the stories behind guitars like BB King’s Lucille or Billy Gibbon’s Pearly Gates. I like artefacts and the stories.You know, it might look like a rock but then it turns out to be some Aztec jewellery and suddenly my mind’s blown. It’s just an object but the story elevates it into something special. It’s the same with guitars.There are lots of Gibson thinlines but BB King’s are special. I’m fooled by that as much as anybody and I really like that.”
How did your handmade stuff lead to the Joe Doe by Vintage range?
“In 2017 I built six guitars and I took them to the Guitar Show in London. I got such a positive reaction. People really loved what
I’d done.Anyway, I met [JHS owner] Dennis Drumm and he really liked the guitars. I know my own guitars are expensive – although I don’t think I charge as much as maybe I should. Anyway, I asked Dennis if we could do some guitars on a budget and he was completely up for it. He commissioned eight designs; they’re all new designs. I had characters I wanted to have a guitar built for. I’ve just done eight more for 2021. Dennis gave me complete freedom to design what I wanted. It’s scary! He did take a penis off of the Punkaster. I think there was a pair of boobs on there, too…”
They’re still on there… At least on the model we reviewed. The Punkaster graffiti is obviously at the sleazier end of the scale, but it seems your designs have a real Americana vibe…
“I’m all about Americana. Everything from the 50s to the 60s. If I’m born again I’d like to end up in the 50s, although that would involve being born again and time travel… But yeah,
I love that era, the cars – they were the best design years for me.”
What about building a bespoke guitar? We’ll have a steampunk Flying V with light-up portholes and one of those mad scientist electrical buzzing things you see in old horror flicks. What do you say?
“I’d say no. I’m actually building my first acoustic at the moment. It’s inspired by Hollywood stuntmen of the 1950s. If I don’t take commissions then I can build guitars like that at my own pace.They always change as I’m building them anyway. I do this purely for the creative endeavour of building something and seeing where it ends up. I can’t do that if I’m taking money for it. I will take money at the end of it, of course [laughs], but I certainly wouldn’t take it upfront. Commercially, it’s disastrous probably but again that’s not why I do it. I get an idea and I just go and do it and that’s the fun part for me. I don’t want this to be just a job.”
www.joedoeguitars.com