“There's nothing like a classic.”
That core belief of founder Howard Swimmer is the driving force behind the JPC brand. An MI industry veteran, by late 2014 Howard uncovered a strong desire among guitar players for “classic” design and craftsmanship. “During countless conversations with players at all levels, ‘classic’ was the word I heard again and again. This resonated with me because I’ve had my greatest success building brands that had a ‘classic’ quality,” said Howard.
Howard reached out to John Page, the visionary guitar designer and master builder who co-founded and launched Fender Custom Shop (aka “The Dream Factory”) in 1987 and led the shop for the next twelve years. Directly responsible for a range of seminal guitars that epitomize classic design and tone, John now designs and builds custom guitars at his shop in Wolf Creek, Oregon.
John and Howard agreed on a collaboration whereby a new company, John Page Classic (JPC), would produce select models John believes embody the very best of his classic designs. JPC launched in 2015 with its S-style Ashburn model, promptly named to the Guitar Player Magazine Hall Of Fame. This was followed by the T-style AJ model, winner of Guitar World’s Platinum Award, and later by Bloodline® pickups.
In 2021 JPC moved guitar production from Japan to the USA, both for greater supply chain reliability and to fulfill Howard’s and John’s desire that JPC instruments eventually be built here. JPC “made in the USA” models are carefully crafted to John’s exacting design specifications and rigorously checked by JPC-certified technicians before shipment to you. JPC currently offers its AJ (T-style) made in the USA model. Its made in the USA Ashburn (S-style) models will be phased in during 2023. All JPC guitars are backed by our industry-first Lifetime Performance Guarantee™.