JOHN PAGE
ARTIST • REBEL • VISIONARY • LEADER
- Co-founded and led Fender Custom Shop*. Directly taught and mentored many of the leading luthiers in the industry. Over 20 years at Fender and over 50 years designing and building guitars.
- Created legendary guitars for Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Elliot Easton and Cesar Rosas, and many more. Designed acclaimed guitars in conjunction with Harley Davidson, Playboy, and Jaguar.
- Prominently featured in The Dream Factory: Fender Custom Shop, by Tom Wheeler (Hal Leonard, 2011), Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery, by Richard Smith (Hal Leonard, 1996), The Stratocaster Chronicles, by Tom Wheeler (Hal Leonard, 2004)
- His classic guitar designs are most accessible through John Page Classic.
- Continues to build a limited number of custom guitars at his John Page Guitars workshop in southern Oregon.
"UNIQUELY FAMILIAR" DESIGN STYLE
“My design styling has always been what I call ‘uniquely familiar.’ When you look at my guitars you go, ‘It’s comfortable; it’s this really comfortably familiar thing … but it’s different! It’s unique. No, it’s really not the same, is it…’” - John Page
*Fender, Stratocaster, and Telecaster are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
Legendary Milestones
The John Page Story
1979 - 1987
Fender Beginnings
I started at Fender in 1979, when I was 21. As a Model Maker, I worked alongside the great Freddie Tavares, who worked under Leo Fender himself. I began as a Model Maker. By 1987, I was a Senior Design Engineer.
1987 - 1998
Fender Custom Shop
I was thrilled when Michael Stevens brought me on board to co-found the Fender Custom Shop - The legendary “Dream Factory”. From Production Coordinator to Manager of Research and Development to VP, by the end of my tenure at Fender, I was running the whole Custom Shop.
1998 - 2003
Fender Museum of Music
I moved from the Custom Shop into the role of Executive Director of the Fender Museum of Music and the Arts Foundation, which included the Kids Rock Free program, a program I was very passionate about. Over the course of the next four years, I took the Foundation successfully through its launch and establishment.
2003 - 2006
Functional Art Furniture
In January 2003, I moved up to my land in the Southern Oregon forest to build a new life and home. After building my shop, I spent the next several years concentrating on non-guitar related art... functional art furniture. Unfortunately, I never seemed to get around to building my own furniture. Everything I built was usually sold... just like the guitars. Funny how life works, eh?
2006 - 2015
John Page Custom Guitars
In mid 2006, I sat down at my drawing table and designed a new guitar... the P-1. It was a combination of all the things I had wanted to do in prior years but hadn't gotten to, and since it was "my" guitar, I could design it my way, not Fender's or any other company’s way. That day, John Page Guitars was born. The line grew to seven guitar models, two bass models, and a line of handmade wood and stainless steel bridge saddles... JP Woodtone.
2015 - 2024
John Page Classic
John Page Classic (JPC) launched in 2015, machine-building the very best of my classic designs in Japan at scale. The Ashburn was promptly named to the Guitar Player Magazine Hall of Fame, followed by The AJ, winner of Guitar World's Platinum Award, and later by my very own Bloodline® Pickups, which are still used in our guitars today.
2022 - Present
Art Guitars
The Pantages, The Manzanar, The Retablo.. all of my art guitars are hand-made customs, and most have features and options beyond the base model as I originally designed it. Some venture even further away… custom even by my standards. My art guitars are the truest expression ofJohn Page: The Artist.
Coming 2025
John Page Signature
The new John Page Signature line is more in step with all the subtleties I put into my own custom hand-builds. Some of the details are obvious, others are more subtle—but you can see, feel, and hear the difference. Only guitar builders that I consider master level, and personally approve, build these new Signature instruments.
The John Page Story
From the hills of Corona, California to the forests of Oregon, John Page’s legacy as one of the world’s greatest guitar builders, designers, and artists has been cemented in the eyes and ears of music lovers for decades.
John’s subtle and singular design language creates a new standard in guitar design and build, drawing from his storied past and 50 years of experience to create something totally unique, yet wholly familiar: John Page’s Signature Guitars.