The Guitar Magazine – September 2019

CAKE CANDY

‘Cake’ is perhaps the flashiest, most eye-catching
model in her whole collection. Finished in the
summer of 2018, Cake marks the blossoming of
a beautiful relationship between Wheeler and
Vermont-based builder Creston Lea. Creston marries
the strange and beautiful alike in a classic American
bolt-on guitar package with unparalleled skill and
an eye for detail. This bold and vibrant example is
no different, with Mastery hardware on a bound and
chambered mahogany T-style body and a 26.75-inch
scale neck, tuned B to B with locking Gotoh tuners.
There’s also a hand-painted piece of cake on the neck
heel by frequent Creston collaborator, Sarah Ryan.
Thanks to its striking bright-yellow finish,
herringbone purfling and pink-insert Curtis Novak
Guyatone pickup in the neck, it’s the kind of guitar
that elicits double takes and more than its fair share
of questions after the set. For Vanessa, it’s not as
much an exercise in shock value as much as it is
an expression of the way she sees her art.
“The pace of my music is in that baritone;
slow-moving and percussive. It’s the first experiment
that worked out.” She wouldn’t tell you this, but her
music is also just as colourful.

Throughout years of experimenting with different

guitars, Vanessa realised that the one crucial design

element she couldn’t overcome with most mass-

produced instruments was body size. An unabashed

fan of the sparkly late-90s Squier Super-Sonic models,

she found that even that reduced and repurposed

Jaguar shape couldn’t give her what she needed.

The lower horn juts out too far for ease of access

for her left-hand technique in the upper register; the

contours weren’t quite accommodating enough; the

weight was becoming too much for her shoulders and

it’d take quite a lot of modification for the body to

accept her preferred Mastery bridge and vibrato kit.

So she took her many complaints to Creston and the

two teamed up to design something fresh that ticks

all of the right boxes for Wheeler.

“For better, for worse, relationships lead the way

in this industry... and Creston’s the kind of guy who

makes you want to work with him. He’s kind, he’s

witty, he listens and he’s a guitar-building genius.”

Their back-and-forth continued for some time,

with drawings and what-ifs sent as the spirit moved.

Soon, they landed on this minimalistic, almost Art

Deco ‘Creature’ body shape, and Vanessa couldn’t be

more in love.

THIS PAGE ‘Porpoise’ is a

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COLLECTION

GUITAR MAGAZINE 77