Steve Stevens usually plays Les Pauls and Hamers – but he slapped his name on Ciari’s Ascender Premier after being impressed by its no-compromises foldable design.
He’s even named one after his wife, Josie. His Ascender comes in Josie Pink, gloss black and gloss white. Yes. it’s a travel guitar, but Stevens says there’s more to it. “I’ve done a number of tracks with it while I’m on the road,” he tells Guitar World.
“If anybody requests a guitar part, I’m doing that in my hotel room with that guitar. I’ve also played it onstage.”
The foldable instrument with its ray-gun graphic on his renamed Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell pickups is “definitely not a gimmick guitar,” he states, adding: “It holds its own purely as a playable guitar. It’s really cool for the traveling musician because you can bring it on a flight and it fits beneath the seat.”
How did you hook up with Ciari?
“I saw them from when they first appeared at NAMM however many years ago. I thought it was a marvel of engineering. I said, ‘Why don’t you come by Billy Idol’s rehearsal so I can see this thing with my own eyes?’ Ciari CEO Jonathan Spangler came by, and I checked out the first incarnation of the guitar.
“I just thought it was fantastic. My brother is an industrial designer who also worked in the medical field and that was Jonathan’s background too. I took some photos, sent them to my brother and said, ‘You have to see this thing!’”
How do Ciari guitars compare to other guitars’ playability?
“That was my first concern. But it’s great! You’re totally unaware of the hinge in the neck. I was concerned about the stability on the first incarnation of the guitar, but they listened to me and revised the mechanics of that. I was impressed by how flexible they were in accepting my concerns.”
The Ascender has Bare Knuckle pickups in it. Are these “ray gun” pickups different from your Rebel Yell set?
“They’re actually my Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell pickups, but they’ve got a different cover on them and have a picture of a tiny little ray gun on there. I thought it would work well on this guitar. And it’s got a coil tap on it; it worked out really well.”
The guitar also has an interesting LED setup.
“Since we did the ray gun graphic on it, I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if the end of the ray gun correlated to a three-color LED?’ That’s what happened. You can glance at the color and you’ll know what position your pickup selector is in.”
There are currently several looks for the Ascender. Do you have plans for additional models?
“Right now we’re introducing the three versions – Josie Pink, Jet Black Gloss, and Olympic White Gloss. I really can’t think of anything more to pack into this guitar. It’s kind of got everything I could think of!”
- The Steve Stevens Ascender signature range is coming soon from Ciari Guitars.
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