35 One Long Island City-based artist is rocking out on bamboo. Taber Licea is the man behind the unique line of Licea Guitars, which are handcrafted out of the environmentally friendly material. Coming from a family of artists and growing up with a basement full of hand and power tools, Licea knew his way around designing and creating a unique piece. After going through numerous guitars and not finding his perfect match, Licea decided to design his own and in 2006 made the first instrument in his own kitchen. He later moved to the 5Pointz building on Davis Street with a friend and continued his design work. He came up with his own concepts and features that make playing the guitar easier, including a fatter neck. The heel on a Licea Guitar allows a musician’s hand to go easily all the way around to the top frets and when strapped on, the instrument remains balanced. Initially, the design involved using mahogany wood but everything changed after a trip to a contemporary furniture show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. There, Licea visited a company’s booth showing bamboo plywood and he knew his guitars would be transformed. “That was it. I didn’t want to use regular wood like everyone else, it had to be something different,” he said. The daytime photographer then looked into bamboo, which is classified as a grass, not a wood, and began creating his one-of-a-kind guitars. All Licea Guitars are made out of one piece, combining the neck and body, and every piece is made entirely out of bamboo. Licea currently works on his guitars in a build- SHREDDING
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