36feature Photos by Taber Licea ing shared with numerous other artists, as part of the nonprofit Long Island City arts group known as Local Project, located at 11-27 44th Road. According to the artist, the material gives each instrument a resonant and strong sound and excellent stability. Each guitar features high quality parts and is handcrafted by Licea. “I have made many things in my life, furniture, drums, speaker cabinets and so on. But making an electric guitar out of a blank sheet of bamboo is my greatest achievement,” he said. “All my guitars have sweet tone, great harmonics and character.” Although all his guitars have the same shape, which Licea has a design patent on, customers have an option on Telecaster, Stratocaster and Jazz type guitars. In the next month or two, he plans on also creating a bass and left-handed guitar. Licea says he also personally uses his own guitars in his heavy rock band, Mordus, in which he plays lead guitar and sings. For more information on Mordus, visit www.mordusmusic.com. “From cutting to shaping, coloring to buffing, it tests my patience and skill every time, there’s no room for error,” he said. “To see a guitarist wail away on my guitar and look at me and say ‘wow this is awesome’ inspires me to make more and to know I have a special product.” In the future, Licea hopes to bring his production to a factory and create a larger inventory. He is also in the process of looking for a guitar representative. The guitars, which sell for $1,800, can be bought online at www.liceaguitars.com and are also sold at 30th Street Guitars in Manhattan and Mouradian Guitars in Massachusetts. Anyone with questions can email Licea through his website.
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