We all have ways of letting our significant others know we love them. Some of us err toward flowers, while others bestow jewelry. Hell, a nice dinner will usually suffice, right? All that is fine and dandy, but Joe Perry has a different way of showing his wife Billie his affection – a guitar with her face painted across it, of course.
Enter the “Billie Guitar,” a Gibson B.B. King model, which, back in the day, and with the help of Gibson, Perry had torn down and built back up to his favored specs – and with his wife’s face painted on as a cherry on top. If this sounds at all intriguing, then dig in as Perry tells Guitar World the story of the “Billie Guitar.”
There’s also the one you’ve dubbed the “Billie Guitar” because it has a picture of your wife, Billie, on the body.
Article continues belowI got that in the Nineties. The main reason for that guitar is that I love history, and I was looking back and fascinated by what they call “nose art.” Pilots would have artwork on the nose of their planes in World Wars I and II, and it would be pictures of their favorite movie starlet or their wife, and they’d name the plane after them.
I thought, “Why not do that with my guitar?” That was the main reason I picked that body style – the B.B. King Lucille body. It doesn’t have F-holes; I wanted something with plenty of room for the artwork.
There’s a picture on the front of the guitar and on the back, and I picked white because I thought the artwork would stand out. Again, I was driven by the visuals. [Laughs] After John painted it, it went back to Gibson, and they put the neck and their touches on it and finished it with the electronics and this and that. That happened in Nashville, where I got to go to the factory and check out the stuff at the Custom Shop.
What did Billie think of it when she saw it?
She had no idea this was going on. [Laughs] Billie just stood there for a second, and they came out with this guitar case and said, “Close your eyes.” We opened it up, and she turned beet red. Long story short, she wouldn’t come out when I’d put the guitar on; she’d kind of leave the side of the stage because she was so embarrassed about it.
She’s not somebody who looks for the spotlight, but she got used to it. Sometimes I would stand out at the end of the ramp, and the girls in the crowd would point to the picture on the guitar and want to know who it was. I’d point to my wedding ring, and they would melt. [Laughs] They thought it was so romantic!
It’s become a staple of your arsenal when you play Cryin’, so it must be solid.
It turned out that the guitar sounded great. Having the minimum amount of electronics in there, and the pickups, which are hot‑rodded Seymour Duncan JBs, really worked. There’s just something about it; that guitar has some magic to it. It’s one of my top touring guitars, and I’ve used it in the studio a lot, too.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
