Anyone who's into collecting Strats knows about the Jimi Hendrix tribute guitars that I painted for Fender's Custom Shop back in 1997 [See: Seven Stratocasters That Pay Tribute to Jimi Hendrix]. The artwork was based on the guitar that Jimi Hendrix painted, played and burned at his breakthrough performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The first prototypes started with exact re-creations of the guitar. I was asked by John Page to "Pamelina" it and the beautified version of Jimi's art is what I painted 210 times.

That project meant a lot to me personally. I grew up in the Monterey Bay and attended the 1967 Pop Festival with my mother (I was only 7 at the time). It had a profound effect on me. I remember well the colorful skirts, sandals and bare feet of the hippies attending the festival. Coming from a military family, my adoration of the hippie culture didn't go over well with my father who tried time and time again to convince me that hippies were the scourge of the earth. Much to his chagrin, I embraced the psychedelic culture wholeheartedly.

As the value of the Hendrix guitars grew, so did the requests for re-creating that artwork as private commissions. But those guitars were painted as a limited edition which means that's all there is. 10 years later, I felt it was time to create new artwork that captured the 'vibe' of the Hendrix artwork that could serve as my personal tribute to Monterey and to the time that shaped my artwork for years to follow. It's simply called "The Monterey."

I'm doing this new limited edition in a way that's never been done before. This new limited edition art will be painted on guitars sent to me by customers. Each artwork will be numbered and will come with a certificate of authenticity. It's a limited edition of 200. You can find information on the pricing and process in my Guitars Store.

I'll be building a handful of them with Mike Lipe, master luthier. They'll be of the highest quality I can afford and will include abalone knobs, another connection to Monterey.