“ Blue collar guitars for blue collar guys .”
By Kelsey Butler
Mike
Pegg picked up his first guitar when he was 12 years old . It was a gift from his mom . “ I grew up in Amish country Ohio so I didn ’ t have a whole lot of money .” Pegg comes from a family of farmers . His grandfather was a carpenter and Pegg grew up around craftsmanship .
Music got into Pegg ’ s soul and he couldn ’ t let it go . He started buying pawn shop guitars and piecing them together , “ I would find a good body on this guitar and a nice neck on that guitar , save up a little money , and buy these two guitars and make a nice guitar out of them .”
“ I always wanted some really high-end stuff ,” Pegg admits . He recalls being in school and dreaming of the day he could get his hands on a JEM777 Steve Vai model . The solidbody , six-string electric was introduced by Ibanez in 1987 . “ I was in college , I couldn ’ t afford a $ 2,200 guitar ,” Pegg remembers .
Fast forward 27 years , 4 children , and a career as an electrician . Pegg decided , “ I ’ m going to build my dream JEM that I never got to have .” And he did . “ It was everything I wanted and dreamed and hoped , until I played it awhile .” Pegg says he realized he could do it better .
“ It just kind of caught on and now I ’ m on number 56 , and I ’ m still pursuing that perfect guitar ,” says Pegg .
On June 22 , The Washington Post released “ Why my guitar gently weeps : The slow , secret death of the six-string electric . And why
42 July 2017
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