HBO's adaptation on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire has entered its final season, and to bid the epic fantasy TV series a fond farewell, Fender's Custom Shop has created three special guitars. The Game of Thrones Sigil Collection instruments feature dragon scale carvings, custom engraved inlays, hand-carved headstocks and gold-plated pickguards.
Each of the three members of the Sigil Collection has been assigned to one of the fan-favorite houses from the Game of Thrones show – the House Stark Telecaster, the House Lannister Jaguar and the House Targaryen Stratocaster.
"This has been a two-year journey - much of it spent in the concept phase, nailing down a cool and authentic way to bring the two properties together," said Fender's Justin Norvell. "We worked directly and extensively with Game of Thrones' creator and avid guitar player D.B. Weiss to ensure that our vision, design and materials reflected the identity of each house.
"And there's no better place than the Fender Custom Shop to tackle this task with experts in not only guitar-building, but specialized skills, such as carving and engraving, that really set these instruments apart. As existing fans of the series, we couldn't be happier with the final results and this partnership overall."
In creating the Sigil Collection, Master Builder Ron Thorn was inspired by the sigils of each house, costume designs, armor and weaponry, and the location within Westeros of each family. The Game of Thrones guitars took over 300 hours to build in total, with the least expensive model available for US$25,000.
That guitar is the House Stark Telecaster, which is fashioned from a swamp ask body with sterling silver purfling inlays. It has a medium-C maple neck topped by an ebony fingerboard that rocks a hand-cut and engraved sterling silver Dire Wolf sigil inlay at the first fret and silver dot markers elsewhere. The sigil makes a second appearance on the pickguard in embossed nickel silver.
The Tele features 50/51 Blackguard single-coil pickups that are selected using a three-way switch, hand-engraved knobs, an etched neck plate and is finished in "Grey Wolf" front and back, with "Black Raven" sides.
The House Lannister Jaguar comes in a little more pricey at $30,000. Its alder body is covered with 24K gold and the guitar has heraldic carvings on the front, back and headstock. This one also has a medium-C maple neck with ebony fingerboard, but a brass lion sigil inlay sits at the first fret.
Gold hardware and a gold-plated pickguard have been engraved with the Lannister's sigil, with brass dots marking out fret positions elsewhere.
The most expensive Game of Thrones guitar is the House Targaryen Strat, which carries a $35,000 price tag. The alder body of this instrument features carved dragon scales front and back, and is finished in "Dragonglass Black" paint. Also sporting a maple neck and ebony fingerboard, there's a silver dragon sigil at the first fret and silver dot markers at other fret positions.
The pickguard is home to the House Targaryen's three-headed dragon sigil, there are three Texas Special single-coil pickups, black hardware, and five-way switching.
All of the Sigil Collection guitars will ship with a House-specific hard case and a certificate of authenticity. The video below has more.
Source: Fender Custom Shop