MotorAve (abbreviation for Motor Avenue Guitars) is an American

guitar manufacturing Guitar manufacturing is the use of machines, tools, and labor in the production of electric and acoustic guitars. This phrase may be in reference to handcrafting guitars using traditional methods or assembly line production in large quantities us ...

company. MotorAve builds

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s. The company also performs guitar repairs and guitar modifications. MotorAve was founded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, by Mark Fuqua in 2002.Bio
on MAG, 19 Oct 2019 Its headquarters are in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

History

Before founding MotorAve in 2002, luthier Mark Fuqua worked as a freelancer for guitar shops in San Francisco, California, while he began his first guitar repair business. Fuqua moved to Paris, France in 1998, where he continued building guitars for a living. In 2002, Fuqua opened his first MotorAve

brick-and-mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

. Fuqua moved the shop to Hollywood, California, in 2007, before relocating the business to Durham, North Carolina.

Guitars

All MotorAve guitars are built by hand and can be fitted with several different options including different pick ups, fretboard, inlays and finishes.

BelAire

The BelAire originated as a solid-body guitar built as a one-off for a customer looking for a large guitar due to his own large stature. To avoid back routed control cavities, the guitar was designed with a large pickguard, similar to the one of a Fender Telecaster Thinline. After the guitar was delivered Fuqua decided to create a semi-hollow version of the guitar with a Bigsby vibrato. The guitar had a solid core in the body's center and a sharp sound hole similar to what is normally found on

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a rang ...

s. During its construction,

Alain Johannes Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has b ...

visited the shop to pick up a vintage

Maton Maton is an Australian musical instruments manufacturing company based in Box Hill, Melbourne. It was founded in 1946 by Bill May and his brother Reg. The name "Maton" came from the words "May Tone" and is pronounced ''May Tonne''. Products ...

which had been repaired and took a liking to the unfinished guitar. A few weeks later the finished guitar was delivered to Johannes and a week later

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout mul ...

frontman Josh Homme ordered one for himself which was his main guitar during the recording of Era Vulgaris.

LeMans

The LeMans was specially designed to be extremely thin much like a

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gi ...

. The guitar is fitted with a single bridge pickup to allow for an extra strong neck joint which allows extra transference between neck and body. Another feature to make the guitar simple and easy to maintain is the control plate with a single volume control and jack input, the short and simple circuit also reduces capacitance for a clear tone. One of the first LeMans models were built for American hard rock band Burning Brides guitarist and vocalist Dimitri Coats.

References

External links

Official website
{{Guitar brands Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Privately held companies based in North Carolina