Linda Jane Manzer OC (born July 2, 1952) is a Canadian master luthier who is famous for making archtop, flat top, and harp guitars.

Career

Manzer was a folk singer in high school and played guitar. Her career began when she wanted a dulcimer but could not buy one, so she built one from a kit. She attended two art colleges, where she studied painting. She learned how to make flattop guitars by studying with Jean Larrivée from 1974 to 1978. She went to New York in 1983 and 1984 and studied archtop guitar building with Jimmy D'Aquisto.

In addition to her standard models, she designed and built by hand over 50 guitar prototypes, including a soprano guitar, an acoustic baritone guitar, the first acoustic sitar guitar, and several multinecked harp guitars. She also designed and built over 25 instruments for jazz musician Pat Metheny, including the Pikasso, which has 42 strings and four necks. Pat Metheny played the Pikasso on many albums, including Imaginary Day, What's It All About, and Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories). He played her baritone guitar on the album One Quiet Night. She built and co-designed with Metheny a limited edition of 30 handmade Metheny-Manzer signature models to celebrate their 30-year collaboration.

Professional musicians who own Manzer guitars include Julian Lage, Carlos Santana, Henrik Andersen, Stephen Fearing, Ted Ludwig, Tim Lerch, Milton Nascimento, Liona Boyd, Heather Bishop, Bruce Cockburn, Paul Simon, Roy Patterson, Marie-Lynn Hammond, Susan Crowe, and Gordon Lightfoot.

Her custom designs include the 52-stringed Medusa, which is owned by Danish musician Henrik Andersen.

She was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2023. She currently resides in both Toronto and Almonte, Ontario.

Pikasso Guitar

In 1984, Pat Metheny asked for a guitar with "as many strings as possible." Manzer designed the Pikasso, a guitar with 42 strings grouped into four sections. It included a special pickup that connected to Metheny's Synclavier synthesizer. The Pikasso had two holes for attaching it to a stand, allowing the guitarist to play without holding the instrument. Metheny used the Pikasso on songs such as "Finding and Believing" from Secret Story, "Montevideo" and "Dismantling Utopia" from Quartet, "Into the Dream" from Imaginary Day, and "The Sound of Water" from his Quartet album with Brad Mehldau. While creating the Pikasso, Manzer invented "The Wedge" body shape. Because the many strings crossed over each other, she wanted Metheny to see all the strings clearly when looking down at the guitar. She chose a wedge shape, making the sides narrower near the arm and wider near the knee. This design gave Metheny a slight upward view of the strings because the guitar tilted slightly backward. The shape also made the guitar more comfortable to hold. In the 1980s, Manzer began using the "Manzer Wedge" design for all her guitars.