She admits that she’s not the world’s greatest guitarist, but that doesn’t mean Olivia Rodrgio doesn’t love a striking, highly individual guitar.
Rodrigo kicked off her Unraveled tour on Friday and played several guitars during the show, the most eye-catching of which was the heart-shaped peach-coloured instrument that she used during 2024 song So American.
It transpires that this was built for her by renowned LA luthier and touring guitar technician Luis Muñoz, who operates under the name Modern Guitar Tech and expressed his delight on Instagram.
“I’ve somewhat retired from touring to be home,” he began, “but getting to contribute like this? La neta [honestly], that means everything. I’m sure Olivia has every guitar company in the world in her DMs, and she still trusted a small shop in East LA.”
Muñoz goes on to say that perfecting the shape wasn’t easy: “Five prototypes before I got the body right. It had to look cool, play easy, feel comfortable, and most of all, sound good.”
The guitar looks set to become a fan favourite and it’s safe to assume that there will be demand for it to be released as a signature model, but Muñoz says that it’s “one of one. For now.”
That does sort of suggest that a wider release could be possible at some point, but given that Rodrigo’s original was “built completely by hand” outside of Muñoz’s regular shop working hours, it might be tricky.
That said, Muñoz has one potential customer already: he says that he took the guitar home to show his daughter, who didn’t want to give it back.
On her previous tour, Rodrigo was regularly seen playing a custom purple Music Man St Vincent Goldie signature model, which she later praised for its comfort and playability.
“[St Vincent] made a guitar that's specifically designed for women, because she plays her guitar really high up, and it's cut so that you can have boobs and play guitar, which is so awesome.”
Rodrigo has already received strong notices for the Unraveled show, which also saw her try her hand at a bit of lead guitar playing on Maggots For Brains, a song from her most recent album, 2026’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love.
There were some impressive theatrics, too, including a ‘field’ of flowers and a ‘dissolving dress’, which quickly went viral.
