Description
The Gaia Artist Edition
Munson × Emma Howell
The Gaia Artist Edition, Gaia: Against the Grain, was created as a one-off collaboration between Munson Guitars and Cotswolds-based artist Emma Howell.
Built on the Munson Tempest platform, Gaia began with a one-piece Norfolk ash body, which became the surface for Emma’s original wraparound abstract artwork.
Rather than confining the painting to the front of the guitar, the composition moves around the instrument, allowing its contours, edges and natural timber to become part of the work itself.
New Terrain
Gaia was created for Emma’s 2022 solo exhibition, New Terrain, at Sixteen Gallery in Cheltenham.
The exhibition explored the changing landscape through which Emma’s work and life were moving, with painting used as an instinctive way of responding to experience.
Emma has said, “All my work is dedicated to my Dad”, and the exhibition also carried that connection to music: her late father was a bass player, while Munson appeared at the exhibition with Gaia and a guitar-making seminar.
That exhibition history gives Gaia a provenance beyond the workshop. It was conceived not simply as a guitar for sale, but as part of a wider body of creative work.
Two creative practices. One instrument.
Gaia was an early expression of what would become the Munson Artist Edition philosophy.
The instrument was not simply completed and then decorated.
Its Norfolk ash body became Emma’s canvas, while elements of the collaboration were incorporated permanently into the build.
A custom brass inlay of Emma Howell’s signature appears in the neck, accompanied by brass Munson detailing, allowing the identity of both artist and maker to become part of the physical instrument.
Made together. Built as one.
One-piece Norfolk ash
The body is made from a single piece of Norfolk ash.
Emma’s artwork was painted across the body and then protected with a nitrocellulose finish, preserving the artwork while allowing the material beneath it to remain part of the character of the piece.
The rear control cover is also Norfolk ash and was given a matching finish.
Roasted maple and brass detail
Gaia’s neck is made from roasted maple, with a contrasting flame-maple skunk stripe.
It uses a familiar 25.5-inch scale length and 9.5-inch radius, with 22 medium nickel-silver frets and a satin nitrocellulose neck finish.
The neck is secured using stainless-steel M5 bolts and brass threaded inserts.
Its most distinctive detail is the custom brass artist-signature inlay, permanently recording Emma’s involvement in the piece.
British hand-wound humbuckers
Gaia is fitted with a pair of British hand-wound humbuckers.
The electronics were deliberately kept straightforward: master volume, master tone and a three-way pickup selector.
That simple control layout keeps Gaia firmly usable as a musical instrument while allowing the artwork, materials and collaboration to define its individual identity.
Exhibition provenance
New Terrain ran at Sixteen Gallery in Cheltenham from 16 September to 2 October 2022, with Gaia presented as the Munson × Emma Howell special-edition instrument within the exhibition.
Gaia has since found its owner and is recorded by Emma Howell as sold.
That journey, workshop, artist collaboration, gallery exhibition and private ownership, is now part of the instrument’s history.
Specification
Model
Tempest Custom — Gaia: Against the Grain
Type
Artist Edition
Munson × Emma Howell
One of One
Status
Sold
Body
One-piece Norfolk ash
Original wraparound artwork by Emma Howell
Nitrocellulose finish
Norfolk ash control cover with matching finish
Neck
Roasted maple
Flame-maple skunk stripe
25.5″ / 648 mm scale
9.5″ / 241.3 mm radius
Dual-action truss rod
0.73″ / 18.58 mm at 1st fret
0.87″ / 22.21 mm at 12th fret
Satin nitrocellulose finish
Frets
22 medium nickel-silver
2.4 mm wide
1.3 mm crown
Inlays
Custom brass artist-signature inlay
Nut
GraphTech Black TUSQ XL
Neck fixing
Stainless-steel M5 bolts with brass threaded inserts
Electronics
Pair of British hand-wound humbuckers
Master volume
Master tone
3-way pickup selector
Hardware
Gotoh SG381-MG-T staggered locking tuners
Gotoh GTC101 hardtail bridge with brass saddles
Gold knurled knobs
Gold strap buttons
Case
Hiscox LiteFlite hard case
From the Munson archive
Gaia has already found its owner, but its significance remains.
As an early Munson × Emma Howell Artist Edition, it marks a point where guitar making, original artwork and exhibition practice came together in a single instrument.
One instrument. One collaboration. No repeat.
