Malek Ben Arbia and his Djinn USA Custom Shop Signature
Vola partners with Myrath’s Malek Ben Arbia for one of the wildest-looking signature models of the year, the Djinn
From Matt Owen
The Tunisian prog metal maestro's newest axe features a neck-through construction, SP Custom pickups and truly dazzling body artwork.
Vola has teamed up with prog metal electric guitar player Malek Ben Arbia for the Djinn – an all-new seven-string signature guitar that might just be one of the most visually arresting axes we’ve seen all year.
Let’s not beat around the bush here: that body artwork is quite something. According to Vola, the aesthetics were inspired by Myrath’s Legacy album, and was created using a variety of fancy production techniques by the Vola Custom Shop team.
In its bid to capture the vibe of an “ancient carving in stone”, the artwork was laser etched into the buck-eyed burl top and left open underneath the high gloss finish. Similarly, the Luminlay logo that sits at the base of the body is composed from custom-made glow in the dark acrylic, which was cut flush into the instrument.
The results are pretty alluring, and are made even more impressive by the 12th fret logo inlay and the color matched headstock. Two examples are available, and arrive in Void (Purple Burst) or Sands (Natural Buckeye) finishes.
In the build department, the Djinn features a neck-through construction comprising a mahogany body and Birdseye maple neck, which is complemented with an ebony fingerboard.
Two SP Custom humbuckers – Savage Beast neck and Chaos Land VIII bridge – also feature some appropriate Myrath artwork, and are wired to master volume and tone parameters, and a three-way switch.
“The guitar is not only the physical embodiment of the sand spirits, but also the visual representation of Malek's playing and the band he plays in,” said Vola.
Of his new signature, Ben Arbia added, “There are a lot of details – very Tunisian, very oriental – that match perfectly with our sound, atmosphere and backgrounds.”
