Double Whammy

Khruangbin's Mark Speer and Laura Lee Ochoa make Fender history as the first bandmates to get a signature guitar and bass at the same time

- ADAM KOVAC

THE TRAPPINGS OF rock stardom have changed a great deal since the 1970s. The money and record sales ain't what they used to be, the drug-fueled parties in Laurel Canyon have died out, and being on the cover of the Rolling Stone doesn't have the cachet it once did. But even if having a wall full of platinum records is a thing of the past, there remains one irrefutable sign of having made it — a signature instrument. Bonus points if said instrument is made by one of the most famous guitar makers of all time.

So, even if the good old days remain the old days, psychedelic rockers Khruangbin have irrefutably hit the bigs, as guitarist Mark Speer and bassist Laura Lee Ochoa became the first members of a band to have a signature guitar and bass come out at the same time in Fender history.

The band’s connection with Fender goes back to Speer's early days, when he had been relying on gear picked up secondhand from friends. Eventually, he found himself at a Houston music store's going-out-of-business sale, and that's when he spotted the Strat that became the first guitar he ever bought.

“All the shiny, pointy guitars were gone, and this one was still on the wall, and they had lowered the price significantly so I could afford it," he says. "So I went ahead and got it, and it became the guitar I played and still play. And I don’t know — something just drew me to that one. I just really liked how it looked, how it felt.”

For Ochoa, the road to a signature model had more twists and turns. The bass she'd been playing, the one Fender used as the basis for the series of Jazz basses that carry her name, wasn't a Fender at all.