And the all-time Gibson artist model head-scratcher is...

[Colnago]

I prefer my ES-369

It’s got the horizontal PRS headstock.

 

[dollarsandcents412]

I see you haven’t heard of the jonas brothers melody maker

 

[FennRx]

Ummm…how about the guy from Nickelback’s Les Paul ? Ick

 

[ForTheLoveOfIvy]

Lopez was so popular at the time he also acted in The Dirty Dozen

Love that film.

 

[ForTheLoveOfIvy]

Gretsch has a similar model. Not sure if they still make it but for years they made the Keith Scott model. Its a really good looking guitar....basically a Dynasonic 6120 with a Gold top and dark back and sides.

My understanding is that they gave him a model for his work in publicizing the Gretsch brand by playing his old '56 6120 in the Bryan Adams video Everything I do...which was on the charts (especially in the UK) for weeks.

Funny though…he normally plays a Strat.

 

[RolandKorg]

I’ve had three Les Pauls, and have never heard a Les Paul song.
I think the Gibson Trini sounds great—at least in all the ToneJunkies videos—and I want one, even though I have never heard a Trini Lopez song.

At this point, it’s almost better for me to not be familiar with the artist. I know a little Slash/GnR, but I don’t want to buy a Slash model guitar, for example.

Some endorsements by current names seem like liabilities. Rick Beato getting a sig guitar, for instance. When you only know the name from YouTube videos, that doesn’t seem to lend the kind of ‘caché’ you‘d expect. [“Oh, it’s got caché, baby. It’s got caché up the ying-yang!”]

 

[HERSCHEL]

I don’t know who Barney Kessel was either, now that you mention it.

Didn't he design the Millenium Falcon, or something?

 

[misterturtlehead]

George Gobel anyone?

It was a red Gibson L-5C but with a 2 1/4" thick body. George Gobel could play guitar well. But as an entertainer he focused on singing and being a standup comedian.

 

[The Eristic]

I don’t know who Barney Kessel was either, now that you mention it.

Maybe not, but you've definitely heard him!

 

[vtakala]

Not much guitar in this, but the Trini Lopez track imho:

:

 

[Jayyj]

Trini was a big name in his day and a coup for Gibson to have his name on a guitar at that point - his music hasn't carried across to subsequent decades but this was about selling guitars in the mid 60s, and Trini helped sell guitars in the mid 60s. If you look at Gibson's earliest signature models you have the Nick Lucas and the Roy Smeck, both popular entertainers of the day that your average 20 year old has never heard of.

Signature models are simple economics at any time, and the only question being asked when someone's in line for one is will it sell well and get a bit of press attention. As someone said up thread, it's not a lifetime achievement award, although it's also worth being in mind that a popular strummer of the day arguably gets more young people playing than your average TGP shred god and that's a noble thing to be able to claim (Sheeran, looking in your direction here!).

Oh yeah, and Trinis are the dog's bollocks, so if his only lasting legacy is to have got Gibson to release that design that's enough for me.

 

[B-Harvs]

The guitar in that video and the one pictured don't look similar in shape. That guitar he's playing in the video is sick, with its rather pointy shape. I'd want that one.

 

[Strummerfan]

Why anyone would seek out an instrument due to it's having a celebrity name attached at all is a head scratcher to me. Unless it sported a set of specs I was looking for but couldn't find elsewhere, o wouldn't buy a signature model.

 

[makeitstop]

Instrument manufacturers bring out these signature models to make money by capitalizing on the artist's popularity, not as a sign of recognition of his/her excellence as a musician. As soon as that artist's popularity fades, the potential demand for said instruments is likely to fade, as well, and the instrument will become a collector's item until there is some reason to believe more can be sold.

I was at the Iridium jazz club in NYC the night Gibson rolled out the Lou Pallo signature model.

Pretty cool LP, but I doubt Gibson thought they were gonna rake in the bucks with it. It's more of a tribute to Les' right hand man (who was also a pretty excellent musician). RIP Lou.

 

[budg]

Why anyone would seek out an instrument due to it's having a celebrity name attached at all is a head scratcher to me. Unless it sported a set of specs I was looking for but couldn't find elsewhere, o wouldn't buy a signature model.

I do kind of get it. At one time I wanted a Martin Jim Croce d21. Once I found out these were really collector pieces and we’re going for serious coin I changed my mind . They really just use the artists name to sell guitars. They usually have some unique feature that distinguish it from the others , the strange shaped F holes. Not different from other Signature guitars , the reverse tremolo of the SRV, the missing string tree of EJ strat are 2 that come to mind. There are some head scratchers in modern guitar history for sure. The TomDeLonge strat and a Adam Jones custom shop Les Paul come to mind.

 

[Jayyj]

The guitar in that video and the one pictured don't look similar in shape. That guitar he's playing in the video is sick, with its rather pointy shape. I'd want that one.

The one in the video is a Trini Custom, which was basically a Barney Kessel with the Firebird headstock and diamond soundholes - Trini preferred and was typically seen playing that model but also endorsed the cheaper 335 version referred to as the Standard.

 

[ClickClack]

Trini was a big name in his day and a coup for Gibson to have his name on a guitar at that point - his music hasn't carried across to subsequent decades but this was about selling guitars in the mid 60s, and Trini helped sell guitars in the mid 60s. If you look at Gibson's earliest signature models you have the Nick Lucas and the Roy Smeck, both popular entertainers of the day that your average 20 year old has never heard of.
(...snip...)

I'm in my late 60s and don't know if I've ever heard of Nick Lucas or Roy Smeck.

 

[MikeMcK]

I'm not sure if these count as artist models, but someone at Gibson had an awkward obsession with the Earnhardt family.

 

[Uncle Dad]

I do kind of get it. At one time I wanted a Martin Jim Croce d21. Once I found out these were really collector pieces and we’re going for serious coin I changed my mind . They really just use the artists name to sell guitars. They usually have some unique feature that distinguish it from the others , the strange shaped F holes. Not different from other Signature guitars , the reverse tremolo of the SRV, the missing string tree of EJ strat are 2 that come to mind. There are some head scratchers in modern guitar history for sure. The TomDeLonge strat and a Adam Jones custom shop Les Paul come to mind.

The De Longe strat and the Adam Jones LPC are both cool guitars from popular players and sold like hotcakes at the very different price points they were offered at. Nothing very mysterious there.

 

[Uncle Dad]

This one is weird to me (Jason Hook Explorer):

Also, Gibson's Hendrix guitars.