Proliferation of Signature Model Guitars

[Johnny Ballache]

However, my EVH Wolfgang is the one of the best guitars that I’ve owned. Just sounds and plays amazing. I play it with pride, in public even!

naa, I wasn't referring to that model, Basswood is a great material for guitar bodies, I'm glad you like the sound of your guitar.
Not my cup of tea, give me a dirty old strat anyday over one of those.

 

[BigDoug1053]

I think it's great that Ibanez offers such a variety for sig guitars. First - many of the musicians are not mass market famous, so it really can help their careers. Second, I like to see women guitarists' sig guitars - I have been eyeballing the Nita Strauss S model, and there are several others. I have a Herman Li sig S model (and I am not a fan of him or his current bands) - the EGEN8 - and it is a very versatile instrument with LOTS of single coil and clean pickup settings.

If you don't like the particulars of the sig model or the fact that someone has a sig model, then you have the option of not buying it.

 

[rollyfoster]

I am waiting for the TGP model, were we all sign the damn thing.

non-starter. There’s absolutely no way this place would even be able to agree on what kind of pen to use

 

[sahhas]

I think the ghost of Les Paul would say:
Thanks for buying my guitar, but I never really played it, since I modified my own...

The ghost of Les Paul would like to have a word with you.

 

[Edoardo_P]

Slash tells his fans what he looks for in a guitar, but his fans and other guitarists just aren't listening.
" Gibson keeps sending me guitars ( LP) but they sound wrong"
" They sent me two ( LP), the better looking one of course didn't sound like the other one, which sounded great"
( words to that effect )
Slash is typical pro guitar player, he don't give a Shxx about signature this or that, just tone.

Ooh ooh i didnt didn't know this, ahahah this is hilarious

 

[sahhas]

I admire any of the artists who have basically played their signature for many, many years... I’m thinking of:
Vai
EVH
Satriani.
Not that I’ll ever be a famous guitarist, but my preferences change with each guitar I build, and granted a have a couple of guitars that I’ve had over the last 5 years, but nothing close to anything like playing the same guitar for 30 years +

 

[Jon Silberman]

Count me with the guys who buy the models that suit us best, period.

 

[Johnny Ballache]

I admire any of the artists who have basically played their signature for many, many years... I’m thinking of:
Vai
EVH
Satriani.
Not that I’ll ever be a famous guitarist, but my preferences change with each guitar I build, and granted a have a couple of guitars that I’ve had over the last 5 years, but nothing close to anything like playing the same guitar for 30 years +

" I admire any of the artists who have basically played their - SELECTED FOR TONE- signature for many, many years."

- And that's a big part of the Scam right there.

 

[Johnny Ballache]

Count me with the guys who buy the models that suit us best, period.

Making such easy money suits the companies much more than it suits you, I can promise you that.
When banks or stock market manipulate the market, they go to prison for it.

 

[Johnny Ballache]

Ooh ooh i didnt didn't know this, ahahah this is hilarious

1:55

 

[Jon Silberman]

Making such easy money suits the companies much more than it suits you, I can promise you that.
When banks or stock market manipulate the market, they go to prison for it.

You may have misunderstood my point.

I have no problem with guitar companies making money, easy or hard.

Too many times, we complain if there aren't enough choices and complain if there are.

If proliferating sig models enables guitar companies to better reach micromarkets and/or sell additional guitars generally, I'm fine with it.

And, as I stated, if the guitar fits, I'll wear it, regardless of whether it has a person's name on it or an equally identifying model name.

Also, if you are equating insider stock market manipulation with adding sig guitars to a product line, oy.

 

[Johnny Ballache]

" Also, if you are equating insider stock market manipulation with adding sig guitars to a product line, oy."

Signature guitars are a ' pump and dump', in another form.
What the guitar companies are making a killing off is the age old ' You Want This ' selling technique, which is exactly what the pump and dump is, inflate the value of a share or stock, entice buyers...and watch the value plummet hours or days later.
What guitar companies are doing is legally making a killing off people who aren't being rational, who are so easily led.
Well, at least it's legal for a while longer anyway.

 

[Guitarworks]

OP, I expect a call any day now from numerous guitar companies offering me a sig model. If you've ever sold so much as single ticket to a performance or a single CD, no matter how unknown you are, you're apparently entitled to a signature model.

 

[Edoardo_P]

" Also, if you are equating insider stock market manipulation with adding sig guitars to a product line, oy."

Signature guitars are a ' pump and dump', in another form.
What the guitar companies are making a killing off is the age old ' You Want This ' selling technique, which is exactly what the pump and dump is, inflate the value of a share or stock, entice buyers...and watch the value plummet hours or days later.
What guitar companies are doing is legally making a killing off people who aren't being rational, who are so easily led.
Well, at least it's legal for a while longer anyway.

yeah man, you are right. new guitars should be illegal. you should decide what everyone else is gonna need.

 

[sahhas]

I think the main thing to realize is whatever signature guitar you get, you will not play or sound like the artist, you will play and sound like you.
I played a Jen back in the s, a Peavey EVH in the 00s, and an old B Axis guitar in the 10s, all of them were great guitars to play, had great necks! I think the thing to realize is they are tools to make music and inspire, that’s what signature guitars should do.... yes I realize that the models are meant to sell guitars for the company

" I admire any of the artists who have basically played their - SELECTED FOR TONE- signature for many, many years."

- And that's a big part of the Scam right there.

 

[Slappy_Nerdlinger]

Nerds...nearly everyone here owns or covets the Les Paul guitar.

 

[Johnny Ballache]

" I think the main thing to realize is whatever signature guitar you get, you will not play or sound like the artist, you will play and sound like you."

- with a regular old guitar..six strings and some wood.

 

[p6x]

Is it my imagination, or is the market currently inundated with signature model guitars?
I'm looking at the current releases for 2021, since pretty much all manufacturers have released their new offerings,
and I'm noticing a lot of new signature models. Particularly from Ibanez.

And on that note, where you at Schecter?

Lots of players that I'm not familiar with, but that's probably my fault, and these guitars are not inexpensive.
I guess if they're going to release the guitars regardless, they may as well tie them to someone who's currently influencing
other players.
But back in the day, a "signature" model guitar was a big deal.
I still remember Fender releasing their first sig models and that was huge.
Anyway, just an observation...

Ibanez has understood and pushed the "Signature" guitars concept a long time ago. They would not have done it if it had not boosted sales.

And they have been very smart on who they got onboard with them. Joe and Steve, of course, but they have also added some incredible new talent lately.

All manufacturers have joined in now...

 

[Johnny Ballache]

yeah man, you are right. new guitars should be illegal. you should decide what everyone else is gonna need.

I'm not deciding what people are buying, I'm telling them what they're buying, which in most cases, is mutton dressed up as lamb.
These signature guitars have an ironic name, signature denotes some kind of uniqueness..there's nothing individual or unique about a signature series guitar, they are a regular guitar sprung off the assembly line with some kind of sparkle thrown on top, like a cheap pastry.
I'd like to see the sonic properties of any said signature guitar matched to the sonic properties of the original, until then, it's absolute BS, a system designed to fleece people who aren't thinking straight.

 

[les_paul]

I like them and own several. Sometimes you find a set of specs that just works for you, but I generally appreciate that they're designed with a point of view in mind. Off the shelf models are often such an amalgam of specs designed by committee that it's nice to see something a real person plays by choice.

Sometimes you end up with a modern classic (the EBMM JP6), but you at least get something slightly different that you wouldn't have had otherwise.

More options are never a bad thing.

Besides the Les Paul one of the most worthwhile versatile signature models is the JP6 in my opinion.