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Signature guitar gimmicks that devalue the model

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I went into PMT in Bristol the other day and I saw that they had a PRS SE billy Martin, used for £116. This is an absolutely great guitar for the money, and essentially a PRS SE standard 22 in all but name. That, and the glow in the dark bat in the middle of the fretboard... I've normally got no qualms about guitars with artist endorsements that I'm not fans of (I covet the Mikey way mustang bass for example), provided they offer something different from the main line but I can't help but think that so many guitars lose half their customers by incorporating some non-removable decoration into the design. Also id be pretty bummed if I'd bought a guitar with half the resale value of the vanilla main line model...
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Comments

  • RoxRox Frets: 2147
    On the other hand, like you say, it's a great way to pick up a decent guitar for less money... swings and roundabouts...  :D
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  • I always say that a sig guitar should be instantly identifiable. I don't get the slash sig lp, for example. It's... Er... A Les Paul with different pickups.

    Plus, as said above, you can pick up some sigs cheaper because they're not cool. Just put up with the inlay, or have it redone? No idea what that would cost.

    Upgraded pickups devalue prs SE guitars as well. My mate got a Tremonti se with prs winged tuners and a Duncan jb in the bridge for 150 ish quid, maybe even less.
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    anything with Eric Clapton scrawled over it... 
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71954
    Signatures, generally.

    I remember a friend had a Sting signature Fender P-Bass - quite a decent '53-style P-Bass reissue…. apart from the utterly horrible signature inlaid on a badly-fitted, tasteless pearl block in the middle of the neck. He got it cheap. Replacing it with something less obnoxious wouldn't have been easy either. (I assume Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers felt the same ;).)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    Yup, I totally agree.

    I'm a Gilmour fan but why would I spend four figures buying his Signature Strat when I could build a very similar spec partscaster (which after all is all the black Strat is) for less.

    And I fucking hate soppy inlays of signatures, bats or any other bollocks that are just marketing cods that associates the guitar with the player's "brand".
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • I always say that a sig guitar should be instantly identifiable. I don't get the slash sig lp, for example. It's... Er... A Les Paul with different pickups.

    Plus, as said above, you can pick up some sigs cheaper because they're not cool. Just put up with the inlay, or have it redone? No idea what that would cost.

    Upgraded pickups devalue prs SE guitars as well. My mate got a Tremonti se with prs winged tuners and a Duncan jb in the bridge for 150 ish quid, maybe even less.
    I'm the total opposite. The best Sigs are the ones that make changes you can't necessarily see- bigger frets/radiuses, different necks, switching options, that kinda thing. I'm thinking stuff like the Eric Johnson Strats, Marr Jaguar, Nate Mendel P-bass, etc. They look like a regular Strat/Jag/P otherwise.
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • xSkarloeyxSkarloey Frets: 2962
    I don't mind too much if what you get's still a good guitar. If someone offered me an original Steve Vai Jem with the floral fabric covering and that funny carrying handle I'd take it any day.  
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71954
    Skarloey said:
    I don't mind too much if what you get's still a good guitar. If someone offered me an original Steve Vai Jem with the floral fabric covering and that funny carrying handle I'd take it any day.  
    That's different - it's unique guitar made purposely for that player, not just a normal model with something tacky added to it.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • xSkarloeyxSkarloey Frets: 2962
    ICBM said:
    Skarloey said:
    I don't mind too much if what you get's still a good guitar. If someone offered me an original Steve Vai Jem with the floral fabric covering and that funny carrying handle I'd take it any day.  
    That's different - it's unique guitar made purposely for that player, not just a normal model with something tacky added to it.


    You're exactly right. Point is, when it came out I remember reading one magazine's review of it, and they couldn't see the wood for the trees because they got hung up on the finish. They didn't review it for what it was, and basically dismissed it for being just another 'pointy headstock' guitar with a weird floral pattern and a 'useless' carrying handle. 


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  • dogloaddogload Frets: 1495
    The Squier J Mascis sinature Jazzmaster has to be one of the best signature guitars going (except perhaps the Susannah Hoffs 350, Tom Petty 660/12, John Kay 381 and McGuinn 360/12 Rickenbackers).
    There is nothing that detract from the design and much to make it more playable, but nothing glaringly upsetting to Jazzmaster fans.
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  • dogload said:
    The Squier J Mascis sinature Jazzmaster has to be one of the best signature guitars going (except perhaps the Susannah Hoffs 350, Tom Petty 660/12, John Kay 381 and McGuinn 360/12 Rickenbackers).
    There is nothing that detract from the design and much to make it more playable, but nothing glaringly upsetting to Jazzmaster fans.
    except the term being in wrong place….
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  • Some people still maintain that the Washburn N4's neck joint is a gimmick, but I definitely disagree - the N4 is, overall, one of the most practical guitar designs around.

    Washburn did it right, too - if you didn't want the sparkly "N4" sticker on the body, just leave it in the case :)
    <space for hire>
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  • dogload said:
    The Squier J Mascis sinature Jazzmaster has to be one of the best signature guitars going (except perhaps the Susannah Hoffs 350, Tom Petty 660/12, John Kay 381 and McGuinn 360/12 Rickenbackers).
    There is nothing that detract from the design and much to make it more playable, but nothing glaringly upsetting to Jazzmaster fans.
    except the term being in wrong place….
    And the raduis of the audjust o matic being a 12" and the fretboard a 9.5"
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • carloscarlos Frets: 3426
    I like some of the Chapman guitars, but that Chappers signature...
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  • Anybody for a Keifer Sutherland 335 ?   
    :)
    Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life
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  • I like some of the Chapman guitars, but that Chappers signature...

    And the "monkey lord approved" text on the back of the headstock.
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  • IanSavageIanSavage Frets: 1319
    I went into PMT in Bristol the other day and I saw that they had a PRS SE billy Martin, used for £116. This is an absolutely great guitar for the money, and essentially a PRS SE standard 22 in all but name.
    I'd have snapped that up, bargain! :o
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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7472
    edited December 2013
    ICBM;116667" said:
    Skarloey said:

    I don't mind too much if what you get's still a good guitar. If someone offered me an original Steve Vai Jem with the floral fabric covering and that funny carrying handle I'd take it any day.  





    That's different - it's unique guitar made purposely for that player, not just a normal model with something tacky added to it.
    Which, to me, is a 'proper' sig guitar.

    A Les Paul with a marginally different spec isn't a sig, it's a money spinner and an excuse to charge more for what should be interchangeable features on a standard model.

    Imo. :)

    It's not that their necessarily bad, they're sometimes better than standard. But if they are widely accepted as being better, should that not be a standard model? Example - mascis squier. Great guitar. Just have 2 versions - one with the right bridge, one with the Gibson bridge. That way, you lose the sig but keep the great guitar. Possibly even lower the price...

    It's different with accurate relic copies of star guitars, but other than that, I think a sig guitar should be different - more often than not, though, it's a well set up version of an off the shelf that they've changed the pickups in.
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  • IanSavage;117139" said:
    littlethoughts said:

    I went into PMT in Bristol the other day and I saw that they had a PRS SE billy Martin, used for £116. This is an absolutely great guitar for the money, and essentially a PRS SE standard 22 in all but name.





    I'd have snapped that up, bargain! :o
    Maybe so! But I've got my heart set on a bass vi whenever the shops finally have one in stock for me to try and be sure I actually want one so I probably shouldn't be buying yet more guitars...
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  • Rox;116592" said:
    On the other hand, like you say, it's a great way to pick up a decent guitar for less money... swings and roundabouts...  :D
    Good for you, but not good if you want to sell one ;)
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