Which signature guitar has the best features?

axisus

A lot of signature guitars seem pretty useless, pretty stock but with an increased price tag. The mark Knopfler strat comes to mind. I remember seeing a review and it basically said its a red strat!

Are there any out there with decent features that make it a bit different, worth the extra money?

xmrchi

Bucket heads les paul is pretty cool :-)

stickyfiddle

The Beck, Clapton and Eric Johnson Strats spring to mind. Each has features you can't get elsewhere, and are conceivably useful to certain players or styles. I'd very much like an EJ if I was in the market for a Strat.

I really like the Jeff Tweedy SG but that's mostly just cause it's Pelham Blue.

Teetonetal

I always liked the EC mid boost, but I wouldn't buy the guitar because of this as it's such an easy mod.

StuartMac290

Johnny Marr Jaguar springs to mind - not just new features, but genuine improvements.

richardhomer

axisus;35108" said:

The mark Knopfler strat comes to mind. I remember seeing a review and it basically said its a red strat!

To be fair, the MK Strat is (to the best of my knowledge) the only red Strat with an Ash body....

I'm generally not a fan of signature guitars as I would never want to be so closely with one player.

That said, the Clapton Strat is a really flexible instrument - yet it's not festooned with any extra controls.

In spite of that - I still wouldn't buy one....

shaunm

Les Paul - best signature ever. All the features I will ever need.

I do like the mid boost in a Strat though.

GuitarMonkey

As someone who is happy with a Les Paul junior, I find extra features an unwanted distraction.

ToneControl

Pat Metheny ones - he has played these for 20 years now, and they are intended to improve fundamentally on the Gibson ES-175, not just diff pickups or paint job

he's played them since the mid 80s, replacing his ES-175

he retired his Gibson in 1995

http://hepcat1950.com/pmiv20010300al.html

joeyowen

The Fender ja90 is nice... Although they have since come out with the modern player, which looks very similar but for a lot less

Buckethead was the first sprung to mind

ToneControl

Not a guitar, but the EMG DG-20 loaded scratchplate delivers the 80s/90s Gilmour Tone, not really possible without this

Fretwired

The winner is the Adrian Belew Signature Parker Fly guitar .. packed with features ...

• Exclusive Dimarzio bridge pickup
  
• Revolutionary Sustainiac Stealth PRO neck pickup
  
• Onboard Line 6 Variax Modeling Components with 25 instrument models
• Computer connectivity
  
• MIDI capable – GK 13 pin out
  
• RMC Power Bridge ‘PF” Saddles and RMC Poly-Drive 1 Preamp
  
• Sperzel Trim-lock Tuners
  

http://guitarcollecting.co.uk/signature-guitars/adrian-belew-signature-parker-fly-guitar/

ToneControl

I'll take your Belew and raise you a set of wobbly true-temperament frets:

http://www.vgs-guitars.com/denander.html?&L=1

http://www.muzicosphere.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/VGS-TD.jpg

randomhandclaps

The first run of Jeff Becks Strats are pretty much up there versatility wise IMO.

BGG

richardhomer said:

axisus;35108" said:

The mark Knopfler strat comes to mind. I remember seeing a review and it basically said its a red strat!

To be fair, the MK Strat is (to the best of my knowledge) the only red Strat with an Ash body....

I'm generally not a fan of signature guitars as I would never want to be so closely with one player.

That said, the Clapton Strat is a really flexible instrument - yet it's not festooned with any extra controls.

In spite of that - I still wouldn't buy one....

 I know the guy that refinishes Knopfler's guitars

XWulfhere

StuartMac290 said:

Johnny Marr Jaguar springs to mind - not just new features, but genuine improvements.

I'll add a +1 to this. I'm not even a fan of Johnny especially, I don't have any Smiths records or anything else he's worked on, but I've always resepcted his devotion to guitar playing in general and when I saw what he'd done to the Jag I thought "I must have one!" And it is indeed a great guitar, ironically becuase he has removed some features like the rhythm circuit.

I don't like ones where the sig model is just in a custom colour and maybe has a different switch on it. I think the worst one ever is the Noel Gallagher Epiphone Supernova. I was 17 when it came out, and even as an ardent NG fan I realised it was a waste of time and got the Riviera that he actually used instead. Funnily enough, I don't think there's any record anywhere of him actually playing it live, and he switched to using Les Paul Florentines not long after that. I think it's been rightly discontinued for a few years, the only thing distinguishing it from any other epi semi was a pickup switch moved to the upper bout and a range of horrible colours.

UnclePsychosis

The two that spring to mind are the Johnny Marr Jag and the Adrian Belew Parker.

Too many signature guitars are just taking the piss out of fans - stock guitars in a different finish at a huge markup.

EricTheWeary

Some of the reverend signature guitars are quite distinctive. Although in part that's cause they am Reverends and a bit different anyway.

hubobulous

I'd say the Ibanez Satriani.

Aerofoil body shape, hi pass filter, coil tap on both humbuckers, (although the Fred/Mo Joe/Paf Joe models are now a largely available, they were designed primarily for Satriani's usage), custom neck profile.

You could argue that its a Radius model with a few tweaks, but those have been extended now, especially with the 24 fret model.

ToneControl

ToneControl said:

Pat Metheny ones - he has played these for 20 years now, and they are intended to improve fundamentally on the Gibson ES-175, not just diff pickups or paint job

he's played them since the mid 80s, replacing his ES-175

he retired his Gibson in 1995

http://hepcat1950.com/pmiv20010300al.html

are any other signature guitars actually a different body shape, like these Pat Metheny ones are?

This is a hollowbody, and is not derived from any other Ibanez model AFAIK 

TinLip

Surprised nobody has mentioned the horrendously overpriced DG-355's...