cookieman15061 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 It's funny I wasn't even thinking that I owned any endorsed guitars but truth be told I own three. The Clapton Sig was bought because I loved the pick ups, tone boost, the neck, weight and color. A winner all the way around. The Lennon Casino was bought to help Yoko with her quest to rule the world.........kidding of course..... but really after owning a couple cheaper Casinos wanted one with all the upgraded guts and love the satin finished neck. Of course the Slash I won and will come in handy someday when I sell it to help pay for my daughters wedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Ive found the zakk wylde pedals are about 15 quid cheaper than the ones they are copies on just because they dont have they proper powder coat paint job. if i liked the original pedal then i would probably get the sig just to save money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Sound and playability. The only reasons I buy guitars. If it has a signature on it or not :). Same here along with price. That's why I would never rule out a guitar because it has a signature. I have three Les Pauls none of which I gave more than $600 for. My Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentlemen is the most expensive guitar I have ever owned at $1800. I didn't buy it because of Chets signature, I bought it for the wide and long neck and the killer tone. I don't play finger style on it at all. Last night I was playing Iron Maiden on it. I have a Michael Schenker Dean Flying V that my wife bought me for Christmas a few years back because I'm a huge Schenker fan boy. I think it was $150. I also have a Bootsy Collins Bass Wah pedal and a Jimi Cry Baby both bought used for at least half off because they have unique sounds. One guitar I would like to try out is the BucketHead Les Paul. It has a bigger body and a longer neck than other Les Pauls and sounds like something I would like to play even though I'm not the biggest BucketHead fan. Frankly, not buying a guitar because of what someone else might think is something that has never crossed my mind. I guess keeping up appearances has not been much of a motivating factor for me over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I would not buy an endorsement instrument because of the endorsement. I do buy instruments because they do what I want them to do, and if that happens to be an endorsement model, I'll buy it. If there are two for all practical purposes identical guitars and one has the endorsing artists name on it and the other does not, I would choose the one without the name. I do not own any endorsement instruments, but that doesn't mean I will never own one. If I wanted a BB King or Johnny A guitar, I would buy them as there are no similar non-endorsement models. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Charlie, you started a thread about signature guitars? Dear lord... I have two. I didn't buy them for the names associated with them or as investments. I bought them because they're awesome. As for pedals, the only one I have is a Tim OD. I kinda have to have it since it's named after me. For one, buying ANY new guitar for an investment is a bad one. And technically, buying ANY guitar for investment purposes is a bad one. For investments, that is putting money somewhere to make a profit, talk to a broker, NOT a guitar dealer. Yeah, like the markets are doing really well right now. I agree with you about the guitar part except for a few Jimmy Page signature Les Pauls and especially the signed ones. Those have proven to be great investments. I think Pearly Gates Les Pauls will also be worth a truck load of money in the future but that's not why I bought one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I wouldn't buy a signature model anything if it was just a "base" model with some aftermarket bolt on stuff. Now if it were cut differently, maybe fretted differently or completely different than a base model and I liked it enough I would. I would also consider it if the model was made to spec of a model that is no longer produced and is way to costly in the used/vintage market. Other than that ... negative.... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buxom Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'd buy an signature pedal before I'd buy a signature guitar. I want a JHF1 fuzzface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Last year I bought my 1st (probably my only) LP...I would definitely like one of the original J Page signature model produced in the 90s, great Les Paul with the 4 push-pull pots. These come up but they were twice the price I paid for mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneakerpimp Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 if the money's right... i'll be queer for Squeir®. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Charlie, you started a thread about signature guitars? Dear lord... I have two. I didn't buy them for the names associated with them or as investments. I bought them because they're awesome. As for pedals, the only one I have is a Tim OD. I kinda have to have it since it's named after me. Yeah, like the markets are doing really well right now. I agree with you about the guitar part except for a few Jimmy Page signature Les Paul's and especially the signed ones. Those have proven to be great investments. I think Pearly Gates Les Paul's will also be worth a truck load of money in the future but that's not why I bought one. LOL...well, if you mean my NAME is an "endorsement," I have to tell you, I'm a year older, than that guy! He Stole MY name! But, of course, he made more commercial use of it! Anyway, I'm not criticizing or encouraging anyone, to buy or not buy "signature/endorsement" guitars, or pedals. Just wanted to find out, how folks here, felt about it, and (maybe especially) about all the many signature versions, now offered. I've played quite a few, but haven't found one that "spoke" to me, enough, to warrant the heftier cash outlay. That's all. Besides, I kinda like to "mod" my own guitars, rather than buy someone else's version. But, that's just me! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manse Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 ........I tried out every wah pedal in the shop and the one I liked best was the Zak Wylde Cry Baby. It also looks kind of cool, so I got it. Mr.Wyldes endorsement (or signature) was of no consequence to me whatsover... great wah though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I have a Ibanez John Petrucci signature guitar. It has got to be the ugliest guitar ever in full production! Basically I picked one up in a store just because. I kinda liked Dream Theater (I think Awake was their latest album at that time, to me they went downhill fast after that) but not enough to spend that kind of money on a JP guitar. But when I played it I fell in love with it instantly. A while later I got a chance to buy a returned one cheap (slight marks in the paint on the back, I can't even find them today among all the ones I added to it over time). It's basically an RG but with the best shredding neck Ibanez ever made (it's thin but rounder than the wizard necks, to my hands anyway), two humbuckers with no irritating single coil in the middle which pretty much all RGs had at this point in time and those two Dimarzio's sound great, lopro edge 2 trem... it was perfect to me. I figured I'd use it for recording or maybe repaint it for live use, but the band I was in at the time broke up a while after I got it so it is still around in all it's ugly glory today. I actually keep an eye out for old ones just in case I find one really cheap. I wouldn't mind having one or two more. Normally I don't go for signature model guitars (the les paul being the obvious exception); but I would LOVE to have one of those Ibanez JP models. I'm a huge Petrucci fan, but that's besides the point. Yes, they are ugly but they sound so nice (not just when JP uses them but any time I've ever heard ANYONE use one). Just one thing, they are long discontinued since JP now endorses Ernie Ball/Musicman. Don't refinish it or you'll be sorry if you ever decide to sell it. Last I've noticed the JP Ibanez has become quite collectable and you would severely devalue it by changing the paint job. For me to consider a signature model, there would have to be something special about that guitar that really makes it stand out from the standard production models. I would probably consider one even if I wasn't a fan of it's namesake if it gave me a sound liked. Even if I liked the endorsee I don't think I'd be buying the guitar to replicate their tone. There's too many factors that make up one's overall tone and I don't have the money to replicate someone's whole rig - and even then, I don't necessarily have their touch and technique. If I liked the way the guitar felt and got tones from it that appealed to me I would consider it but not likely out of an attempt to sound like the endorsee of that model. Price of course would be a deciding factor also. There would have to be something about that guitar that you just can't get in a standard model since most signature models don't usually hold their resale value unless that particular endorsee really made an impact on popular music. I have owned only one signature model before - a Cort Matt "Guitar" Murphy MGM-1. Anyone familiar with the blues brothers movies knows who he is and he used a prototype for the guitar in Blues Brothers 2000. He's also performed with James Cotton and I believe some solo material as well. I didn't play blues on it like he did though. I was using it for hard rock. I sounded great for what it was. In recordings I'd made with it I had seasoned pro's who swore by Les Pauls not be able to tell the difference. After telling them what guitar I used I just laughed when they asked "Are you SURE it's not a Les Paul?". I sold that guitar to finance my SG Special, which I don't regret in the slightest, but it was the best guitar I'd ever owned up to the point where I got my first Gibson and I still feel it was good enough to hold it's own in comparison. same goes for pedals. Wouldn't buy em so much for replicating the endorsee's tone but if it gave me a tone that appealed to me, I'd consider it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 The only signature I would consider purchasing is from someone not known for his guitar prowless. The Chad Kroeger Signature LP is not much more expensive than my LP C Custom. I really like the looks and the guitar has features I would actually use; especially the acoustic sensors. perfect example of an endorsee model that offers something the standard model doesn't offer. And I suspect that trying to customize a standard to match the specs of this guitar would get quite difficult when it comes to the acoustic sensors. So, yeah, I'd probably get this if I had the money. ...and even better, his name is not plastered all over it so only the most seasoned Gibson fans would know what model it was, allowing me to avoid comparisons to him. That's the one big down side to signature models. People see you with that guitar and automatically set an expectation that you are going to play like or sound like the artist who endorses that model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlashPerryBurst Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Maybe this was a part of the deal..... He doesn't look too impressed now does he? I am actually interested in the Chad Kroeger model, but the TRC would be coming off of that. I'm leaning towards what most people on the forum are saying when it comes to guitars. Although, to be honest, I have a long wishlist of guitars and they're all plain old Gibsons and Custom shop guitars. I used to own a jackson Randy Rhoads at one point. Despite being a huge fan of Randy, his name had next to no bearing on me choosing the guitar. I went through a phase at that point with floyd rose's and I had to get it out of my system. It's firmly out of my system now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 if it sounds great and works good id endorse it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 about guitars as investments. The only newer ones that will be worth money would be custom shop models or guitars of limited production run. The signature models might have investment potential, but it really depends on how many examples of the guitar exist and how influential that artist was. I guess also how much demand there is for that particular guitar also. Like anything else bought and sold for profit, guitars as investments is a gamble, but a new regular production guitar is not likely to be investment worthy. regardless, I've decided even with my so-called investment guitars; I'm going to play them and enjoy them until the time comes when I decide to cash in on whatever collector's value they've attained. Too many people are buying guitars as investments now to make it profitable unless you buy something that NOT EVERYONE can buy. with the inflated price of many endorsment guitars certain models may become cash cows to the original owners but others may just be expensive guitars. The original Jimmy Page, Pearly Gates, Ace Frehley (the one with his likeness on the headstock), early examples of the Zakk Wylde "Holy Grail" customs and early Lucile models and maybe a couple of the Slash models could be worth money some day along with a few others that I feel will end up in the "another expensive gutiar" might be wrong about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainNemo68 Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I am prepared to endorse a guitar for you guys to check out as soon as Gibson and I work something out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I should mention, the only guitar I would ever play simply because it's a Signature model... Gibson TDS model What is the TDS? well, it would be This_Dying_Soul's version of an SG. Take the body shape of the '61 RI (the bevels in particular), the modern SG Pickguard, at the neck heel - make it flush with the body as if it was a neck-thru (or if I could prototype it even try a Neck-thru version first). Perfectly smooth. Ebony fretboard, locking tuners, bone nut. 490 bridge pickup and 57 classic neck with nickel covers. colors - vintage cherry, alpine white, emerald green, Chicago blue. BTW - I will have posted this in other places on the internet before so anyone steals my idea, even wiping out the Gibson forum won't eliminate proof it was already thought of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old mark Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I own an endorsement pedal, but I didn't buy it for the endorser's name...I have a DimeBag Cry Baby Wah pedal, the first model which is the basic Dunlop Cry Baby painted camo. I bought is reconditioned and used for cheap, and I use it as a tone control - slight drive boost, similar to the way Page uses his Cry Baby. I was looking for a used, working Cry Baby and I found this one in an online blow out sale over a year ago, got it dirt cheap. I think I have actually heard Dimebag play less than 5 times, even recorded...it's not my kind of music, but what his endorsed Cry Baby is just fine for me. I do also have 3 Les Pauls, and that is for 2 reasons...I LOVE the guitars and Les Paul's records from the 1950's are the reason I started to play electric guitar. My grandfather and uncle had a stack of Les and Mary Ford 45's, and I loved their music. "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" is still a favorite of mine..I first heard it around age 7 or 8, so maybe his endorsement had something to do with it, but I LOVE playing the Les Paul guitar. I was also looking at the Joan Jett Melody Maker, which I think is a great guitar and a good price, but I found a good deal on a '70's re-issue of a 64 Gibson MM, and I bought it instead...still installing 2 Humbuckers in it. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buliwyf Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Good thread,something Iv'e never thought of,There's been quite a few guitars over the years but I don't think it ever mattered whose name was on it.I did just buy a PRS Santana SE only because I liked the way it looked,sounded and it was affordable being an SE.Obviously now I sound exactly like Santana having his model guitar actually I sadly still sound like me playing a PRS Santana SE that is until I change to my Wolfgang and sound just like Van Halen.I guess seeing someones name endorsing a guitar can grab my interest but unless it's a great guitar and I sound good on it and like me whats the point in buying it. I guess my Peavey Wolfgang counts but it still is the best guitar I have ever played and thats why I got it. Does my Iron Maiden Strat count its a band not a player endorsment I do dig Maiden but I bought it because I wanted a Strat with 3 stacked humbuckers and a Floyd,I hate myself for selling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtherainbo Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hello, Fellow Babies, and great topic, charlie brown, Really good topic, especially if you have really tiny money as I was eventually forced to acknowledge about my own income. My collection is rather small -- especially if you realize that I would find it perfectly acceptable to have many iterations of the same model guitar in different colors and detail embellishments. But I haven't yet been able to indulge that fantasy yet, but I'm really, really ready.... I struggle to control the irrational elements in my thinking, and my own personal demons can become the issue. My problems are multiple, coming both before and after a purchase. You will better understand if you saw the old Disney short film Wind in the Willows -- I am just like Mr. Toad! Some would say that I've never had a rational moment on the subject of motorcycles -- I 've gone through a bunch, and at this point I have a car, a van, and two motorcycles, and I'm a bachelor. So what's holding me back? Buyer's remorse. I have a very, strong case that is proportional to the cost of the object. Much as I love my bikes, I've been kicking myself over the money spent for the last one -- for a long time. So part of my control in buying is that I know I will also experience a considerable amount of emotional upset with my self over the purchase. There is also the "magic feather" problem. You might recall that in the Disney movie Dumbo, Timothy, a little circus mouse, convinced Dumbo that he could fly *IF* he held tightly to his magic feather. I think some of us have a magic feather problem -- ¿ we can only play at our best when we have a guitar just like our personal guitar hero ***with fancy inlay and decorations, and every possible pic up combination, with 10 pedals, rack mounted effects, a feature packed amp*** and then, only after we have invested in excess of $10,000, we can play ? ! ? Confidence is nice, but get a grip. If you can't play well, other players can tell; and nothing says "moron with money" more effectively than an incredibly expensive guitar with equipment that you can't play without 2 dozen special effects. Well... as Bill Engvall says...," Here's your sign..." You'd be better served to take lessons, copy more guitarists to understand pop commercial sounds, try to figure out different types of music, and practice -- a hel-of-lot more. I think some of us are reluctant to admit the irrational elements of our desires that may compel us to buy certain things. We may be really hard-headed, rational, Practical Pigs when purchasing furniture, insurance, adding a room to our house instead of buying another, etc. But when it comes to certain things like buying a new guitar, we are psychologically and invisibly wetting the floor like an excited puppy. I'd have to admit that my preferences in what I like in a guitar were very strongly effected by my guitar heros: Duane Eddy, the Ventures, Chet Atkins, Lonnie Mack, the Beatles... somewhere after that time, I didn't really get any new guitar heros. Don't know if it's an age thing so much as a receptivity issue. At any rate at some point, my attitudes have coalesced, so that-- I like -- what I like. It's always nice to have the affirmation that the rest of the herd approves of one's choices, but make your own choices, have an informed opinion. I mean, I have had a really strong jones to buy Fender, Gretsch, Mosrite, and Guild because my guitar heros endorsed them. But cost was always an issue. I played it, a used, Fender Jazzmaster **for everything** in bands for ten years - and it worked just fine in any type of music. I still think It's vibrato arm and bridge is among the best designs. But there heart wants, what the heart wants, and I finally got a Country Gentleman in '68. It was a surprise to me that it took nearly a year of playing before I felt comfortable with it on stage ! ? I have a long emotional attachment to Fender Jazzmaster, but I don't really like Strats, and I don't care how many guitar heros you line up to tell me they'er great guitars. So Clapton and Hendricks are well known for playing Stratocasters.... hey, psst ... they also played other guitars too. Here's a hint, check out the guitars in well known British bands playing Fender in the early "British Invasion" years. Okay I prefer the Jazzmaster, but I finally got 2 stratocasters: a Fender and an excellent copy. Love the necks and tone, but the vibrato arms suck, suck suck... More problems. Strats are uncomfortable for me to play with a strap because the body of the guitar wants to hang so far to the right that I can't comfortably play much beyond the 12th fret. Additionally I am comfortable playing with my right hand resting on the bridge - in fact some styles of playing demand that the player rest his hand on the bridge. But on the Strat, my pinkie finger naturally curls around the volume knob, and I frequently find that I have accidentally adjusted my volume. Not part of my playing style. Okay, so another basis for my purchase of a guitar is determined by my comfort in playing it. Electric archtops are my favorites. I like the shape, detail, and appointments of the current Brian Setzer Nashville models. *** Not because he has endorsed them*** but because they pretty much duplicate the old 1957 era design, shape, and details with the single cut-away -- don't know if they are as thick through the body. But that is the guitar that I have wanted most of my life. Maybe we imprint on guitars and other products like baby birds as suggested by Conrad Lorenz ... but that dark red/mahogany single cut-away Duane Eddy Gretsch is the guitar I have wanted all my life (sigh) ! ! So endorse away, I know what I like, I freely admit that I was influenced in my likes early on. But at some point, swimming inside and subject to all our cultural influences, I became my own man. And I think at some point, that's what we all need to do. Remember your guitar heros started with the some equipment you have; and those "studio pictures" of their recoding days came after years of playing. If you're trapped in the "magic feather" syndrome trying to duplicate the look, sound, equipment of somebody else, you may never become yourself. My plan include laying my hands on some Squire meat to see if those "little Fenders" can perform like their big brothers. And I don't feel any need to wait until some big-deal guitar players tells me it's okay to like a guitar that didn't cost $4000. Bear in mind that a lot of the competition would be happy if the sheer amount of money needed to play professionally kept you out of the game. So after consideration and experimentation, buy what YOU like because it answers your own playing and emotional needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtherainbo Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hello, again, Fellow Babies, I see my original post. Hmmmm looks like my edit didn't show up. I hope the edited version doesn't don't show up as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneakerpimp Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 ...Does my Iron Maiden Strat count its a band not a player endorsment I do dig Maiden but I bought it because I wanted a Strat with 3 stacked humbuckers and a Floyd,I hate myself for selling it. that is nice... real nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich W Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Signature models are almost always cash grab, and I don't like the idea. Fender has just introduced an overpriced pair of Eric Clapton amps that some of his fans will pay close to $3000 for, perhaps thinking that he actually uses these things. For less money, you can get, arguably, better amps from Carr or Divided by 13 or Fuchs or many (many) other builders. A lot of older guys with money for expensive guitar and amp collections play mostly blues. Steve Carr has joked about how the "blues lawyers" are the backbone of the boutique gear market. I'm surprised the Gibson hasn't come out with a signature model for arguably one of the best SG players in blues right now, Derek Trucks. If they ever did, they'd probably price it in the stratosphere, which doesn't make sense for a guitar that Trucks fans would probably use mainly for slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Well, admittedly, I'm playing a bit of the "Devil's Advocate" here. But, I guess what set this topic off, was the latest "Endorsement" guitar, Ace Frehley's "Budokan" Triple Pickup Les Paul Custom, at (MSRP) $7,529.00, street @ 4-5 grand? WHY?! LOL CB Because it is about to be all about that Charlie, I read at MLP that R9's are not listed in this year's Gibson catalog, I think Gibson knows that the market is saturated and they may start doing a lot of signature models and charge a lot for basically the same guitar. Making less guitars but the same profit I guess. I would buy a signature models that was not overpriced if the features suited me. For instance I have never played a Slash signature but if the custom neck profile those guitars have suits me really well I would buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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