Signature guitars

[Inquisitor]

Its also pretty awesome when somebody can wield somebody's signature guitar as your own. People then go: "Oh you like that artist? " And you go "No I actually fucking hate them," and then you start getting the, I Dont know if I like this guy anymore look. But the ignorant will still love you if they dont know.
I personally think if there is enough sweat and enough skill, the guitar is yours even if its got some other douches name on it. Just gotta have a stock answer when people ask about it.

 

[robertkoa]

Good point(s).

The classic example of course is the SRV Strat - for a while it was one of the few Fenders you could get with a 12 " Radius and larger frets.

EJ I think instinctively knew this and just has the very subtle thing on the back plate on his sig. guitar.

In today's market - if a guy is in a Group or Famous for a certain style, many people who buy the guitar may play better in some ways than the original Artist and/or be seasoned pros who just DON'T want crazy bling or " George Tewillaker's" name on the Axe - most people buy sig's for the Features not the bling or name.

Les Pauls - this does NOT apply, for many reasons.

 

[kasperjensen]

Is he considered a douche? Not a sly question... I just seem to gather that Nickelback and Chad Kroeger are getting on peoples tits a bit on the other side of the Atlantic... Is this so?

In Canada there's a policy in place that requires radio stations to play 15% Canadian content.

What this means is that when a Canadian has a hit single you hear it every 6th or 7th song.

And, since the music industry seems totally unable to produce anything better than Nickelback it means we've endured 10 years of this shit.... which doesn't help when they insist on re-recording the same album repeatedly.

I don't know what it's like for Americans, but I guess they're subjected to something similar since they bitch as much as we do.

I do like the guitar.

Yeah fair enough... I like them, but that's because I only get them in small doses.
If I was forced to listen to them all the time, it would do my nut in too.

 

[some dude]

Les Pauls - this does NOT apply, for many reasons.

Well, aside from Les Paul's signature being clearly visible on the headstock... I think his name has become so synonymous with the model that most people don't even realize that it's a signature model guitar anymore.

That, and it seems like most of the secondary signatures are on the truss rod cover, are they not? By default this would make them very small and easily removed.

Certainly better than having the artists name permanently etched into the 12th fret... or some stupid logo emblazoned across the face of the guitar.

I could see fans of big names wanting replicas... like the Kirk Hammett signatures for instance... but then there's stuff like Good Charlotte... the guitar didn't even hit shelves until two months after the band was off the radar.

 

[Ventura]

Is he considered a douche? Not a sly question... I just seem to gather that Nickelback and Chad Kroeger are getting on peoples tits a bit on the other side of the Atlantic... Is this so?

In Canada there's a policy in place that requires radio stations to play 15% Canadian content.

What this means is that when a Canadian has a hit single you hear it every 6th or 7th song.

And, since the music industry seems totally unable to produce anything better than Nickelback it means we've endured 10 years of this shit.... which doesn't help when they insist on re-recording the same album repeatedly.

I don't know what it's like for Americans, but I guess they're subjected to something similar since they bitch as much as we do.

I do like the guitar.

Yeah fair enough... I like them, but that's because I only get them in small doses.
If I was forced to listen to them all the time, it would do my nut in too.

100% pure grade Iceback here

Yep, CRTC actually asks for a MINIMUM 15% content, and you kinda nailed it on the head - when there's only 1 band producing something marginally digestable at the 'rock' level, it gets played to death. I will give Pickleneck the props for making one of the hookiest tunes in recent history, "This is how you remind me", that little keynote shift he does in the chorus was smart, and they got gobs of mileage out of it - and continue to.

But seeing as we haven't had any blockbusting acts come out of here for a long while, contemporary rock stations are forced to, well, play Pickleneck. There's a ton of CLASSIC rock stations that have more to choose form - April Wine, CCR, Neil Young, Rush, Triumph, Max Webster/Kim Mitchell, and so forth... But in the last couple years, well, almost 2 decades? Nothing of relevance. Sad too, as I've been out at some clubs where the local talent is just off the hook AND original!! MOOAH can probably chirp in here too... But one night, this one shredder, playing an ESP FR-II, notorious amongst some of the guitar elite in Vancoouver and yes, Canada wide, got up on stage with his backing band and just KILLED it!! I mean, we're talking Vai level proficiency and skill... But that's his schtick and cock-playing style guitar doesn't sell anymore. It's all about the packaging, the look, the marketability, and the hookiness of the songs being written. Commercialism all the way, as opposed to offering a proper venue for 'theatre of the mind'...

I even went to highschool with a cat, guy was all you'd expect a superstar player to be - he built his guitars, he designed them on paper, he only spoke about guitars and music, he was a lousy student but he lived, breathed, and dreamt 'guitars' and 'music'. Anyway, he had this tapping thing down to a ridiculously fine art, as well as playing overall, incredible mastery of the fretboard, sound, tones, everything at about the age of, what 16 or 17?? (There is a reason I am telling you all this story...) Finally, someone picked up on him at a local talent show in Toronto or Montreal, BOOM - he was in... Next thing I know he's in L.A. as a session musician and getting press for Ernie Ball, some top name amp producer, some top guitar brand, and everything... We were SO stoked for him, but in all his 'ads' (where ya make the ka-ching, endorement funds), his face wasn't visible, or it was SO photoshopped and airbrushed, it barely looked like him. Poor guy wasn't the 'best looking dude', but he had the hair, the lankiness, the style, but his face kinda looked like a can of smashed assholes (said with respect). ANYWAY, eventually, after going through the ringer with all the L.A. pimps, they tossed him - played was 100%, but his 'face' wasn't marketable.

And I believe this is why there's such a LACK of new good music nowadays. It's ALL about packaging... So back to Pickleneck, there are about 1000 Canadian bands that could wipe the floor with Pickleneck, but they're not 'polished' enough...not as marketable. And so it goes...

V.

PS - outside of the OBVIOUS arguments of Les Paul, etc. I too am not a fanboi of sig guitars. It's not me...but OF the sig guitars I think are a bit of alright?? I love Jems, I love Hetfield's new Explorer by ESP, and for sure, the Govan's and such are nice...but they're not 'me'. So it goes. And as for the RR sig Lester, f*ck that, get the real deal - mid 70's white Lester and move on

 

[joepete77]

i have always been put 0ff by signature guitars, I w0uldnt want t0 l00k like a teenyb0pper fanb0y, But I th0ught the Slash Bc rich Usa M0ckingbird was badass but they n0 l0nger have rights t0 call it the slash m0del but they still make it minus the sig, as is the Billy j0e armstr0ng Les Paul juni0r which 0nly has a small sig 0n rear headst0ck, the tim armstr0ng gretsch l00ks c00l, and the Jimmy page Les paul plays great but c0sts a shitl0ad. I cant imaging the nickelback guitar being s0ld t0 any0ne 0ther then a gag gift- Are they g0nna make a britney spears m0del next?