Signature Series Guitars. When is it too cheesy?

[dshea19]

I think you get what you want and what inspires you.

Me, personally? I can’t do the Sig models that are super specific to one artist. Van Halen stripes are just his thing. Zakk’s bullseye is a signature identity. Things like the Jem and Majesty transcend the artist, like the Les Paul.

If people want the stripes and bullseyes of the world, rock on. I just can’t do it. It doesn’t bother me to see others enjoying them, but it’s not for me.

 

[Metal Mortician]

There are sleeper signature models out there for sure. I play my 2002 Santana SE to this day.

I still find it odd how many players think the Les Paul is just a model and don’t realize it was the namesake of a great musician and inventor.

 

[Sermo Lupi]

Some aspects of this discussion are pretty outdated by now. The argument that signature guitars aren't what artists actually play is no longer true, with few exceptions. Then there's the fact that signature guitars as a concept have somewhat been diluted by the wide variety of artists that receive them these days.

The one credible complaint I used to subscribe to was how playing 'someone else's guitar' didn't fly in a lot of professional performance contexts where musicians need to worry about their image on stage. This has changed a lot in recent years, however. You see many more professional musicians using signatures than you used to, and far fewer people complaining about it. I know they still care in Nashville, but it's been the better part of a century that the LP, Strat, and Tele were basically business attire there.

If all you're doing is playing at home, no one cares. Buy what you like.

 

[Not The Same as Yours]

it's just strings on a stick with a name branded on it have fun and rock'n'roll

 

[Marked Man]

If I were a high profile artist trying to make a serious living in music, I would try to forge my own identity (and ultimately, convince a company to produce my own sig guitar!).

Maybe I'd whip out a sig guitar for certain songs, but obviously Edward's Frankie Strat belongs to.....Edward. I wouldn't play that one in public other than maybe during a tribute gig/song. I have an EVH '79 Bumblebee and would play that one without restriction if playing something even remotely "appropriate" for that instrument. It's not nearly as specific to Edward in the minds of the public. I have several other sig models that I feel the same about.

In the end:

 

[Spicypickles]

Yep lol. Paul used Music Man EVH and axis models until LIFAD and Richard used KH2s between Sehnsuct and Rosenrot

Oh yea, of course. I’m a giant fan myself. Had a line on a 901 some years back, just didn’t have the funds for it at the time and it needed a lot of work.

 

[gabito]

All Gibson Les Pauls are the signature model of that guy, what was his name? Oh, yeah, Les Paul. That's the name.

Also Fenders, they're all Leo Fender's signature models. He even put his last name on every headstock.

I consider every RG and Jem out there a Steve Vai signature model. He basically invented the thing.

I own a Peavey Wolfgang, which curiously enough is not a Wolfgang Van Halen signature model but an Eddie Van Halen signature model. Or maybe it's just his design? I don't know, who cares. I didn't go for the striped model though.

 

[STRHelvete]

Correction.

 

[davem294]

I feel like for younger people, its not out of the norm to want a signature model because they love that artist. As you get older, you tend to "worship" your music heroes less. That being said, who am I to judge. Its cool to see adults still get have a childlike wonder when it comes to their favorite musicians.

I def scout out signature models just because they sometimes have interesting or different specs.
I have a Yngwie strat that I bought solely to try out the scallops. Ended up really liking it. Yngwie is cool lol but def dont know his music too well.

 

[KentBrockman]

I feel like for younger people, its not out of the norm to want a signature model because they love that artist. As you get older, you tend to "worship" your music heroes less. That being said, who am I to judge. Its cool to see adults still get have a childlike wonder when it comes to their favorite musicians.

I'm the opposite! I shied away from signature models when I was younger because I didn't want the "worship" image, but then I ended up buying a JEM and two Majesties as an adult in my late 20s. I do think that those two guitars transcend the artist association (even with the DT logo on the Majesty). I think "is really into prog metal and is a DT fan to SOME degree" and "likes 80s shred" when I see a Youtube cover done by someone with a Majesty/JP or a JEM/UV, respectively. I don't think that they're necessarily a fanboy (in fact, I love seeing Steve live but I can't even name half of his albums and I don't really listen to his studio stuff). Both of those guitars have the benefit of being new guitars from their respective manufacturers and I think that's huge factor, moreso for the Majesty than the JEM since the RG exists. It's not like it's an existing model that just has some new pickups and maybe a slightly different neck. Other people may disagree.

Although, I will say that the JEM spawned the RG. If you're buying a JEM instead of an RG, you either really want the JEM name on the headstock or you like the vine inlays, the handle, or the neck shape (which is different to the RG). Really, my incentive was the handle and vine and the fact that I got it for $1400...in 2023 for the MIJ '00 model...otherwise, I was not remotely interested in paying $2k for one. I do have to say that, apart from looking pretty and being slightly easy to pick up, it does not do anything better than any of my RGs except for playing barre chords (I do actually like it while playing in a rock band, but I have better stuff for metal).

The Majesty, however, is the best guitar I have ever owned. It balances perfectly, has pickups that sound amazing, has a neck I like, is neck-thru so upper fret access is amazing, and comes with buttery smooth stainless steel frets. I can understand why it's a polarizing guitar though. There are three barriers to entry 1) it's a signature model (see this thread) 2) you're going to have to like the shape 3) it's absurdly expensive. I don't know why anyone would spend $3.5k MINIMUM to buy a guitar they think is ugly or is a signature model of a player they're not into.

 

[USMarine75]

All Gibson Les Pauls are the signature model of that guy, what was his name? Oh, yeah, Les Paul. That's the name.

Also Fenders, they're all Leo Fender's signature models. He even put his last name on every headstock.

I consider every RG and Jem out there a Steve Vai signature model. He basically invented the thing.

I own a Peavey Wolfgang, which curiously enough is not a Wolfgang Van Halen signature model but an Eddie Van Halen signature model. Or maybe it's just his design? I don't know, who cares. I didn't go for the striped model though.

Well you got 2/4 correct ...

Fender is the name of the company, not the model guitar. Leo Fender didn't play guitar.

Van Halen named the guitar after his son.


While the RG and JEM both came out in 1987, I don't know anyone that sees an RG and says "oh you must be a Vai fan". But yes, he basically did design what became the RG.

 

[ToRNOuTLaW]

My only sig is the old Paul Masvidal Strandberg. I wanted a Strandberg with a Vibrato and only pay for a used one. When this guitar showed up on reverb, I did not chose it over other options because it was his sig, but because I prefered the overall spec. But I also like Cynic, so the sig part felt like a bonus.

 

[budda]

I feel like for younger people, its not out of the norm to want a signature model because they love that artist. As you get older, you tend to "worship" your music heroes less. That being said, who am I to judge. Its cool to see adults still get have a childlike wonder when it comes to their favorite musicians.

I def scout out signature models just because they sometimes have interesting or different specs.
I have a Yngwie strat that I bought solely to try out the scallops. Ended up really liking it. Yngwie is cool lol but def dont know his music too well.

As (some) people age the hero worship comes back assuming it ever left - and nostalgia sells gear. Theres essentially small markets based around nailing 60s and 70s artists rigs. Power to ‘em.

 

[USMarine75]

Not the right forum but I'm going to give a shout out to Bonamassa and his sigs.

For years he has made it a point to release relatively inexpensive clones of his priceless collection. Up until the last release he had a capped price point of $899 and that included the matching vintage case, higher end options, and case candy.

As an example, the Epiphone Lazarus cost me $650 (sale price) new. It's a figured top cap LP with Gibson Burstbuckers and the pink-lined vintage LP case. It holds its own against my far more expensive Gibson LP Customs and other singlecut guitars.

 

[gabito]

Well you got 2/4 correct ...

Fender is the name of the company, not the model guitar. Leo Fender didn't play guitar.

Van Halen named the guitar after his son.


While the RG and JEM both came out in 1987, I don't know anyone that sees an RG and says "oh you must be a Vai fan". But yes, he basically did design what became the RG.

I'll double down on what I said: every Fender guitar is a Leo Fender signature guitar, and every Gibson guitar is an Orville Gibson signature guitar. They put their signature in every headstock FFS!

I don't know who that Ibanez guy is though, that's a weird last name for a Japanese.

Anyways, my point is (if there's one): who cares. Well, I mostly don't... I wouldn't buy a Dimebag signature guitar (which is basically any guitar that resembles a Dean ML), not because I don't like the guy or his music but because I think those guitars look terrible

But if I like the guitar, I don't care. "Oh, you have X guitar from X famous guy", yeah, who cares, I like it. I wasn't planning on being famous anyways, and I'll use it to make some music regardless.

 

[USMarine75]

I'll double down on what I said: every Fender guitar is a Leo Fender signature guitar, and every Gibson guitar is an Orville Gibson signature guitar. They put their signature in every headstock FFS!

I don't know who that Ibanez guy is though, that's a weird last name for a Japanese.

Anyways, my point is (if there's one): who cares. Well, I mostly don't... I wouldn't buy a Dimebag signature guitar (which is basically any guitar that resembles a Dean ML), not because I don't like the guy or his music but because I think those guitars look terrible

But if I like the guitar, I don't care. "Oh, you have X guitar from X famous guy", yeah, who cares, I like it. I wasn't planning on being famous anyways, and I'll use it to make some music regardless.

 

[Surveyor 777]

Just to throw my two cents into this latest argument - my feeling is a "signature" guitar is the guitar that person played. Like USMarine75 stated, Leo didn't play guitar - he made guitars and had other people test them, then he tweaked them based on their input.

So since Leo didn't play, I can't see Fender being a signature, unless you're talking about the Yngwie model or the Clapton one or etc.

 

[Shawn]

I normally don't ever buy sig guitars but...I mean, UVs are Steve Vai sigs and luckily, I like him as an artist but even if I didn't, I think I would still love UVs....