Have you ever bought an artist signature guitar mostly because you like the artist?

[sergiodeblanc]

I've owned and do own artist signature guitars, but never because I really liked the artist so much that I wanted a guitar "just like theirs" or was trying to get tones like they do/did...Have you?

In every case including Les Paul's, I bought the guitar first and then found out who he/she was. I presently own an Orianthi and a Nick Cantonese (had to look up how to even spell that one) and it had absolutely nothing to do with me liking or even caring about the music they make, I just thought they were killer guitars.

Does an artist's signature influence you one way or the other?

I had a Tremoni Se once that I had to let go because of the name connection, and I also had a King V in my past life as a hesher that I taped up the name on the headstock 'cause while I thought I was cool enough to rock a V :iamconfused: I was totally too cool to rock the dude from Megadeth's name up there.:reface:

I mean, I'm sure some of it is that I'm old or at least getting there, and the other part is that the music I generally dig isn't really of the "guitar hero" persuasion..but most of the people that have artist sigs.. I don't know... it seems like the guitar brand is doing all the heavy lifting by promoting them rather than the other way around.

David Grissom is an absolutely fantastic player, but his guitar appeals to me more than his music and his name (for me) has always been recognized as that dude from the PRS ads. I can think of a sh!t ton of guitarists that I know their names only because I see gear with it slathered all over... It makes me wonder who is doing who the service?

I'm not ragging on people who buy their favorite guitarist's merchandise as I would totally rock a Cloud guitar or a plexi Strat in the mirror pretending to be Prince or Nile... And I was pretty f@ckin' geeked to see a Mick Jones LP until I realized it wasn't for the dude from The Clash but some other guy who's band I'd never paid attention to, so it's not like I don't understand the allure.

There has to be a market for these kinds of things otherwise they wouldn't exist, so I'm curious as to what our membership thinks about it.

 

[Pfloyd57]

I have not; though I really struggled with this very thing when Fender issued the David Gilmour Black Strat. If ever I was going to buy a guitar simply because of the artist it was associated with, that would have been the one.

 

[maggior]

I've never considered it, though like Mr. Pfloyd57, if I ever were to consider one, it would be the Gilmour Black Strat from Fender .

BTW, love you pic Pfloyd57 - I totally agree!!!

 

[Tag]

I bought a fender Robben Ford Ultra Spruce for that very reason. (trying to nail his tones from the blue line era) It is a very unique guitar, and I was not let down. That chambered, Spruce top guitar into a Dumble is a huge part of his sound in the Blueline years I dug so much. Great guitar for really smooth overdriven tones on the bridges pup, but the neck pup tones were useless for big clean jazz tones IMO. My PRS Artist 3 semi hollows ate it up at that, and were almost as smooth on the bridge pup. Sold it after a year or two.

 

[NomadMike]

The only person I really care about what he plays is... me. Which is why I've always had a few offbeat six strings.

 

[tiboy]

Not with guitars and never because of the artist. But it occurs to me that I have a PT100 (Pete Thorn) amp and a Marshall SL5 (Slash) amp.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

I have not; though I really struggled with this very thing when Fender issued the David Gilmour Black Strat. If ever I was going to buy a guitar simply because of the artist it was associated with, that would have been the one.

Was just about to post about Gilmour's Strat... Gilmour is a God to me... the reason I play guitar at the moment, but I couldn't justify buying the Sig Strat whether I had the cash or not. That guitar has undergone so many changes, from various pups and necks to a host of other mods that it doesn't make sense to me. It certainly looks cool but you could make a good copy of it for a heck of a lot less. Now, if Gilmour had sat with Fender to design a guitar from the ground up I may be more interested.

I've got the Bernie Marsden. I was a reasonable fan of Whitesnake and Bernie's before getting that but I got it purely because it fit the bill. Had everything I was looking for and played and sounded great. That it has Bernie's name on the headstock was a great bonus but in no way an influence. I certainly wouldn't dismiss a guitar if it carried the name of a guitarist I didn't like.

 

[rugerpc]

I have a Santana III, a couple of Santana SEs, a DGT, a Hofner Bass (might as well be a Paul McCartney signature), but I bought all of them because I wanted the guitar, not the name.

But, the Gilmour Strat almost got me.....

 

[Tosca]

I had a Gilmour strat for a while, and if it makes any of you feel better, I got rid if it because it was a major pain in the a$$. Looked great, sounded great, very nice action when set up properly. For some reason they put an old style 50's truss rod in it...with the adjustment bolt at the base of the neck...inside the body pocket. What a joy to remove all the strings, and unbolt the neck to make TR adjustments, several times usually given the trial and error nature of that process. Authenticity be damned...there's no excuse for that on a modern day instrument. My newly modded Brent Mason (which I didn't purchase for it's "signature") does great Gilmour tones, and many others, and so much easier to live with.

 

[NomadMike]

What a joy to remove all the strings, and unbolt the neck to make TR adjustments, several times usually given the trial and error nature of that process.

That what I always think about when people ***** about CBS era Strats.

 

[chet]

I like the SC 245 but there is no trem option to my knowledge. I went with the Tremonti charcoal burst. I prefer the Gibson Style guitars which attracted me to the Tremonti.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I have a Santana III

Give it to me.

 

[citson]

I don't own any signature guitars, but I would love to get a core Santana someday when I can afford it, even though I don't think its the best looking PRS. I'm a huge Santana fan, and I love his tone.

Also, I wasn't sure about buying the CE24 I now own untill I found out it was the PRS Alex Lifeson uses, I actually wanted a CU24, but got an amazing deal on the CE and that, plus the Alex factor convinced me. And I love my guitar now and don't care much for a CU24 anymore.

 

[László]

Give it to me.

Sock it to me.

Seriously, when was the last time you heard someone say, "Sock it to me!"

 

[Shawn@PRS]

I have wanted a Mosrite for over 30 years because of Johnny Ramone

 

[themike]

Name means nothing to me. The specs are what make the magic. I will, however, not buy a guitar with markings on it that signify a specific person like signature inlays. The Tremonti and ZMs are some of my favorite guitars.

 

[cjmwrx]

I've never bought a signature guitar. But, I will say, JP is responsible for me playing LPs.

And if Gibson ever re-releases the DG335, I will sell every one of the guitars I own to obtain it if needed.

 

[LJD]

I bought an artist signature guitar, but not because I liked the artist. In fact, I dismissed the guitar at first because first - it was an artist sig, and second - it was CSN&Y and I could care less about those guys. Then, after playing every dreadnaught I picked it up and was blown away. Amazing Martin cannon. Now I always inspect "signature" models because they probably got some special attention and specs, especially with manufacturers like Martin and PRS.

 

[László]

I recently bought a David Grissom 30 watt PRS amp.

I like Grissom's work, and his tone shows a lot of attention to detail. I definitely factored that in.

 

[Egads]

I have wanted a Mosrite for over 30 years because of Johnny Ramone

Me too, but because of Bob Bogle!

I won't ever commit to the Mosrite, but I've wanted a Clapton Strat since the late 80s. The Gilmour and Santana are both up there, but have features I really don't like (truss rod issue and shorter scale, respectively). For the Clapton, if I could get a good one at a great price, I could see it happening. Otherwise, I'll wait for a Brent Mason.