Signature guitars for everyone!

is it me or has the bar been lowered (dropped all together?) when it comes to guitar manufacturers "awarding" signature guitars to guitarists? i have subscriptions to all the guitar mags so i'd like to think i'm knowledgeable as to all the players out there, but more and more when i see a new signature guitar come out, i'm like - "who?'. either that or it is someone who's been on the scene for a very short amount of time who could very well slip into obscurity at any moment. of course i'm not naive and realize it all comes down to the guitar companies trying to cash in. it's just that it is finally starting to irk me. signature axes that bear the names of a clapton, lifeson, page, beck, and so-on are no brainers. and don't get me wrong, i like a lot of newer players so don't think i'm a crusty geezer w/a vendetta against the new crop of players. i think the first signature model that made my eyebrows go up was the john mayer strat a few years ago. and now it's gotten worse. the whole atmosphere is akin to how all the kids get trophies/ribbons these days in sports or whatever. it's okay to have standouts folks. everyone is NOT equal and that's what helps others dig deeper out of (hopefully) inspiration. okay, i'm starting to digress. anyone care to chime in?

Trophies for everyone and no student can fail drive me nuts. As for guitar signature guitars, I'm a PRS fan and while I get having a Santana signature model they also have one for Orianthi. She's cute, plays well, I actually like her but is she at a level of notoriety that warrants having a signature model for? Maybe I'm just too old to get it.

If Orianthi were a man (or a less attractive woman), she'd be an also-ran. Pure marketing. If she works really hard for another decade, then maybe. Sure, she's a better guitarist than Bonnie Raitt, but Bonnie's got her 10-times over with singing, songwriting and overall career.

I also have found it odd that there are sig guitars for Serj Tankian (from Taylor, no less), Jason Mraz, and a lot of "that guy from that band that was really popular for a couple of years". Did we really need a signature strat with one humbucker and a volume knob? And racing stripes...

I guess you could look at it like cosmetic surgery. Pays the bills for a lot of reconstructive surgery that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Great guitars are often not commercially successful.

i hear you guys on orianthi. when she first appeared in one of the guitar mags, i checked her out online. saw a video of her playing blues at the prs booth at namm i think it was, and it was pretty unremarkable. i've heard much better at my local GC on school holiday. then a few weeks later i saw a music video of her w/steve vai jamming and she was fairing much better than w/the blues. i'm not trying to diss her but i didn't hear anything that i haven't heard a thousand times before. more of the same. in fairness to her, these are the only two examples of her playing that i've heard. but back to the point- a signature guitar in her name? i say not worthy...yet. and yes, that serj tankian taylor- what a joke.

So are you losing sleep because of all these signature models? :lol:

I think John Mayer is a sensational guitarist but I don't like him. That Hanson copy tune he wrote really bothers me (check YouTube). Then he said something about Joe Satriani that I questioned. Then again, too many Stevie Ray Vaughn wannbe including Kenny Wayne Sheppard and a lots of others.

At my work (I'm an IT guy -- computer programmer analyst) and you should see the marketing department persons and the R & D engineers debate on products.

Bottom line, marketing department persons: "You make more money selling many different - various products than consolidate them to only a few products."

Yes, I haven't slept in weeks, and the voices in my head tell me to...

I think it's just something we've all thought to ourselves. I have no issue with John Mayer or Steven Curtis Chapman, or Tom Morello sigs. But some models are going for a VERY NARROW market, and really make me wonder.

elvis said:

Yes, I haven't slept in weeks, and the voices in my head tell me to...

I think it's just something we've all thought to ourselves. I have no issue with John Mayer or Steven Curtis Chapman, or Tom Morello sigs. But some models are going for a VERY NARROW market, and really make me wonder.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I lost sleep when I heard just one more season of "Jersey Shores". But that's o-kay, I'm substituting that show for TLC "Honey Boo Boo". :lol:

Later, going to Guitar Center to check out a Taylor Acoustic, the "Taylor Swift" signature model. :lol:

very few pioneers, and they already have their 'signature' models...


Leo fender.

Les paul.


beyond that, i can imagine that brian may ranks, since he built his own design from scratch.


steinburg


everything else just seems to be a variant


it's lost it's meaning.

Maybe Floyd Rose as well (though not a guitarist).

I agree with your sentiment. I initially thought "Vai" since he is responsible for the RG, and by extension almost all modern superstrats (and Van Halen, fine). But there is simply no comparison to Leo and Les (and George Fullerton), who really invented the electric guitar, rather than modifying an existing design, even to extremes.

How about this? Anyone can have a signature model, as long as he hand-built the first one from a log he cut down himself, and hand-wound the pickups after machining the metal parts by hand.