Johnny Hiland Signature EBMM?

[Big Poppa]

OK Lets go back in time... A player chose the right tool for him. Why does everything have to knee jerk straight into a signature guitar? How many times do I have to tell you guys that Signature guitars are virtually unsalable...We are very fortunate with the LUke and Petrucci..The Albert Lee has been around since the eightie and is just now getting A LITTLE traction.

I will remind you guys you are the most passionate people regarding our products but if we let you chose what we made I would be sitting on a curb next to a freeway offramp with a sign that says "Help a guitar maker that did exactly what his diehards wanted" I use the cayenne pepper line you guys want it distilled to the the purest form and the general public isnt ready for it. I think that the toatl purchases on here account for about three weeks of production. I love and appreciate you guys but those who think this is a cheap marketing deal on the forum are missing the big picture

 

[Ricman]

Just my 2c - EBMM seem the make the simple colours look so good. Candy Red must be as common as it gets.....but it is just stunning in person. No pics ever do the EBMMs justice. I wonder if some guys just use pics as their reference point when asking for different colours, not realising how good the current range looks in the flesh.

 

[Stratty316]

Just my 2c - EBMM seem the make the simple colours look so good. Candy Red must be as common as it gets.....but it is just stunning in person. No pics ever do the EBMMs justice. I wonder if some guys just use pics as their reference point when asking for different colours, not realising how good the current range looks in the flesh.

I for one have seen, in person, the colors I miss... Honeyburst was the color I wanted a Silo Spec in when I bought my Axis Sport 1998... I had to choose between the HB Silo Spec and the Green Sport and the Sport won out. 2 years later when I was going to order the Silo Spec they did the Green Axis Limited run and well.... I had to do the Axis. I always thought I had time on the HB Silo then I looked up and it was gone. When JH started playing a HB silo I just wondered if there was a potential comeback of a cool color... but like I have said before, there are many EBMM's out there both new and used...

 

[Big Poppa]

I had to highlight one of my favorite quotes by me...hehehehe

 

[Roubster]

That's a good one hahaha! Just a question...because I dont know: BP you dont think that the Silhouette line would sell more with some of the trans colors available on some of the other models? I guess it would be more difficult for production to pick out decent looking alder wood for the trans colors as in the case with Vintage Sunburst...therefore the upcharge. I think I just answered my own question?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Rob you need to come up here for the Johnny Hiland clinic next Thursday, trust me!

 

[Roubster]

Unfortunately I cant at this point Pete . Took off tomorrow for an extra long weekend to go up to Lake George, and cant take off Thursday...wish it was friday as I get off early and would give me plenty of time to get there. You will have to take some pics or put someone in charge to document. I am upset about it...would love to go up there and hang with you and check out Johnny.

 

[straycat113]

I think Sterling said it perfect, and to be honest as had been stated before there have never been so many guitar companies and makers out there as there are now. It has to be brutal fending off competitors and turning a good profit. I can honestly say that I highly doubt that any of us know what it really takes to run a successful guitar company, though we all could have our dream guitar assembled does not mean it is going to be to others likings, and especially the buying general public.

Even though I have no problem with signature guitars there are tons of guys out there who just dont want one. I will generally stop in on the Gear Page or HC forums as they are neutral sites made up of players of all makes to get feedback on axes I play and EBMM is one of the most respected companies out there. I also feel though that guys that do not like signature guitars also look at the Petrucci, Luke, AL and Morse much like one would a Les Paul- as not identifying them with that particular player and just liking the guitars for what they offer, and that is the way I look at them. On the other hand I get what guys who have a problem with signatures are coming from because unless you are in a tribute band pulling out a Strat with a big SRV decal, Les Paul with a big Bullseye or an EVH Frankenstrat on stage is going to make an audience think of those players, so there is a line there. I have no problem with anyone that owns a guitar like that but if I did,(which I do not,lol) it would be mainly for indoors. On the other hand a guitar that just has some unreadable scribbled signature on the headstock is not going to be known by 80% of those watching you.

If they put Johnny's sig on a Silo headstock I wonder how many guys would rush out to buy one besides the psychos on here, and we do not count as we are not normal.lol Now yes it could be a whole new ballgame if a model was designed for him from the ground up, but I am just talking the Silo which is already offered in a few ways and has been out over 20 years. Someone mentioned tweaking and I will agree sometimes that works, as the AL never pressed my buttons before till it came out with the double humbuckers and rosewood neck and now I drool over it as it hit me in a totally different way and probably did the same for a lot of other players as Sterling said there is a spike in sales just recently after many years.

I think everyone would agree BP is doing a hell of a job and has taken things to a whole new level. Besides I would feel really messed up going through a toll, and seeing him on the side of the road holding a big sign.lol

 

[zombywoof]

Besides I would feel really messed up going through a toll, and seeing him on the side of the road holding a big sign.lol

I would let him play some of my guitars and give him a bowl of soup if he was in trouble...

 

[Big Poppa]

LIsten Im not berating you guys but one thing is important...Making a profit and creating musical instruments in America is hard. Really hard.

To take the slihouette or the stingray and put somebodies name on it is not what a signature guitar is it is a cheap marketing trick. I lost Flea because I wouldnt pay him to play the sting ray or name it after him

 

[soomsoom]

Imo, overpopulation of signature models reduce the respect to
the existing old and good models

 

[panther_king]

I don't see why everyone is clamoring for a Johnny Model... if Johnny is playing and raving about stock Silos, why not be happy with your stock silo and just keeping saying 'Johnny Hiland plays the EXACT same thing'.



I know I do

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I don't see why everyone is clamoring for a Johnny Model... if Johnny is playing and raving about stock Silos, why not be happy with your stock silo and just keeping saying 'Johnny Hiland plays the EXACT same thing'.



I know I do

If the past is any indication of the future (not in regards to sig models, just in general), it's something that 100 people can tire-kick and say "yeah I'd like to get one of those" and then when the window/time comes to man-up something happens and 98 people can't buy it

 

[Big Poppa]

Thanks Pete...You smokin anything on the 4th?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Thanks Pete...You smokin anything on the 4th?

Last night I smoked a chicken and we were still hungry so I cooked some burgers/dogs. Every July 4th we have a huge family party down on the shoreline which is propane cooked burgers/dogs/kielbasa, etc. Cooking 120 burgers and 100ish hotdogs is propane dual-grilling at its finest.

I will be doing ribs tonight and possibly fish tomorrow, if time permits

I'm tempted to smoke up some ribs early Sunday morning and finish cooking them with the family, but if I'm too good of a chef they will expect me to cook every year forward....

 

[Stratty316]

hmmm, I smell a hijack... can we get back the topic??? Hahaha... whatever it was...

 

[peterd79]

hmmm, I smell a hijack... can we get back the topic??? Hahaha... whatever it was...

it was a JH sig thread... but who doesn't want to hear about grillin... it's the Fourth of July for cryin out loud... Balls, Brews and Que... it's what BBQ really stands for...

 

[Dante]

it's 30 degrees at 00:00 in the night... i think it's time the dutch started celebrating the 4th too

 

[straycat113]

Excellent point Pete and something I have seen first hand fall on its face. At least you guys that were fortunate to be here at the time and get in on the Dargie which Sterling actually made happen which is as cool as it gets. Then again there is no other owner who is remotely close to being as involved with the people who actually use his products as BP. On another forum where I am a regular that starts with an F I actually had to ask one day who runs the company as I was actually clueless. But onetime there a guy led a charge for a forum guitar and everyone was supposedly in, and then of course the complications started as who wanted what wood, neck ,finish and the likes. But the kicker was the guy who started the whole thing did not have the money at the time to pay for one if it was going to happen (which it did not )that just boggled my mind.

Sterling that seems a shame that you could not come to a happy medium with Flea, as he is bass player in one of the few bands that still reach that audience of guys in there 20s to 50s that would of been nice addition to the family I believe sales wise. But that is closed door info that is non of our business. But from what I have heard of the way you treat the artist you have it is his loss.

 

[straycat113]

It did not click right away when BP said to Pete "You smokin anything on the 4th" I was like Hmmm, then it hit me.lol