Benji Madden Guitars...

[B2D]

I have a couple of q's for BP and maybe a few other guys in the know.

1. Why'd you guys decide to make one for him? Obviously he's nowhere NEAR the class of player that the rest of your signature artists are... was it because he was/is one of the few other artists out there who uses one regularly?

Yes, I do find Good Charlotte incredibly annoying and IMO they're the boy-band of "punk" but in all honesty when i look at the signature line its just like a "one of these things is not like the other" thing jumping out at me.

2. How many of these do you actually produce compared to the production #'s of other models? Do they sell?

 

[fogman]

No offense B2D!
But
RUN!!!!

I'd do a search on this. There's plenty of info in different threads.
This is probably gripe No.2 right after EVH questions!!

 

[bearkat16]

No offense B2D!
But
RUN!!!!

I'd do a search on this. There's plenty of info in different threads.
This is probably gripe No.2 right after EVH questions!!

+1

B2D - Just because you don't like Good Charlotte doesn't mean everybody doesn't. I'm thinking of getting one myself, not because it's his sig. but because I know EBMM makes quality guitars. Also the price is not bad.

 

[fogman]

I'm not saying I don't like them. I've never tried them. I'd love to though.
I think they look great!
I personally would prefer more pups!
That seems to be the gripe around here also.

 

[bearkat16]

I'm not saying I don't like them. I've never tried them. I'd love to though.
I think they look great!
I personally would prefer more pups!
That seems to be the gripe around here also.

Sorry for the confusion fogman. The +1 was for your comment and the rest was meant for B2D. I just edited my thread.

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, try any of these.

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/search.php?searchid=205632
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8332&highlight=benji+madden
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4315&highlight=benji+madden

They are pretty much a Silo Special with 1 pup. Nice guitar and pretty reasonable.

Hope they helps. Glenn |B)

 

[Motojunkie]

I tried the Benji at the open house. It's a very nice guitar. The build quality is on par with anything else that comes out of SLO, so that's not an issue. The one I tried was a light green color, and it was very light, played nice, and looked nice. Hard to tell about the tone on those Korg headphone amps though.... If you don't need the tonal variety that a multi-pickup guitar offers, the the Benji is a great option.

 

[phatduckk]

1. Why'd you guys decide to make one for him? ... was/is one of the few other artists out there who uses one regularly?

his band sells a butt load of records and its good exposure for EB ... and he's been playing EB for a while too[/QUOTE]

2. How many of these do you actually produce compared to the production #'s of other models? Do they sell?

i dont think we are privy to that info w/ EBMM being a privately held company and all

 

[francric]

I tried it at the open house too and liked the way it felt and played.

 

[phatduckk]

I tried it at the open house too and liked the way it felt and played.

it is an EB after all + its available in that cool green color ... i dig that crazy green

 

[dan desy]

Why judge EBMM's decisions on your personal taste?
That doesn't make any sense. Having a Madden sig brings a lot of publicity and potential custiomers to EBMM - a very sound business plan.

Whether you like GC or now has nothing to do with EBMM's business direction.

 

[NorM]

That crazy green color matches color of the cables they have at GC (Guitar Center). It's a stripped silo special with an inlay and heavier strings. Less pups means less dampening force on the strings. The fat strings means it screams with authority.
Hey! here is a question for you.
What is the ratio of albums recorded over the last 7 years for Good Charlotte to EVH

GC =_4
EVH=.5 (Four songs, that's half an album)

So the answer is 8

To answer the question why...
If you have your own guitar factory then you can build whatever guitars you want to. Raz can't play as good as Steve Morse or John Petrucci either but he's getting a signature guitar (all be it in 30 years or so) and he's Canadian for crying out loud! And you know what that means.... That's right, his country is north of mine.

 

[francric]

Sheesh, you would think this guy Norm was a rocket scientist or something..........

 

[Big Poppa]

his band sells a butt load of records and its good exposure for EB ... and he's been playing EB for a while too

i dont think we are privy to that info w/ EBMM being a privately held company and all[/QUOTE]


Phattyy you are a genius...why make a guitar for a guy that is on mtv and fuse

these same guys complain that we dont get enough exposure.

 

[SteveB]

I tried the Benji at the open house, too. It is a kick-ass guitar! I'm surprised all the EVH-heads haven't bought one.. it's got your lone humbucker at the bridge, after all! And it's Music Man quality.

I remember one guy at the open house.. he didn't want to put the Benji down.. and he was NOT expecting to like it! He made a believer of himself!

 

[phatduckk]

hey BP (or any of the good folks at EB) ... how popular is the green finish on the Benji compared to the other colors that are goin off the line?

 

[B2D]

Why judge EBMM's decisions on your personal taste?

I'm not... read the first post. I've never even played the guitar cuz i cant find one! (Thats also the reason for the production #s question... there must be some out there!) I simply wanted to know why EB and Co. decided to put one into production when Mr. Madden isn't exactly in the cadre of players as the other sig models are. I got my answer and the answer was instrument exposure.

I was merely throwing out the fact that I dont like GC's music just as a matter of opinion only. I don't like their music in the least but i don't mind his taste in gear. and I'm sure the guitars are top-notch and exceed my personal standards for instruments just as the rest of the line does.

Having a Madden sig brings a lot of publicity and potential custiomers to EBMM - a very sound business plan.

I agree.... smart business.

Whether you like GC or now has nothing to do with EBMM's business direction.

Yeah.... I, um, know that.

I think I'll let this float around for a bit just to make sure my responses get seen and then kill the thread... too many people getting ants in their pants.

 

[SteveB]

B2D,

No worries. There's been a lot of Benji bashing on this board in the past, so I think some of the more veteran users are a little sensitive to anything that could be perceived as such (and I think paragraph 2 of your original post qualifies).

Strangely, the majority of the 'regulars' around here are over 30 years old.. therefore we don't even know who Benji Madden is, let alone why he has a signature guitar. We're just old farts with a disconnect..

 

[Big Poppa]

Dont worry about ants in the pants..you got to the party late on this one....THe search funtion is a great tool......

Hindsight is 20/20 but GC's next record was supposed to be huge and it wasn't....

Ok here is a little background.

For the last ten years we have closely tied our string promotion on the Warped Tour and Our Battle. Each year we go to all of the rehearsals and try to get thesenew bands to play our guitar. Many of these bands are getting their first exposure to touring, endorsements and chicks with dirty feet ( but that is another warped tour topic for another board)
A lot of these bands take the guitars promising to play them on stage. A few end up loving them, many give them to friends or sell them on ebay instead of returning them to us.

Along comes Benji Madden who bought his first two Silhouettes. Plays them everywhere.Tells whoever will listen about these axes.

I have had many meetings with dealers where they said ' your warped tour presense works for you strings but why put the guitars out there if you aren't promoting someone from that genre in addition to the virtuosos?"

Now you can say what you want about the guitars, but I know OLP sells a boatload of our shapes mostly to younger players. The plan is that they will play their way to the original.

THere is a Benji Madden OLP that has done well and the American made that has been a little disappointing to some, but not to me. I didnt think that it would be a big seller.
What it did was acknowledge Benji for his support, make the Benji OLP possible, and provide yet another instrument out of the 70,000 that you can choose.

 

[tommyindelaware]

Dont worry about ants in the pants..you got to the party late on this one....THe search funtion is a great tool......

Hindsight is 20/20 but GC's next record was supposed to be huge and it wasn't....

Ok here is a little background.

For the last ten years we have closely tied our string promotion on the Warped Tour and Our Battle. Each year we go to all of the rehearsals and try to get thesenew bands to play our guitar. Many of these bands are getting their first exposure to touring, endorsements and chicks with dirty feet ( but that is another warped tour topic for another board)
A lot of these bands take the guitars promising to play them on stage. A few end up loving them, many give them to friends or sell them on ebay instead of returning them to us.

Along comes Benji Madden who bought his first two Silhouettes. Plays them everywhere.Tells whoever will listen about these axes.

I have had many meetings with dealers where they said ' your warped tour presense works for you strings but why put the guitars out there if you aren't promoting someone from that genre in addition to the virtuosos?"

Now you can say what you want about the guitars, but I know OLP sells a boatload of our shapes mostly to younger players. The plan is that they will play their way to the original.

THere is a Benji Madden OLP that has done well and the American made that has been a little disappointing to some, but not to me. I didnt think that it would be a big seller.
What it did was acknowledge Benji for his support, make the Benji OLP possible, and provide yet another instrument out of the 70,000 that you can choose.

if ya wanna make it 70,001.....let me know.......i got the tommy alderson model all laid out in my brain !!!!!