I've never figured why people are so against signature guitars to be honest. You like the tone a guitarist has, or the loo of his guitar then you have a direct link to that artist. Sure, some of them take the mickey, being cheap guitars slapped together in a South East Asian sweatshop and then the latest nu-metal "protege"'s name slapped on it. But many are more than worthwhile guitars in there own right. The biggest downfall to those that are lovely guitars are the stupid prices some manufacturers put on them. I put the Jem 777VWH forward as an example. It IS a nice guitar and reasonably well made, but it's nowhere near as well made as the £1999 price tag (only £100 off a basic Tom Anderson) suggests.
All credit then to EBMM for keeping prices sensible yet. after my foray into the local store's boutique booth with 3 Tom Andersons and 2 Tylers, I can honestly say that the EBMMs are every bit as well made, and for me, far nicer to play. You might not get the little cosmetic flourishes that the boutique guitars have (thank goodness in the Tyler Burning Water's case
) but the finish, neck, tone and look is every bit as good for half the price.
I'll be honest in putting my hand up and saying that I found EBMM thanks to my appreciation of Mr. Lukather. But I wouldn't pay £1300 for his signature guitar if it didn't tick almost every box on my list of wants. In its own right its a superbly beautiful guitar. Same with the EVH/Axis. I've always been an EVH fan, but the Axis is far more than just an EVH tone machine. In its own right it stands out for the exemplary tone and playability.
Perhaps its because those people who have paid £2000-5000 for a non signature boutique guitar are just a tiny bit jealous of the EBMM quality. It's easy to criticise the signature range but hard to argue with both the prominence it gives EBMM in the public eye, and the sheer quality of the product.
And if I was an EVH obsessive I'd pay Charvel £2100 to own an £800 guitar with silly stripes on it
