Signature Guitars

[GWDavis28]

I have to be honest here I didn't know who JP or Dream Theater were until I joined this forum. I got to mess around with a bunch of guitars at the Open House and I tell you I can understand why so many people love the JP guitar. I bought mine on a whim and the fact that it sparkles helped too. I tend to be playing that one the most lately.

I knew who Albert Lee was and I just thought that the guitar was cool, sort of retro-Jetsons, 60's-70's funky. I lucked out and located the AL of my dreams.

It doesn't matter to me who's name is on it, what matters, and it's been said before in this thread. All that matters is how it feels in your hand. Hey if people are against signature instruments, it's their lose man. Since I know that EBMM's signature instruments are what the artists themselves play.

My $.04 worth, everythings going up these days!!

Glenn |B)

 

[heavymetaljames]

Here's another side! I know a guy who is an obsessive KISS fan and that band knows how to merchandise doesnt it! These fans post pictures of their KISS rooms on line apparently showing off their collections (like we do with guitars I s'pose). Anyway he has about 4/5 guitars in this room - he doesnt play guitar, but they are the budget e'pone ace frehley, i***** Paul Stanley and a few others I don't remember the make - all signature.

They are horrible to play!! If the guitarist from KISS played guitars of this standard - maybe I should post him a flyer for EBMM

 

[J_Alexander]

Generally Signature guitars are the kiss of death for both the artist and the manufacturer. The dealer only has so many hooks on the wall and putting someones name on it limits the customer base.
I think that we sell more USA made signature guitars than any one because they are unique and have credibility.

The sad part is that some companies take advantage of a player and his/her ego and use the signature trick to lock them into their brand. They promise them tons of dough and it rarely materializes.

I think that regardless the signature guitar must be the same guitar if you bought it in Kentucky and if we sent it to the arist.

good call big poppa and thats why i think the axis/evh is the one of the best guitars still made today.. its like getting a custom shop guitar. it dosent feel like anything off the shelf. i am really glad you guys continuied with the axis.

 

[heavymetaljames]

Hey my 100th post just passed me by!


I am NOT against sig models - I am just interested in how they may or maynot affect people's choices in buying or using.

 

[Eilif]

When I ordered my Luke, it was purely because of the artist and nothing about the guitar...but only because I knew little about guitars in general and even less about electric guitars!

Luke has had such high praise for EBMM that I wanted this brand and nothing else. Since Luke has been my favorite guitarist for well over 20 years, choosing the Luke came naturally.

If I'd known then what I know now, I would not have gone for the Luke, primarily because I prefer passive pickups. I've been playing my Axis SS exclusively for many weeks now.

So I guess you could say both that the artist had everything to do with the selection and that he had nothing to do with it.

 

[fbecir]

I think that we sell more USA made signature guitars than any one because they are unique and have credibility.

Really true.
The artists who have their signature guitar have a lot of credibility.
I own a Steve Morse Signature and I am a Steve Morse addict. But if I chose to buy the Steve Morse Signature, it is because I understood the choices made by Steve.
Indeed, in the interviews or in the video of Steve, he explains why there are 4 pickups, why the volume pot is there, why there is a "strange" configuration for the pickups selectors and so on.
It makes sense. This guitar is not a salesman dream but a player dream.
When you watch Steve plays, you can see that he is using all the options of his guitar (volume swell with the volume pots, change of pickups during the solos ...). This guitar is a tool for a true musician.
When I have to choose a guitar, I am more interested in buying a good guitar than in buying a piece of history (if you looks at the ads of F... or G...., they insist mainly on the fact that there is a long long long history. They even sell "artificially" vintage guitars, just to give you the impression you are playing on a Relic).
If a musician like Steve Morse says : this guitar is good and I play with it every show. Well, this review is the best review I can have (the mags are only doing "nice" reviews for the companies who are buying a lot of advertisement space).

A very long post in English ... hard work for me

 

[robelinda2]

well my first ball was the Luke, and even though i LOVE mr lukather's playing i have to say i wasnt swayed by the guitar being a sig model. i had been through about 40 Fender's and ibanez's and fell out of ove with all of them , and needed a versatile guitar with great sounds. i went out to find a luke but couldnt find one. ended up playing a highway one fender strat with luke's emg set in it, SOUNDED AWESOME! so i thought, well, i cant do any worse than buying a new fender or ibanez, so i got a Luke and thought i'd see how i'd go.!! HOLY CRAP IT WAS SPECTACULAR! so then i got a silo special, then Axis SS, then the next, ......etc

now i've ordered the morse, and even though i havent played one, i know it must be amazing, as the ones i have so far are freekin nice!!!

I LOVE THESE GUITARS!!!!

 

[Kontalonis]

I think that regardless the signature guitar must be the same guitar if you bought it in Kentucky and if we sent it to the arist.

That's why i love this company!

Now that i think about it the only signature model i would ever buy would be an EBMM and for that reason above! Big P and the boys treat every model as if it is going into the world's greatest guitar player's hands, and i really respect that.

EBMM FOR LIFE!

 

[edensdad]

Other than my old Les Paul Custom (now desceased), I've never owned a sig guitar. When I bought my JP6, I was considering several others: PRS, Anderson, Gibson, Jackson, Ibeenhad, etc.

I am one of the world's most obsessed Dream Theater fans - I even have all the members side project CD's and bootlegs, but I didn't buy my JP just because it's Petrucci's sig guitar, I learned about it because it's Petrucci's sig guitar and the guitar sold itself.

>^..^<

 

[Hookpunch]

I was anti-signature guitar too, I figured a sig guitar was suited to a particular player's style and quirks. So I bought a Silo because I heard it was a great all around guitar, it had all the features I was looking for, the quality was outstanding and the price was very reasonable for that quality.


That being said I was so pleased with the Silo that I would buy a Steve Morse Y2D or a Petrucci or any other signature model from EBMM before I would buy any other company's guitar.

 

[Alvesang]

To me, John Petrucci has been an influence since Dream Theater's "Images and Words". And yes, seeing and hearing him play his EBMM signature model made me want to have one. I thought, if this was the guitar John Petrucci chooses to play, it had to be a fine instrument.

But let's face it: Just because I'm a fan I do not spend that much money (the EBMM JP costs approx. 3.000 bucks here in Germany) on a guitar I'm not absolutely satisfied with. The JP feels like it was made for me personally. Hell, it could be MY signature model, I wouldn't change a single thing. Sound, feel, look - it all adds up to what I think is plain and simple the best guitar in the world. And I've tried many other guitars over many hours before I made my decision to get one.

In conclusion, I might have never considered buying an EBMM guitar at all, for there are only few dealers in my country who have them in stock. John Petrucci brought them to my attention - and thank God he did.

 

[yesandno]

The Luke was the second EBMM guitar I bought. I went into a local GC to kill some time and they had one that I picked up and played and I really like the feel. I wound up buying elsewhere because I didn't like the color they had. I don't really know anything about Steve Lukather except that he was in a band called Toto. I know nothing of his solo works.
Steve Morse sig was the first EBMM I got. I am a huge fan of his however. But.....after it arrived I found I hated the pickups and had them all redone.

 

[hbucker]

Just some thoughts:

-I've got no problem with people preferring not to play sig guitars. I do find it interesting sometimes (not necessarily on this thread) when people say, "I've never owned a sig guitar and never will." as though there is an air of nobility in that statement. I see it as preference, not a higher calling.

-I agree that many sig guitars go in a specific direction so it may likely be that it's a direction you don't want to go. BUT, if it is in a direction you want to go, it could well bee like getting a custom shop guitar for the price of an off the rack unit.

-Many if not most of the time I roll my eyes at what qualifies as a sig guitar. So many of them are cosmetic only in the differences they offer.

-I grew up an EVH disciple and I must admit, that back in '93 the idea of getting THE same guitar that EVH played was what brought me into GC to look at the EBMM/EVH. But if I had hated it when I plugged it in I never would have bought it. It was a little bit like hearing about Porsche 911's and seeing them around town, admiring them from afar. Then finally getting to take one for a spin and having it drive every bit as good as the hype surrounding it. I remember feeling like the EVH was just taking off in my hands when I tested it out in the store. And I didn't even get it out of 2nd gear

-And I see the EVH as a very classy looking sig guitar. It doesn't really draw attention to itself as a sig guitar unless you're a guitar player and know these things. You can play it without looking like a fool. Compare that to the possibility of playing a red and white striped Charvell on stage. That draws attention to you and frankly, if you're going to play that on stage you need to have the chops to back it up or you'll just look like a fool.

 

[roburado]

I have had somewhat similar thoughts as you HMJ. Petrucci and Dream Theater are absolutely incredible, and some of my biggest influences, but there is no way I would've bought a JPMM if it didn't feel right in my hands. I have tried out guitars with extremely high hopes before, with my mind basically set on buying them, but I ended up trying them out and they felt horrible in my hands. Feel and tone is what it's all about, not about who's name is on the headstock.

I too am a big JP and DT fan. However, I tried 3 of them, all with set-ups in shoddy shape before I encountered mine and a fully loaded Mystic Dream one, which I passed up, because I just didn't have the money. I did not like the first three. I knew that the set-ups were screwed up. So, I gave the guitar the benefit of the doubt. I tried a friend's. It was okay. I tried mine months and months later and bought it on the spot. It just had the right feel and right tone. If it didn't, I wouldn't have bought it either.

 

[roburado]

The JP feels like it was made for me personally. Hell, it could be MY signature model, I wouldn't change a single thing.

I feel the same.

 

[Roxy]

What perks my interest in signature guitars is if I really repect an artist and value their opinion in the designing process: woods, electronics, hardware, etc. The Luke and SM-Y2D did it for me. I like the Axis and JP's too. I also don't mind signature models if they don't "scream" who it belongs to. I'd never perform in public on a Charvel EVH, but have owned and performed on Wolfgangs in the past. The lay person may not identify a Luke, Axis, JP, SM-Y2D, etc. as a signature guitar, but most people would know who designed those EVH Charvels. Just my personal preference.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

If it wasnt for the EVH model, I would have never discovered EBMM. Seeing Ed play this cool looking Tele type guitar was enough for me to buy one, or 5!