I've a SRV strat and as much as i love the thing, it just doesn't get played much.....And never played out. When i first bought it i thought i was so proud to have it, but now, i kind of feel a bit of a tosser to have it. I mean what am i going to do rock up to a blues Jam with a SRV. I don't think so, it'd be here we go look at white lightning up there and everyone would expect the world. I think it's going to go, a Les Paul Standard would be better in it's place as i have have my favourite two strats, i just cant bring myself to put it on Ebay though....

I think once you get over having a artist model it becomes someone else's guitar, Not personal...

JMHO.....

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Unless by some fantastic series of coincidences, whatever given model is exactly the way you would have personalized yours and/or you're that enamored with the artist, it is pointless. This is especially true since no matter whom the particular artist is, guaranteed (s)he is not playing anything close to the production line instrument bearing his or her name on it. And of course, price wise, there is no reason for any of them to be so expensive.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

The only Sig guitar I have ever purchased is the Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster. I don't even listen to Dinosaur Jr. I just fell in love with the guitar and had to have it!

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To me the only Signature instruments that would be worth the money would be some that either incorporate a combination of features that you simply can't find on a regular production model, or at least do it at a lower price point. Such as a Sting P Bass. If you want a quality Fender Single Coil P bass in this country your options are now the Custom Shop 55RI or the Sting. (which is ridiculous btw) So unless you've got thousands of dollars to blow, the Sting is the logical choice. Or one that has really well thought out and practical mods. Something like the Tony Franklin P basses. (If I liked modern necks) The mod on that bass is a really practical and well thought out and cures the bass of the typical production run P/J combo shortcomings. Or the Marcus Miller J bass which is modded out to the hilt.

I guess for me, the LAST thing that would get me to buy a Sig bass (or guitar) would be the Signature on it. That being said, a Signature wouldn't keep me from buying a guitar or bass either. I've no love for Nirvana or their music, but if that guitar had the specs I was looking for I'd get it in a heartbeat if the price was right. I judge the instrument on it's quality and specs. Who else plays it, endorses it, or has their namesake given to it is irrelevant to me other then the above mention Mr. Fender. If it's good enough to carry his name, it's good enough for me.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
2012 Fender American Vintage 57 Precision Bass RI
2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

At the end of the day we have all got artist guitars. LEO was the artist and creator with Fender being his signature models. As far as I am concerned, how far we want to go to customize it is up to the owners of their guitars. Some of us have just bought pre-customized versions done by well established users who bought LEO's signature models first off.

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GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.

2 of my 3 electric guitars are 'Signature' models. I did not buy either of them because of any connection to the artist.

The first was my Ibanez JS-LTD (JS = Joe Satriani)
The things that brought me to this guitar were (1) it had a Floyd Rose (2) the price was right for a custom made Ibanez. In fact, I pre-paid and pre-ordered this guitar and by the time they were shipped, the price had gone up $100.

The second was my Epiphone BB King Lucille
I like the lack of F holes and the Varitone. Also, the neck was comfortable. Grover tuners, decent quality bridge. These are the things that made me want a Lucille.

I don't feel funny at all cranking out modern riffs on a Lucille, or playing some blues on my 'Satriani 'tar.

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I'd rather tweak my own guitar instead of paying a premium for having another persons name on it. If you like that kind of thing it's all cool. It's just not my thing. I do own a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Strat, And a Martin. Do they count as sig guitars? If that's the case, I guess I do like them.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I would have to agree if it has features that you like and the tone your after, then by all means go for a signature series...if not then why buy one? Playability and features first, then worry about cosmetics...seems I read somewhere that Leo said we'll spend 95 cents of every dollar on making a guitar work, then that last five cents on making it look good.

My EC is a great guitar and I would have to consider it as my desert island guitar.

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

This more or less covers it, to my own taste.

...And yet, if I'm ever in the market for another new Strat it will very likely be the Eric Johnson one. Having tried a couple that's pretty near the perfect guitar to my hands and ears, it has a couple of features that are not so easy to retro fit oneself, it is not beyond the beyond pricewise, and Eric's name on it is modest and inconspicuous.

Hell, I could even be persuaded to think about the rosewood version, for the utterly unnecessary neck binding! Silly, huh?

Yikes, have I just talked myself into two new Strats?

Cheers - C

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My Epiphone Lucille was $700, it has a set neck, block inlays, binding all the way around, grover tuners, TP-6 tailpiece, Varitone. The Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II is even cheaper @ $600.

The cheapest Fender brand sig model I could find on the Guitar Center website just now was The James Burton Standard Telecaster @ $949.99, it looks pretty much like any other FenderTelecaster to me, and the specs look like nothing special. Oh, it's supposed to have a 50's decal.

I hate to say it, but maybe it's less of a 'signature model guitar premium' and more of a 'Fender brand signature model guitar premium'.

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You're still paying a premium for having a celebrity's name on the guitar. It's not just minor tweaks, it's all about marketing. Do you think the SRV sig would sell without the SRV name on it?
It used to be all a celebrity had to do is have a hit song and bam, another sig guitar. As long as it works for you, that's all that counts. Ain't my money.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

That's about it. I'd get a G.E. Smith tele, but that is it pretty much.

I brought a fender ja90 thinline, Jim Adkins sig tele. It is unlike anything else fender currently make, and was based on the tc90 thinline No longer made. It is Also relatively cheap being a Indonesian made fender. Costs slightly more than the modern player series. Has a set neck, semi hollow body. Proper Seymour Duncan p90's, Gibson style bridge and scale. You couldn't modify any tele to come very close to it.

I didn't even know Jim Adkins existed before I stumbled on the guitar. I don't care much for his band. He does use a number of 'his' guitars, though I would assume his are USA made.

Think it might have been 1997 or 1998 the first time I saw the Custom Shop Merle Haggard Tele. I fell in love with it so much I actually started talking to a Fender dealer about getting one. Think they said it was $4,500 at the time. I didn't want Merle's name on it or the goofy looking TufDog emblem but everything else was A-OK in my book. Well it turned out I'd have to get a masterbuilt guitar in order to get one without those things on the headstock. I was already doing some serious mental gymnastics trying to justify the $4.5K as it was but then the added cost for a masterbuilt simply pushed the guitar out of my reach. Moral of the story: no matter how perfectly the particular look and materials and colour and configuration matches exactly what I would choose for myself I still won't buy a signature guitar. Leo's name is the only name I want on my Tele. (or Strat or whatever)

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

this thread might have had something to do with convincing me to go back and look at different guitars today. ha. don't want to feel like a tosser later. also, i did more research on the cobain mustang i was all hot and heavy for, and came to realize it's not even exactly what his was. i had already noticed myself that the headstock paint was missing, but then the pickups aren't even right. from what i've seen/read he never put a humbucker in the comp. mustang. it does sound pretty great, and if it wasn't so expensive i'd probably stilll buy it. i am "completely enamored" with the artist, die-hard nirvana fan.
but i can't justify paying almost 800 dollars (that's after taxes WITH the good price ive found right now) for it instead of a strat that feels much more natural and costs less, not to mention i won't feel bad about altering a strat, but some part of me would hate to modify that mustang. just seems wrong. oh well. tonight i found a classic 60s strat in candy apple red , it's missing the selector switch tip and it has a small ding on the inside of the lower horn. but when the salesman is a close personal friend that means heavy scratch and dent discount. getting it for 550. shweet.
and i'd like to add that i also played an american standard and it felt like cheap junk compared to the mexican made 60s classic. hmmmmm......

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~Dan