Recently, I was browsing YouTube and I kept coming across guitar rig rundowns, and it got me thinking about signature gear. Now I’m a gearhead and I’ve always been interested in what my favorite bands use to record and what they use on the road. Let’s take a look………
When I started playing and acquiring guitars, I had always been curious about artist signature models. Some people would tell me that they’re nothing special and that it’s basically a guitar with a different paint job and a signature. One such example is Mick Thomson (Slipknot guitar player) and his BC Rich guitars. For those that are unfamiliar with Mick and his guitar history, he started out using BC Rich from the first album right until the Vol. 3 album. Now it’s my understanding that BC Rich really dropped the ball with his signature models and they were weren’t even the same specs that he had on his touring guitars. That is a perfect example of a signature in name only. Now a great example is Tom Araya of Slayer and in fact there’s a video on the ESP guitars YouTube channel where he says “anybody can design me a custom guitar, but I want the exact same guitar that I play to be the same one that you can get at the store.” I actually really respect that because I know that if I played bass and Tom was one of my heroes, I’d like to know that the lower end model was just as good as the top of the line model. Another example is when Dave Mustaine from Megadeth was with Dean guitars, and he even said that the same guitars that he plays with on stage are the exact same ones that come right out of the factory. I think it’s really cool when an artist makes sure that their signature guitar is affordable. And to quote George Lynch “when we’re starting out, we need affordable guitars.” Personally, I am a big fan of artist signature guitars, and I even have several of them and can honestly say that mine all sound and play great. Even the kind of lower end artist signature models play really really well. I’ll definitely revisit this topic again but what do you think? What are your thoughts on artist signature gear be it guitars, amps, pedals, pick ups, or even guitar strings? Do you think that signature guitars are just a waste of money? Or do you feel closer to your heroes by playing the same guitars or gear that has their name on it?
Sinister Reviews 