Should musicians be in the business of selling gear?

[Resident 217]

Myself I 'd buy something with a sig if it has the right parts that I liked and not the usual. Like an Obrien sig strat with the built in sustainer system they don't come at a premium and its a mod in the guitar already so it actually saves money.
EC had a lot of expensive sig amps for Fender for Awhile they'd probably be okay as they are hand wired but you will pay a lot more.
I wonder who was the very first? Trinny Lopez, Les Paul or...maybe even some Buddy Rich Sticks(bet they aint cheap)
I was always wondering if it adds to the cost as there are more parties trying to get a piece of the items cost.
Just like expensive sports stars and running shoes, ball gloves etc. I guess its the way it goes business wise.

 

[paul-e-mann]

Says a guy with a Les Paul avatar photo...

Never gave it thought, I got an LP cuz I like it, no idea who Les Paul is its just a name, he's way before my time...

 

[paul-e-mann]

no, but, you see that left-hand celebrity getting a signature Les Paul & makes you look to go check it out. You think cool, when an ad pops up for another left-handed Les Paul, so you go looking, then you're hunting. You see all these cool LH LP's calling your name...

Next thing you have a NGD thread on the MF... ...

It may not have been a Slash sig guitar, or whomever LH got you started to look, but... it got you to look & there you go...

Nah...

 

[BluezMe]

Pete Townshend uses Eric Clapton signature Strats…

I'm guessin' most know the Story... while Touring w/ Derick and the Dominos... Clapton stops in Sho-Bud Music (Nashville) buys 6 '50's Strats for something like $100. each... They were off in the Back room 'cause at that Time... Most Guitarists wanted something w' a Floyd Rose.
Clapton Gifted a '57 to Townsend... which was sold at a Charity Auction years later.
I've seen photos playing Tele's... (much easier to replace a Broken Neck)... then SG's and Les Pauls... but can't remember a Strat appearing until the Red one with the Extra Knob on the lower Bout which appeared much later

 

[RLW59]

I wonder who was the very first? Trinny Lopez, Les Paul or...maybe even some Buddy Rich Sticks(bet they aint cheap)

The first Gibson signature was the Nick Lucas model in 1929, followed by the Roy Smeck model in 1933. (Nick Lucas had lots of signature things like strings and picks -- most of his branded picks were celluloid but Dunlop still sells Nick Lucas felt picks.)

In 1950 Athur Godfrey had a signature Vega baritone ukulele.

Harmony made Roy Roger's branded guitars in the '50s.

A whole slew of signature Gibsons in the '60s and '70s. Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Trini Lopez, Chet Atkins, Howard Roberts.

Chet had a signature Gretsch before going to Gibson, and in the late '50s Kessel had a signature Kay model before the Gibson deal (but Barney didn't play his signatures much, preferring his old ES-350).

The first wah pedal in 1967 was the Vox/Thomas Organ Clyde McCoy wah. Clyde was the trumpet player who popularized using a mute to make wah sounds on trumpets, which the wah pedal emulated for guitar.

Signatures go back almost a hundred years. Maybe longer -- it may have already been common before the Gibson Nick Lucas model.

 

[RLW59]

Roy Smeck was known as the "Wizard of the Strings". A multi-instrument virtuoso on guitar, banjo, mandolin, and ukulele. In the '20s before the Gibson deal he had a whole line of Harmony signatures -- uke, mandolin, tenor guitar, Spanish and Hawaiian guitars.

Here he is tapping on a uke decades before EVH was born:

 

[Beryllium-9]

I always admired Ronald McDonald so I've been sold on the Big Mac ever since it was introduced in 1967.

 

[10kDA]

I'm guessin' most know the Story... while Touring w/ Derick and the Dominos... Clapton stops in Sho-Bud Music (Nashville) buys 6 '50's Strats for something like $100. each... They were off in the Back room 'cause at that Time... Most Guitarists wanted something w' a Floyd Rose.
Clapton Gifted a '57 to Townsend... which was sold at a Charity Auction years later.
I've seen photos playing Tele's... (much easier to replace a Broken Neck)... then SG's and Les Pauls... but can't remember a Strat appearing until the Red one with the Extra Knob on the lower Bout which appeared much later

If that's the story going around, the timeline is wrong and likely the dollar figures as well. The Dominos were done by 1971 and Floyd Rose apparently didn't have a working prototype of his system until the mid-70s at least.

By the early 70s, everybody who had compared the CBS (then current) Fenders to the Pre-BS versions knew the Pre-BS stuff was better and more consistent quality, and the price of "vintage" - they weren't that old yet - was starting to rise. 60s rosewood Strats were going for $175-$300 in the Midwest, I know because I was buying them, and blonde neck 50s Teles and Strats were typically hundreds of dollars more. Prices for Pre-BS models jujmped again when Fender came out with their 3-bolt neck tilt bullshit. I doubt a music hub like Nashville had lower pricing for instruments that aware players were actively seeking.

Pete Townshend played Strats in the late 60s, just before he went through his SG destruction stage. He smashed a sunburst Strat at Monterey. It's on film.

 

[Beryllium-9]

If that's the story going around, the timeline is wrong and likely the dollar figures as well. The Dominos were done by 1971 and Floyd Rose apparently didn't have a working prototype of his system until the mid-70s at least.

By the early 70s, everybody who had compared the CBS (then current) Fenders to the Pre-BS versions knew the Pre-BS stuff was better and more consistent quality, and the price of "vintage" - they weren't that old yet - was starting to rise. 60s rosewood Strats were going for $175-$300 in the Midwest, I know because I was buying them, and blonde neck 50s Teles and Strats were typically hundreds of dollars more. Prices for Pre-BS models jujmped again when Fender came out with their 3-bolt neck tilt bullshit. I doubt a music hub like Nashville had lower pricing for instruments that aware players were actively seeking.

Pete Townshend played Strats in the late 60s, just before he went through his SG destruction stage. He smashed a sunburst Strat at Monterey. It's on film.

View attachment 138046

You are spot on the money here.. I also remember back when old strats were cheap. Especially when compared to a LP. 70's strats are pure garbage.. You might get by with one that plays half assed with a ton of elbow grease but in general they all suck. Not a fan of the Norlin era either.

 

[Resident 217]

Pete 's great. I wonder if there's any signature stuff from him other than the Gibson SG's?
He 'd be a good one for strap locks... safety glasses...and oh yeah hearing defenders.
I can never forget the performance at Woodstock (saw the movie in 71) it was mesmerizing.

 

[10kDA]

You are spot on the money here.. I also remember back when old strats were cheap. Especially when compared to a LP. 70's strats are pure garbage.. You might get by with one that plays half assed with a ton of elbow grease but in general they all suck. Not a fan of the Norlin era either.

Right, if you're a Gibson player, their Norlin era is about the same as Fender's CBS days.

 

[10kDA]

Pete 's great. I wonder if there's any signature stuff from him other than the Gibson SG's?
He 'd be a good one for strap locks... safety glasses...and oh yeah hearing defenders.
I can never forget the performance at Woodstock (saw the movie in 71) it was mesmerizing.

Townshend would glue his Fender guitar bodies together after they split apart, and then put guitars together from the repaired components from various trashings. The glue mfr got wind of Townshend using their glue to fix his guitars, and his statements that the bodies never broke again along the same line that had been glued, and they used it in ads for their products. I don't think Townshend had an endorsement deal with them, but maybe.

 

[Resident 217]

ha ha Maybe he bought the company

 

[Beryllium-9]

Right, if you're a Gibson player, their Norlin era is about the same as Fender's CBS days.

Yep. Volute, shitty pots, noisy pickups, and a pot metal bridge that to wobbled around and developed a bow over time. Heavy? It was like strapping on a battleship anchor with strings. I still have a '78 explorer which attracts a lot of hype but to me it is what it is. A CS explorer is far superior imo but most Gibson guitars still suck. I don't get hung up on the year of a Gibson or a Fender. To me a guitar is just a tool that I use to express myself. If the tool doesn't feel or sound right, or if the adjustments suck, what's the point? Eye candy? A contractor will always struggle if he is working with shitty tools regardless of the brand, reputation, or expense. In reality, finding that one guitar or amp that has "it" is a real challenge. Very few have come my way over the years and like the fool in me I let some of them go.....for next to nothing..

 

[Karl Brake]

for interests sake, I asked the AI this question: Which guitar player has the most endorsments for advertising. Here's what I got:

I’m not sure about the exact answer to your question. However, according to a source, the following guitar players have had the most signature equipment over the years:

1. Richie Sambora: Fender guitars - signature Strats, Kramer guitars - signature RS, ESP guitars - LTD SA-2, Taylor acoustics - RSSM double-neck, Martin acoustics - OMC-41 Sambora, MC12-41, Ovation acoustics - double and triple-necks.
2. Joe Satriani: Peavey amps - JSX Series, Ibanez guitars - JS Series, Vox effects - Satchurator, Time Machine, Big Bad Wah, DiMarzio pickups - Fred, Mo’Joe, PAF Joe, Planet Waves - signature straps and picks.
3. Steve Vai: Carvin amps - Legacy, Ibanez guitars - JEM Series, Ibanez effects - Jemini, Morley effects - Bad Horsie, Little Alligator, DiMarzio - signature cables, DiMarzio pickups - Evolution, Evo 2, Breed.
4. Yngwie Malmsteen: Fender Guitars - signature Strats, DiMarzio pickups - Model J single-coil, DiMarzio straps - YJM signature cable & Clip Lock, DOD effects - YJM308 Yngwie Dunlop picks - Malmsteen signatures, Dean Markley strings - signature set.
5. Eddie Van Halen: Fender guitars - Frankenstein Replica Charvel guitars - EVH models Kramer guitars - various 5150 spares Ernie Ball MusicMan guitars - EVH Axis Peavey guitars - Wolfgang EVH guitars - Wolfgang EVH amps - 5150-III EVH accessories - straps, shoes, picks, pickups, strings, cables Dunlop effects - signature EVH wah MXR effects - EVH flanger, EVH Phase 90.
6. Brian May: Brian May Guitars - RS Special, BM Signature, BM Rhapsody acoustic Vox amplification - AC30 Custom Limited Edition, VBM1 DigiTech effects - Red Special pedal Greg Fryer effects - signature treble boosters Burns guitars - BHM-1 Guild guitars - signature model Burns pickups.

(edit) thats just from 2009.

You forgot the Marshall JVM Satch version...which only cost a hundred dollars more than the standard. I don't think Joe got much dough from that, just a massively improved JVM.

 

[Karl Brake]

I think the guitars are pretty nice, as well as the Schwag, but amps are often production versions of the mods they had done to their gigging/recording amps, and are generally a good thing. Until they stop making the model, such as the Marshall JVM HJS, and the used prices go crazy.

 

[10kDA]

The cool thing about electrics is the adjustablility that has become the expected standard. Then you can add components that give even more flexibility. But then if you still can't dial it in, or can't dial out the badness, you've got a useless POS no matter what the brand, year, whatever.

Edit: This is in response to https://marshallforum.com/threads/s...-business-of-selling-gear.135148/post-2422143 above.

 

[Resident 217]

You forgot the Marshall JVM Satch version...which only cost a hundred dollars more than the standard. I don't think Joe got much dough from that, just a massively improved JVM.

More exposure too. If they sold 1000 thats 100 000 not that he needs it I dont think.

 

[BluezMe]

If that's the story going around, the timeline is wrong and likely the dollar figures as well. The Dominos were done by 1971 and Floyd Rose apparently didn't have a working prototype of his system until the mid-70s at least.

By the early 70s, everybody who had compared the CBS (then current) Fenders to the Pre-BS versions knew the Pre-BS stuff was better and more consistent quality, and the price of "vintage" - they weren't that old yet - was starting to rise. 60s rosewood Strats were going for $175-$300 in the Midwest, I know because I was buying them, and blonde neck 50s Teles and Strats were typically hundreds of dollars more. Prices for Pre-BS models jujmped again when Fender came out with their 3-bolt neck tilt bullshit. I doubt a music hub like Nashville had lower pricing for instruments that aware players were actively seeking.

Pete Townshend played Strats in the late 60s, just before he went through his SG destruction stage. He smashed a sunburst Strat at Monterey. It's on film.

View attachment 138046

Cool photo... that's Early... but don't shoot the messenger for delivering the message
www.fender.com/articles/behind-the-scenes/in-1970-eric-clapton-bought-6-strats-at-a-nashville-music-store

I'll confess... I assumed the part about the Floyd Rose... my Bad

 

[10kDA]

Cool photo... that's Early... but don't shoot the messenger for delivering the message
www.fender.com/articles/behind-the-scenes/in-1970-eric-clapton-bought-6-strats-at-a-nashville-music-store

I'll confess... I assumed the part about the Floyd Rose... my Bad

No ill will intended! I'm still skeptical about Clapton's purchase price for those Strats. Unless the local Nashville players didn't want anything but Teles, I can't see music stores in Music City USA (their words, not mine) selling anything at bargain prices. Maybe Clapton made a package offer? LOL. You certainly could not buy 50s or early 60s Strats for $100 each in the Great Lakes area unless they had been well and truly trashed. The first $1000 guitar I ever noticed the price tag on was a 1956 Strat in age-appropriate condition, in other words, not at all pristine, in 1972, in a glass case and the store owner wouldn't let anybody touch it or play it unless they showed him they had the cash to buy it. LOL what a dick.

Except for some high-viz players like Hendrix, Blackmore, Steve Miller, Rory Gallagher, Duane Allman during his late-60s session work, and Clapton himself, maybe a case could be made that Strats were "out of fashion". I wouldn't want to try to make that case though. Just sayin'.