Why does Slash need a signature Les Paul? (sig. instruments rant)

Bryan316 · #1 03-11-2008, 06:51 AM

And why does it have a MSRP of FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS???

You a fan of Slash? You wanna sound like Slash? You go get any quality Gibson USA or Custom Les Paul, plug it into a Marshall stack, and you start blasting away.

I understand the Zakk Wylde signature Les Paul, cuz the Bullzeye is definitely unique. I understand the Flea Modulus cuz it's got some specific design features and different-than-stock pickups. I understand the Alexi Laiho signature ESP flying V, cuz there's tons of design and function differences compared to his old standard Jackson V's.

But the Slash is a Les Paul AND THAT'S IT!!! There's nothing cosmetic nor functional that makes it all that much better than just getting any awesome looking LP with a great AAAA maple top perfectly bookmatched, and cranking it up!

Sometimes, I wonder what these marketing "geniuses" are thinking.

Wait. I know exactly what they're thinking.

"There's suckers all over the world, ready to give us way too much money for way too little product."

Fassa Albrecht · #2 03-11-2008, 06:56 AM

I don't see the point in ANY signature instruments really.....

**Horny Toad** · #3 03-11-2008, 06:59 AM

So do you think there shouldn't be Les Paul guitar? The Les Paul itself is a signature model.

Bryan316 · #4 03-11-2008, 07:06 AM

Les Paul DESIGNED the single-cut solid-body electric guitar. He built em, he deserves his name on his product.

Entirely different than an endorsement on a product that isn't any different than any other version of the same instrument. Just a silk-screened faux signature on a headstock, is NOT a custom instrument. If you take any of these "Slash" guitars and badged it a standard Gibson Les Paul, there would be no discerning differences. No tonal differences. No playability differences. Nothing.

Barkless Dog · #5 03-11-2008, 07:10 AM

Get the Epi version for $699 then

**Horny Toad** · #6 03-11-2008, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Les Paul DESIGNED the single-cut solid-body electric guitar. He built em, he deserves his name on his product.

Entirely different than an endorsement on a product that isn't any different than any other version of the same instrument. Just a silk-screened faux signature on a headstock, is NOT a custom instrument. If you take any of these "Slash" guitars and badged it a standard Gibson Les Paul, there would be no discerning differences. No tonal differences. No playability differences. Nothing.

OK.

But I really don't see what the big deal is.

Bryan316 · #7 03-11-2008, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barkless Dog

Get the Epi version for $699 then

My brother did that. Got the Zakk Wylde Epi. He didn't even bother with one of the shelf axes, he had one ordered and delivered to him still sealed in the box. No high school kid damage, if you know what I mean.

Then we started gutting it. Replaced all that gawdy gold hardware with glossy black parts of far better quality, scrapped the HZ pickups and put in the REAL EMG 60/81 pickup kit, all-new pots wiring and output jack, and some THICK strings. Much more playable instrument. Fattest Les Paul I've ever heard.

Really... the only difference between a Gibson LP and an Epiphone LP is the top quality. If the figuring and bookmatching doesn't come out perfect, they either paint over it or just give a quick finish job and tag it an Epi. Same body wood quality, same neck build, same construction.

Phalex · #8 03-11-2008, 07:18 AM

An instrument is an instrument. If you like the way it plays, sounds, and looks, buy it and play it.

Bryan316 · #9 03-11-2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phalex

An instrument is an instrument. If you like the way it plays, sounds, and looks, buy it and play it.

Precisely. But... if an awesome sounding and playing instrument is then tagged a "signature" instrument, there goes the price about two grand worth, and that instrument instantly jumps well out of your reasonable affordable reach.

Lots of great guitarists can't afford the quality instruments they seek, because the 9-to-5 has to pay rent, not pay for that signature instrument that coulda been affordable without the name tattooed on the headstock.

**Horny Toad** · #10 03-11-2008, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan316

....if an awesome sounding and playing instrument is then tagged a "signature" instrument, there goes the price about two grand worth....

Correct. So you don't fall for the silly marketing and just buy the non-sig version for two grand less.

Dan1099 · #11 03-11-2008, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Really... the only difference between a Gibson LP and an Epiphone LP is the top quality. If the figuring and bookmatching doesn't come out perfect, they either paint over it or just give a quick finish job and tag it an Epi. Same body wood quality, same neck build, same construction.

How could you possibly know this? I mean, I'm not saying it's true, but it sounds like a pretty declarative statement, and, to the best of my knowledge, they're made in different factories, mostly in different countries. How could they just badge one differently?

Bryan316 · #12 03-11-2008, 07:33 AM

There's a former Gibson builder over at www.hugeracksinc.com and he gave quite a few firsthand accounts.

Jumbotron · #13 03-11-2008, 08:04 AM

It seems to me that the question that lead this thread is backwards. Slash doesn't need a signature guitar--he's got plenty of guitars.

The real question is: why does Gibson need to make a Slash sig Les Paul? And the answer is that they can sell it, even if they charge $5000.

Humblerumble · #14 03-11-2008, 08:06 AM

I can feel the same way about a lot of the signature models. Just a name plastered on them. I bought a Nathan East Sig Yamaha that has some nice unique features on it. They may be available on some other basses as well, I am not sure, but I liked the looks, features etc on that bass. I personally wouldn't buy one just for a paint job etc. Just MHO

Disraeli Gears · #15 03-11-2008, 08:22 AM

The answer to your question: No matter how stupid it is, people will buy it. Why? Because it has Slash's name on it.

Bryan316 · #16 03-11-2008, 08:44 AM

Somebody asked me why I didn't have a Steve Harris sig bass yet, since I love Iron Maiden so much. Hey! Just cuz he is comfy on his bass, doesn't mean I'll be comfy on it! Yet I know quite a few guitards who own a signature axe, but don't play them cuz they're not comfy for them or don't sound how they need an axe to sound. But they own it.....

Waste of damn money. Nothing more than a really expensive collectible dust collector.

I understand signature instruments that have some sort of design ingenuity, some stylistic differences that make it unique looking, or special electronics or pickups or added features that make its playability unique. But just taking a standard instrument and adding a name? Just to make more money? Almost seems criminal to me... oh well, they're just stealing money from the dumb, who deserve to be broke, I guess. That's the only way I can justify the Slash guitar.

falstro · #17 03-11-2008, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jumbotron

It seems to me that the question that lead this thread is backwards. Slash doesn't need a signature guitar--he's got plenty of guitars.

The real question is: why does Gibson need to make a Slash sig Les Paul? And the answer is that they can sell it, even if they charge $5000.

Jumbotron, I think you nailed it!

Baryonyx · #18 03-11-2008, 09:08 AM

The Slash model is a bit pointless, imo!

GregC · #19 03-11-2008, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Precisely. But... if an awesome sounding and playing instrument is then tagged a "signature" instrument, there goes the price about two grand worth, and that instrument instantly jumps well out of your reasonable affordable reach.

But I think the Slash is the exception, rather than the rule. I can reel off the names of plenty of signature basses that don't cost any more than comparable, non-sigged instruments, starting with my Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub and Daryl Jones. Sting, Hoppus, Joe Osborn, Duck Dunn, Marcus Miller, etc.

Obviously, there's the EVH Frankenguitar. I wonder if the high-priced sig model is more prevalent in the guitar world than the bass world.

Bryan316 · #20 03-11-2008, 09:33 AM

Well then take the Zakk Wylde example. Go order up an antique white Les Paul Special, Custom, or USA, and paint a bullzeye on it. BLAMMO, Zakk's guitar. His "Holy Grail" guitar was nothing out of the ordinary. What made it unique, to him, was playing every guitar in the store waaay back when he was 19 years old, and finding that one LP that had that special, magical combination of the right chunks of woods with the right harmonics and the right grain structure and the right build quality, that made it his "Holy Grail" and irreplacable to him.

It's not cuz Gibson did something extra special with that one guitar. It's just the magic of wood and the anomalies of instruments. I guarandamntee you, If you pick up ten legit Gibson Bullzeye's, you'll find keepers and you'll find stale duds. But they'll ALL be $3600. Even the duds.

But if I go pick up a Lakland, a Pedulla, a Thor, a Modulus, I seriously doubt I'd find a "dud". And none of those axes will be a $5000 dust collector.