Re: Your Favorite Signature Gear
I played nothing but Fenders the first 22 years before I got into EBMM guitars so I have quite few sig guitars. It is kind of funny because basically everyone in this thread has said it but I have never bought a guitar because the sig artist was an idol or favorite player growing up. My #1 Strat is a 02 Surf Green Beck sig that I removed the volume knob on and had the guitar rewired. I also had an 02 Oly White Clapton which is one of only 2 guitars I ever regretted selling.I can remember playing 4 of them that day and the 5th one was the charm. About 18 months after buying it the bridge pup just seemed to have up and died, so I brought it to my friends shop and he hooked it to the meter and said "it's dead lol". He didn't have a Vintage Noiseless bridge pup in and told me he could have it in 2 days but I saw he had a Beck Hot Noiseless (which are the only Fender produced noiseless pups I really like and told him to throw it in. Well sometimes simple sh!t like that turns a guitar into something special and with the Mid Boost and TBX that Strat could really sing. In 2010 when EBMM had their first Roasted Maple neck run I sold 3 guitars to get two and one of the regulars who hangs out in the store picked my Clapton over a mint US Deluxe and Strat Ultra. I had to hear him for two weeks about how great the guitar recorded lol, and still haven't replaced the Clapton because I still haven't heard one that clicked with me the first time because when I do a HN is going right in the bridge. When I finally had to crack and get a true humbucker guitar I figured I would be coming home with a LesPaul but the minute I picked up an EBMM EVH sig it was like a Tele (my favorite guitar) on Roids, that was in 92 so the Ed sig was out for over two years. I later picked up a mint Pink model that was slightly faded on Ebay when the economy first crashed for a great price. I wish I had a pic to post, because the guitar has faded a bit and is the only EVH sig I have seen with any kind of fade that actually makes the finish look better. It went to from that bright pink (which I actually do like on that guitar)to a Salmon like finish with the quilt top looks awesome! I get a lot of compliments on that guitar but will only play it indoors as there is no UV blocker is the finish of any of those guitars (which is why so many have faded as badly as looking like a natural finish) but the guitar hasn't changed in the 7 years I have it. When Ed went over to Peavey my friend was a dealer so we were both checking out a lot of models lol. Let me just say if you never saw dealer prices your jaw would drop and those who have know what I mean. So I have quite a few great Wolfgangs including two first year quilts and two CS models. I know when I see threads asking who made the best EVH sig EBMM always tops the list though I think the fact that they are so rare to come by as only 6,000 were made during the whole run plays a part, as there are specs I like better on the EB ans some better on the Peavey. But the best sounding Ed sigs I ever heard are my two custom shop models. Peavey only produced 485 true CS guitars and any Wolf you see on Ebay where the only difference is a rosewood fretboard is not a true CS model. It was a loophole Peavey used to get some out with RW boards as Ed had nixed them, but anything was a go in the CS and Peavey had a killer little CS. That is where all of Ed's guitars were built and their is a really big difference in tone from any other model.So I basically played three guitars Tele, Strat and EVH sig until my friend became an EBMM dealer and his first order was one of each model, as not many stores carried any EB guitars back then even here in NY.I always dug the retro vibe look of the AL but had enough single coil guitars, it wasn't till they put out the AL HH I had to get one. It was also during EB's first run of Roasted Necks with an Ebony board that were a LE run in 2010 that came with a finish called 'Black Sugar' which looks like black, until the lights hit and then it reflects all gold and silver sparkles in the finish. Though not a sig I always liked the Gold Roller but couldn't deal with the all gold finish, so when that LE was offered I got an AL-HH and Roller in the Black Sugar finish which is the best sounding guitar I own! It is the only time I ever plugged a new guitar in at the store and had 8 or 9 customers all around me asking what guitar I was playing and making comments like "That's a one in a million axe"!9Which feels great when it's your axe their talking about). Also two guys offered to buy it off me right there and then . I also have a Purple Sunset Morse Y2D which is an extremely versatile guitar and blast to play. The only sig I was on the fence about is the Petrucci, which is by far EBMM's #1 guitar as the guy has about 13 sigs they have made for him, but the neck is too thin for my personal liking though you can fly on that board and everything else about the guitar is top shelf. But if I had to pay street price I would of passed. I have to admit I have been very fortunate to have two different friends who I know over 25 years and hangout with who happened to own/owned guitar shops. Between getting friend prices and just hanging out behind the counter someone always comes in at least once a week looking to sell something really nice. The only sigs I wouldn't own as someone stated is like a FrankenStrat- Zack Wylde Bullseye Les Paul or any guitar that just screams a certain artist. The only guitar I ever wanted because it was the guitar of one of my idols was a Gretsche 6120 as Setzer was a beast from the get go. I got a call from a friend in Sam Ash that some guy traded in a vintage 6120 and he thought of me off the bat. I flew over there and was so juiced up I almost paid and ran out the door and when my adrenaline came down I grabbed a stool and plugged in and felt a big knot in my stomach as the guitar felt so weird to me. Also the Bigsby felt like they welded the kickstand to a Moped (remember those lol) to the guitars body. I sat there over two hours contemplating and the guitar was a fortune for me, as I was only 19 or 20 so I passed. The funny thing is my favorite guitar is a Tele and my main stage guitar for 15 years straight was an 85 62 re-issue that by 91 was totally tricked out with Dimarzio Fast Track 1's- Medium Jumbo Frets- and I changed the steel threaded barrel saddles to Brass but left the ashtray bridge (As I prefer them) and that guitar can run the classic Rock alphabet from AC/DC to Zep and has been with me 30 years now.
