Artist signatures on guitars?

[Chad]

The thread with the guy trying to sell a guitar with a semi-famous guitar player's signature for $6,000 (actually $7,000 in some posts) got me to thinking about a few things. Didn't want to clutter the listing further, so I'll post some thoughts here:

1. That is the kind of stuff that leads to some pros/celebrities not wanting to sign things. Guys like the artist in question often sign out of kindness and appreciation of their fans. To see somebody trying to profit to this level from what was likely a free signature is exploiting said artist's goodwill to the extreme. I can't personally wish the seller good luck with the sale because it's just wrong IMO.

2. I have a strong feeling that guitar WILL NOT sell for even close to what the seller is asking. I'd venture to say the signature might be worth $50 to $100 to a die-hard fan of the band.

3. To me, the guitar is actually worth LESS with the signature. I don't want signatures on guitars. From my perspective, the guitar is flawed because it has Sharpie marks on it. I used to be big into Ibanez Icemans in the 90s and owned a lot of them. There was always a connection to Kiss because of Paul's signature Icemen, but I don't really like Kiss. I remember one seller had an Iceman on Ebay that had been signed on the front with a silver Sharpie by the members of Kiss. I emailed the seller to ask if the signatures were removable. lol. He edited his ad to say they were.

4. The artist in question isn't extremely popular on this forum. Yeah, there are some fans, but overall...well, there is a thread dedicated to the artist that has the subject "#%$@ %^**&@ sucks balls." I have heard lots of fans of that guitar say they like it because of what it is, not because of the artist it is affiliated with. Point being: not much chance of selling it on this forum.

5. The only posts the seller has made on this forum are related to selling that guitar. Lame.

In close, if that guitar sold for even 1/2 what the seller is asking I would be absolutely AMAZED!

Discuss.

[nateb]

Or you could spend a grand less and buy one of the guitars that the artist, that shall not be named, actually painted.

[VitaminG]

I emailed the seller to ask if the signatures were removable. lol.

I've done that!

[Axewielder]

There is one important exception when it comes to the Phil Collen guitars. As many Ibanez JEM collectors know, Vai sometimes added doodles to the back of the LNG's in addition to his sig. However, not many people realize that Phil did the same thing on occasion! Those are quite rare and trade for a PREMIUM on the used guitar market (well north of $6K).

[Mr Sandman]

A couple of years ago down here we had some Fender Squires signed by Angus Young floating around, done up in an AC/DC boxed tribute thingoes in glass casing and shit... The seller wanted 5, 6, 7 grand each for them LOL. If it was an SG special I`d say fair enough to ask,,,, but the whole Angus tribute thing and the axe was a Fender Squire LOL.

I see other shit on ebay pop up from time to time too like Hank Marvins sig on a Charvel. LOL

Also, guitars signed by artists who you`ve never heard of makes me go WTF.... We have this half-arsed guitar mag down here called Guitarist Australia. I stopped buying it cause it`s actually pretty embarassing. A couple of months ago they had a comp, win a guitar singed by ___________ & _______________ and I had to google them to find out who the fuck they are... FAIL!!!
and... what would happen if you won it and asked them not sign it,,,,, or to remove the sig,,,,, or your playing your axe that you won and someone says "Whose signiture is that?" and you say "___ ______" and then they say "So who the fuck is that then?" LOL, FAIL and WTF

Sigs on axes, you can take it or leave it I guess... each to thier own. I`m not really into it but if I could get some megastars sig on an acoustic beater I think that would be very cool though... just for me.

I don`t have anything to do with the classifieds in here for obvious reasons.
I don`t see anything wrong with that guy coming in here trying to pimp his over-priced shit!
Phils` sig on that axe would be worth something to someone I guess it`s just not something that I personally give a shit about.

Carry on...

[Jack Napalm]

The thread with the guy trying to sell a guitar with a semi-famous guitar player's signature for $6,000 (actually $7,000 in some posts) got me to thinking about a few things. Didn't want to clutter the listing further, so I'll post some thoughts here:

I agree with you on points 2 & 5. The other points I just haven't thought about it to have an opinion that's worth a shit. When I saw the listing it was amusing.

[Ward]

[kermitz]

Autographs aren't my thing, but that's just me. I wouldn't pay any more than the actual value of it.

[QuantumRider]

I had Mike Shannon sign the trem cavity cover of my DK2M the first time that I met him.

When I put the guitar up on Yahoo! Auction a few years later, I stated in my listing:

"This guitar was NOT built by Mike Shannon, I just got him to sign the trem cover. I have a spare blank trem cavity cover if you don't want one with his signature on it."

The buyer preferred the unmarked cover, so I still have the piece of plastic that says "Mike Shannon 11/04/2007".

[Larz]

If it is done aftermarket, not really into it because you never know about authenticity.

[veemagic]

I do agree with you on the signature. I too was a bit surprised by the up charge on the unmentioned ad. Just out of curiosity, what is the best way to remove a silver Sharpie pen signature applied over the finish?

[roodyrocker]

I have some stuff signed either by the artist or builder but none for the purpose of reselling and none that are overtly visible from the front of the guitar. A couple of my ESP Lynch models I got him to sign on the back of the headstock. I also have a Jackson trem cover signed by Grover Jackson, Wayne Charvel, Mike Shannon, Tim Wilson, Dan Lawrence, Seymour Duncan, and Dimarzio. It's for sentimental value, not $ value to me.
Anyway, if I was a famous artist and signed something for you and you later sold it it would not bother me one bit.

[javert]

I would never pay big bucks for a signature on a guitar, and I would also never put an upcharge like the one in question on a guitar of mine. I don't mind a discreet artist signature on a guitar, in fact, I think it's quite cool when done right, like on the back of the headstock. I was considering buying one of the new Broderick Jacksons from the Music Zoo and I thought it was quite cool that he had signed the back of the headstock. There was a white RR1 for sale here in Denmark where the owner had some unknown (up-and-coming in his mind) band sign the front of the body of guitar! There should be some kind of cruel and unusual punishment for something like that... The guy even used it as a sales pitch.

[jgcable]

Its all up to the buyer. Signatures only add value to a fan of the person who signed it. I think the cooler guitars are the ones that were actually owned and played by the famous player.
I will tell you how much I care about signatures.. I have a 1st year Nuno Bettencourt N2 that was signed by Nuno when the guitar was new. Over all the years of me playing it his signature has finally completely worn off. I am actually bummed out about it a little. I thought it added a little mojo to the guitar. In hindsight I would have cleared over the signature so that it would have lasted. I didn't think it would bother me but it actually does.

[jgcable]

My favorite signature.... the Uli Jon Roth signature Bill got for me a few years ago on a concert playbill. It encased in a plastic display stand. I would pay extra for a guitar with his signature on it just to know he actually touched the guitar.