My Problem With Signature Guitar Gear

[@hiroprotagonitis]

This is the youngest boomer on the platform

[@viniciuseduardobomfim]

I know I'm not alone in thinking that if a "Signature Instrument" simply looks cool, that's enough reason for me to consider buying it. I know I'll never play like Slash, nor would I ever try to copy him, but between his "Victoria" Gold Top Les Paul and the regular 50's Gold Top Standard, I'd take his model any day of the week, the dark back and lack of pickguard just makes it prettier imo. I also never imagined myself lusting over an Ibanez, but Tim Henson's new signature model in Metallic Mauve really caught my eye, that guitar is GORGEOUS. I'm not even a Polyphia fan, as amazing as it is, their style of playing doesn't do anything for me. Yet, if I had the disposable income, I'd buy it just to play Wonderwall and some boomer bends 😂

[@cum123]

same with the evh striped series man!

[@viniciuseduardobomfim]

@@cum123 hell yeah, what Eddie could do with a guitar, I wouldn't be able to replicate even 5% after a hundred years practicing. But I would love to own one of those guitars.

[@cum123]

@@viniciuseduardobomfim yeah bro im 13, saving up for a striped series bro. im doing sidejobs and everything for that thing, i really wanna have it lol

[@viniciuseduardobomfim]

@@cum123 keep on the grind bro, you'll get there :D

[@Spesta]

Yes! I bought a TOD10 a while back been the best guitar couse every time i look at it i just want to pick it up and play. Also the reason i bought the guitar is becous of the looks!

[@PocinTheTech]

The first thing I have to tell every new musician is: "If you can't play like the person you admire, owning the gear won't make you sound like him. And if you can play like him, you will realise, that you don't need his gear."

[@hoilst265]

"Tone is in the fingers. If it was the gear, we'd all be plugging Strats into Marshalls" - quote from an old guitar magazine I had.

[@PocinTheTech]

@@hoilst265 I don’t want to act like gear has no effect on tone. Not everything can be reproduced with well enough technique. But the way gear and tone is marketed towards beginners really sickens me.

[@Joemcncheese]

Something about the Kurt Cobain jag is that it is probably worst option of Kurt Jaguar to buy if you want a replica of his actual guitar. The colour is wrong, the pickup positions are wrong, the neck is wrong, pretty much everything about it is wrong and yet Fender have the ambition to call it a replica of his guitar

[@iamsirenhead5993]

I know he had the best intentions of providing accurate information for the Kurt cobain portion of the video, but it’s simply not there. Just the same as how Mikey is obsessed with Jimi, Kurt was my guitar hero, so let me bring some information to the table. Kurt was a perfectionist dispite what others may think. He tried to be the best player as best as he could when it came to songwriting, but in the live setting he was as sloppy as ever, but not to the extent Mikey shows, if you listen to the bleach record Kurt is 101% playing a proper G open chord. If you’ve watched as many live shows as I have and studied his playing as much as I did you can tell that he definite wasn’t a technical player but he definitely had his own style going on.

[@wirrwarr808]

Would you say, he really had no clue about music theory and so on, what so many people claim? I mean, he said it in an interview by himself, but iam really not sure, that his real point was to say, that he have no clues at all.

[@iamsirenhead5993]

@@wirrwarr808 Kurt definitely didn’t lie about not knowing any theory, he wasn’t your average guitar player. I suspect everything he wrote he just did by ear or what he thought sounded good

[@wirrwarr808]

@@iamsirenhead5993 Thx for your answer and your interesting comment on top. It just confuses me, how he could find always the right notes, and also translate it to the guitar, when he was so "blind" when it's about theory. And was able to write so so many good songs. In germany we say, "a blind Chicken is also able to find a corn." XD But he seem to find so many corns as a blind chicken. hehe I mean, yeah...its all about feel and that you can feel the right notes and just make the right decisions which come truly from your self...but it just amazes me, how he could translate it so good to the guitar and all.

[@Chicken853]

Jack white uses 100-300 dollar pedals and has a sear silver tone amp from the 60s the only thing I can afford is the tele and a 100 dollar fender frontman20g

[@panamajack5972]

Behringer makes some damn accurate pedal clones that you can pick up for $30-60. Can't really get around having to drop a dime on a nice amp though.

[@hotrodjones74]

Need a better amp? Look for a used Boss Katana or a Vox Valvetronix. I bought my Vox Valvetronix 100 for $171 dollars at a used guitar store in my area, called Music Go Round. Thare quite a Boss Katanas on the used market as well for under $250. You really won't need more than a couple of pedals for that rig (like a distortion and overdrive cheap; Amazon clones will do). Lastly get a good set up on your Telecaster, assuming it's a Squier and you're off to the races.

[@Chicken853]

@@holderrrrname not really his replica is 1280 and the amp is really expensive, plus he uses a big muff which is $100 pedal

[@Chicken853]

@@hotrodjones74 I’ll look into it, thanks.

[@Chicken853]

@@holderrrrname oh ok

[@jk-76]

More musicians need to admit they don't know why they like a guitar. Most time it isn't tangible but people think they need to justify their gear purchases. Sometimes we just like something. You can get better guitars for less.

[@justinchoy476]

ehhhhhhhhhh there are objective things (you like the pickups, the neck fits in your hand, etc) but ultimately that's to your point that sometimes we just like the guitar.

[@michaelbeaudo6761]

As a representative of the cult of offset, I’m willing to admit that what I love about the guitars is just that they look so dang cool. Theres no other reason why I would want deal with such a finicky instrument over something easy and standard like a tele. Ive grown to love all the weird stuff about them like the floating trem and weird switching but it’s definitely not something I would put up with if I didnt think the they just looked so cool. To be honest I think I loved the guitar first and then found out I loved the musicians associated with them and the music they inspired later on after that . I wasnt a huge Dinosaur Jr or Sonic Youth fan until years after I owned a Jazzmaster.

[@michaelbeaudo6761]

As a representative of the cult of offset, I’m willing to admit that what I love about the guitars is just that they look so dang cool. Theres no other reason why I would want deal with such a finicky instrument over something easy and standard like a tele. Ive grown to love all the weird stuff about them like the floating trem and weird switching but it’s definitely not something I would put up with if I didnt think the they just looked so cool. To be honest I think I loved the guitar first and then found out I loved the musicians associated with them and the music they inspired later on after that . I wasnt a huge Dinosaur Jr or Sonic Youth fan until years after I owned a Jazzmaster.

[@Okanehira]

Love the longer videos man

[@robban556]

I like your shorts but this is the best video I’ve seen from you. Keep making em!

[@trev3971]

There's nothing lazy about "About a Girl." An open E minor chord only involves two fingers, no matter who is playing. When you yelled "wrong" you were playing E major.

[@THE-CRT]

That is in fact, not how he played about a girl, the g chord was just the 3rd fret on the low and high E strings, everything else open aside from the a string which would get muted by his middle finger playing the root g on the low e.

[@WhoDaF0ok1sThatGuy]

I’ve got a funny story. When I was trying to chase Dave Murray’s tone, I didn’t get it with a Dirty Marshall and MXR Dist+, I got it from a MXR Distortion+ and a Tube Screamer fed into a clean Marshall and Fender Deluxe. I also got that tone with an HSH configuration despite him using HSS and his leads being in the neck position.

[@JCVidZ0912]

personally as a huge kurt cobain fan, i didn't get his signature jag. instead i opted for a cheaper squier that i preferred the finish of and am planning on modding in a humbucker on the bridge (it came with two single coils)

[@Raptor5dino]

Same here! Though won't you have to route out the body to fit humbuckers? I'd love to get that sound, but I don't wanna cut into my guitar to fit those in there lmao

[@Vkiller711]

Maybe a hot rails in the bridge so that you don’t have to route it

[@obsidiancrow450]

I will say its cool when players like Johnny Marr actually use their opportunity to make cool and unique modifications to their guitars but yeah most aren't that cool. jimis strat is just a strat lets be real

[@Henryyouknowthatguy]

Your videos are awesome

[@oliverholland7236]

My fav example of this is the Jaco signature bass. Jaco played an old beat up Fender Jazz which he get second hand for hardly anything, which he ripped the frets out himself with a butter knife and covered the fret board with boat lacquer cause he had no money (according to Jaco own account). It was a normal Fender Jazz which he defretted himself, only cost him a few hundred dollars at the time. I've seen The Jaco signature bass go for nearly £3000. Disgusting.

[@legacyShredder1]

Except almost everything about that story isn't true.

[@oliverholland7236]

@@legacyShredder1 that's the story that Jaco tells himself in multiple interviews, but I have heard before he's not exactly reliable. I think the point still stands that he played a pretty normal Fender Jazz that had been defretted, and the Jaco signature bass goes for massively more than his setup could have been worth.

[@legacyShredder1]

@@oliverholland7236 I wont disagree with the point, because you're mostly right.

[@Henriqueleal0609]

I’m gonna be real, I like these longer vids but this one has NOTHING to do with signature gear. You talked about it for like, 7 minutes tops.

[@lucasfigueroa1602]

he meant that technique is what makes someone sound signature, not gear lol

[@RadiPlaysGames2]

7 minutes tops in a 10 minute video.

[@JamesDeanLP]

7 minutes in a 10 minute video? You mean like 70% of his video? Those 3 minutes you assume he wasn’t talking about it was him using evidence to support his claim that if you want to sound like the people you like, you need to learn how to do what they do

[@oliverholland7236]

Well I liked the video. I don't think the point in the vid was to sit and read wiki articles and product pages about dead guitarist gear.

[@KentuckyBullrat32]

Is this satire?

[@wirrwarr808]

I bought the Kurt Cobain Jaguar mostly because I read only good things about it and very good reviews on Thomann for example, everyone gave it full points. Also it seem to be one of the best Jaguars with the better Gibson Bridge for example and the very Nice Pick Ups. So it's a good Mix between a Fender and a Gibson and you also have the Benefit that its a Kurt Cobain Guitar, when you like him or his Music. Idk why, but I mostly like a binding on the Neck a lot, and that Guitar have it as well, and it can also be pretty versatile since it have a good amount of options.

[@sunlightInky]

the ai upscaled videos look so soulless

[@joshuacamps4990]

Agreed, they're so disingenuous, I hate them

[@youreallygotmenow4855]

They are horrible and creepy as fuck! I mean, look at poor Kurt at 0:04 😕

[@hoilst265]

@@joshuacamps4990 They took down the video for one of my favourite songs - "Summertime" by The Sundays - and the dork who reuploaded it did us all a "favour" by running it through an upscaler so he could put "(Remastered Music Video)" in the titled. YOU REMASTERED NOTHING.

[@sluggmeister7705]

Hey Mikey you're a real one. much love ❤🤘

[@NlRVANALiveOnAir]

what do you think about the Stevie ray Vaughan signature guitar? number 1 or lenny strat

[@aptfx]

@mikeypiscopo I'm generally agreeing with much of your points in the video, but with one: There actually is one real reason for some of thus signature guitars: If you're a lefty guitarist and in search for a Jaguar or Mustang style guitar suitable for stuff like Nirvana, there are nearly no easy options besides of the official signature ones. Of course one could "just" build one by yourself... but even try getting ANY Jaguar or Mustang body and parts to start with for lefties. It's possible of course but far less easy than doing the same with right handed models. In the end you would pay a lot anyway so just getting it off the shelf as a start is not a bad thing a all.

[@GuyThomsonVideography]

I bought a signature guitar as it helped motivate me to play more. So yeah worth the extra bucks in my case 💰

[@benjielnguyen1661]

3:39 thats one saucy riff you got there

[@blakepennington6539]

Fr You know the name of it?

[@josh-rh]

When I got into Kurt Cobain I was just learning how to play guitar and my parents wouldn’t by me any gear that I wanted so I play for years with a cheap £30 amp and a tele knock of with a Strat shaped headstock. For Christmas one year I got a ds-1 and that’s the only piece of Kurt Cobain gear I ever got. When I finally moved up to some better gear it was a white Jazzmaster which I stil use today. And in the bit where he’s talking about Kurt playing the chorus to about a girl, me as a self taught person played like that before I heard Kurt Cobain.

[@michaelmenkes8085]

The Fender model of signature models is to replicate the model historically played by the artist. They even put on the signature duct tape. Everyone else's model is to spec the guitar to the artist's specs and let them make history with it. Even the Gibson Iommi SG special comes with new factory finish and the monkey decal is optional.

[@creepingnet]

I run a couple of signatures in my collection (Hondo Paul Dean II, Fender Jag-Stang), but its because I see some great potential in what they offer that I can take in my own direction. The Jag-Stang showed some surprising tuning stability with the stock whammy, and the last owner put EMGs in it (SA/81)...it's its own thing. I play more like a shredder, and that's been my #1 goto guitar for over 20 years now. I've made my own tweaks as well. I payed VERY little for it used. The Hondo Paul Dean II I run mostly stock, except I put DiMarzio Super IIs in it like the Odyssey it's based on. Turns out it has the resonance Paul Dean (Loverboy) intended, but strangely, it translates to my tone just as well as it does Paul Dean's and seems to help with controlled feedback, which I use a lot. And yes, I'm a fan of both Nirvana and Loverboy...but thats auxilary at this point.

[@waltjames407]

"Power chords" are roots and 5ths. Playing a root, a 5th and then another root on an "extra string" is still a "power chord." If you play an E chord with the 3rd string muted, that's a "power chord," and that one is 5 strings. If you play a G chord with the 5th string muted and a D on the second string (getting rid of the 3rds/B's), that is also a 5-string "power chord." The only qualifier for "power chord" is that it's all roots and perfect 5ths. It's not just that simple 2-string shape on the fretboard. 2 adjacent strings at the same fret also qualifies as a "power chord," it's just inverted. The "Smoke on the Water" riff is "power chords," but with the roots on top and the 5ths on the bottom.

[@demetrenikabadze5738]

We want your guitar collection to see

[@panamajack5972]

Tone is like 75% bought, the other 25% is skill. Go ahead and play EVH perfect on an amp without gain or pedals. At some point, money has to be spent, just not to what corporations want you to spend.

[@sevenchambers]

Delusional.

[@AxeXavier]

Playing guitar is like a fight, even with an unplugged guitar you can play like your life depends on it.

[@caiusmadison2996]

EVH actually didn't use distortion, he used Dimarzio humbuckers on a Marshall originally. That's it. Crank it, you will hear the sound. Actually, most classic era metal is NOT distortion, or any pedals.

[@panamajack5972]

@@caiusmadison2996 sounds like 2 pieces of expensive gear

[@hey9433]

@@panamajack5972 Wow, a guitar and an amp. No shit. Did you want him to air guitar the solo? We're talking about supplemental gear. You NEED a guitar and a good amp if you want to become motivated and decent sounding. You do NOT need a bunch of expensive pedals or cords or gear.

[@jdeadpool7308]

Could you maybe cover the ramones in a future video?

[@adamsadler2563]

My favorite guitar is a signature EOB strat, but i’ve modded the crap out of it. Just wanted a guitar set up for a sustainer already

[@Versechorusverse-n2r]

Dude ovation ultra gp guitars used to be cheap but since everyone found out Josh Homme played one they’ve gone up about $5k from their original price. Same goes for the Eastwood reproductions

[@Gliese710_]

I feel like a much more appropriate price for the jag-stang would’ve been $400-$500, since Kurt notoriously only ever played cheap guitars.

[@Mang0Man0-kd4in]

Imagine drowning in bodies while having a guitar ontop of you. They could grab your strap. Kurt must have felt horrified

[@moonlight11511]

I wanna get Kirk Hammett's ESP LTD KH-602 because I think it looks awesome. And what is probably the most important part is that since it's Kirk Hammett and Metallica, and it makes me wanna pick it up and play more.

[@jpteix]

For me a signature model is only warranted if the guitar the artist used was 1/1. Like the custom built rosewood Tele made by hand for George Harrison

[@Lemoncrusher4455]

Live at Redding you can see Kurt plays with one finger then index and ring for the G

[@blakepennington6539]

What was the natural sound song at 3:40?

[@evsrax9556]

I feel perhaps jimis pick was held the way it was because of how big is thumb was so it seemed like it hung over more but was probably comfortable

[@AmiGuitar]

It’s confirmed. Mickey eats strings

[@micahfibranz]

9:22 tho

[@BeatlesWeezerFan1995]

Best artist models: George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster and the Rocky Strat

[@thedouble1269]

about a girl rips and you just casually covered it perfectly edit: that is the only real way to do it i guess

[@michaellanyon1232]

Imagine if Hendrix heard Holdsworth

[@Randome_Dude]

I agree but sometimes pedals are needet for example the Song Radio friendly unit Shifter you need an poly chorus or else it will not Sound like it

[@superhall911]

Nice video

[@506hunterst]

The only signature thing I have is a David Ellefson Kelly bird Bass, and its only cause I found really cheap, and has great pickups

[@TheRealxVincent]

I have several parts instruments I built myself. Wouldn't trade them for anything

[@PrettyboyAshtun]

i’m a huge kurt cobain fan but i never wanted any of his guitar models im content with my explorer guitars

[@michaelegan3522]

The Cobain signature jag-stang is probably one of the worst looking guitars I've ever seen

[@CorbinSmith-yf3wd]

This video could be swapped for "Eric Johnson Signature [xyz]" and people trying to sound like him. While the Signature Eric Johnson Stratocaster is an incredibly well made instrument you will NOT sound like Eric at all unless you master all the nuances of the right and left hands.

[@ReincarnatedKurtCobain]

you'd make Kurt both very happy and angry because he didn't want corporate America to take his identity and make him this figurehead for more executive weirdos to benefit off of him (Textbook Definition of Exploitation.)

[@ReincarnatedKurtCobain]

still, nice playing.

[@bramletr1]

Great video. Remember when there only used to be a few signature guitars? Now it seems like every artist has one.

[@cameronaiello3748]

if you like the guitar, buy it

[@DaveDave-ot1on]

Rip bruce

[@zephyr8465]

ultimate jimmy, kurt and stevie meat rider

[@BataraKado]

your wrong about the about a girl chorus, its a normal g chord, you can even hear it in live and loud performance, thanks for misleading guitar newbs @mikey piscopo

[@armandvanjaarsveld2364]

08:00, toothpaste stain 🤣

[@NermInator-q2p]

Modest mouse

[@NermInator-q2p]

Float on

[@CalebA_Guitarist]

i like how Billie Joe Armstrong looks at his signatures, as a blank canvas, the main reason why i would want his epiphone over the normal epi jr is the fact that its a blank Canvas, and not sunburst

[@cyropencap3526]

Bro mewing

[@andreasjohansson1990]

Are you allowed to talk about Nirvana, a band your conservative father should hate?

[@michaelegan3522]

What a weird and goofy comment

[@Henryyouknowthatguy]

First😂

[@M4ssExtinction]

so basically, strum a lot and don't mute strings to be kurt

[@jk-76]

You have to pretend that practicing is for suckers also.

[@LizordSword]

​@@jk-76kurt was infamous for CONSTANTLY practicing

[@jk-76]

@@LizordSword That whole period was for people who could't play very well. Not saying I could have written anything they did, but I could play anything I heard in no time. It was more about the nerds having a time in the soptlight. I think of it as my generations Disco music.

[@oliverb.8995]

@@jk-76 You still can't write anything even close to their level, jock.

[@jk-76]

@@oliverb.8995 Jock?lol Nope.

[@JohnnyAllan-vj7sj]

When my mom was pregnant with me, my dad hooked up an amp and put the cable inside my mom to see if they could hear me. So I plugged in my guitar and started playing Little Wing

[@DelScully]

this is a whack video, stop being an elitist boomer kid lol. People get their favourite artists sig guitar as they admire that person.. Or they like a specific thing about that guitar. For instance tons of people have bought the KC jag and play it completely different than Kurt. The neck pickup alone is incredible... Good luck buying a jag, adding an extra volume, and dimarzio's for less money than the signature. Or guitars like the Johnny Marr jag, it has the bareknuckes in it.

[@TheMrsoulkitchen]

Damn his muscles are getting big, he’s actually way too handsome to be a guitar player, jk. I love your vids bro

[@John-k6f9k]

I can't stand Jeff Beck. Next time you listen to Jeff Beck just ask yourself "Why am I listening to this crap?" Oh wait, nobody actually LISTENS to Jeff Beck, they just like to praise him to look cool in front of their peers.