Be totally Honest - Are you paying for Steve Vai's name?

Given to Fly · #1 10-19-2001, 05:14 PM

On the Universe is it worth that amount of money or are you paying a lot because Steve Vai designed it? I can get a UV with case for between $1400-$1600. Good Deal? Thanks a Bunch

Rich · #2 10-19-2001, 05:19 PM

With any signature model you are paying a premium for the artists name, since the company has to pay the artist a % of every piece sold.

Good deal? Sure, but, eh, drop me a line, I could do you better.

jay ratkowski · #3 10-20-2001, 01:56 PM

what Rich said... except he can get you a better deal than me... especially since I don't own a UV. *

evopogov3 · #4 10-20-2001, 03:16 PM

I don't have any guitar with steve's name on it. *But I did buy a guitar cable that had it on it, and it's no better than the cheap $3.00 ones to my ears, and actually lasted not quite as long as them either.

(Edited by evopogov3 at 3:17 pm on Oct. 20, 2001)

Whatson · #5 10-20-2001, 03:52 PM

Yeah I've found usually things endorsed by people with a lot of power are better than the local rabble. *But you pay around 3 or 4 times as much.

* Joel

Jimi D · #6 10-20-2001, 08:54 PM

I own three Jems and a Universe and none of them have Steve Vai's name on them...

And I don't know what guitars I could buy for the same money that would be any better, with or without endorsements.

These are fine upper-end mass-production instruments, and I think mine are as good as any of the high end Fenders or Jacksons or whatever I've owned. The woods used are good. The hardware is good. They're kind of finicky but once set up properly it's hard to find a better playing bolt-neck guitar. Whether or not they are "for you" is a personal decision, but I think that anyone running around trying to trash Jems on the bang-for-buck issue is digging in the wrong hole. Cosmetics are a factor in the cost of any guitar, and you pay a premium for the Jem's Monkey Grip or the UV's pearloid binding as surely as you do for a PRS "10" top or an ESP "Bengal" paint job. Many people argue that a Les Paul Studio is just as good as a Les Paul Standard because it has all the same hardware and woods; the price difference is simply the result of the LP Studio's lesser cosmetics. But an LP Studio will never be a Les Paul Standard, and it will never have the resale value of a Les Paul Standard. Any given guitar costs what it costs. Jem's are dirt cheap compared to a good pro keyboard nowadays... Do you have any idea how much a good drumset will set you back? My wife (who gigs a good deal more than I do) just commissioned another Celtic Harp that will cost us a sight more than the cost of two or three Jems. Why people keep harping on the prices? Because - as our keyboard player will joyfully point out every chance he gets - guitarists are cheap bastards! It's a wonder anyone can make a living selling the things on the margins they must have to accept to move 'em, unless of course you're selling Dillion or Jay Turser or Danelectro or some other low rent Chinese crap that people will buy because it's less than $300 and has six strings on it...

hmm... I'm ranting...

shutting up now

7 Dying Trees · #7 10-22-2001, 12:21 PM

You pay a bit for the name, but when I bought my Jem I didn't actually want to buy one because of the signature thing, but then I played it and was lost. Best guitar I played all day. Hooked from the moment I touched it. SO they are more expensive, but when youy play it you suddenly realise why...

jem7vwh · #8 10-22-2001, 08:05 PM

I'm sure that when you buy a JEM you're paying for Steve Vai's endorsement. *However, when you buy an RG you're paying for Orgy, Korn, Pennywise etc name. *Fact is, any product that is endorsed is going to have some built in cost due to promotional costs. *

However, I wouldn't say that Steve Vai's name is the leading reason that JEMs are more expensive than RGs.

EDIT: *additionally, I'd have to struggle pretty hard to think of a guitar that doesn't have built-in endorsement costs.

Strats: *Clapton, Rait, SRV, Hendrix
Les Pauls: *Gary Moore, Jimmy Page, Ace Frehley, Slash
Jacksons: *Randy Rhodes, Amir Derak, Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Buckethead

Fact is, even if the artists aren't being *paid* to play the brand, it still costs the company money to advertise said artists' endorsement and guess who's paying for that?

(Edited by jem7vwh at 8:09 pm on Oct. 22, 2001)

YngVaiTriani · #9 10-26-2001, 11:30 PM

If you're buying an RG7 string, I would not say you're paying for Korn's name.

If you're buying a K7 (Korn 7 string) then you're paying for Korn's name.

That's why each artist has their own specific model.
ie. SRV strat, Clapton Strat, Hendrix Strat etc...

jeffrey · #10 10-27-2001, 04:04 AM

Yeah they only get royalties for the ones with their actual names on'em.

jem7vwh · #11 10-27-2001, 12:59 PM

true, but there are artists who are paid to endorse Ibanez in general. *For instance, when you're buying an RG-7, you're paying for Dino from Fear Factory, Ryan Shuck from Orgy and others who are not as well known. *When you buy an AX, you're paying John 5 of Marilyn Manson's endorsement. *When you buy a GRX you're paying Andy Timmon's endorsement since he's the face they put on those. *Point is, with every guitar you're paying for a certain amount of marketing and endorsements. *Not just with a "signature" model. *Name a production model guitar and I'll find someone who's being paid to play it.

also, to Jeffrey's point that the artists only get paid if you purchase their sig item, even if that's true, it doesn't change the fact that the price of marketing those artists playing (Ie. Dino, Orgy, Pennywize, Korn, Vai) is built in to all the product. *Every company builds in marketing costs to it's product. *I was once told by a buddy in Accounting at GM that the cost of promoting Corvette's affects the price of a new Lumina. *All of a companies aggregate costs are going to be built in to it's prices. *Just because Fear Factory doesn't have a sig. model that doesn't mean it isn't expensive to promote Dino playing an RG-7. *And that cost is built in to the price of a new RG-7.

(Edited by jem7vwh at 1:02 pm on Oct. 27, 2001)

YngVaiTriani · #12 10-28-2001, 01:00 AM

Oh that's true.
There's a difference between a Signature model and a pre existing model that another guitarist(s) chose to play.
Obviously the sig. models would cost more in terms the the "name"

Whatson · #13 10-28-2001, 02:46 AM

There's a hendrix signature? *I didn't know that, crazy. *But yeah I'd say fender's probably the worste of your problems, jem's don't seem to be too bad on the whole endorsment thing, their worth what you pay. *Fender's on the other hand! *I'm gettin myself started so I'll just stop before I get into a murderous rage.

* Joel

Polaris20 · #14 10-28-2001, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Quote: from jem7vwh on 6:05 pm on Oct. 22, 2001
I'm sure that when you buy a JEM you're paying for Steve Vai's endorsement. *However, when you buy an RG you're paying for Orgy, Korn, Pennywise etc name. *Fact is, any product that is endorsed is going to have some built in cost due to promotional costs. *

However, I wouldn't say that Steve Vai's name is the leading reason that JEMs are more expensive than RGs.

EDIT: *additionally, I'd have to struggle pretty hard to think of a guitar that doesn't have built-in endorsement costs.

Strats: *Clapton, Rait, SRV, Hendrix
Les Pauls: *Gary Moore, Jimmy Page, Ace Frehley, Slash
Jacksons: *Randy Rhodes, Amir Derak, Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Buckethead

Fact is, even if the artists aren't being *paid* to play the brand, it still costs the company money to advertise said artists' endorsement and guess who's paying for that?

(Edited by jem7vwh at 8:09 pm on Oct. 22, 2001)

Excellent point. Every guitar manufacturer pays an artist(s) to endorse their models, right down to the crappy $250 guitars. Any of you see the ads saying so and so is playing a Squire Stagemaster?

Bottom line is, do you like the guitar? Then buy it. If you don't like it, or you feel cheated because you're paying more because it has an artist's name on it, then don't buy it.

But if you buy it because it's got your favorite artist's name on it, but you're not sure if you like it, then you're a sucker.
(Unless, of course, you're a collector).

jem7vwh · #15 10-28-2001, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Quote: from Whatson on 2:46 am on Oct. 28, 2001
There's a hendrix signature? *I didn't know that, crazy. *But yeah I'd say fender's probably the worste of your problems, jem's don't seem to be too bad on the whole endorsment thing, their worth what you pay. *Fender's on the other hand! *I'm gettin myself started so I'll just stop before I get into a murderous rage.

* Joel

Yeah, it's called a Voodoocaster and don't think for a second that Al Hendrix (Jimi's dad) isn't making $$$ off of it.