What’s the deal with pre-aged replica guitars?
January 31st, 2007
I am going to go on a bit of a rant right now and just toss this out there. Can someone please tell me what the appeal of a replica guitar is? Ok, so signature guitars are one thing. You want to sound as close to your guitar idol as humanly possible, so you buy all of their gear including their brand new INSERT GUITAR MANUFACTURER HERE Signature guitar. But I just don’t get where guitar makers are finding a market for all of these replica guitars complete with every scuff, stain, and scratch of the original.
The first one I saw was ESP’s James Hetfield Truckster. It comes complete with the same wear marks that are found on James’ original. Ok… sort of a cool idea, I’ll dig it. Then I came across Dean’s Dimebag Darrell Dean from Hell ML replica. Again… ok, even though I have issues with Dean taking advantage of Dime’s now legend status to sell guitars after his untimely death (RIP Dime).
Then the big announcement at NAMM was Eddie Van Halen worked out a deal with Fender to produce a limited number of exact replicas of his Frankenstrat guitar. Now… I don’t think I need to point out the obvious, but I will anyway. The original wasn’t even a Fender. In fact it said Charvel right on the headstock. So is fender going to go as far as to find the same original parts that went into making the original Frankenstrat? I really don’t think so. Never the less, they will sell for thousands of dollars.
Even as I write this I came across this Gibson Custom Limited Run Zakk Wylde Bullseye Aged Les Paul. Again, who wants to pay $7,999USD for scuffed up replica?
tagged eddie van halen, frankenstrat, les paul, replica guitar and Zakk Wylde
Related Posts
- Protect Your $20,000 Relic with a Great Display Case
- Mini Gibson Les Paul ‘59 Les Paul USB Drive Giveaway
- NAMM 2007 Has Come and Gone
- Fender Stratocaster Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Guitar
January 31st, 2007 09:20
Hehe… it really is amazing, isn’t it? We had a bit of this same conversation when Fender created all that hoopla around their ‘Blackie’ replica.
I just couldn’t see why someone would pay $24,000 for a replica of someone else’s guitar, no matter how much they may love the guitarist.
It’s a freakin’ replica for gawd’s sake!
Should be interesting to see how Fender deals with the Frankenstrat dilemma––unfortunately, with Blackie selling out in the first day I think we can expect a lot more of these things in the future…
Heck, if people are buying I guess I can’t blame them!
January 31st, 2007 09:34
Awwww yeah, the Blackie. I knew there was another one I was forgetting…
I guess some people just have waaay too much money to spend.
January 31st, 2007 11:23
Well, I’ll admit it. I like aged guitars. They just look so much cooler than a shiny brand new guitar. They look tough. Like they’ve lived a hard life on the streets. But I would never pay a lot of money for a replica that looks like someone else’s guitar.
January 31st, 2007 11:47
I agree with the aged guitar thing… It gives it character right? But I’d rather it be aged because I’ve played the crap out of it, not because some crazy luthier at Fender pain stakingly copied every detail from another guitar.
August 27th, 2007 08:50
I love old guitars because those were
made with a quality factor in mind!
The insane replica aging process is the proof they are only after “profits”.
Walk in a guitar store. Try 12 Strats.
You might find one nice guitar the others as good as any other brand half the price tag.
They should use that energy creating
guitars as good or better than those represented by the replicas. Can’t They?
January 24th, 2008 17:39
So I don’t play. But this X-mas I built (assembled) a Les Paul type kit for my son. Luckily I found an AMAZING luthier that made it sing! Anyway, here’s my point: I asked him about these guitars. (I saw a Clapton “Black Betty” replica the company had sold out of) Well, my son likes the scuffed up guitars too, like they’ve been dragged behind a truck. But he admitted that if he’s going to play one, he wants to “earn” those scuffs himself by playing the s–t out of it! He wouldn’t get a tat, punch himself in the eye and then call himself an Ultimate Fighter. That made me proud.
June 10th, 2008 13:18
I agree, the reason is mostly just profit. Most of these replicas are built for glass cases NOT really to be played. Its a symbol that people with alot of wealth are willing to pay a heafty amount, Im willing to bet some of the buyers of EVH’s frankie and Clapton’s blackie dont even play guitar.
They put it in a glass case and probably lie to many that its the original, and who could tell…maybe the artist..anyway as long as people spend the same amount of money on a guitar that you would for a car, Fender, Gibson, etc. will continue to make them. Gota admit though, they sure are cool to look at.