|
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Do the words, special artist deluxe custom limited edition, mean anything anymore or are they just another model name? Nadia's post made me think this. It seems like she thinks she's getting much more than is really there?
Have at it ya'll...... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | don't you wish everything had a 10 scale sticker on it. might do away with those overused adjectives and adverbs that would make an eskimo want to buy a moose turd pie. those adamas that had a sound value following the serial number---------totally cool. it even shows the difference between guitars of the same model. the bottom line is caveat emptor. any time you shop for something without doing your homework you stand the chance of having someone set the big treble hook right where it hurts and reeling you in.
[ April 10, 2002: Message edited by: musicamex ] |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | My opinion:
"Euphamisms and marketing ploys".
If something (like a guitar) WERE truly "limited edition", it should be emblazoned (albeit subtlely and tastefully) "137/300" on the headstock (like you would find in the margin of a quality serigraph or lithograph print). Too many of these "titles" are bantered about and doled out like penny candy by manufacturers these days.
I have this running joke going with my girlfriend abouth this same dark red Plymouth PT Cruiser that's been "following us EVERYWHERE we go" for the past six months. Sometimes in the course of a Saturday afternoon of errands or a long drive I may exclaim 3 or 4 times "Look! There he is again! He's following us!!". After the first few times, she asked how I possibly knew it was that exact same car, and I would say "Look on the lower right corner of the rear hatch - there's little vinyl letters that say "Limited Edition" - there can't possibly be THAT many of THEM here in NJ!!!".
I can't do it anymore as it's gotten QUITE old by now and usually ends up with my having something thrown at me while I'm driving.
I think that (by now) it's just gotten to the point where you can slap that (or other) monikers on something and delude consumers that they're getting something "special". Things like the "Eric Clapton Edition" Stratocaster. Are these things (I don't know) in limited quantity, or are they just Fender's version of Ford's "Eddie Bauer" Explorer? Is this new "Melissa Etheridge" Adamas being produced in limited quantity? If so, how many and why isn't THAT advertised? What is the production run on the annual Ovation "Collector's Editions"?
Year's ago, when Paul McCartney (in an effort to squelch unauthorized "bootlegs") released the CD of of his MTV "unplugged" concert, it was announced that they would go on sale on such and such a date, there were "x" amount made, and there would be no more. The copy that I bought has a sequential serial number stamped on the booklet. For some time it was the "jewel" of my CD collection because not too many people that I immediately knew had it (be the "envy of your friends" and all that) so that made it "special".
(I've since "burned" copies for my friends that wanted it - for free, of course - I may be a "pirate" but I'm not a "whore").
To my knowledge, I don't THINK the CD was ever re-issued (I may be wrong, though).
Question, Bill(cwk2):
Back in '76 when I bought my Custom Balladeer from Mrs. Ackerman's Music Store, what was the difference between my guitar and a plain old Balladeer?
[ April 10, 2002: Message edited by: cliff d. ]
[ April 10, 2002: Message edited by: cliff d. ] |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Ladies and Gentlemen, the award for most overused term when referring to a musical instrument is
<>
VINTAGE
<<> |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 196
Location: Shelton, Washington, USA | This is a very limited edition.... we're only gonna make 10,000 a year for three years..... after that.... well.... you had yer chance!
The words used to mean something. Now days, tho' I don't think there is as much meaning. When I stumble into the local music store (thank God it's an auth'd Ovation dealer) I play the guitars first and look at the names later.... and I never read the advertising hype!
oops... gotta go... there's an ad on TV for a limited edition Eddie B Lawn Mower.... I think I gotta have it..... :rolleyes: |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Order NOW and we'll throw in SIX Beanie Babies.....AND!!............a McGuire rookie card!!!!!.........BE DIALIN" PEOPLE!!!!..... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | The custom bd was the same as the std bd, just a different fingerboard. Maybe it had a step up machine heads, all chrome instead of the plastic housing? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | yep. all-chrome machines.
give that man a "limited edition" VINTAGE cigar! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Vintage is overused by dealers and consumers(trying to sell their instruments)
All the rest of that rhetoric seems to be the companies of new product.
The collectors we always opened the order book in Jan and closed it April 1. What ever we got was it. Not limited by number but limited by time. Later we'd publish the totals.
My complaint was the overuse of all those words that creep into a "deceptive" area. I was wobdering if it seemed that way to others.
There are companies that blatantly abuse the limited, I won't say who (G). It used to be the joke, A limited one of only 3000 made,,,that day etc. That's a different issue, just abusing the Limitedness. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | Limited should be mean exactly that and not some crazy number but a number that makes it a "special" guitar.
collector's should be exactly that a guitar that is in a limited run and not to be maade again in that configuration.
Vintage well back when I started this it meant pre 1960 but now it can mean any guitar is USED or any guitar that is in one of the fake collector's series editions. didn;t martin have a guitar of the month club for a while???????
what bugs me is celebrity endorsed guitars. I personally like the Melissa etheridge guitars but I know that there are some men who don;t want to buy one because of her sexual orientation and because it has the stigma of a "girl's guitar" whatever that means. But I am positive that sales of the Melissa guitars to women is probably great and I think many women are now turned on to Adamas guitars because of her and that is a good thing. I am not so sure say Nancy Wilson did the same for the Adamas back in the day but maybe so.
What I hate is when you go in and look at other brands (F) and there are so many artist models even on the import line that it makes your head spin. There was once a poster of strat models offered and there were literally a hundred or so it is impossible to keep them all straight.
And would you buy a guitar endorsed by an artist you did not like? especially if it has his name on it ? I am not so sure unless I got it cheap and did not care.
I sort of like guitars to have names that identify them and how they were made and decorated. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | The company that seems to be exploding with artist models is...Well I better not say(M).
I agree with the comment made above. I remember the introduction of the Jimmy Buffet guitar. Very cool combination of mahog and herringbone and a great guitar. If only it came without his name on it.......
For those Buffet fans that this offends, sorry. There are probably some who feel the same about the Claptons. The point is that these models are good enough on their own and at what point does the name detract? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Artist "signatures" actually on the guitar are right up there (or down there) with "bumper stickers" in my book. Now if "I" got the artist to sign MY guitar... that would be different. If I ever picked up a Steinberger, I would have Don "Buck Dharma" Roeser sign it. It's his signature (as in he plays it) guitar, and I am a fan. Maybe some of that voodoo that he doo would rub off on mine. But to get a guitar that was either just "signed" randomly by an artist, or worse yet just "signed" by a machine... is just plain silly in my book. I feel the same way about books with the authors signature. Unless I'm a HUGE fan, or I met the author, I don't care about a "signed copy."
Speaking of signed copies... as an example, I have a "signed" copy of "The Puzzle Palace" but it's signed by the "Burly Island Resident and his assistant" who appear in the "fictional" book not the author. (this anecdote probably won't mean much to anyone who hasn't read it). |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | to a musician a guitar has a few important reqirements. sounds great, is easy to play, and will hang in there with a minimum of hassles. it's nice to have a "dress axe" or two as well. beautiful craftsmanship can influence how you feel and play and interact with the crowd. but for my dollar keep the hype and the celebrity signatures and put the time and money into making the best instrument for me.
well i'm off to the club to make music on a 26 year old balladeer that only says ovation on it. that is the only signature important to me.
[ April 12, 2002: Message edited by: musicamex ] |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Ive got this adamas guitar and in the label it has a signature by this guy "CWK II" ??? Ive been trying to scrape it off the label after i found out this guy is just a gas station attendant somewhere in the southern U.S... Where does ovation get off trying to pass of a gas station attendant as an endorsee??? LOL ;)
Im in total agreement .Artist endorsed guitars mean nothing to me..A Martin Paul Simon 00042 is $2000 more than a standard Martin 00042..I think in the end the standard 00042 will bring more than a Paul Simon model.....Unless you just got to have a Paul Simon guitar???
Having said all that, i am currently selling a Martin Eric Clapton 00028 :rolleyes: .It is Limited edition,vintage,rare,Artist model,deluxe,special. ;) |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Sam,
Travis Bean used sign the back part of those guitars, engrave it in the metal part. He did it so often that they used to joke about the unsigned Beans being worth more than the signed ones, they're rarer! (not really true but point taken)
You need to scratch that cwk2 signature off that guitar, will probably get you $.50 more.
I'll pass on the Eric, it's only a limited edition vintage rare artist model deluxe special. Now if it was a CUSTOM limited edition vintage rare artist ENDORSEE model deluxe special I'd think about it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | when the maker of the guitar or a luthier signs a guitar that IS special. it is like an artist signing a painting. but a celebrity endorsement??---------give me a better pickup and gold tuners and keep the signature. i'd rather be known for what i do with a guitar rather than who's model it is. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 389
Location: RI. That small State out East | After weeks of looking... dreaming...I pulled the trigger on a 2002 Collector #297... I'm told about 1000 will be made. What sold it was the sound. Musicamex & Cwk2 have "read" my bitching about ebay and all the what if's... I had 2.5 hours of un interupted sound room pluged and unpluged side by side with an Adamas and my new toy. Is it A or is it B. Not only fun but for me the only way to put closure on this nightmare / fever.
Yea, I wanted looks, I wanted sound, I wanted something "special" as a hand me down... I read into what alot of "you" like... But the sound of my 02' will make any and all of you smile.
For you tech inclined the "New" OP40 tuner, a 30dB notch filter, ultra quiet (-104.3dB) circuit, a mid range that can have the center frequency changed from 400Hz to 1kHz, and a preshape (different base EQ) A manual for the OP40 will be online "soon"...
My hands are tired. I have to sleep now.
Woz.
PS. You have to play the guitar before you buy it.
ebay is only a candy store and everyone knows what happens when you eat to much candy. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | wow, a new guitar woz!! that lobster feed is you mentioned is going on my summer list. let's see-----when i get to minnesota i turn right---then what?
i remember my mom telling me if you eat too much candy you'll go blind. oh wait a minute that was the OTHER thing that makes you go blind----gotta go find my glasses. later, and enjoy the sore fingers. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | There is only one celebrity endorsement/model name that has totally worked. You know the one.
There is a school of thought that a current guy's name on the guitar model is the kiss of death for any other contemporary guy being seen playing it.
If it gets past this guitar being "his" guitar and becomes almost generic for that type of guitar it works. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 255
| I find a stable Josh White is a wonderful guitar. Even refurbished. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | 444, is that an ovation model too? could you what you mean by stable? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Stable as in it hasn't self destructed yet.
Josh was the first endorsee, 3 years before Glen. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | My 67 Josh White is solid as a rock..The guitar has wonderful sound..It is almost too bright with a pick.I think it was designed for fingerpickin,12 fret, wider neck,slotted headstock,Brazilian rosewood 5 point bridge.Great guitar..You just dont see many of these around..Wonder how many were made before his death in 1969 ??? Anyone know the answer? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Sam, Not that many, 100-200 maybe? maybe a few more. And while we're at it, Congrats on post 100!
[ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: cwk2 ] |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Bill, thats what i thought around 100-150 was my guess..Great guitars,very loud...Now here is the hard question.Did they ever build a sunburst Josh??
My 100th post,i did not even notice..
"free OUZO and METAXA for everyone" |
|
| |
Words
