by Big Cab Daddy
How much merit to you put in what guitars your favorite guitar icon plays? Obviously, guitar makers hope you put a whole lot of stock into it because they sponsor guitar players to use their guitars and do clinics, etc. Exactly the reason you shouldn’t put too much weight in it though. Your guitar idol may not be playing brand X because its his favorite but because he’s payed to do so.
Realize that a certain guitar is a small variable in a long chain of links your upper echelon star relies on. Effect pedals andamplifiers make a impact. Besides the sound engineer or recording engineer and their part in how it all sounds. Don’t hope to sound the same even if you have the same ability.
Probably one of the best reasons to pay attention to what your hero plays is because you like the look of his axe on stage. But realize that if this is your motivation, there are probably cheaper “look a like” guitars that you might consider.
Many companies now make knock offs of their star’s guitars. Some, right down to the exact damage of the star owned instrument. Some manufacturers have the stars design guitars for them to make as “special editions” as well.
You know that no name bass I was talking about? Turns out its an Arbor bass used by 80s “hair band” bassist Dana Strum of The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and Slaughter. Even knowing that, I’d never heard of the bands (Well ok, I’d heard of Slaughter. Don’t know their music at all though.) nor the guitar brand.
80s hair bands, ugh! Not my favorite sort of music. Too much hype, glitz and pretension. I wonder if I shouldn’t buy this bass because of that bad mojo? On the other hand, it might just be a perfect inside joke. It might be a great story to tell when I get asked what the heck the bass is anyways.
One other thing that I should mention here goes back to my first point. Arbor I found out is a cheap, entry level guitar company. I don’t know how famous The Vinnie Vincent Invasion and Slaughter are/were, but probably Dana Strum could have bought and used more expensive guitars had he wanted to. When I did a little research, it became obvious though that either Strum or the bands themselves were contracted to Arbor.
Go ahead and play your hero’s guitar if it inspires you. There is nothing wrong with it. But if you are just looking for a reliable, playable, cheap guitar, know there might be cheaper ways to go.
About the Author:
Big Cab Daddy has been rocking cheap guitars for longer than he cares to remember… over thirty years. To read more about his pursuit of the quintessential cheap guitar visit his
cheap guitars blog. Go to his
cheap guitar collection to keep up with his ever evolving collection of cheap guitars.