Richie Signs with ESP

Research first, then talk. ESP is based in Hollywood, CA but originally from JAPAN! Where did you get Korea?

And why is it is a rip-off? Tell you what, buying a Les Paul is a rip-off. Buying a Strat is a rip-off. Overrated guitars that, even though you paid $2500 for it, still need better pickups to get them to sound the way YOU want!

ESP doesn't make good guitars, they make excellent guitars! I have three of them and would never trade them for any Les Paul or Fender. I have a Horizon, an LTD M101 and a silver diamondplate LTD-EX.

This is a good move for Richie. The guitar is not the best looking but it's definitely not bad either. It's unique, has it's own lines and everyone will know it's a Sambora. Unlike that crappy Fender he used to have that looked like every other Fender out there and made everyone thing that Richie was just another Stevie Ray clone. ESP is a better company for Richie but I am biased because I believe they make the best guitars.

The Sambora is going to be available as a ESP signature model, price just around $1400, with the LTD replica selling for $599-$699. LTDs are great guitars, the lower price doesn't make them feel "cheap", they are solid and sound good... It's when you spend $250 that you get a crap guitar.

The thing I wanna know, why would anyone buy someone's signature guitar?

The same reason you think buying a Les Paul or a Strat is a "Rip Off", personal opinion. I'll never understand why some guitar players have such an big problem with people buying Sig Models.

Also, I've never paid $2,500 for a guitar and I own 2 Fender Strats and A Les Paul. All of which sound great. One of the strats is a 97 Sambora Sig Model. Guess I don't know anything about guitars either.

I do own 2 Esp guitars and 1 LTD as well. Which also sound great

To get back on topic, I don't think he'll be with ESP for to long. He tends to bounce around from company to company about every 3 or 4 years. I think his stint with Fender was the longest of his endorsement deals. ESP was the best choice for the type of guitar he is playing now.

how sure are u of these prices??

Catalogue pricing for sig guitars always seems to be in the same neighborhood for all models. I am guessing the prices based on what other artist's guitars go for, so I am 99% sure.

I still think buying signature guitars is kind of... uncool, for the lack of better word. If you ever get on a stage with a guitar that proclaims "Sambora" or whatever on the headstock, everyone is gonna think of you as a copycat. That's just what I think. It's a very nice guitar, but I don't see a reason to buy it. I am not a collector, I am a guitarist.

Well, I didn't say you have to pay $2500 for a LP, but I know a brand new bottom line Gibson LP starts at around $1100. And I have a $1400 ESP Horizon that I think sounds better than any LP ever could!

My dad collects guitars, he has a 97 Richie Strat and I saw no redeeming qualities in that guitar other than that it's a collectible guitar cause it has some foo-foo stars on it. Boooo!!!
And the last time my dad plugged-in was about 20 years ago!

You have that the wrong way round, no ESP could sound as good as some LPs.

And you base that on what? The legendary status of the LP name? Have you played both?

It all depends on your personal preferences and what kind of sound you like. I play hard tock and metal, and most ESP artists do too. They are excellent guitars for that type of music, moreso than Les Pauls or Fenders. Those are good for for rock, blues and pop, or any music that's not guitar driven, but they are not as good as ESP for harder music.

Gibson made the Gothic line of guitars for a while. I played a Gothic Explorer once, the tone was good but nowhere near my ESP Explorer. It was kind of grungy, not metal...

I seem to agree with half of what you say 100%

You're dead on when it comes to personal preference. I also tend to agree that for the most part TODAY ESP makes a better quality guitar for the price than either Gibson or Fender. That's not always been the case though....

However to say that the blues is not guitar driven could be one of the most head scratching "huh???" statements I've ever heard as a guitar player. Modern metal or hard rock or any other guitar driven music would not be around today were it not for the blues.

As far as playing a Sig Model on stage, I haven't done it before. If I did, the only people who would think it's uncool would be a musical elitist that hasn't liked anything he's heard yet. Since he'll think every note I play wrong or lame or etc I really don't care what he thinks of my guitar. I'm still playing out that night while he's sitting there only watching.

Huh???

Read again

That last point (Any music that's not guitar driven...) doesn't mean "all of the above" because I said OR... But yeah, I could've worded that better. I meant music like soft rock, like Barry Manilow or The Fray, that's not guitar driven. They always seem to have Gibsons. Maybe it's due to the name and the familiar look!

To finish what you said, I too hate the elitist progressive metal crowd that judges every note you play while in reality all the bands they like actually suck real hard. Anyway, some signature guitars are very recognizable and I think they stick out like a sore thumb - Angus Young, Dimebag, Randy Rhodes Polka-dot V, Zakk Wylde's Bullseye, Steve Vai, SRV, Van Halen... even Richie's new guitar has a distinctive shape that's gonna be recognized as THE Richie guitar. I played a cheap Kirk Hammet signature LTD and I didn't know it til someone told me what it was. The way he could tell - skull and crossbones on the 12th fret. It killed my interest in bying it.

After reading it again I see what you meant now. I was half asleep last night when I was posting. I apolgize for that one.

I tend to take up arms when people complain about Sig Models(not saying you were). Over on the Seymour Duncan forums there is a group that has the general opinion that if you buy a sig model you're a copy cat moron that can't play a guitar to begin with. I think that if it has what I'm looking for in a guitar then who cares who's name is on it. On the other hand, don't buy a Sig guitar and expect to sound like the artist whose name is on it.

Like I already said, I own a few Sig Models. The only one I bought on name only was the 97 Fender Sambora strat. The others just had what I was looking for at the time. I recently bought an LTD EC-1000. Not because I couldn't afford another Les Paul. I just happen to think that the EC-1000 is a better guitar for what I wanted.