Do you love signature guitars? Maybe there’s an artist you look up to, who has one or two special instruments out there? I always think that signature guitars are fun and interesting things to check out. What has the artist done to change up normality? What has their special spin been?
Today, I’m celebrating some of the signature guitars that both myself and my colleagues really appreciate. I’ve asked around for opinions and preferences, because I wanted these choices to be more personal and fun than simply ‘we have these: check them out’. These are the artist signature guitars that have excited us as staff members!
Artist Significance
Are signature guitars only for fans of the artist? I don’t think so. I don’t think that every person who plays, say, a Fender Eric Clapton Strat is a die hard Slowhand fan: they probably like him, but the guitar itself is the reason to buy because it’s heavily modified and quite unique.
So it goes generally with artist signature guitars. Some fans will want to collect them anyway, but many players simply enjoy the modifications or new finishes that these special instruments offer. Keep that in mind as you peruse our choices today: you don’t have to be a fan of the artist to be interested in their guitar!
The Guitars at a Glance
Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Tree of Death
Fender Jason Isbell Telecaster
Epiphone Jimi Hendrix Love Drops Flying V
Gibson Les Paul Kirk Hammett Greeny
Jackson Lee Mahlia Signature
Bring Me the Horizon’s Lee Malia has always shown good taste in his guitar choices. Early Epiphones were Korina examples that harkened back to the Gibson Artisan era. This Jackson LM-87 model, released earlier this year, is his coolest guitar yet.
It’s obviously a take on the Jackson Surfcaster, made in dramatic monotone with a very attractive matte finish. It’s definitely not an overtly ‘metal’ looking guitar, but as soon as you get your hands on it, there’s no mistaking that Jackson’s famous ‘performance’ specs are here in spades. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing indeed!
PRS SE Silver Sky
John Mayer most certainly set the guitar community’s jaws a-wagging when he collaborated with Paul Reed Smith for the Silver Sky. Let me not mince my words here: this is a direct take on the Fender Stratocaster, built to both John and Paul’s preferences. Despite its obvious inspiration, the 3-a-side PRS headstock makes it perfectly clear who made it, and the design changes - though relatively subtle - are numerous.
The real sucker punch came recently when Paul took an SE Silver Sky - the affordable Indonesian one - and compared it directly to a vintage 1955 Fender Strat on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel. They sounded the same.
Was it studio trickery? Post-production?
Nope. I know this because I stood in front of Paul a week or so ago and watched him do the same thing with one of our stock SE Silver Skies and that same ‘55 Strat. The simple fact is that these SE guitars are uncommonly good, and deserve to be in every guitarist’s armoury.
Leo who?
Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Tree of Death
This guitar was an enormous success when it was released. Did Ibanez expect this? I don’t know, because the TOD10N Tree of Death is not exactly an easy sell: a thinline nylon string electro acoustic with a ‘marmite’ inlay, that’s the signature model of an undoubtedly talented but rather niche artist. It didn’t scream ‘blockbuster’ to me at any rate, but sales went through the roof!
Once I got my hands on one, I quickly understood the attraction. It’s a pretty perfect ‘noodling’ guitar: it’s really light and playable, with a low unplugged volume level that means you can grab it and have a play at any time without announcing yourself to the whole household. It’s also a great opportunity to get into the beautiful sound of nylon strings, so for all of those reasons, it’s a well-deserved smash for Ibanez and Polyphia.
Ernie Ball Music Man JP 15
Not all shred guitars have to be black and pointy. Dream Theater’s John Petrucci has long been a Music Man guy, and his collection of guitars are definitely in that middle ground between hard rock and boujee boutique.
The Music Man JP15 appeals because it hits that perfect place of being very high performance, but it’s visually able to fit into most contexts. There are no sharp body edges, no locking tremolos and no need for batteries here. It will give you the loudest, most insane metal tones and screeches if you want them, of course, but there’s more at play here. With the gorgeous figured tops and stained finishes that MM are famous for, the JP15 is at ease with blues, fusion, jazz and prog: anywhere, in fact, where a great pro-level, rock-solid guitar is required.
Music Man guitars are fantastically well built, and Petrucci is a very involved endorsee, so you know you’ll get exactly what he uses. Nothing but the best!
Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster
Not every great signature guitar has to cost thousands. The Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster is singular proof to anyone who picks one up that objectively impressive quality can be had at a very attainable price.
This guitar has its own fanbase these days. It’s been available for a number of years now, and that’s because it’s so timelessly good - and of such great value - that people are always looking for it. It’s a great looker, with its vintage white body and gold anodised pickguard. It’s eternally hip because Fender offsets just are, and it sounds as good as guitars that cost double. Also, there’s only very minimal artist association on the instrument itself, so it can be relatively anonymous if that’s what you prefer, too.
Ibanez JEM7VP
Here’s one that isn’t anonymous at all! The Ibanez JEM is an iconic guitar indelibly linked to its creator, Steve Vai. Whilst there have been a dizzying number of finishes released over the decades, fans all love the white and gold combo of Steve’s own ‘Evo’ guitar the best.
Ibanez obviously understand this, because they offer a number of white JEMs. The JEM7VP from Ibanez’s premium range gets my vote as the one to go for. It has everything: the all-important DiMarzio Evolution pickups, an ebony fingerboard and a pretty exquisite Tree of Life inlay, all of which contribute to the legend.
Click to Read the History of the Ibanez JEM, Directly from STEVE VAI!
Fender Jason Isbell Telecaster
What is it about a bound-edge Telecaster that is just so cool? I’m not sure but Jason Isbell obviously agrees. His signature axe from Fender goes for timeless taste, and it’s a good call: this guitar could just as easily be a Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar, a Radiohead guitar, or a Police guitar!
The Fender Jason Isbell Telecaster is a Mexican-made Tele with a stratty sounding neck pickup, which gives it extra usefulness in most contexts. Rather like the J Mascis Jazzmaster I showed you previously, this guitar doesn’t scream ‘ARTIST SIGNATURE!’ at you, but those who know, know.
Ibanez JIVA10
The Ibanez JIVA10, on the other hand, is maybe not as subtle! In time-honoured Ibanez fashion, Nita Strauss has added a unique fingerboard inlay to her guitar, which is designed to be like a player’s pulse. Also in time-honoured Ibanez fashion, the JIVA10 has Strauss’ signature DiMarzio Pandemonium pickups installed.
This one reminds me of the sleek Ibanez S series guitars that fusion players love so much, though the Deep Space Blonde finish is a new thing to me!
Epiphone Jimi Hendrix Love Drops Flying V
If you don’t think this Hendrix Flying V is awesome, then have a word with yourself! Flying V’s are already on the ‘immortal legend’ list as far as guitars go, and this exhaustively replicated tribute to Jimi is seriously impressive.
Epiphone have seriously upped their game in recent years. This Hendrix Love Drops Flying V is ample proof: you can see that their people have sweated the details in order to get that custom artwork as close to Jimi’s hand as they reasonably can, on a guitar that is certainly not cheap, but is also not a top-priced boutique custom job.
My feeling about this guitar is that they’ve gotten the vibe absolutely right, and made it reasonably attainable for all of the Hendrix acolytes who want something a bit special.
Gibson Les Paul Kirk Hammett Greeny
We can’t really miss this one out, can we? A great quality replica of a guitar that has passed through the histories of Fleetwood Mac, Gary Moore and Metallica, and which has a truly unique sound? It’s obviously one of our favourites here at guitarguitar!
From my perspective, you have to spend a good amount more on a Les Paul to find a nicer one than this Kirk Hammett Les Paul Greeny. It looks lovely, but not garish; it has a beautiful chunky ‘59 neck, but it’s not too chunky; it’ll give you the classic thick LP tones but also that peculiar out-of-phase sound too. And for a USA-made Gibson guitar, it’s not a bad price.
What’s not to love?
EVH Frankie
Look, I prefer the ‘Bumblebee’ colours, but until they do a heavily Road Worn one of those, this OG red and white Frankie is the coolest and most fun of the Van Halen guitars.
It’s not an exhaustive replica - EVH have been bold enough to presume that we want things like decent truss rod access - but in all of the important ways (and by that, I mean the way it looks and feels), it’s a home run here.
Yes, the neck pickup is a dummy, as it should be! There is an EVH logo on the headstock, but that’s acceptable since this is a reasonably-priced production model, as many of today’s choices are. You’ll get so much Eddie magic from simply plugging this in and having fun, that its purpose will become immediately clear: it’s a tribute to a world famous guitar that you and I can take home and enjoy.
And yeah, you can totally stick on an old rusty dime and some bicycle reflectors if you feel compelled to!
So Many Nice Guitars
I could’ve kept going with the signature guitars here. I didn’t put in any of the awesome ESP Metallica guitars, or the Fender SRV Strat, or Epiphone Jerry Cantrell Wino, or loads of other awesome artist signature guitars.
This is what happens when you include the opinions of other people! I’m joking, but it is interesting to see how diverse the world of artist guitars really is. Some stick around for a long time and become classics themselves, and others are very of-the-moment. Some are almost anonymous, and others are instantly recognisable. I hope I’ve included a little of them all here today.
We have a lot more artist signature guitars in stock, so why not smash a digit on that button below and check them all out!
Click to View our Artist Signature Guitars
