Guitar fetishism
February 12th, 2007 by Derek
Those of you who are guitar geeks like me and watched The Police on the Grammy Awards last night (and are salivating over the upcoming tour) will have seen Andy Summers’s trusty old mutant Telecaster guitar with him on stage.
Except it wasn’t. It’s one of 250 cloned guitars (including scrapes, bumps, and chips) that Fender has built—along with similar clones of guitars from Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and others—to sell at high prices to collectors, and for Summers to use onstage in place of his original, which he has owned since 1970.
There’s a strange fetishism in these kinds of projects. I can understand replicating the unusual functionality of a guitar. The Summers model, for instance, has different pickups, bridge plate and string saddles, wiring, and controls than the 1961 model originally had, and also includes a built-in overdrive circuit controlled by a third knob. But replicating the wear and tear, right down to belt-buckle damage and cigarette burns, seems a bit pathological to me.
Still, where there’s demand, there is supply. A normal production run of Summers Telecasters with the funky circuitry but without all the extra “relic” treatment would probably be a strong seller too. Heck, I’d want one.
Entry Filed under: Blog
(AAC audio)
6 Comments Add your own
1. Vince&hellip | February 13th, 2007 at 3:21 am
I quite agree. Is this something that players hope to have a “mystical” contact with the original player so that they can “acquire” some of the skill?
Maybe we should add to the range by doing the equivalent for the clothes – a set of Joe Satriani headgear, or Jimmy Page violin bows or EVH tight pants. Then you could look and feel more of the part.
Is this a snobbish/show off thing as well – like saying I’ve got enough money to (waste) on a complete replica – and you got a mere bog standard Strat? I suppose that it is part of the consumer society that we live in, and many products that are sold are mass produced (even guitars in the quality range are still produced in quantity) and people are looking for something that distinguishes them. We see the same thing in cars – except we haven’t yet had a Bullitt replica Mustang. or James Bond DB5 (with ejector seats, etc.).
2. Shane Hendricks&hellip | February 13th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
It doesn’t work! I bought a JEM and still can’t play like Steve Vai. Heh, heh…I’d choose the bog standard Strat these days!
…but I still love my JEM.
3. DG3&hellip | February 13th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Here is a nice collection of guitars….
http://www.petermargolis.com
DG3
4. Derek&hellip | February 13th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
The JEM at least makes sense, in that it’s designed for the way Steve Vai plays, and if you like that, maybe you’ll like the guitar too. Similarly, the actual Stevie Ray Vaughan Strat is a nice, brand-new instrument, rather than the SRV tribute clone that’s pre-worn the way his real guitar was.
And something like the Rory Gallagher Stratocaster is verging on insanity: “We’ve even included five Sperzel tuners and one Gotoh tuner, and we’ve replaced the 12th-fret dot marker with white plastic instead of the original clay.”
5. Shane Hendricks&hellip | February 15th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Yep, I wouldn’t buy a guitar just because it is identical right down to nicks, dings, scratches, and so on.
Save money! Buy a brand new instrument and put your own brand of dings and scratches on it.
6. Adelene&hellip | March 4th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Glad to hear it
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