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Maude

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This is about an effects pedal but I've put it in General Discussion as it probably applies to gear of all sorts. 

We all know that the Akai SB1 Deep Impact synth pedal prices went through the roof because of its association with Chris Wolstenholme from Muse. 

I was a tad disappointed when I sold my Akai UB1 Unibass pedal that they were worth so little as they were also a great pedal, just that nobody famous had used it. 

But I've just seen one for sale locally for £250, with the 'makes you sound like Royal Blood' tagline. Has the Royal Blood chap actually ever used one? 

Anyway this got me thinking about what other gear famous musicians have used that has sent second hand prices stratospheric, and I can't think of much that has been selling for five times its 'real' value, as the Deep Impact was at its peak, just because someone famous used it. 

Educate me folks. 

🙂

 

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Justin Chancellor was definitely responsible for a couple. Prior to being reissued, you'd struggle to find a Digitech Bass Whammy for less than £500. The Guyatone Bottom Wah Rocker was (and probably still is) changing hands for silly money after he used one. Similarly, the price of Wal basses went through the roof when it was revealed he'd used them for almost all of his work with Tool. There's probably a couple of others I can't remember too.

Edited by Johnny Wishbone
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Les Paul Standard: Eric Clapton / Mike Bloomfield
Les Paul Junior: Leslie West / Johnny Thunders / Mick Jones
Mosrite Ventures II: Johnny Ramone
Ibanez Tubescreamer: Stevie Ray Vaughan
Schaffer-Vega Diversity Wireless: Angus Young
Marshall Lead 12: Billy Gibbons

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No doubt this happens. The very fact signature equipment exists points to name players influencing sales.

Personally I just don’t get it... Why on earth would you want to sound like someone else? (Unless your playing a cover obviously). I can appreciate others great tone / playing but genuinely can’t understand wanting to sound like them...  carve your own sound :) 

Edited by CamdenRob
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9 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

Les Paul Junior: Leslie West / Johnny Thunders / Mick Jones

I'd speak guys we shared stages with and pretty much every guitarist wanted a Junior.  If Gibson actually did their diligence they'd know there's a huge groundswell of players who want to see (and would buy) a reissue based on 50s specs, not the Tribute model that they're currently selling.

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(Reuters) - As Gibson Brands Inc targets an exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy later this year, the iconic guitar maker plans a return to traditional guitars after an ill-fated attempt at computerizing them and possibly a foray into ukuleles, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz told Reuters on Wednesday.

😎

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I get the whole signature guitar/bass thing but they're kind of a different kettle of fish and rarely four to five times the value of an equivalent spec'd instrument. I was more thinking the gear that was around for a normal price and then went through the roof because a 'sleb' played/used one. 

I'm not a big gear nerd so some interesting replies, thanks 👍

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5 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I'd speak guys we shared stages with and pretty much every guitarist wanted a Junior.  If Gibson actually did their diligence they'd know there's a huge groundswell of players who want to see (and would buy) a reissue based on 50s specs, not the Tribute model that they're currently selling.

Quite so. A single cut and a double cut with the softer radius edges to the body. An option of a proper TV yellow rather than the mustardy colour they used in the mid-2000's. Gloss rather than satin finish. A fix for the age-old problem where the wraparound bridge leans slightly forward in the studs and which doesn't involve shelling out £35 for Tone-Pros locking replacements. A basic hard shell case. For £800 rather than £1500.

Johnny_Thunders-live-1978-copyright-Mick

The late Mr Johnny Thunders with his DC LPJ

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Same goes for Clapton and the Les Paul. It was more or less replaced by the SG, when all of a sudden someone cool started playing one. 

 

Something similar happened more recently with the Ibanez ATK series from the 1990s. Some masked, lefthanded fellow by the name of Paul Gray played an amber ATK300 on stage a lot, so Ibanez brought it back for a couple of years by popular demand. Prices have remained normal, although the old Korean and Japanese models are generally favoured over the later Indonesian versions. 

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On 19/07/2019 at 19:31, Maude said:

This is about an effects pedal but I've put it in General Discussion as it probably applies to gear of all sorts. 

We all know that the Akai SB1 Deep Impact synth pedal prices went through the roof because of its association with Chris Wolstenholme from Muse. 

I was a tad disappointed when I sold my Akai UB1 Unibass pedal that they were worth so little as they were also a great pedal, just that nobody famous had used it. 

But I've just seen one for sale locally for £250, with the 'makes you sound like Royal Blood' tagline. Has the Royal Blood chap actually ever used one? 

Anyway this got me thinking about what other gear famous musicians have used that has sent second hand prices stratospheric, and I can't think of much that has been selling for five times its 'real' value, as the Deep Impact was at its peak, just because someone famous used it. 

Educate me folks. 

🙂

 

I think the vintage Musitronics/Mu-Tron effects would apply here. If they weren't used by so many pro musicians I doubt the vintage units would reach the prices they do today.

Mu-Tron III - Bootsy/Parliament/Funkadelic/Eddie Hazel/Stevie Wonder/Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia/ Flea / George Duke / various 70's funk musicians

Octave Divider - Sly and the Family Stone/Larry Graham

Bi-Phase - Smashing Pumpkins

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Like the OP, I've always been a little bemused that the Akai seems to command such high prices from willing buyers, when there is a modern equivalent in the form of the Future Impact which starts with the 9 preset sounds that the Akai provides and then adds a further 90 presets and a whole bunch of options to edit and create your own effects patches with a much more powerful synth engine inside.

However simple supply and demand come into play - the Akai doesn't come up for sale that often. And at some point any product that has a degree of scarcity can become a collector's item which transforms its value. You only have to look at classic car prices to see the effect. 

 

PS: while I'm on the sibject, a little plug for the FI, if I may: it's better than any multi-fx synth engine I have tried so far, including Helix, @HazBeen is currently on his fourth one (sequentially not all at once, I should hasten to add!); we have an expert in residence in patch creation and editing in @Quatschmacher who has been engaged by FI to create new patches for their (hopefully!) soon to be released Firmware 3.0 upgrade. And our own @GisserD has designed a neat smaller housing for the FI which has sold in numbers both here and in the USA.

Edited by Al Krow
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