I like this! St. VIncent EB MM Guitar

[SempreSami]

Quite like the body shape - like two Star Destroyers crashing into each other.

[boomlights]

$1899 USD Street / I just realized that there is an "S" & a "V" in the body shape - still great! But I still think it might veer on the small side:


(image source)

[novamax]

I just realized that there is an "S" & a "V" in the body shape

Actually, until you said that, I found the shape quite uninspired - like a reversed Explorer / Firebird hybrid. But You are right, it's her monogram - It doesn't make me want to buy it more, but I honestly respect this kind of subtle creativity!

[øøøøøøø]

Civilians don't care what guitar you play, only that you sound good.

And that you look cool/interesting while doing it. Not necessarily in that order.

It's performance art.

[frelonvert]

ERf, I like the body a lot but the body/headstock design don't match for me.

[StevenO]

Civilians don't care what guitar you play, only that you sound good.

And that you look cool/interesting while doing it. Not necessarily in that order.

It's performance art.

Yep.

Not that this is what you were saying, but... I'm actually always slightly surprised by how often non-musicians DO notice guitars (and other instruments). I've played instruments as long as I can remember, so I often have trouble seeing things outside of the musician/gear nerd gaze, but you'd be surprised at what non-musicians pick up on (I.e., body shapes, hardware choices, trems/bigsbys etc, etc,).

Anecdotal for sure, but I once showed someone one of my jazzmasters and that person, who couldn't tell a guitar from a bass, said "oh, cool. I see that shape of guitar everywhere now. It's like the "it" guitar to have, right?" I was so surprised. An ex girlfriend also once saw my guitars for the first time and said "you have such nice looking guitars, I've seen some guitars that look really ugly, they're all pointy or V-shaped". I've also had non-musicians tell me that they like the look of my "jag-stang", my "mustang", or my "jaguar" when seeing my Jazzmaster. I've had someone ask me out of the blue, because they knew I played guitar, "what's the difference between a stratocaster and a telecaster, is it just a different brand or is one for country music and the other rock?" Or "Why does that guitar have a handle?", in reference to the Bigsby vibrato. A lot of people pick up on these little tidbits of knowledge and information, it seems, just because of culture.

[RuffiansFC]

it fits her aestetic, for sure. despite its look, you can tell it is built to be a great playing guitar and it probably sounds like a dream. i have never liked how music man guitars look, but they all play extremely well.

[eggwheat]

It's OK I suppose...but the headstock looks totally wrong with that body.

[shadowplay]

Civilians don't care what guitar you play, only that you sound good.

And that you look cool/interesting while doing it. Not necessarily in that order.

It's performance art.

Hmm when people in guitar shops struggle to tell the difference between a Jazzmaster and Jaguar I wonder how true that is. I'd bet most folk would hardly notice the difference between a Strat and the SV guitar when someone was playing it. Sure it makes you feel the part and you can enjoy the design for yourself but the person I responded to had some odd notions about a guitar being appropriate for playing with Taylor Swift and not appropriate for a solo gig as if audience are going give you the cold shoulder for your 'axe' as he put it. Maybe you know different sorts of people than me but most folk I know just don't care, unless it looks particularly objectionable or it's something dandy like a Falcon. To be honest I've never cared one bit what guitar someone plays and I know a bit about guitars, I care about my guitars to a point but I couldn't care less what someone else plays, so long as they sound good and I'd never think about it unless they played something super unusual like an Ovation Magnum bass or whatever. Most of the time I've zero idea what someone plays until I see them live, I'm not one for youtube or gawping at promo shots and if they don't have a picture on the sleeve I've no idea what they look like until I'm standing in front of them. My Mrs and my older daughters both play and they don't care either, either your record is good or it isn't, you guitar isn't going to save you. Obviously on OSG there's a tendency to (often desperately) want to like bands that play offset guitars but I've never subscribed to that world view.

Then again I struggle to think of many guitarists I look at and think they look cool. I don't look to musicians for fashion tips, most (especially male) musicians dress like shit and I haven't copped any muso style since I got a short back and sides and tucked my shirt in after seeing Joy Division in 79 or something.

Btw I remember Saint Vincent playing a fotoflame Jaguar, which I'd consider a near criminal aesthetic choice (as an object d'art) but even though I'm generally not fussed about her music, it didn't change my opinion one way or another, it was just a thing she used to make music and I'm sure she could play a guitar I thought beautiful and I'd not feel any different.

It's OK I suppose...but the headstock looks totally wrong with that body.

Yeah I said that earlier; Smurf hat with Roland Mouret frock.

D

[rumfoord]

I really like it. I'm actually pretty surprised by how much I like it and how different/new it seems. SO EXCITED TO PICK ONE UP USED IN 10 YEARS!!! (really, I am)

I would have LOVED if the headstock was longer like a spectrum 5 ...


but the MM headstock doesn't really bug me. I guess I'm not surprised that they wouldn't want to deviate from their brand of headstock---even though we all know it could be better.


I guess I'm impressed too that it looks like a bunch of people put lots of time and love into designing this. I think it's awesome. I love it

I just noticed the compensated nut, too. It looks metal---maybe aluminum?---but I can't tell.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I'm not a fan of that headstock either.

I think continuing the straight lines & angles of the body would have made more sense.

[Jaguar018]

Hmm when people in guitar shops struggle to tell the difference between a Jazzmaster and Jaguar I wonder how true that is. I'd bet most folk would hardly notice the difference between a Strat and the SV guitar when someone was playing it. Sure it makes you feel the part and you can enjoy the design for yourself but the person I responded to had some odd notions about a guitar being appropriate for playing with Taylor Swift and not appropriate for a solo gig as if audience are going give you the cold shoulder for your 'axe' as he put it. Maybe you know different sorts of people than me but most folk I know just don't care, unless it looks particularly objectionable or it's something dandy like a Falcon. To be honest I've never cared one bit what guitar someone plays and I know a bit about guitars, I care about my guitars to a point but I couldn't care less what someone else plays, so long as they sound good and I'd never think about it unless they played something super unusual like an Ovation Magnum bass or whatever. Most of the time I've zero idea what someone plays until I see them live, I'm not one for youtube or gawping at promo shots and if they don't have a picture on the sleeve I've no idea what they look like until I'm standing in front of them. My Mrs and my older daughters both play and they don't care either, either your record is good or it isn't, you guitar isn't going to save you. Obviously on OSG there's a tendency to (often desperately) want to like bands that play offset guitars but I've never subscribed to that world view.

Then again I struggle to think of many guitarists I look at and think they look cool. I don't look to musicians for fashion tips, most (especially male) musicians dress like shit and I haven't copped any muso style since I got a short back and sides and tucked my shirt in after seeing Joy Division in 79 or something.

This is one of these classic cranky Shadowplay posts.


Your staying on top of current music is well documented and revered, but do you honestly think that even outside of OSG that people don't care about guitar aesthetics and band fashion choices? Jesus Christ. Let's see now. How many popular cultural dominating fashion trends have come directly from musical styles that you've dismissed over the years? Punk, Hair Metal, Grunge, Emo, Pop-punk, Hip Hop, and just about everything else. The whole "I only care if it sounds good" ideal is great, but let's be honest with ourselves here... looks go a long way and often supersede talent.

St Vincent is a talented, accomplished, and successful artist. She's reached a plane where she's been honored with her own custom guitar. Even though it's something you constantly dismiss in musicians, I think it is a perfect complement to her style aesthetic, both her playing and in its looks.

[eggwheat]

I think it is a perfect complement to her style aesthetic, both her playing and in its looks.

I agree as it's just a boring stock electric with bit of an angular body.

[Jaguar018]

I think it is a perfect complement to her style aesthetic, both her playing and in its looks.

I agree as it's just a boring stock electric with bit of an angular body.

Haha. Zing! She's one of those people that I respect but I don't follow.

[shadowplay]

^^^

Brad you listed a lot of hairy rockers I can't be bothered with, so nothing they play matters because I don't like what they do with it anyway but you know that anyway and you are looking at it retrospectively not with contemporary eyes because anything can become codified as cool if it's given enough exposure. I'd give an example of Cosey Fanni Tutti who plays one of those headless monstrosities and it doesn't matter because she's been in bands that are a million times more interesting to me and she herself in a billion times more interesting than those appalling dressed olde worlde heritage rockers. I don't care how she looks, what she plays or what she wears, it's her output, full stop. You are pro musician and ivested in classic rock, so obviously you are sensitive to that sort of thing but I don't think the greater record buying public are too bothered and much like a terrible bad band name gaining acceptance through exposure, pretty much any guitar can gain currency if someone popular uses it. A guitar may gild the lily but a pretty face is way more important than a pretty guitar if you want to talk looks.

I personally collect records not band posters.

[looks go a long way and often supersede talent.

Sure but not the looks of your guitar.

As for fashion looks coming from music, it happens I guess it's responsible for a biker jacket becoming a girls jacket and not any kind of rebel accoutrement but it's more complex than that, there's big picture social and clothing trends that funnel into music, there's a mix and in general musicians tend to pick up street styles not invent them. I can think of iconic musician photos (like TG in combats) but how they look doesn't matter if the music isn't great, though I do draw from that industrial philosophy and see a guitar as tool only as interesting as the person holding it. Musicians might popularise street styles to some extent (and sport a bunch of novelty looks) but in general most musicians are cutting about in unremarkable sloppy joe gear looking like shit and the whole rocker look has descended into parody.

D