Leaderboard

I had a late 70s strat back in 1990. It was maple board, black and most importantly, left handed. So I had it restrung and set up right handed. It really looked the part and played great. I didn't gig on guitar at that time, so I never got to use it in anger. I sold it to a lefty friend of mine, who is still gigging it to this day

I don't think the pickup is the significant difference in the Nate Mendel, I think it is that the neck is thinner and narrower than the standard precision, and that is the only shipping P model that that is the case of. Anyone can change the pickup in an instrument, sourcing and changing the neck is a lot harder. I think it is not a question of ignoring the model because it is an artist model is a different thing to actually going out of your way to buy it because of the artist affiliation, rather than whatever difference that creates, such as I notice there is a (increadably expensive) George Harrison telecaster. Some people will presumably buy it because of the George Harrison link (although for the life of me I don't remember a picture of him playing a telecaster, although he obviously must have), and some people will buy it because it is the only model made with a rosewood body. I doubt that anyone would deliberately not buy it just because it was connected to George Harrison somehow. Although I suspect most people would avoid it because it is almost £3k for a telecaster, which frankly everyone who has ever held a saw should be able to make in their lunchtimes!

There's signature models and signature models though. In that some are just a standardish instruments with a different pickup and paint job and others are completely different instruments from the ground up than are otherwise available. Being from the bass side (apologies) this is bass related, but I bought an Epiphone Jack Casady, a Yamaha Billy Sheehan Attitude Ltd2 and a Yamaha Peter Hook BB last year. All three have had extensive input from the artist, especially the Attitude and the JC, both being completely original basses in their own right and nothing like anything else available. I'm not even very familiar with Sheehan or Casady's music but to ignore the basses purely because they are signature models would have had me missing out on a couple of excellent basses. The PH is because I'm a huge fan but again, if it wasn't unlike anything else in their current line up I wouldn't have bought it. Where as something like the Nate Mendel Precision is basically a standard Precision with a Quarter Pound pickup.