Respect for making something other than the same old Tele, Strat or LP clones. Don't get me wrong, I love all of them, but the market is saturated with knock offs from every company under the sun. Annie is a hell of a songwriter and her signature guitar shows off her eclectic, artistic side. That neck wood looks stunning btw.
+Oldzigz Wrzeczysamej I love Annie's playing and love this model but I wouldn't drop $2,000 on a guitar If i don't know how it sounds in non-st vincent situations.
The10000lbGorilla exactly. he didn't even bother to show off her style! on the other hand, he showed that this guitar is a jack of all trades that is well worth the money for any style of play
Think about the Sterling version. 600 bones, made in Indonesia. I have a Sterling Ray34 bass and I have no complaints about it. I would have no hesitation buying another Sterling instrument.
Annie isn't the type of person to just be given the opportunity to design something from the ground up and just make "another tele" if you catch my drift
Terrance Hill why does bill cheat on hillary so much? I take it that you support hillary and yet her husband fucks other women. I wonder if hill gets off on that?
Terrance Hill you brought up trump so I thought you wanted to talk politics. but it is a good point what do you think of bill's constant affairs and why would he do that with a fine lady like hillary at home?
Ha, same here, wasn't sure watching the intro until he threw in a couple signature countryfied double stops. Always dig his reviews, and I'm not a country guy by a long shot
One thing to note is that Annie Clark designed the guitar with a fashion sense in mind. She didn't like how most guitars were designed to fit nicely on a male body and felt a bit big on her. She wanted to have a guitar that better fit her body, so she came up with this shape, and she looks fantastic with it :)
I want to buy it because 1) it's a successful innovation from a great, rare owner-run company 2) it is also IMO an amazing piece of art and modern design and 3) it represents a tremendous quality ethic that serves the goal of making music, based on my hearing the sonic integrity of the guitar in the demo. That pull-up on the chords towards the end of this video show a lot of harmonic color and very strong fundamental notes.
She sort of joked that the design worked better for people with breasts (see the Vice interview). I think that was actually part of the design. Check out Tal Wilkenfeld sometime fro the breast "problem". It does look a little awkward.
It really is amazing how many guys cannot handle that woman designed a guitar from the ground up with a guitar company. Please do us all a favour and go back to the caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave where you came from! Saw St. Vincent live in concert last night and I was so impressed by her playing style!
She is amazing. don't mind the nazis. It makes perfect sense they behave this way. I would probably be mad at women too if I was a kreep who's still a 40 yr old virgin that lives on the internet.
I think it looks cool! I could be wrong but I swear I read that St Vincent made the body shape to fit better with the female body shape, so that the body is more comfortable and doesn't get in the way of the breasts? Could be wrong, kinda explains the body shape a bit
+Jazzer caster She said that was part of the reason for the body style in a few videos about her model. I believe she said she thinks of it as a gender inclusive body style.
+Rafael Andrade *yawn*. man, the other music man signatures are way more than hers. this and the albert lee are some of the less expensive music man guitars.
It's not that spendy if you are a"collector" and you earn in the top 19 percent.It's sad that some genius musical and math prodigy had to pay their dues on mass produced wall art.I don't worry because as Jivegurudavy sez"Love will find a way!PAXIMUNDI
Great review. Nice to see J.B. dressing neat & trim for the occasion too. IMO this is a *gorgeous* guitar! Sleek lines, angular but contoured where it matters, great fretboard access, that super cool blue finish. Sounds lovely. And it doesn't look like anything else around right now. I get that some folks can't hack this…I encounter 'em all the time in left turn lanes, refusing to move 'til the little green arrow gives 'em permission. Screw that…I turn as soon as conditions allow. So I'm in with the Annie Clark space guitar. It rocks (and so does she)!
+Jose O Well this guitar is almost $2000 so i wouldn't exactly call it a starter guitar... The epiphone would probably be a better value as a starter guitar.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention some of the reasons for the design. From what I've read, the design is so different because Annie needed something that was comfortable for women to play. I know that saying something is "for women" might turn some people off, but my understanding is that she really wanted something that fits a woman's frame better than what was out there.
i hope they make a sterling version, with the same neck, i would replace the pickups with some lollar gold foil p90 in neck and middle and lollar firebird bridge pickup, that would be rockin
LOVE the look of this guitar! Pleased to hear the variety of switching options (for playing style variety) & yes....I would play metal on this as well 😉
Only Music Man could get away with such an abstract and unusual design. The tone and quality are going to be there because Ernie Ball is such a reputable company. So the aesthetic compliments the sound rather than simply act as a novelty.
First review I've seen, that shows the wonderful neck on this thing!! I was also unaware that the body had contours on the top, like it appears to have, and thought it was just flat. Now, if they'd just do something with that horrible headstock, they'd have a winner!
+revolutionday1 I've had a thing for the Armada from EB for a while, this is a fairly similar shape, but way cooler switching. And yes, that neck is spectacular! I have a repo rosewood tele as per George Harrison, and LOVE the feel of the neck on it, too! Peace
I kind of felt that way at first coffee dude but it grew on me. How can it be THAT bad when fender came up with it in the first place. That's right folks. Music man came from fender. Leo even helped create music man.
I think the St. Vinnie represents great visual design and art as well as very good ergonomics and musical engineering. Have you driven a Telecaster lately? It' looks UAF, nothing harmonizes in the look of that guitar. We just got used to it as an icon.
5:54 I was looking at this guitar for my daughter, but I got a strat in the end. I wish somebody had told me about the 5 E's before, that would definitely have tipped me over into the music man camp. I wonder why they don't market the extra cool range of this guitar more aggressively, could be quite a selling point …
I love the look and sound! Get away from all the traditional shapes! Annie knows her shit! Music Man and Annie perfect together! If I was Music Man I would hire her as a designer! Annie design me a Bass now!
My wife bought the cherry version of this. One cracking beast. And I get to play it. Since when I’ve replaced my Fender and Gibson’s with EBMM gear. Their Albert Lee guitars have the same neck as the St Vincent with the same oil and wax finish which just feels amazing. I’ve also finished other guitars like this after stripping their original neck finishes. The EBMM quality is top notch and most of their kit is original though not cheap. That said you need to go custom shop with both Fender and Gibson before you get reasonable quality. The only drawback on the St Vincent is, as John says, the neck offset when standing. I have a duff left shoulder. When playing sat on my butt, the neck is no problem. The full rosewood neck and fingerboard is the finest that I have played in over 50 years. What I really want is an Albert Lee fitted with the St Vincent electronics. That would be one hell of a guitar. I have two Albert Lee guitars. One SSS fitted with Suhr Michael Landau and one HH now fitted with Alegree P90s. There’s nothing wrong with the original pickups which will probably be refitted at some point, it’s just that I like to tinker. I also have a Stingray bass and had both the Stingray guitar and Cutlass. Great guitars but sold to pay for the ALs.
Great design and electronics. It's high time there was a new guitar shape. Always loved post-atomic design. And this guitar has that look. Love to see one in surf green or sea foam blue. That Start setting sounds just like Dire Straights. Out to sound totally Surf-Guitar with a drippy reverb tank.
Whoa... I was becoming very interested in the guitar until I went and checked the price. I find it odd that Annie, who's main axe was a Harmony Bobkat -- a budget guitar -- would turn around and team up with a company to design a replacement that would cost $2000. If this was inspired by the things she liked about the Bobkat as she has said, I would have thought they would try to design it to be valued similar to a vintage Bobcat, i.e.., $600 to $1000.
It honestly seems kinda cool but it isn't something I'd buy. I can appreciate the uniqueness though. It looks kinda like some obscure vintage guitar that never really became a thing. Sounds cool but not so great balance is disappointing. Never liked firebirds mainly for that reason.
yes, the guitar was made to fit women a little better than conventional guitars. annie clark wears her guitars pretty high, so the guitars slim waist prevents it from pressing on her breasts and making it uncomfortable on her chest. if you don't have breasts, or you don't wear your guitars very high, then it won't really affect you. so it's a guitar for both genders, it's just a little more comfortable for some women than most guitars.
I wasn't sold on the idea until I saw how I looked playing it. I'm definitely getting the all black Sterling model. I'm poor and I'd be terrified of breaking such an expensive guitar if I have an accident on stage. I love it! That, and it kinda looks like my obnoxiously angular head.
weird the Ernie Ball website says "The original St. Vincent signature guitar design features a lightweight Okoume body, premium roasted maple neck, and a rosewood fretboard. The roasted maple neck is highly figured and is adorned with St. Vincent signature custom inlays. Specially configured electronics package includes 3 Dimarzio mini-humbuckers with 5-way pickup selector for a unique offering of tonal options." it doesn't say anything about a "Mahogany body and or neck" what gives?
I used to. Not anymore now. Now whenever I see a california music man guitar I just go... THAT is a quality guitar. The head stock helps me recognize that faster. It's similar to a strat or tele so I don't really see the big deal after learning that leo fender helped make music man a thing.
Interesting guitar... But any professional grade guitar with neck dive is an immediate no for me.. The tone is phenomenal but neck dive sucks when playing..
They should have mimicked the aesthetic of the body with the headstock and ditched the ugly Ernie Ball font. They both kill the aesthetic of the guitar, but I do love the sound. Can't wait to play one some day. If only Guitar Center would start carrying something other than just Strats and Les Pauls.
guitar looks great, but the body aesthetic doesn't match the headstock. that headstock is straight up awful :( suspect they just wouldn't compromise on the headstock :(
seriously, say what you will about its looks but you gotta pick one up. such a light and comfy guitar in how it hugs your body yet offers so much freedom. kinda like the albert king (which is fantastic imo!), maybe even where the strat should be heading? ?
Late to the party, but I saw this guitar last night in the hands of the guitarist in the Broadway musical Waitress. Thought it was very cool, but couldn’t place it. Thought it might be one of the odd fenders from that epoch. Caught the guitarist on his way out of the stage door and asked him about the model, which led me here. Great review. Just ordered one. 😂
I like her innovation and the guitar is pretty rad save the hideous headstock. Too bad I'm allergic to buying signature models for their shameless spike in price to fleece customers just because some rock star endorsed it. Sucker play.
i would have to agree with those that think this is an ugly guitar .not only that, its not a super revolutionary design either ,there are old gibsons that have a similar body shape. different isn't always necessarily good folks. it sounds ok i guess,but i think most people who get this thing are going to probably run it into a fuzz or something so does it really matter? haha
