SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
Who was the first guitarist awarded a signature-model electric? Before we get into that question, we ought to decide what we mean by a signature guitar. Sometimes known as an artist model, this is an instrument that bears the name of a well-known musician, usually alongside a popular brand name, offering some kind of connection to a guitar that this particular guitarist is known to play, manufactured as a production item and offered for sale to the public.
Which takes us back to that opening question. Who came first? There are 19th-century examples of what we might loosely call signature guitars, when some enterprising teachers had the commercial idea of buying in guitars, signing the labels, and selling them on to eager pupils who wanted an affordable axe with a hint of the teacher’s magic.
That idea continued with Martin’s 1913 model for Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, a Hollywood-based teacher, and others since, always with the aim of having something ready when a pupil asks the inevitable “What shall I buy?” question.
More commonly, though, a signature guitar is named for a famous player. There were more early acoustic instruments that qualify as trailblazers, notably the Gibson Nick Lucas flattop, introduced in 1927. Nick was known (almost as bonkers as the 60s cover by Tiny Tim). Nick cut some weightier items, too, such as – and despite the award of Gibson’s signature model, Nick mainly played his favoured L-1 flat-top.
