At the beginning of this year I put together a list of the five signature guitars I wished I had. As someone who has an unhealthy fascination with guitars I often find myself dreaming of the guitars I wished I had—I’m sure everybody makes a guitar wishlist of their own though. I should say that I’m lucky enough to already have a decent guitar collection and with each new acquisition I try to add something unique to my guitar family. Currently I have something from the Les Paul, Stratocaster. Telecaster and V shape ranges. Realising this got me thinking of the other iconic shapes out there that I’m yet to own.
That right there is how I decided I need at least six more guitars to round out my collection.
Each of these guitars brings something new to my collection. It’s not just about guitar shape though. It never is. That’s why my current collection has multiple guitars of similar shape already. Hardware and colour makes a difference to me. So let’s get into what makes these guitars more desirable than most others to me.
Gibson Flying V
I mentioned earlier that I currently own a V shaped guitar. That’s my Jackson RR3 which is not a traditional V—one side of the V is longer than the other. I love that guitar, but I would love to own the traditional V shape. It’s a shape I once owned and I’d love to own it again.
The Gibson Flying V 2016 T is a sexy beast in black. It also brings some nice zebra style pickups which I don’t currently own. I prefer this style of V as well for its tailpiece instead of the often-seen string-through-body style. I also like the two volume controls and single/master tone control. It’s a mean looking guitar and I feel like I need to get it.
B. C. Rich Warlock
Blackie Lawless. That’s basically why I’d love to own this guitar. It’s another guitar that I’ve owned a copy of. I’d love to own the original. There’s nothing really else like it. It screams “METAL!” like few other guitars can. You don’t pick this up to play some country music songs.
The Mk5 Warlock is my favourite model. It’s black and has a fretboard that contains no inlays. That again is something new for my guitar collection to date. Everything else is pretty much Les Paul style in regards to hardware and setup. It’s just a lot more metal. And I’m all about the metal.
LTD Xtone
The reason I want an LTD Xtone series guitar is because I don’t have a hollow-body guitar. Nor do I have anything from the ESP/LTD family. I feel that both of those things are wrong. This fixes both of those problems.
The LTD Xtone PS-1 BLK is an awesome looking hollow-body guitar. It’s black—which we all know is important to me—and it’s a slightly unusual shape. So that’s another win. It’s another Les Paul hardware setup with its dual volume and tone controls, but it’s certainly nothing like anything I currently own. That makes it list-worthy.
Dean ML
The Dean ML is a bit like the B.C. Rich Warlock for me in regards to an iconic guitarist connection the body shape has. Every time I see this style of Dean—it’s really a guitar shape that nobody else can say they truly own—I think of Dimebag Darrell. For me, that’s reason enough to want to own this guitar.
Regular readers here will know that I don’t only appreciate black guitars. No … I also love white guitars. Basically any guitar that is without colour appeals to me. The Dean Guitars ML 79 Floyd – Classic White is just that. Pure black and white brilliance.
But’s not just the body shape that is unique in this guitar—even though it looks like a Flying V had sex with an Explorer to produce this combination. The Dean ML also features the trademark Dean headstock. It looks large enough to fit its own pickup in it. I love it. I feel that I need it.
Gibson SG
The SG is a body shape that has become iconic to quite a few guitar heroes of mine. I can think of two that I’ve already referenced in my 52 Guitarists series—Angus Young and Tony Iommi. Many other famous guitarists have played this guitar at least once in their careers. There’s just so much to love about it.
Double cutaways in an otherwise Les Paul style body setup. The hardware setup is also much more Les Paul in nature than most other double cutaway body shapes.
The reason I’d consider the SG Standard P-90 however is for its P-90 pickups. I don’t own a guitar with P-90s and it makes sense to me that an SG would have them. I don’t know why, but I associate the single coil approach more to a double cutaway guitar body shape. That works for me.
Dean Zero
I have a confession to make with this last guitar. That confession is that I’m adding the guitar to my collection later in the year thanks to the folks at Sam Ash in the USA. I’m not just getting any Dean Zero either. Nope. I’m getting the Dean Dave Mustaine Zero Punk. I reached out to Sam Ash through their Facebook page and was put in contact with the manager of the guitar department of the Las Vegas store and with three simple emails I’d confirmed the guitar type, price and then booked it. All I need to do now is watch the days slowly roll by until I’m in the USA to pick up my newest guitar addition.
The Dean Zero is a more metal version of the classic Explorer shape and that alone is reason enough for me to want it. The fact that it’s a Dave Mustaine signature model is 100% more appealing than any other Explorer styled guitar I’d ever want to own. Add to that the fact that the guitar has one pickup only in the bridge position and you’ve got another piece of individuality that will set this guitar apart from the others I’m lucky enough to own. Oh, that single pickup is a Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine signature Live Wire pickup too. As someone who has two guitars that are loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups (passive currently) I can tell you this addition excites me greatly.
Stay tuned for later in the year when I pick this guitar up. If all goes to plan I will be one incredibly happy camper. You’ll be lucky enough to read all about it here.
Conclusion
This guitar wishlist would round out my collection nicely in my opinion. Most iconic body shapes that I’m without are accounted for. I’d never admit to wanting to stop collecting with this list, but if I had to, I’d be damn happy with what I had. Feel free to let me know which body shape you’d most like to own—or already own. Maybe my list needs to grow …
Nice article, I think everyone who has every played guitar has wanted a Gibson SG at some point in their lives, I remember wanting one within 6 months of me playing my first guitar!
Thanks John. When I was a teenager I had a friend with a Gibson SG. That was an awesome guitar. It was sadly stolen. I guess someone else also wanted it 🙁
Of this list, the SG and Flying V are the two that I’d like to have. However, in the SG I’d probably replace those P90’s, which is kinda sacrilege (so, ultimately, I’d probably buy a different model SG that already has standard humbuckers).
My 3rd runner-up would be the Warlock. That was my fantasy guitar when I was a teenager 😀
If I was just buying an SG for the sake of buying an SG I’d also not choose the P90s by default. But having them in this guitar allows me to stay true to my ‘every new guitar has something different in it’ rule. Without that rule I’d most likely go for the recent Epiphone Tony Iommi signature model. That’s near perfect for me.