# Anyone else disappointed?



## MajorTom (May 13, 2016)

Last week Ryan Bruce, a.k.a Fluff, announced that you could pre order his signature series Balaguer Hyperion for US$799.00 with a minimum waiting time of 60 - 75 days for customers in the U.S. - he actually says 60 days in the video however the link in his video description that leads to the page to where you can pre order them from says the waiting time is 60 - 75 days for U.S. customers, or for US$799.00 plus shipping, import taxes and an unknown waiting time, as in Balaguer can't give people in the U.K. at least a time frame to expect the guitar they pre order like they do to those who pre order from within the U.S. This is the video he posted last week where he mentions that you can now pre order his signature series guitar, where from, the model, and the price: 



Then today he posts up another of his 'Riff Wars', Riff Wars 3: Rabea Massaad, and guess what, he doesn't even play his Gibson RD clone, he plays his trusty Gibson Les Paul, in fact somebody else in the video plays Fluff's signature Balaguer Hyperion guitar, Fluff himself doesn't even touch it, he play his Les Paul the entire time he plays:



Forget that I pre ordered one of these guitars, if I was the owner or a representative of Balaguer Guitars I would be seriously annoyed that not only is the guitar that is meant to be his signature series guitar is a clone of another companies design, but that he not only doesn't play his signature series guitar in his video, but that he plays a guitar that made by the guitar company that made the guitar that his signature series is cloned off, and it's not even the model that they cloned, but a Les Paul instead.

It's obvious from watching Ryan Bruce's channel that he is a fan of Gibson's, but after seeing today's video I'm having second thoughts about buying the Hyperion in satin black, and satin silver burst when they are eventually released and there is no need to pre order them, I'm actually even considering cancelling my pre order of the gloss vintageburst (flame maple top). From the looks of his latest video, it seems that he doesn't like even playing his new signature series guitars himself, it was only last week that he was so stoked about them and promoting them, and now it seems as if it's a case of these guitars are just substitutes so that he doesn't have to bring his beloved Gibson RD's out on the road with him.

Am I the only person who gets this impression?


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## kootenay (May 13, 2016)

MajorTom said:


> Am I the only person who gets this impression?



Yep. 




Dude has like 15 guitars, maybe more that we don't see. You are likely going to see different ones all the time. You sir have way too much time on your hands and over analyzed the crap out that.


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## Mathemagician (May 13, 2016)

Are you a rep from Balaguer? If not, then don't speak for them, IMO. 

Why do you have so much time to be upset over what an artist plays? I'm not even defending Fluff - it doesn't matter. Do YOU not like the guitars you pre-ordered? Or does him not using them 100% of the time affect how much you like them? They are good-looking $800 (value) guitars. 

The point being "Who cares?" 

If it DOES matter to you, then speak with your wallet. It just seems like you're trying to drum up support for you to cancel a preorder you may be having second thoughts on.


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## bhakan (May 13, 2016)

This just in: someone who's popularity comes from showing off different gear has more than one piece of gear.


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## bostjan (May 13, 2016)

Why buy the guitar if you don't like it? 

Why complain about it if you do like it? 

Your prerogative, either way, but I'm not really sure how you expected people to respond to this thread. 

HNGD?


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## cwhitey2 (May 13, 2016)

I'm butt hurt by this to!



Oh wait... No I'm not because this does not impact my life or anyone elses at all.


He lives in America, which means you play wtf you want.


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## drgamble (May 13, 2016)

If you watch some of his other videos, he clearly states that the signature guitar is meant to be his touring guitars. How can you blame him who wants to take a vintage RD out on the road or a $3000 Les Paul when you can get close enough for live with a $800 guitar? 

This kind of thing has been going on for a long time. There are a lot of artists out there that have signature guitars that they take on the road, only to use Les Pauls, Strats, or Teles in the studio. These guitars are tried and true solutions when recording. Not everyone wants to bring expensive, vintage guitars out on the road with them. I would venture to guess that 90% of all recorded rock/metal albums feature at least one of the big 3.


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## pkgitar (May 13, 2016)

As others are saying, you are reading waaaay too much into this.

Personally, I would never pre-order a guitar from a brand I've never heard of because some guy on Youtube has a sig with them. Doesn't matter if it's Fluff or Steve Vai. I like Fluff, btw. And Steve Vai. If it's something that I can't try, or even read about online from another source than the person who pretty much can't say anything but positive words about it, I'll pass until that happens.


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## marcwormjim (May 14, 2016)

MajorTom's currently my favorite poster - I imagine Ground Control telling him to put his helmet on when he posts.


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## Alex Kenivel (May 14, 2016)




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## schantist (May 14, 2016)

This whole thread is hilarious... still I wouldn't want to touch anything associated with Fluff except for his ex-wife


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## UnderTheSign (May 14, 2016)

Who is this guy?


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## Emperor Guillotine (May 14, 2016)

schantist said:


> This whole thread is hilarious... still I wouldn't want to touch anything associated with Fluff except for his ex-wife









She left him for a reason. (I'm guessing she didn't believe that he could survive off the YouTube stuff without a normal job? Or maybe that was just the tip of the iceberg?) And his own daughter won't associate with him for a reason.

This thread is just an excuse for the OP to complain about nothing and has gotten way off-topic.


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## schantist (May 14, 2016)

And the ex-Bruce girls are probably right, Fluff doesn't have the personality or the riffs to shoot vlogs for a living...


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## MajorTom (May 14, 2016)

marcwormjim said:


> MajorTom's currently my favorite poster - I imagine Ground Control telling him to put his helmet on when he posts.



You do realize that Major Tom was never an astronaut right, just listen to 'Space Oddity' and 'Ashes To Ashes', both by David Bowie, and in that order and you'll find out exactly what Major Tom was. The guy never went into outer space, not in the physical sense anyway.


As to the original topic, perhaps 'surprised' would of been a far better and far less provocative word to use to describe my reaction to Fluff using his Les Paul for his latest Riff Wars video instead of disappointed, especially as I mentioned that exactly one week before he released the latest Riff Wars Video, he released a video announcing that his signature series Balaguer Hyperion's where available for pre order, and hyping them up.

I personally have nothing against the guy, from what I have seen of him, we both share very similar tastes in guitars, namely Gibson's, as in most of the videos that he has released where he is playing a guitar he is either playing a Les Paul or his blonde RD, in fact I'm struggling to remember seeing him playing a guitar in any of his videos that wasn't made by Gibson.

And the reason why I pre ordered the gloss vintageburst (flame maple top) Balaguer Hyperion, it had nothing to do with Fluff, and everything to do with it's specs, as for whether I will get the satin black and satin silver burst ones, I won't be pre ordering them, I'll wait until they are widely available and I've had a chance to play around with and go over the one that I've already pre ordered, before I decide if I want to own one in every colour.

But yeh, I'm probably over thinking it.


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## Señor Voorhees (May 14, 2016)

Certainly not upset, but it is strange that he couldn't be arsed to hype up his own guitar. Even someone like Brendon Small was rocking his epiphone for a while shortly before and after the release of the thunderhorse. I mean why even have a "signature" if you can't even be excited about it when it's new?

All the same, it looks like a neat guitar anyway. If I ever ordered one it wouldn't be because it has that snorefest's name on it.


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## CaptainD00M (May 14, 2016)

CaptainD00M said:


> Discussions like this are why I hate humanity and do drugs.


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## marcwormjim (May 14, 2016)

MajorTom said:


> You do realize that Major Tom was never an astronaut right, just listen to 'Space Oddity' and 'Ashes To Ashes', both by David Bowie, and in that order and you'll find out exactly what Major Tom was. The guy never went into outer space, not in the physical sense anyway.



Ah.


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## Hachetjoel (May 14, 2016)

I guess I have to sell my jem now, how could you do this to me vai? I feel so betrayed!


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## Noxon (May 14, 2016)

Unless his deal with the manufacturer has some sort of exclusivity, I'm pretty sure he can play what he wants.


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## MajorTom (May 14, 2016)

Hachetjoel said:


> I guess I have to sell my jem now, how could you do this to me vai? I feel so betrayed!



That's from Ernie Ball's 50th Anniversary Party in 2012, and I think that they where playing quite a few Led Zep covers, and I think it was at NAMM that it took place, I could be wrong though. 

But how often do you see Vai play something that's not an Ibanez if it's not one of his signature Ibanez's, now how often do you see Fluff play his signature Balaguer Hyperion? There is a huge difference in numbers there, for Vai, it's rare, for Fluff, it appears to be the norm that he doesn't play his signature guitar.




Señor Voorhees;4583526 said:


> Certainly not upset, but it is strange that he couldn't be arsed to hype up his own guitar. Even someone like Brendon Small was rocking his epiphone for a while shortly before and after the release of the thunderhorse. I mean why even have a "signature" if you can't even be excited about it when it's new?
> 
> All the same, it looks like a neat guitar anyway. If I ever ordered one it wouldn't be because it has that snorefest's name on it.



That's how I looked at it, I was thinking he would be taking every opportunity to be seen playing it as much as possible, even reshooting the end credits or what ever he calls it to his F.A.Q. Mondays where you see him strumming away on his Les Paul, to show him strumming away on his new signature Balaguer Hyperion, he just doesn't seem to be promoting it as much as other guitarists who have signature guitars promote theirs, it kind of makes me think that he doesn't really like the guitar, and that it' has not met or lived up to his expectations, and that he is maybe a little disappointed with it.

Anyway I was really surprised that the first video that he shoots after announcing that the Balaguer Hyperion's where available for pre order, and it's a video where he plays the guitar, he doesn't even use his new signature Balaguer Hyperion.


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## Hachetjoel (May 14, 2016)

if you're worried about the quality play a korean shecter, should give you a pretty good ballpark because as far as i'm aware theyre both made in wmi, which makes good guitars. but certainly no prestige/ebmm/suhr quality


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## MFB (May 14, 2016)

Who in the hell is Fluff, and for that matter, who the hell are Balauger guitars?


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## Emperor Guillotine (May 14, 2016)

MFB said:


> who the hell are Balauger guitars?


This is probably why he isn't repping them as much.


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## MFB (May 14, 2016)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> This is probably why he isn't repping them as much.



Still doesn't answer the first part, but I've gathered he's a YT flavor-of-the-week guitarist that's over-stayed his 15 seconds of 'stardom' and will soon fade into obscurity with the rest of them.

When a no namer reps a no namer brand, there's really nowhere for it to go.


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## MajorTom (May 15, 2016)

Double post sorry


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## MajorTom (May 15, 2016)

Hachetjoel said:


> if you're worried about the quality play a korean shecter, should give you a pretty good ballpark because as far as i'm aware theyre both made in wmi, which makes good guitars. but certainly no prestige/ebmm/suhr quality



I'm not in the slightest bit worried about the quality, I have many guitars that are made in Korea, a lot of them will probably have been made in the same factory that this one is being made in, however I have a feeling that the one I ordered, the gloss vintageburst (flame maple top) might not be Korean made, and may be U.S.A. made like the Balaguer I currently have, I had heard of Balaguer Guitars long before I had heard of Ryan Bruce/Fluff. I even took part in Balaguer Guitars Indiegogo Campaign back in 2015.


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## jeremyb (May 15, 2016)

Pics of ex-wife?


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## Emperor Guillotine (May 15, 2016)

jeremyb said:


> Pics of ex-wife?


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## RUSH_Of_Excitement (May 15, 2016)

MFB said:


> Still doesn't answer the first part, but I've gathered he's a YT flavor-of-the-week guitarist that's over-stayed his 15 seconds of 'stardom' and will soon fade into obscurity with the rest of them.
> 
> When a no namer reps a no namer brand, there's really nowhere for it to go.



You mad bro?  why must you hate on a guy for doing what he loves if you don't even know him?


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## A-Branger (May 15, 2016)

mmmm I just saw a video were he does a demo of an amp, and he was playing his silver burst sig guitar. So that means you love him again?


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## Bloody_Inferno (May 15, 2016)

Hachetjoel said:


> I guess I have to sell my jem now, how could you do this to me vai? I feel so betrayed!



What about all the Satch fans that bought a JS? 

Joe Satriani | Vintage Guitar® magazine

Ibanez should just drop these 2 old farts and give signatures to the next bedroom youtube sensations instead. It's not like anybody cares about selling albums and world touring anymore. Hell, I love Satch but now the betrayal makes me want to sell all my gear, get a loan for a 59 Les Paul and an original Dumble and complain about young kids now.


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## Emperor Guillotine (May 15, 2016)

YouTube is a prime platform for advertising and marketing. So, a company giving a "YouTube star" an endorsement is just part of the marketing plan. But in essence, this makes it so that anyone can get an endorsement nowadays. If you think about it, you could possibly get an endorsement without ever having touched an instrument (although that is a bit far-fetched).


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## Bloody_Inferno (May 15, 2016)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> YouTube is a prime platform for advertising and marketing. So, a company giving a "YouTube star" an endorsement is just part of the marketing plan. But in essence, this makes it so that anyone can get an endorsement nowadays. If you think about it, you could possibly get an endorsement without ever having touched an instrument (although that is a bit far-fetched).



There are guys up on the tube that do deserve getting endorsements and signature models. The marketing paradigm has changed and mostly focused on online exposure. And of course big exposure is what marketing is all about. Those who got their endorsements worked their asses off and have something to show for it. So digging deeper, it's not just 'anyone' who can get endorsed.


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## A-Branger (May 16, 2016)

you are talking about Steve Vai, But have you notice with aaaaaaallllllll his available signatures from now and years past, he still gravitates towards his EVO guitar?, plus his FLO and the other 3 more he always uses.

so because he doesnt touch anything curently "new" or anything other than EVO that means Im not gonna buy a jem because he doesnt play them?

lol


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## Bloody_Inferno (May 16, 2016)

A-Branger said:


> you are talking about Steve Vai, But have you notice with aaaaaaallllllll his available signatures from now and years past, he still gravitates towards his EVO guitar?, plus his FLO and the other 3 more he always uses.
> 
> so because he doesnt touch anything curently "new" or anything other than EVO that means Im not gonna buy a jem because he doesnt play them?
> 
> lol



Hachetjoel and I were joking in our posts.  But still...

Vai is on the highest echelon of the Ibanez roster. He was the reason Hoshino Gakki was recognized as a strong guitar contender in the late 80s. There were others before Vai, but never got as big as they did when Vai released the original green, pink and yellow Jems. Ibanez owes Vai everything. Same way how George Lynch introduced ESP to the world before Metallica escalated them to metal popularity. 

That and Vai is weird in general. Yes Ibanez will build him a new sig to market every few years, and he does use them live, he treats EVO like a second wife.


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## A-Branger (May 16, 2016)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Hachetjoel and I were joking in our posts.  But still...
> 
> Vai is on the highest echelon of the Ibanez roster. He was the reason Hoshino Gakki was recognized as a strong guitar contender in the late 80s. There were others before Vai, but never got as big as they did when Vai released the original green, pink and yellow Jems. Ibanez owes Vai everything. Same way how George Lynch introduced ESP to the world before Metallica escalated them to metal popularity.
> 
> That and Vai is weird in general. Yes Ibanez will build him a new sig to market every few years, and he does use them live, he treats EVO like a second wife.



yeah I know all that, I was joking too. making fun at the OP with the "because the artist is not playing his sig guitar then I should not buy it"  like if that were the only time it has happen

so if you see deep enough, in theory Vai is not playing his sig either. Only his custom build/modified 4 guitars. In which if you see most artist they do that too, most of thrm they end up only playing their prototypes or custom build version of their sig before they were released, and hold onto them for most of their careers. Plus the "who knows" what guitar they actually use for their recordings/albums

Like with Vai again, he saying that he uses the EVo pickups set from dimarzio in the neck and bridge. When in reality most of his guitars now have the fernandes sustainer on the neck position


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## MajorTom (May 16, 2016)

A-Branger said:


> yeah I know all that, I was joking too. making fun at the OP with the "because the artist is not playing his sig guitar then I should not buy it"  like if that were the only time it has happen
> 
> so if you see deep enough, in theory Vai is not playing his sig either. Only his custom build/modified 4 guitars. In which if you see most artist they do that too, most of thrm they end up only playing their prototypes or custom build version of their sig before they were released, and hold onto them for most of their careers. Plus the "who knows" what guitar they actually use for their recordings/albums
> 
> Like with Vai again, he saying that he uses the EVo pickups set from dimarzio in the neck and bridge. When in reality most of his guitars now have the fernandes sustainer on the neck position



I didn't pre order the guitar because of Fluff, I actually heard of Fluff because I pre ordered his signature guitar, I pre ordered the Balaguer guitar from Balaguer because that I already own a Balaguer, based off of it's specs and the quality of the last guitar I bought off of them, and how happy I am with it and how much I like it, Fluff had nothing to do with my decision to buy the guitar.

I was only pointing out that in the first video he releases after hyping the ability to pre order his signature guitar, he not only doesn't even play it, he plays his good old Gibson Les Paul, the guitar that is probably featured the most in his channel and made by a company that does not endorse him.

I was wrong to call this this thread '*Anyone else disappointed?' *where as* '**Anyone else think it Strange'* would of been a more accurate and appropriate title for it.

Like I mentioned I took part in the Balaguer Guitars Indiegogo Campaign back in 2015.


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## A-Branger (May 16, 2016)

yeah but that shouldnt be a thing to make you drop the buy. Especially when you took the choice of buying it from all the other reasons except Fluff.

An who knows what exactly happened. MAybe Jarred said "dude cool guitar can I play it on the clip?"...."yeah sure go for it, I would play something else to vary then"


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## Bloody_Inferno (May 16, 2016)

A-Branger said:


> so if you see deep enough, in theory Vai is not playing his sig either. Only his custom build/modified 4 guitars. In which if you see most artist they do that too, most of thrm they end up only playing their prototypes or custom build version of their sig before they were released, and hold onto them for most of their careers. Plus the "who knows" what guitar they actually use for their recordings/albums
> 
> Like with Vai again, he saying that he uses the EVo pickups set from dimarzio in the neck and bridge. When in reality most of his guitars now have the fernandes sustainer on the neck position



Now that's just overthinking it. 

Getting a signature model of anything doesn't necessarily getting married and being in a strict fidelity contract with it. For a musician's case, they'll still use whatever instrument necessary to create the music they want. To put themselves in that restraint is silly and counter productive. Especially in the studio where all bets are off. 

To reiterate, Ibanez owe everything to Vai (and to some extent Satch too), possibly even moreso than their longer endorsers like George Benson, simply due to marketing reasons. 

In Vai's case, this freedom has allowed him to not let gear contract restraints to get in the way or compromise of his music. Yes Dimarzio Evos and their variants are his signature, but then so are Breeds, Gravity Storms and I guess to some extent, Blazes. And he's been using PAF Pros and X2Ns long before his first sig came out. He's a long time endorser so he gets the same freedom liberties. And since Dimarzio don't make sustainers, Vai will use whatever product to get the sound he wants.


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## A-Branger (May 17, 2016)

you still dont get my point  

yes, Im overthinking it, thats the whole point of it.

again Im just making fun a the situation of the OP that seemed he didnt want to buy the guitar now because "the sig artist wasnt using it"

like if you go down that path of thinking, then majority of sig artist arent technically using their sig guitars either (my overthinking post).

I know what your are saying and Im supporting your view, but by using a different approach 



at the end of the day, you play what you like. I have a sig guitar that I love but I HATE the sig artist/band it is from. Lucky his name is not on the guitar lol. But I loved the specs abd looks of it so I got it


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## JoeGuitar717 (Aug 17, 2016)

I don't offer exclusive contracts really. The contract I have with Ryan states that he can play whatever he wants, and I'm OK with that because I own numerous guitars besides my own. They are tools, and who am I to refuse him of gear lust? :roll eyes:

He tours with our guitars and plays them in videos when he feels like it. I think thats a pretty good deal.


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Aug 17, 2016)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> She left him for a reason. (I'm guessing she didn't believe that he could survive off the YouTube stuff without a normal job? Or maybe that was just the tip of the iceberg?) And his own daughter won't associate with him for a reason.
> 
> This thread is just an excuse for the OP to complain about nothing and has gotten way off-topic.



Why bring a guys personal stuff into a forum? Pretty lame.



RUSH_Of_Excitement said:


> You mad bro?  why must you hate on a guy for doing what he loves if you don't even know him?



Seriously. Some of you guys are fools and just haters or jealous.

Fluff is an awesome dude who is nice, funny and does great demos. The guy has more subs than Ola lol. GTFO


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## ArtDecade (Aug 17, 2016)

Jacksonluvr636 said:


> Why bring a guys personal stuff into a forum? Pretty lame.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Leave Ola out of it!


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Aug 17, 2016)

ArtDecade said:


> Leave Ola out of it!





Good point, Sorry Ola.

Was just saying, it is a fact Fluff has more subs. People are claiming some no name youtube guy. Fluff is the man.


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