Andertons PRS Interview

Teetonetal

Strat54 said:

jeztone2 said:

 I think some of you are being very judgemental. If you'd pretty much transformed an industry & art form to the extent that he has. I dunno, maybe you'd not come across well being interviewed either.

Well said. 

 Ah, now there is a valuable lesson to teach my kids. It's ok to be rude to people, so long as you made something of yourself? 

Isn't this the perceived attitude of the upper class that so many people apparently despise?

dindude

jeztone2 said:

 I think some of you are being very judgemental. If you'd pretty much transformed an industry & art form to the extent that he has. I dunno, maybe you'd not come across well being interviewed either.

Not sure he transformed an industry, and he's not the messiah, he's someone who's made a successful guitar company. You can still be in the higher levels of business and not be a twat, in fact it's very much preferred IMO.

Neil

PRS is an American.

What can seem like pushiness and possibly even rudeness to us is perfectly normal in business to many Stateside.

I have an American daughter-in law!

Gadgie

Neil said:

PRS is an American.

What can seem like pushiness and possibly even rudeness to us is perfectly normal in business to many Stateside.

I have an American daughter-in law!

For sure. I've worked with enough Americans to see and hear that. I think that's why I don't think it was too bad. It's a cultural thing I think. We are what we are, they are what they are.

benmurray85

Gadgie said:

Neil said:

PRS is an American.

What can seem like pushiness and possibly even rudeness to us is perfectly normal in business to many Stateside.

I have an American daughter-in law!

For sure. I've worked with enough Americans to see and hear that. I think that's why I don't think it was too bad. It's a cultural thing I think. We are what we are, they are what they are.

OI this is no place for a balanced opinion based on personal experience! ;-)

digitalscream

Neil said:

PRS is an American.

What can seem like pushiness and possibly even rudeness to us is perfectly normal in business to many Stateside.

I have an American daughter-in law!

The problem with that argument is that - in any culture - playing an instrument while somebody's speaking (loudly enough that you can't reasonably hear what they're saying) isn't pushiness...it's plain ignorance.

Jonathanthomas83

digitalscream said:

Neil said:

PRS is an American.

What can seem like pushiness and possibly even rudeness to us is perfectly normal in business to many Stateside.

I have an American daughter-in law!

The problem with that argument is that - in any culture - playing an instrument while somebody's speaking (loudly enough that you can't reasonably hear what they're saying) isn't pushiness...it's plain ignorance.

I agree, completely.

Danji

I didn't make it past the first five minutes.  Noodling while someone is talking is like saying you don't have my full attention. 

Collings

dindude said:

Not sure he transformed an industry, and he's not the messiah, he's someone who's made a successful guitar company. You can still be in the higher levels of business and not be a twat, in fact it's very much preferred IMO.

Maybe transformed an industry is too stong but he certainly gave the top two usa builders a kick up the backside and forced them to raise their game along with some of the Japanese builders.

I love PRS guitars but know they are not for everyone but their quality of build cant be denied measured against many other USA guitars.

Ive been to quite a few of his clinics over the years going back as far as the mid 90s and the thing that always comes accross when you meet him in person is his passion which comes over as very genuine. I think the fact that he still does these clinics speaks volumes. Yes he clearly does them to promote the brand and sell more guitars but very few other manufactures do it and display the same passion and im sure he does not need to do them.

digitalscream

Collings said:

Ive been to quite a few of his clinics over the years going back as far as the mid 90s and the thing that always comes accross when you meet him in person is his passion which comes over as very genuine. I think the fact that he still does these clinics speaks volumes. Yes he clearly does them to promote the brand and sell more guitars but very few other manufactures do it and display the same passion and im sure he does not need to do them.

I could well be wrong, but combining "he doesn't need to do them" with "he does them" and his approach to this interview, it strikes me that doing these clinics may well be a consequence of ego...or, more accurately, he likes being the centre of attention.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with that - I think a lot of us like the odd bit of attention here and there, given that most of us end up on stage reasonably often - but it's very possible to like being the centre of attention without effectively shouting down everyone around you (eg by playing over the top of them speaking).

DartmoorHedgehog

digitalscream said:

in any culture - playing an instrument while somebody's speaking...it's plain ignorance.

Unless you're in William Shatner's backing band.

FWIW, I think PRS did come across as a bit rude, but then he is an American, and he is presumably there to promote his business.  But the whole interview (well, the bits I could be arsed to watch) is extremely tedious viewing IMO.

grungebob

I've rewatched this to see if i can pick up on what some of you are seeing but I just cant.  What is it your seeing that makes you think he's being rude?

 To my eyes he maintains eye contact even whilst quietly noodling whilst Lee is talking  and answers 99% of the questions with joviality and pertinence, they laugh and joke together and there's a little bit of piss taking going on too. I dont see anything that id personally take offence at.

Jonathanthomas83

Think it's plainly clear that Lee feels a tad uncomfortable at times and seems to feel the need to vie for PRS' attention. Take that as you want, but I don't find that a particularly endearing trait, even if he did design my favourite guitar!

Whitecat

It's always gonna be an ego battle with these two. 

Sassafras

A guitarist noodling in front of another guitarist?
What the hell was he thinking?

rico

Whitecat said:

It's always gonna be an ego battle with these two. 

I don't think LA is particularly egotistical. 

MagicPigDetective

The Paul Gilbert video was inspirational. Imagine him being your guitar teacher.
I didn't make it very far into the PRS one.

digitalscream

rico said:

Whitecat said:

It's always gonna be an ego battle with these two. 

I don't think LA is particularly egotistical. 

Having met him a couple of times and chatted with him on Facebook...I can probably say with more certainty than most people here that he's not.

Teetonetal

digitalscream said:

rico said:

Whitecat said:

It's always gonna be an ego battle with these two. 

I don't think LA is particularly egotistical. 

Having met him a couple of times and chatted with him on Facebook...I can probably say with more certainty than most people here that he's not.

Can concur, I've met him a number of times since 1996 - genuine nice guy and not egotistical at all imo.

Whitecat

The fact that he refers to himself as "The Captain" and has his own Facebook fan page kind of indicates otherwise, but if you guys say so I'll take your word for it.