Recently a couple of guitarists who appear to be on the up (or at least it's their opinion that they are) have contacted me and asked to be if I have an endorsement scheme as they are interested in using my pickups. My attitude has always been this: I give pro discount to OEMs provided they make it clear that the pickups fitted to their instruments are mine. But I don't give away free gear in return for big-ups. If Jo Satriani decided to use OCP he'd pay the same as Joe Smith from Wolverhampton.
My argument has always been that how's a customer going to make a value judgement about goods if the role model who uses them is paid to effectively?
I've politely refused the two young chaps .... but ....
Does anybody here really take notice of 'star' endorsements?
Comments
IIRC Fractal doesn't give away the AXE FX............
I tend to buy gear which suits me best what ever anyone else uses.
It seems that some players use whatever gear they get free/cheap (IE Dave Mustaine went from Jackson to Dean......)
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
There are benefits to both sides if it is done for the right reasons, but credibility is a fine line to tightrope (need coffee) so for it to work both sides have to go into it for the right reasons.
I agree with @stickyfiddle though, where it gets interesting is when an artist is actually involved in coming up with something new. The Johnny Marr Jaguar is a good example, whereas the Jon Bonamassa <this week's new guitar> probably isn't.
I saw this a while back which is an honest approach I think.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I did this with a Jeff Beck Strat when I was younger. I saw a used one with a couple of marks on it in Chandlers for £600 and loved it. At the time my knowledge of Jeff Beck stretched to Hi Ho Silver Lining.
I'd be a liar if I said that I wouldn't ever consider doing a freebee ... if one of my guitar idols (sadly most of whom are dead) came to me and said 'jeez man I tried your pickups and really loved em' I might just give em one .... out of being a dazed fan. But the whole 'let's play musical manufacturers ... when I stop playing he who gives me the most free stuff I'll climb into bed with ...' leaves me cold.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
FWIW I first wanted a Marshall because Dave Murray and Adrian Smith use them.
Although it was a long time before I got a Marshall, and not the same exact model* that either used.
*After getting a DSL, I found Adrian Smith has started using one, although mine a combo, and not the head/cab set-up.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
That's the right attitude I think - it could be tempting to just give out some freebies to anyone you think might get you some publicity - that's very different to working with someone to build a product they will use because they genuinely like it.
You enjoy developing new products and trying to explore new ideas - if that was done with a player then that's a how I think of endorsing - not someone scrounging freebies.
On the other hand I can see how some makers would just put it down as part of the marketing budget and think of it as no different to the cost of advertising in a mag etc and anything that gets your name out there could lead to extra business. It would at least partly come down to how much you want to grow and expand with the all the advantages and disadvantages that would bring...
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I think it's down to the company, but endorsed products are inevitably more expensive. Also, they get bad reviews if they don't make you sound exactly like that player, which is often down to playing style and rack mounted effects ("I want to sound like David gilmour... ").
Your pickups are already amazingly well priced, don't give them away I'm sure bare knuckles have gone up in price a lot since I first discovered them...
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
As stated, a lot of people are interested in the exposure as much as the discount, especially less established artists.