Re: loop device endorsement - was Santanas looping bassist

["Steve Lawson" <steve@steve-lawson.co.uk>]

The endorsement angle is a fascinating and important one, and one that A 
and
R departments get SO WRONG so much of the time - they go for maximum image
exposure, but often lose out by having a) people with no sound (who really
cares what bass Mr X plays from some death metal band where the bass is
buried in the mix and he might as well be programming it?) b) people whose
only interest in the product is their cheque at the end of the year for
being an endorser, so if more money comes along they switch... as a result,
there are some endorsers whose word means jack shit any more - in the bass
world , Mark King has endorsed everything, and Chuck Rainey I hear was
pretty close to signing a deal with the cleaners at the LA Convention 
Centre
after nailing every other company at NAMM... :o)

So for Gibson, getting behind someone like Andre would seem like a great
idea because a) he's going to be a hell of a lot cheaper than Neil Schon to
book for clinics. b) he probably knows a lot more about the product c) as
his star ascends, his name will forever be linked with the product. When
that happens it's a powerful symbiotic relationship - see Michael Manring
and Zon Guitars, where they helped to elevate eachother's fame levels - he
made their instruments sound Incredible, and they put him in their ads,
giving more cred to what he did, and paid him for clinics, thus getting him
out there playing...

For my own career, I've been reliant on Ashdown clinics for getting me out
to the US - they pay my flight, and a fee for the days when I'm doing their
stuff, and the rest of the time I fill with gigs. I can't afford to just 
fly
out and gig at the moment, but so long as that relationship stays together,
I'm out there making cool noises with their amps, and answering questions
about their stuff, getting to know what the company is all about...

Putting a face and some sounds to a product is vital, methinks. So ads with
Torn/Lafosse/Schon/Reitveld/me/whoever else in them for EDP? hell yeah! :o)

Steve
www.steve-lawson.co.uk