Artists and amp endorsement deals

[Ostinato]

I was just looking at the pic of Gerald Veasley sitting beside his new Aguilar amp and cab on the forum page...and it got me thinking about endorsements. I really don't know much about how they work.

Does the artist first buy the gear because he/she actually prefers it, or do they have another motive? Are they approached by a manufacturer?

The reason I'm asking is, years ago I recall Matt Garrison using a rig which consisted of an Alembic pre > Crown Power Base II > Epifani Cabs. A few years back he switched over to Aguilar gear. IMO, there is no way an Aguilar setup can sound anywhere near as good as the rig he was previously using. The Alembic is simply worlds away from any Aguilar pre I've ever tried. Match that with a Crown and you're in another realm of tone.

So...with all that said. What makes an artist move away from their old rig to a name manufacturer? Advertising income? The mafia? What?

[Woodchuck]

Maybe the Aggie rig gives Matt what he's looking for. As for me, I chose GK because I actually preferred it over the other amps, even turning down a free one. Are GK's the best amps out there? Maybe, maybe not, but they're what's best for me. Some artists will switch to an inferior brand strictly for money and freebies, and that's fine for them. Traa from P.O.D. has been offered the world, and so far, he ain't budging from Eden. Sometimes an artist will have a tried and true rig, but then something more technilogically advance will come out, and allow him/her to get a better sound, so they switch.

[janekbass]

Well first of all, Matt uses Epifani, not Aguilar. He was able to get in with the company (who are in the same building in brooklyn as fodera) when they were just starting out. Nick Epifani asked matt to play the amps and he did. The cabinets are amazing, some of the best I've ever played. Having said that, I was not offered an endorsement with them..... we did talk about it and I was offered a deal, but not a full ride. I was offered a deal with Fender (FBA) which has been amazing.

I really love the gear, it's free, the tour support is amazing for when I'm anywhere in the world on the road, and I'm working with them to design something unique for me so I get exactly what I need.

Endorsements are about many different things. For me it was about having the tour support. I can go to some small club in Croatia or a stadium in San Fransisco and my rig will be there waiting for me. To go all over the world and maintain a consistant, high-end, sound is key for me. Fender is a huge company, one of the largest musical instrument companies in the world. The availability of the gear is incredible and, where some small companies might be offereing you some free gear for wherever you live, their ability to get you gear on the road can be limited. Also, people do accept endorsements for commercial and financial reasons. It can get you a lot of press in the music magazines and companies send out their artists on clinic tours and pay them to do so. Also, if you have a signature line of gear with a company you can sometimes work out making a percentage of sales. So everytime that item gets sold anywhere int he world, you make some bread out of it. It might only be a percentage of 1%, but it soon adds up and is a nice little earner each year if your product does well.

Some HUGE NAME! cats take an endorsement, play that stuff live on the road, and then go to something completely different in the studio... even changing the tags on the intruments on the road!

[bassist15]

Janekbass , How did you go about getting endorsed by Fender? Just years of playing with some big acts? Im just kinda curious. Im 15 and im hoping for a long time in the music buisness so I was jstu wondering. Also did you play in a certain band or play with a big act or two?

[superbassman2000]

the way things have been going with fender is that you have to be in a punkrock band and come out with one good song, and viola!

actually, i would say that to get an endorsement, you have to play to a huge amount of people...i believe the reason that companies give out endorsements to advertise their gear...not with the intention of just giving you free gear. Mark Hoppus got his own fender bass because he played to millions of people and fender had the hopes that those millions of people would see mark's bass and want it because mark had one...its all business...

[janekbass]

Well the actual meeting with Fender that got me the deal was just playing through there amps at an event in NYC called "Bass Player Live" which was celebrating Bass Player magazine's 15th year in publication. I plugged in, tried out the gear and the rep at the booth asked me if I wanted to work with them on an endorsement deal. We sat down for about 30mins and worked out the details and the deal was done. A couple of weeks later my apartment in NYC looked like a music store and I've been using their gear ever since.

This doesn't mean I hadn't put in a lot of hard work before hand. I've been on the road for the past 10 years with some fairly sizeable acts as well as opening for some pretty big acts like the Dave Matthews Band. I have also been working in the studio as a record prodcuer for the past 6 years and have some 60 albums in the can. Not to mention the albums that I played on as a sideman that I wasn't involved in the production with. So yes, I had a pretty nice resume leading up to the meeting with Fender. They, on the other hand, didn't know about any of this, and were hearing me for the first time. So it was more about the way I played at that moment that really sparked the relationship.

They have been incredible, and I fully intend to stay with them in the long term. I'm really into playing P-Basses for certain things and they just put out Pino Paladino and Reggie Hamilton basses that are fantastic to play. so i'm hoping to pick up a couple of basses in the not too distant future........

[JAUQO III-X]

I've had an endorsement with Fender for a while and all I can say is they treat me well.

[Prahainspring]

Yo Janek, I accidentally found this while searching for clips of Wal basses. Have you recorded anything with this bass or have you moved on from it and never had a chance to get it on tape?

Great playing by the way.

[janekbass]

I've done close to a hundred album on that Wal Bass. I've only had the fodera for about 18 months. So yeah, put a lot of stuff down on tape, including my debut album as a leader. Mystery to Me - Live in New York.

Easy,

Janek