How does one get endorsed?

[Araillac]

And what do you get out of it? Because I would love to get endorsed by Fender and play Fender's basses and I'd be proud to wear fender shirts and hoodies and underwear and shorts and pants and write with fender pens and pencils and drive a car with fender plastered all over it with fender bass decals and stuff.

Any ideas?

[Oric]

play real good

[bassybill]

Musicians don't get endorsed by gear manufacturers. It's the other way around.

[MirageBass]

Play good. Get noticed, build a reputation until the point where you could make a case that people will want to play what you're playing. Then contact the manufacturer about becoming an endorsed artist. If they accept, remember, you will likely still pay for your gear, but at a discount, and perhaps with custom modifications.

I say this as someone who has never sought or recieved endorsement, so take that as you will.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Musicians don't get endorsed by gear manufacturers. It's the other way around.

+1 you endorse them, they sponsor you.

[dancehallclasher]

You can play well OR be really famous. You've got options here!

[DanRJBrasil]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Musicians don't get endorsed by gear manufacturers. It's the other way around.

/
I would say that celebs get endorsed not musicians

[Gard]

OK, I'll chime in a bit, since I have a pretty good perspective on the topic (AR [Artist Relations] is one of the several hats I wear at work):

Remember, any relationship is a two way street. You have to have something concrete to offer a manufacturer to enter into an artist/endorser relationship - mainly, you get consideration (rarely FREE stuff) on pricing for providing excellent visibility for a product that you believe in.

Being in a really good local cover band: not getting a deal.

Being in your local church band: not getting a deal.

Having the chops of doom, but no regular, highly exposed gig: not getting a deal.

Even an average to maybe not even average player that is in a band that a LOT (250 drunks at the local pub on Friday and Saturday night is NOT a "lot" of people - 500 people on 6 out of 7 nights a week in various small venues on tour, starts to add up to a lot of people, especially if it is a several months long tour) of people see on a regular basis can get you a deal.

Being a very well known and respected musician (say...Jimmy Haslip ) will open doors.

The bottom line is that the more visible you are, for whatever reason, the more likely any manufacturer will be willing to work with you. Without something to offer in return, the manufacturer has zero incentive to do anything at all, and can't do anything, as the instrument costs them money to make, and we all - both players and manufacturers - are not charity organizations.

Keep in mind that the builder/manufacturer has overhead (rent/mortgage, business loan payments, payroll, materials costs, taxes, utilities) that needs to be serviced, and not selling an instrument at the standard dealer pricing COSTS us money, thus affecting our ability to operate at a profit (much less break even, which trust me, most of us struggle to do more than break even!). You, the artist, must provide some return on capital investment to justify any consideration at all.

Hope that helps to give a full perspective.

[Araillac]

Thanks Gard, that helps a ton. +1 to you

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by DanRJBrasil

/
I would say that celebs get endorsed not musicians

I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying, but I'm not sure.

[pbass6811]

Originally Posted by Gard

OK, I'll chime in a bit, since I have a pretty good perspective on the topic (AR [Artist Relations] is one of the several hats I wear at work):

Remember, any relationship is a two way street. You have to have something concrete to offer a manufacturer to enter into an artist/endorser relationship - mainly, you get consideration (rarely FREE stuff) on pricing for providing excellent visibility for a product that you believe in.

Being in a really good local cover band: not getting a deal.

Being in your local church band: not getting a deal.

Having the chops of doom, but no regular, highly exposed gig: not getting a deal.

Even an average to maybe not even average player that is in a band that a LOT (250 drunks at the local pub on Friday and Saturday night is NOT a "lot" of people - 500 people on 6 out of 7 nights a week in various small venues on tour, starts to add up to a lot of people, especially if it is a several months long tour) of people see on a regular basis can get you a deal.

Being a very well known and respected musician (say...Jimmy Haslip ) will open doors.

The bottom line is that the more visible you are, for whatever reason, the more likely any manufacturer will be willing to work with you. Without something to offer in return, the manufacturer has zero incentive to do anything at all, and can't do anything, as the instrument costs them money to make, and we all - both players and manufacturers - are not charity organizations.

Keep in mind that the builder/manufacturer has overhead (rent/mortgage, business loan payments, payroll, materials costs, taxes, utilities) that needs to be serviced, and not selling an instrument at the standard dealer pricing COSTS us money, thus affecting our ability to operate at a profit (much less break even, which trust me, most of us struggle to do more than break even!). You, the artist, must provide some return on capital investment to justify any consideration at all.

Hope that helps to give a full perspective.

First off, I want to say that I LOVE Roscoe basses! I will own 1(perhaps 2!)this coming year!

I do understand what you're saying...No one should expect something if you can't provide something beneficial in return. That's just smart business. Warwick used to have a program they called "Local Heros", where they would give significant discounts on gear to local, unsigned musicians that were playing regularly. I know this because a good friend of mine(who isn't famous at all, but he is a MONSTER bassist)was a part of the program and he very kindly got me involved as well! I scored 2 'wicks basically at cost. That was a pretty good deal for a local guy...or any guy for that matter! Too bad more manufacturers don't do something like that! I'm not looking for free basses(Although that would be AWESOME!), but damn! I gig 4+nights a week to "little" 300 person crowds, and I get ppl asking me about my gear(as I'm sure lots of us do...)all the time! How about a little help for those of us that play alot, but aren't famous? I realize Warwick is a pretty big outfit and their cost are different than a smaller company like Roscoe or MTD or Fodera, but if you got a few of your basses in the hands of a few active(highly)local guys, that might be as beneficial as one average "famous" guy? Just a thought.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Gard]

Originally Posted by pbass6811

First off, I want to say that I LOVE Roscoe basses! I will own 1(perhaps 2!)this coming year!

I do understand what you're saying...No one should expect something if you can't provide something beneficial in return. That's just smart business. Warwick used to have a program they called "Local Heros", where they would give significant discounts on gear to local, unsigned musicians that were playing regularly. I know this because a good friend of mine(who isn't famous at all, but he is a MONSTER bassist)was a part of the program and he very kindly got me involved as well! I scored 2 'wicks basically at cost. That was a pretty good deal for a local guy...or any guy for that matter! Too bad more manufacturers don't do something like that! I'm not looking for free basses(Although that would be AWESOME!), but damn! I gig 4+nights a week to "little" 300 person crowds, and I get ppl asking me about my gear(as I'm sure lots of us do...)all the time! How about a little help for those of us that play alot, but aren't famous? I realize Warwick is a pretty big outfit and their cost are different than a smaller company like Roscoe or MTD or Fodera, but if you got a few of your basses in the hands of a few active(highly)local guys, that might be as beneficial as one average "famous" guy? Just a thought.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Phil -

Thanks for the comments and compliments on our stuff.

I'm pretty familiar with the Warwick "Local Hero" program, as I was somewhat involved with it back in my Bass Central days. Eden also had a very similar program, which we did some work with as well.

For us, such a program does not really fit our business model at this time, as we are considerably smaller than either of those companies, our basses are all custom made to order, and we do not have the production capacity they do.

However, we are getting ready to fully release our newest model (the Century Standard), which will be more of a "production line" instrument, and once the line is up and fully running, that model may be a good candidate for doing something similar to the local hero program. So, stay tuned....

[pbass6811]

Originally Posted by Gard

Phil -

Thanks for the comments and compliments on our stuff.

I'm pretty familiar with the Warwick "Local Hero" program, as I was somewhat involved with it back in my Bass Central days. Eden also had a very similar program, which we did some work with as well.

For us, such a program does not really fit our business model at this time, as we are considerably smaller than either of those companies, our basses are all custom made to order, and we do not have the production capacity they do.

However, we are getting ready to fully release our newest model (the Century Standard), which will be more of a "production line" instrument, and once the line is up and fully running, that model may be a good candidate for doing something similar to the local hero program. So, stay tuned....

Gard-

I definitely want to tip my hat to a manufacturer that takes the time to respond to questions & queries on a forum such as this. I think it speaks volumes about not only the quality of your products, but the quality of the people that work there! I, for one, am grateful to you and Keith for putting together some of the finest instruments on the planet!

I'm looking forward to the Century Standard...that may be the ticket I need to get on the 6-string train!