Kind of, yeahI hesitate to say that my Ampeg deal was all about social media presence since I play with some fairly high profile former rock stars of the 50's, 60's and 70's, but it was a good part of it. Basically, if it's provable that your social media presence sells gear and it's also provable that you're sincere about your opinions, you can sometimes get a deal. But it ain't easy for someone to get a deal that way unless it's a smaller company. Ampeg actually came to me and offered me a deal...I didn't go to them. Quite frankly, at the time, I didn't care one way or the other. I just thought their new gear was getting a bad rap because of the overseas move and thought it was quite improved over the old stuff, and people bought Ampeg gear and told them it was because of me. So it's not enough just to have social media presence...a level of sincerity and a track record of using their gear and loving it must be there as well.
I am an endorser. I endorse the gear I use and allow Ampeg (and for a brief period, EMG) to use my name as they see fit to sell amps. And while Ampeg is giving me their stamp of approval in a manner of speaking and I consider it quite prestigious, it's not like people buy tickets to our shows because they know I use Ampeg
And BAM!, there it is. Thanks for that, JimmyM. Screw the search function! Haha.
Gotta ask though, wouldn't buying any company's gear be considered an endorsement of the company? Or do you have an exclusive deal, where you only play their gear? I once, too, had an Ampeg endorsement long ago. Along with Fender and GHS. It was brief, but I miss it. Free, or nearly free stuff is certainly the sweetest of the sweet stuff.
