Expert Witness

Securing an Expert Witness

Today it's hard to get an expert witness to testify in some guitar cases.
Large corporations have caused problems for experts who testify against them.
Most of the usual expert witnesses decline their service due to this fact.

For example if ABC company wants to sue XKP company for something. It is becoming increasingly hard to get any one who will come forward & testify. ABC company has such far reaching power that many very qualified expert witnesses who really do know the score are simply afraid to get involved.

For example ABC company might have a megalomaniac for a CEO who will think nothing of going out and finding some reason to sue the expert witness after the fact. Many people are afraid of being blackballed by certain big companies and therefore will wimp out when they are called upon to testify.

Recently I myself was involved in such a case with Gibson USA. I called 30 experts and everyone single one of them saw the case as malicious & frivolous. Every single one of them was afraid to get involved, they all declined their service.

Gibson's legal team on the other side had the same problem. It seems they couldn't get an expert either.

For them to have gotten an expert he would clearly have had to sacrifice his credibility as a guitar expert.

For this reason I have decided to offer my services as an expert witness.

Affidavit  List Of Qualifications
 

Originally done for the Jimi Hendrix Foundation
They asked me to be an expert witness in a million dollar lawsuit
Involving one of Jimi's original guitars.

I have been actively making my living in the music industry for a period of at least thirty six (36) years. Before that I was a professional musician for approximately eight (8) years. I owned a large motorcycle parts manufacturing company where I employed 88 people and ran a 61,000.00 square foot factory/warehouse in Palmer Mass. I was the first large after market distributor & manufacturer of custom Harley Davidson accessories on the East Coast.

I have been at every level of the the music industry...

Retail, wholesale, manufacturing, artist relations, design, import, export, expert consultant, expert witness, repairs & restorations, sales manager, technical expert purchasing, web-site design, product development, product photography, advertising & even managing bands.

In 2007 I weathered a hostile takeover and restarted my retail organization.

I have recorded three albums of my own, owned a recording studio and played in numerous bands throughout the 60's and 70's.

My primary emphasis has always been on electric guitars, retail wholesale & manufacturing. However I did venture into sound reinforcement for several years. I  have done sound for Jethro Tull, 38 Special, Johnny Winter, President Clinton, Frank Sinatra, Beatlemania, Imagine, The Outlaws, Carly Simon, Blue Oyster Cult, Rick Derringer, Michael Bolton, and many more.

Currently I own a number of name brands that are all relatively successful: Quicksilver Guitars, Abstract Guitars, Baker Guitars, Pearlcaster Guitars, Scorpion Guitars, J Frog Guitars, Centurion Guitars, LSR Guitars, Mosrite Guitars, Roman Vintage Custom , R&B Guitars, Lowrider Basses & several smaller startup companies.

Each company above is a separate entity with it's own web-site. I was probably the first major retailer with a website that showed pictures of guitars for sale.

I will list a small number of projects I have been involved with.

1991 I was hired as a consultant to Gibson Guitars, I was paid a weekly amount of approximately $1,300.00 to impart information to them, teach their sales force how to sell modern electric guitars.

I had an expense account and it was my job to deliver free guitars to celebrities in return for endorsements. I was given carte blanch by my superiors to do whatever it took to get these potential celebrity endorses into the Gibson family of brands.

I was hired by East Coast Music Mall (A multi million dollar innovative company I had personally founded back in the late 70's) to serve as a part time consultant, I was on their payroll for a period of approximately 10 years. 1994 to 2004 My job was to offer advice on large deals, help the company find new directions to expand and occasionally solicit customers.

Over the years I have been hired by a number of retailers to help them get their businesses off the ground. Legacy Music, Uptown Strings, Orlando Discount Music, M Guitars, Infinity Guitars, Milwaukee's Finest Guitars & many others.

My fee for this service was a minimum of $5,000.00 The highest fee paid was Orlando Discount music who paid me $35,000.00 for 3 weeks in 1989. Usually all consultations were done over a weekend in my home where I could sit and impart trade secrets, industry sources, and discuss issues with new retailers that were germane to their particular situation.

I have been hired by numerous guitar builders to help them start their operations. These companies usually cannot afford my fees so I generally back-load the fees. I have achieved great success with at least 5 of these companies. JET Guitars, McNaught Guitars, Gledura Guitars, Jaros Guitars, & Gary Jacobs Guitars.

My biggest success was a company called McNaught Guitars. When I started with him he was working as a cabinetmaker and had only built 2 or three prototype guitars. His prices on his guitars were only $1,200.00 !!!

Using my expertise I created an artist personae for Mr McNaught, within our first month after the contracts were signed we were back- ordered at prices like $3,500.00. to within our first year I had the prices as high as $7,500.00 for a McNaught guitar.

My other duties for Mr McNaught were procuring wood, electronics, parts and even guitar cases at much lower prices than he would normally have to pay as a small builder.

I used my contacts and called in lots of favors to help reduce Mr. McNaught's cost of manufacturing.

It was also my job to sell each and every instrument that Mr. McNaught built. which I did very successfully. There were times when we were back ordered 40 to 50 pieces at prices as high as $15,000.00 the average guitar was selling for about $6,000.00.

I was also responsible for keeping the prices high so consequently on occasion I had to buy back used McNaught Guitars at a greater than wholesale price so that the pricing image could be preserved.

Other duties I performed for Mr McNaught was to function as public relations, help design the guitars, and inlay patterns. Deal with upset customers, handle all advertising, deal with magazines to get reviews.

I had to fight off a lawsuit for plagiarism from the Driscoll Guitar company.  I went to court & handled the entire case for less than 20% of what a lawyer would have charged.

Over the years I have purchased inventories from failed companies such as Kramer, BC Rich, Steinberger, Roscoe, Hohner Guitars, Schon Guitars, Baker Guitars, Mighty Mite & several others.

I get approached at least once a month to manufacture a line of instruments for the likes of Nokie Edwards from the Ventures, Man -0- War, Carroll Shelby of automotive fame, and numerous other small companies.

Currently my capabilities for manufacturing exceed most other companies. I have set myself up with numerous outsourcing capabilities.  Recently I was approached by a well known metal band who are huge in Europe to manufacture the handmade  instruments for their 3 guitarists. They wanted  to make 30 USA made prototypes for their upcoming European Tour.  The final goal was to be thousands of Korean made above average quality guitars which could be sold at their concerts. Currently I have access to the same Asian manufacturers that Gibson, Schecter, Jackson, Eastman, & many others use.

In 2006 one of my business partners purchased a large American guitar manufacturing company. This company made bodies & necks for over 30 well known companies and probably 60 or more small boutique companies. For 15 years this company was considered by myself & others to be one of the most closely guarded secrets in the guitar business.

I hope this will be enough information to establish myself as an expert in the music & guitar industry.

If you have had problems getting an expert witness in your court case because everyone you have talked to is afraid of the repercussions.  Please contact  me. I am not afraid of them.

In certain cases of vintage guitar & forensic Autograph or ownership disputes I can only offer my opinion as an expert.  

Ed Roman

(702) 597-0147