Alan Peterson to Ed Roman
Ed - I'm getting loads of emails from Epiphone/Gibson, crowing about their
release of the Slash Les Paul.
Big shit...
I'm glad Slash has an endorsement deal, but I've read the specs. It's a
plain Les Paul model, bottom line. So is the Zack Wylde Les Paul, the Jimmy Page
Les Paul, the Les Paul Les Paul... I'm waiting for a Leo Fender Les Paul any day
now. I don't care much that Slash's name is on it; it's still a model that has
been done (and copied) to death. If I'm dropping 5 grand on a guitar named for
some guy in a stove-pipe hat, it better be Abe Lincoln.
If you have a feel for this whole artist-endorsement-of-a-plain-stock-piece
thing (especially when it comes to the names of TWO people on the same guitar),
I would very much enjoy seeing it as a future rant.
Respectfully,
Alan P.
Broadcast Engineer & diehard Gretsch player
Washington DC
Ed's Response
Hello Alan
Calling yourself a diehard Gretsch
player implies that you don't want to be told about anything new. It implies
that you don't want to be confused with the facts. It implies that you have
already made up your mind and nothing will change it. it implies that you
are not a forward thinker. (Believe me, I can relate to that)
I sincerely appreciate your letter, I love the part about a Leo Fender model.
But you must understand, I stand straight & tall in the high winds of
ignorance. Ignorance is prevalent because of retarded diehard attitudes.
I used to be a Harley Guy, I thought
everyone who drove a Honda was an ass, I thought everyone who rode a Triumph was
an Ass. Well in truth, I was the biggest Ass of all for being a diehard
Harley dude. I went 30 years as a diehard Harley dude. One morning I woke
up and realized that I was no better than a diehard Gibson guy. I mean deep down
I knew they were pieces of crap and they were always giving me problems. But I
had worn this biker personae since I was 17 and I wasn't about to admit to the
fact that I was a complete Jerk.
Well Here I go.... I was a COMPLETE
JERK !!!!!!!!
I can remember when I worked at Gibson
and the idea of 2 names on a guitar came up. Everyone inside pretty much agreed
it was a crass idea and that even the general public wouldn't be that stupid.
Of course they did it anyway with the reasoning, "We Are Gibson, We can do
anything & the Suckers will always swallow it" (They rely on the
diehards) Just like Harley, they rely on diehards. That isn't
healthy in my book.
While at Gibson I didn't have a vote in
the matter, I was just a division commander, I was handling one brand name
"Steinberger" and they had both my hands tied behind my back. Basically I was a
puppet manager assigned to such trivialities as training their less than
intelligent sales force what a "trans trem" was & how it worked, & how to sell
headless guitars to retarded music dealers who were even less intelligent.
NOT MY IDEA OF A FUN JOB.
I ranted about this for years,
anyway imagine this scenario.......
Billy Bob Buford of Billy Bob & The
Redneck Toilet Bowl Plungers happens to be a big Ace Frehley Fan. The only
thing of real importance in Billy Bob's miserable little life is to bow down on
his prayer rug and pray 7 times a day towards the northeast (New York City)
towards the home of his lifelong hero Ace Frehley.
Naturally when Billy Bob performs he
uses his trusty Les Paul, not just any Les Paul, He uses the Ace Frehley
Les Paul that he paid $13,000.00 for when he was a kid and can't bring himself
to play anything else.
OK the story is playing out.
Billy Bob writes a song about a mass murder chainsaw bloody death massacre and
gets a number one hit with a bullet in his little brain.
Gibson decides to honor this geek by
giving him a guitar of his own so they can sell them to his fans. Gibson gouges
their customers by charging $12,000.00 for a plywood ES335 with an Eric Clapton
logo on it. They stick it deep to their customers when they charge $25,000.00
for a doubleneck that used to sell the year before for $1,850.00.
Just because they associate Jimmy Page's name with it.
What I don't understand is,
Gibson reams their customers repeatedly yet the brand loyalty is strong with the
well to do sophisticated educated doctors, lawyers, dentists & accountants.
These are the very people who should see right through them. Oh Well !!!!
I mean I wouldn't expect some Hollywood, Burbank, San Fernando Valley mindless
musician to get it. Or one of those lower east side New York hair-heads to
understand. But educated intelligent people should be able to see right through
their little veil of Bullshit.
Announcing the
New "Chainsaw Billy Bob", "Ace Frehley", " Les Paul"...
Sheeeesh how stupid are we as a buying public.
Someone please bury this poorly designed antiquated piece of
crap in a dung hill in some third world armpit where it belongs !!!!!!
People !!!! Wake Up .....
Ed
People Hate Me For Some Of These
Opinions.
They hate that anyone should ever
dare speak out against a popular Iconic name like Enron, ooops I mean Gibson!!
When a company invests hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising it buys
them followers. It doesn't buy them intelligent consumers it buys them the
Lemmings, Nebishes and the weak minded.
This is only my opinion, The last time I
checked you are allowed to have an opinion in this country. However there are
people who would seek to eliminate our basic freedoms and call anyone who
doesn't agree with them names and go as far as to say they were untrustworthy.
It's usually very easy to spot these comments on line because they never talk
about anything technical it's always something to do with name calling or making
false accusations. There's never any real meat to the BS they are spewing
but it is a bit unsettling. Lets face it, No one likes to be called names.
I guess I could shut the F up and stop telling it like I see it. I mean how easy
would that be.
This situation reminds me of the Darwinian theories that the ignorant would
rather weren't taught in our schools.
The ignorant and uninformed will always be
afraid of anything they don't understand or anyone who doesn't agree with them.
I write a lot of these rants
to get people to think!!! Sometimes
you have to shock them a little,
Sometimes there just isn't a politically correct, nice way to say, that a
certain product, or a certain company SUCKS !!!!
Sorry but I will continue to be the Ralph Nader of the guitar world even if it
makes me unpopular, I'm not running for public office, so I just don't
care !!!!!
If someone doesn't want to do business
with me because of my opinions, I don't care either, It's their loss as much as
it is mine. However I have found that quite a few people like my no BS
policy!!!!! You just can't win em' all.
Ed
Speaking Of Ralph Nader....
I recently saw a real video where the police would not
allow Ralph Nader to enter the presidential debates.
The cops told him to leave or be arrested. This was
during the time when he himself was running for president. He had a ticket but
the police had the building surrounded and they all had photographs of him
because the two candidates were afraid that he would raise questions that they
could not answer. He even had a personal invitation from the actual network who
were televising the debates.
He was denied a spot in the presidential debates
over and over again. It makes me ashamed of our political system.
Just another reason why
the country is starting to turn into third world dictatorship. Next they will
try to disarm us what then, The Oven's?
The FBI investigated Ralph Nader for years, they tried to find some
dirt on him and they couldn't, They even started rumors that he was gay
etc etc. What a crock. Even if he was gay which I am quite
sure he isn't!!
So What !!!
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