MCChris

Did a salesman assist you in that decision or did you pull the Taylor off the wall on your own and decide you liked it better? I ask because if it was the former, that's another aspect of retail marketing. Sales reps educating sales forces and offering incentives to push the product.

And both of the "our artists pay for their guitars" variety, I believe (Hamer certainly was; someone correct me if I'm wrong). An admirable approach from a credibility standpoint, I guess, but not a recipe for sustainability in a highly competitive market. When I worked at GC in the early '90s, Guilds were second only to Martin on the list of desirable acoustics (remember the big ol' 12-string Stevie Ray played on Unplugged?). Sold a lot of 'em. Then, toward the end of my tenure there, we started getting instruments from an upstart brand called Taylor. We all know how that turned out.

Brand recognition. Casual music fans who might be inspired to buy an acoustic after seeing their favorite artist play one on CMT are aware of Fender, whereas they're not as aware of Guild and Hamer. That's the result of 60+ years of Fender guitars being in the hands of big stars. But any brand can get to a similar level of recognition if it's in people's faces enough. PRS and Taylor got there. Guild and Hamer did not.

The steady, sustained model is dependent on the numbers, too. Sometimes you gotta adapt to changing market forces in order to simply survive. Forget about profit. Hamer had nine toes in the grave before FMIC even stepped in. Why? Jol and Paul's adherence to the "it should not be all about the numbers" philosophy. Hef had the same approach to business. That resulted in the Chicago office closing. I won't speak for the New Hartford guys who got laid off today, but as for me, you're damn right I wish Hef had focused more on the bottom line. I'd still be a Playboy employee. It was a rather pleasant working environment.

Exactly. There are plenty of corporate rubes at FMIC who never even lay eyes on the product. To them it's all about the numbers. Which is as it should be. The ideal scenario involves a balance between business and personal; the latter lends something that (you would think) is appealing to the consumer. In lieu of that balance, the personal aspect should be given zero credence. Because it ain't personal. It's business. This is why, if you're a guitar enthusiast, you probably shouldn't be in the guitar business. You're too emotionally involved. You could be the face of a guitar company, like Jol or Paul Reed Smith, and thus present the illusion that the personal aspect is present in your business. But you'd better have a person who's strictly business calling the shots. And yes, that Standard is perfect.

In many ways this mirrors my experience at Playboy. Put in a lot of years for a brand you take pride in, but underperformance makes the company vulnerable to a sell-off, and you get kicked to the curb when that eventually happens. It hurts.

The balance sheet, most likely.

Oh boy.

Done

There are very few big-time bands out there that aren't willing to play private functions. For the right price, of course.

^^^ Ummm, that'll work!

I'm sure whoever knocked that guitar over is swimming with the fishes right now.

Can it be DNA?

Putting it out there publicly: I want a "Fackyo" TRC for my SuperPro. Make one for my boy Kiz while you're at it. Make it happen, Mitch. Remember the Playboy tour.

Unlike eBay, the HFC doesn't suck.

Simply put, she's better than me.

What he said.

http://elderly.com/vintage/items/30U-18345.htm

Yeah, me too!

These pants are so tight, you can actually see the fur:

Can't even begin to explain why, but I don't hate this.

Damn, did I miss a Social Distortion Guitar Center Session?

In addition, you can hum a lot of his solos. Not so much with Vinnie.

Amp.

The best part of the Kiss announcement: no possibility of Dave Grohl horning in on the performance in any way. In and of themselves, record sales do not equate to quality. If they did, we all better start worshipping at the altar of One Direction. Similarly, speed does not equate to talent on the guitar. Creatures is the better album, and Ace is the better guitar player. Vinnie 's true talent is in hard rock songwriting. The only reason LIU put them back on the map is because they removed the makeup.