Endorsement Mercenaries

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

Which guitarist is the worst about betraying the ideal of endorsement?

(meaning: endorsement should be about a guitarist loving the guitar/equipment so much that they recommend it to others and would pay out of pocket for it if necessary)

There's two ways to see this?

Which guitarist has done it the most? (switching from brand to brand to brand to brand)

Which guitarist is the most blatant about endorsing for the cash/free item without actually playing it much or at all?

[murkat]

way too many to list.... at least in the gibson custom shop camp.... and I met, helped them out in one way or another.... plenty of that goin on there.

[Scottcrud]

George Lynch comes to mind first and foremost.

[JohnnyB]

I'll give you a hint: "I can play any guitar I want. I choose Silvertone."

[Willie G. Moseley]

Rudy Sarzo. IIRC, first endorsed Washburn (one of those odd-shaped ones w/ Japanese flag graphics?), then Aria, then his Peavey model (an excellent instrument, BTW), and seems like he signed up with someone else in somewhat recent times...or maybe I'm thinking about his endorsement of Peavey Cirrus basses...

[cynic]

I'll give you a hint: "I can play any guitar I want. I choose Silvertone."

But for this the description would read more like switching from brand to brand to brand back to brand another brand before alternating brands

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

I'll give you a hint: "I can play any guitar I want. I choose Silvertone."

You know, I had to google to see who said that...

Kinda makes sense. They've been around a Looooooong time. And they figured out the money was in merchandising before George Lucas did.

[Armitage]

Howard Leese of Heart seemed to endorse a different guitar a week in the '80s.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

George Lynch comes to mind first and foremost.

I wouldn't have thought about Lynch.

I thought he had pretty much always been an ESP guy.

Howard Leese of Heart seemed to endorse a different guitar a week in the '80s.

That one I see from looking at the old magazines. Nancy Wilson seems almost as bad, to tell the truth. I've seen her endorsing at least 3 different guitars just in 1980 alone.

[cynic]

I wouldn't have thought about Lynch.

I thought he had pretty much always been an ESP guy.

Lynch has been more an ESP logo guy than a full fledged ESP guy

[Toadroller]

There's the Eddie Van Halen Kramer, Ernie-Ball, Peavey, Charvel, and EVH continuum.

[JohnnyB]

I'll give you a hint: "I can play any guitar I want. I choose Silvertone."

But for this the description would read more like switching from brand to brand to brand back to brand another brand before alternating brands

[Scottcrud]

George Lynch was more an Amp and pedal whore, Marshall, Boogie, Peavey, Soldano, Randall, Marshall, Soldano, Randall etc.....

[Steve Haynie]

Allen Woody and Warren Haynes endorsed anything and everything when Gov't Mule debuted. Allen Woody was the worse of the two.

Brad Whitford and Joe Perry have had to have every new expensive guitar and many new amps. Their endorsements lasted long enough to get the gear.

[Armitage]

At least Paul Stanley and EVH played their stuff the vast majority of the time.

[Feynman]

Lynch was my first thought.

Slash hasn't seemed to be camera shy lately either.

P.S. Given the opportunity, I'd ho myself out like there was no tomorrow.

[crunchee]

Slash hasn't seemed to be camera shy lately either.

+1! I thought this ad was hilarious when it came out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oPV5gnJUM0

[cynic]

P.S. Given the opportunity, I'd ho myself out like there was no tomorrow.

With ya 100%, but since I'll never have the opp I gotta be proud of my sanctimoniousness!

[zorrow]

George Lynch plays mostly ESP guitars, but on effects and amps he has done pretty much everything.

Now I think Dave Mustaine, but I'm not sure... He has endorsed Jackson, ESP and Dean. Are three brands enough to qualify as a promiscuous guy?

[BadgerDave]

Earl Slick. Pick up any guitar magazine and count the endorsements. Currently playing Eastwood guitars because "he gets it". I owned an Eastwood. For a day. Long enough to get it back to the UPS Store with a return label.

[Rodan]

Allen Woody and Warren Haynes endorsed anything and everything when Gov't Mule debuted. Allen Woody was the worse of the two.

Brad Whitford and Joe Perry have had to have every new expensive guitar and many new amps. Their endorsements lasted long enough to get the gear.

+1 on both counts. I noticed Allen Woody's umteenth when I saw a Modulus ad that showed him with an

18-string... Brad and Joe are obviously guitar collectors...

[Crimsontider]

For my genre of metal, I think the foolish public were the real endorsement hoes. Most of the guitarist I liked growing up, Halen, lynch, Jake e. lee, would use a guitar they designed and brand it with a maple bolt on neck. Many went on to use different companies but used basically the same thing, so the guitars were not that different. Having a shop custom make it for you for free is a no brainer.

EVH's Kramer. 58 Ash bodied strat, Kramer neck and logo, and Gibson humbucker pickup later switched to Duncan.

Jake E. Lee's Charvel. 70's strat 3 bolt body, Charvel neck and logo.

[gi_zuk]

Elliot Easton

[HamerHokie]

There's the Eddie Van Halen Kramer, Ernie-Ball, Peavey, Charvel, and EVH continuum.

Yep, EVH is the clear winner here, because not only is he a serial shiller - he goes out of his way to trash the previously endorsed instrument right after making the jump.

[zorrow]

Has the endless amount of signature Dime Deans something to do with this thread, or that would be OT?

Because Dime has nothing to do with it, but it's a fact there's an explosion of Dean Dime models. So, it's clear to me there's a whore somewhere in there.