Just to clear up another rumor mill....

[symphx]

Off the top of my head...

Service. As others have mentioned prominent artists on tour can have repairs expedited and loaners provided, not to mention having staff from the company personally helping with setup. Having Matt come out and help you (or your tech) dial in sounds has got to be worth something.

Exposure. Sure, Steve Vai has helped to sell a few Ibanez guitars, but I'll wager Ibanez has helped to sell a few Steve Vai albums too. If Fractal want to run a full page ad in Guitar Player magazine with a picture of me and a caption saying "I use the Axe and so should you"... I would be pretty OK with that.

Good will. If a guy like John Petrucci tries the Axe out and thinks it is pretty good, it costs nothing for him to say a few words to that effect and allow Fractal to put it up on the website (other endorsments notwithstanding). Guaranteed many of these guys are kinda gear nuts, and when helping the smaller manufacturers succeed costs you nothing it is easy to justify lavishing a bit of praise publicly on something you think is cool. Heck, the rest of us are quick enough to share our enthusiasm for our cool toys when given the chance, why not the "big boys" too.

All this before even considering discounts, swag and freebies.

On the other hand some of these Artists could use the help, and are bigger in fame then money, guarantee Jeff loomis makes less money than Cliff Chase, but is better known! So for nothing he's being pretty nice...(course the real small artists are gettin free pub)

 

[Rook]

On the other hand some of these Artists could use the help, and are bigger in fame then money, guarantee Jeff loomis makes less money than Cliff Chase, but is better known! So for nothing he's being pretty nice...(course the real small artists are gettin free pub)

True... but you only need one of the reasons given above.

Remember, endorsements go both ways. Putting Jeff Loomis on the Fractal Artist's page also says that Cliff et al think Jeff is "important" enough to list along with the likes of Vai and Petrucci (and rightly so, I might add). I'm sure if I offered to endorse the Axe, the response would be some polite version of "...and who the hell are you?" I hope to change that though...

 

[henryrobinett]

What's the point of endorsements? I endorsed Fender at one time. They gave me a great Seafoam green Strat I still play to this day. And when I toured Japan they brought me two twins for every gig I did. They were set up and torn down at every gig. I didn't have to do a thing. It was great. No money.

No one I know makes significant money for endorsements. But I might not know enough people. Musicians are gear heads. Most of the exchange is for gear.

 

[Severed]

The only real endorsements are signature gear.

 

[MikeyB59]

I imagine the "give" for the artist is personal support of the product by Fractal Audio with matching tones, etc.

I think that's exactly it. You buy the unit, but then we'll help you get it to do what you want. We'll all learn something and get to test and push the boundaries of the gear. As others have noted, getting great support for your gear is huge when it's your living. For the level of pro that shows up on the ads, getting the Axe to work for them is going to make and/or save so much $ and time for them that the cost of the Axe is almost inconsequential.

 

[webe123]

As far as I am concerned when Cliff said what he did, that settled it...can't get much more confirmation of what fractal does than the guy that OWNS IT!

 

[Bodde]

I have a couple basic rules for artists:
1. EVERYONE must buy their unit. No freebies.
2. NO ONE shall be paid to endorse the product.

love this statement! Glad it is like this. It is not that the famous guys don't have the money to buy stuff so they might just as well pay for it....

 

[Loquenau]

I have a couple basic rules for artists:
1. EVERYONE must buy their unit. No freebies.
2. NO ONE shall be paid to endorse the product.

And let's be pedantic, here. He said a couple - TWO.

As far as I am concerned when Cliff said what he did, that settled it...can't get much more confirmation of what fractal does than the guy that OWNS IT!

Yeah, but people gotta ruminate an all..... I argue mine was in the spirit of humour and smartness (in the british sense).

 

[Waltdude]

I believe it benefits both parties to keep the music machine moving. Imagine there not being any ads like these, musical interest would not be there like it is today. Guitar players hear J.P. play, and want to play and sound like that, and your just not giong to do that without some good equipment. I'm not going to specify any equipment here because it all becomes personal taste.

 

[Fabio KTG]

I've heard that there is an Artist deal for established artists/bands wishing to move over to the Axe and it is priced at little over cost. Or so i've heard.

 

[themaidenmaniac]

Guys in big bands getting endorsements can and will use whatever the hell they like, budgets and roadies make the world rotate ; )

 

[Diego]

I have a couple basic rules for artists:
1. EVERYONE must buy their unit. No freebies.
2. NO ONE shall be paid to endorse the product.

I'm 200% with you on this ^

 

[Rexgtr]

The big name rock stars that are using and touring with FAS AF2 are doing so because they can afford the best technology available at the moment.
I'm sure the AF2 has replaced many rack mounts thus cleaning up the guitars signal flow and lightening up the weight of their gear. Win win.

Some rock stars have toured using some amp off to the side while displaying stacks of amps that weren't being used for the overall tone, others have endorsed everything under the sun just to gain free gear to mess with. This can mess up tone seekers especially in the past, thank god for FAS!

 

[lqdsnddist]

Endorsement may help sell more low end models but I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would drop $2k+ for a Fractal or anything else just because a given famous person uses them

I mean, maybe some 16 year old kid at Guitar Center might buy a $79 MXR stomp box because Zakk Wylde uses it (and they think is going to make them sound/play like them....ahhh the folly youth) but I would hope the potential buyer for a high end modeler puts a bit more rational research into their purchase than seeing an ad with a famous guitarist.

I personally tend to enjoy products that don't need some famous guy to put his name on it because it means the product is strong enough on its own

 

[Sean Ashe]

Endorsement may help sell more low end models but I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would drop $2k+ for a Fractal or anything else just because a given famous person uses them

I mean, maybe some 16 year old kid at Guitar Center might buy a $79 MXR stomp box because Zakk Wylde uses it (and they think is going to make them sound/play like them....ahhh the folly youth) but I would hope the potential buyer for a high end modeler puts a bit more rational research into their purchase than seeing an ad with a famous guitarist.

I personally tend to enjoy products that don't need some famous guy to put his name on it because it means the product is strong enough on its own

I disagree with this, there are plenty of people who buy signature guitars, or high end amps because artists use them. Also just consider that an Endorsement means that the artist will be pretty much advertising and displaying a product..

If it's an artist with a lot of reach, this is excellent advertisement.

 

[Patzag]

Endorsement may help sell more low end models but I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would drop $2k+ for a Fractal or anything else just because a given famous person uses them

I mean, maybe some 16 year old kid at Guitar Center might buy a $79 MXR stomp box because Zakk Wylde uses it (and they think is going to make them sound/play like them....ahhh the folly youth) but I would hope the potential buyer for a high end modeler puts a bit more rational research into their purchase than seeing an ad with a famous guitarist.

I personally tend to enjoy products that don't need some famous guy to put his name on it because it means the product is strong enough on its own

I'm not a famous player. but in my neck of the woods, I have achieved a small stature and I'm very respected as a musician and guitar player.
I count at least 20-30 musicians in my area who play Parker because they know I do or have had the opportunity to try mine.

Word of mouth - and in one way or another a musician endorsing a product is word of mouth - is the most powerful form of advertising.

And by the way, while there may be no freebie for anyone in the FAS artist stable as Cliff stated, I'm pretty sure that there is an artist price list which is more or less equivalent to dealer cost. That's the only thing that would make sense (to me).

 

[toasterdude]

I'm 200% with you on this ^

If that is FAS policy that is fine, but I don't get why people would be upset if some high profile users got free Axes. I don't know any pro that would use something they do not feel gives them the tone they need, just because it was free.

In many of these cases an artist or strategic account already decided to use a particular product, and any discount or free product is not to convince them but is in exchange for being allowed to promote the fact that the artist is a user. Magazine ads, videos etc.

Lets say Brent Mason or another top country player saw Andy Wood shredding some country stuff on the Axe so he decides to take a look at it. Lets say he loves it for fly gigs or b rig or even main rig. He decides to buy one. If FAS said, listen if we can shoot a video of you playing through Axe and talking about what made you decide to use one, we'll ive you a big discount, or a free Axe II for back up of the one you purchased, would that be the end of the world? Getting a strategic account that may open up a whole new market for you, is worth some discounts, or free product. I would wager that adding say Brent Mason to roster would get Axe noticed by a ton of country guys. Country makes up a large portion of working guitarists these days.

Now if FAS has a policy not to do that, cool, but if they did give Dweezil a free MFC for all the help he has done promoting the Axe, it in no way diminishes his "endorsement" in my eyes. Now, in FAS case it appears instead of product or discounts the artists get direct support, maybe access to Matt as a consultant etc. All of which is worth more than a free $2,200 product.

 

[toasterdude]

I disagree with this, there are plenty of people who buy signature guitars, or high end amps because artists use them. Also just consider that an Endorsement means that the artist will be pretty much advertising and displaying a product..

If it's an artist with a lot of reach, this is excellent advertisement.

I agree with you. Nobody will just buy an Axe because Steve Vai has one, but I can see shred guys lik Paul Gilbert, Satch, etc etc etc, at least giving the Axe a try because they know one of the highest profile players in their genre thinks it is cool.

If Robben Ford decided to use dumble on big tours and gigs but use an Axe with dumple sims for european gigs instead of rented twins and zen drives, other dumble guys may at least take a look. Now the Axe still has to be good enough to meet their standards but they will likely at least check it out. Heck if a dumble guy started using the Axe even as B rig, TGP and the universe itself would implode. That would be worth a free or discounted Axe IMHO. . .lol. . .

 

[toasterdude]

The big name rock stars that are using and touring with FAS AF2 are doing so because they can afford the best technology available at the moment.
I'm sure the AF2 has replaced many rack mounts thus cleaning up the guitars signal flow and lightening up the weight of their gear. Win win.

Some rock stars have toured using some amp off to the side while displaying stacks of amps that weren't being used for the overall tone, others have endorsed everything under the sun just to gain free gear to mess with. This can mess up tone seekers especially in the past, thank god for FAS!

I doubt that happens much. Maybe a guy digs an amp, and agrees to endorse it. He gets paid or free stuff, but then a while later finds something he likes better, but his endorsement contract is still in effect. Maybe then they will place one on stage while actually plugging into something else, or use both etc.

I don't see mot guys saying "sure I'll keep my dumple home and use a backline of Peavy Bandits because Hartley wrote me a fat check. Maybe if it was a REALLY fat check and the player needed the cash. Guys like the Edge can afford to use whatever he wants. I don't think even a fat check would get him to use the Axe even as B rig if he didn't think it was best tool for the job.

 

[henryrobinett]

A company needs to see his product in the field. When pros use it, big or small, but RESPECTED, that's often times as good as print advertisements. And cheaper than print advertisements by a significant margin.

I would expect Fractal offers significant price breaks to respected and famous pros. They'd be silly not to. The more people use it the more you can advertise who is using it; the more people can go to shows and see XYZ are using it, the more people talk about it, the more units you potentially sell. Basic business sense. I don't know why people would take exception to this.