Fender Missed the Boat...

[PJ]

No disrespect to Mr. Root, (and I like the new model), but Fender's ignored some pretty good players for signature models, IMHO. Vince, Brent, Keith and others, in favor of some pretty obscure players.

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by PJ

No disrespect to Mr. Root, (and I like the new model), but Fender's ignored some pretty good players for signature models, IMHO. Vince, Brent, Keith and others, in favor of some pretty obscure players.

I share your views .

[Telemarkman]

What about Roy B., Albert Lee and Steve Cropper?

[esteban]

Doesn't Brent Mason already have a signature model with another company?

And the convenient thing about Jim Root (and John 5) playing a Tele is that Fender is able to further branch the Telecaster out of the country/blues niche. It's all marketing.

[Gareth John]

Isn't Brent Mason's a Valley Arts, a Gibson owned company?

[PJ]

Well....maybe I've been living under a rock, but its a good thing Fender came-up with the Root model, or I never would have known who Jim Root is. It seems to working in reverse. I am a marketing-guy, so I get the fundamentals of this endorsement game, but how they could've let a primary competitor into their game, making their models, is beyond me.

[RocksOff]

Yup... Brent's is a Valley Arts, which is owned by Gibson. Heh.

[RocksOff]

by the way... who is Jim Root anyways?

[alexpigment]

Yeah I definitely agree with esteban. In other words, it might be cool to have a Vince Gill model, but Vince fans are likely going to buy a fender/telecaster anyway. The John 5 model and the Jim Root both serve the purpose of getting people who would otherwise not buy a fender to do just that. Aside from that, while I'm not a fan of either of those models, they are more branched out from Fender's current line and actually add something new. A Vince Gill Telecaster would probably be nothing more than a standard Tele with his signature on it and maybe 1 different pickup.

That said, they did release a John Mayer strat, which is little more than an AV 60s model with his sig on it :)

[MulliganChebichev]

Originally Posted by esteban

And the convenient thing about Jim Root (and John 5) playing a Tele is that Fender is able to further branch the Telecaster out of the country/blues niche. It's all marketing.

Agreed, if you only endorse country players, it'll be seen as a country guitar, which everybody here knows is not true.

RocksOff, Jim Root is the guitarist for Slipknot and Stone Sour

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by RocksOff

by the way... who is Jim Root anyways?

He plays in this band called Slipknot.

Warning there is somne rough language in this clip so dont watch it if you are easily offended or there are kids around.

This is slipknot hahah.

[RocksOff]

Yeah... I know. Heh... I was just being sarcastic.

[Ed Bickert]

A few other things come into play. Many signature teles would probably be regular ol' Teles. I suspect fender will someday to a tribute tele to keith's as it truly deserves it.

Also, some dude from slipknot might be much more enthusiastic about having a model with his name on it than other people. It's not just Fender. There's people involved in the equaltion too!

[Gareth John]

Jim Root I believe has kept his name off it, like Kurt Cobain wanted to do with the Jag-stang (released after his death with a sticker with his name on) The idea being that people who don't like Jim Root can have a great guitar without being associated with him. The Jim Root tele is something different, a mahagony body with EMG's, it's really just a tele shaped guitar.

I think alexpigmant has hit the nail on the head here.

[rajustice24]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

He plays in this band called Slipknot.

Warning there is somne rough language in this clip so dont watch it if you are easily offended or there are kids around.

This is slipknot hahah.

Was he singing in English?

[Jenix]

I really dislike slipknot, I listen to some other 'hardcore bands' that are targeted for my generation and I still don't get them.

[PJ]

On the John Mayer example...even though he's a current-gen guy, his music is pretty mainstream stuff. He's not getting Fender into any new genres. And his guitar isn't any more unique than a Vince Gill model would be. But, for Mason - his guitar is unique and would have been some new product ground for Fender (IMO).

[nasonm]

I think many here would agree that FMIC missed the boat of some key artists and their sig guitars (Brent comes to mind first and foremost). Brent, Albert, Steve Morse, Cropper and others all made the smart move and went with a company that embraced them and their style.

That being said, I think in today's market unless FMIC is trying to honor some long-gone musicians (like Muddy Waters), a sig guitar has to stand out as something really different. The Root and J5 teles are just that. If it get's someone to think of Teles as heavy-metal guitars, great, AND if it turns a few listeners on to another type of music, great!

I'll now go play my tele (which started it's life as a J5 Tele BTW)

[PJ]

I watched the Slipnot YouTube. Not my thing, so I went up on YouTube and watched his demo on the guitar. He's pretty good.
Kind of a shredder in the current definition. OK, I'm not that old
to get it. And I watched the J. Mascis demo on the Jazzmaster.
And I enjoyed that one a bit more. But, isn't Fender buying-up the companies that make shredder stuff? I'm on-board with more
Teles with hummers and EMGs. That part's cool. But, I think we all could've survived without a Root Tele model.

[Southern ILL]

Fender did approach and make a few Keef prototypes......But when Keef was informed of the price they were gonna charge he wanted no part of having his name on such a overpriced signature guitar.......Keefs alright in my book..I love ya' Keef !!!

[boris bubbanov]

That Slipknot is pure dreck.

Frankly, I got by for a lot of years where the Telecaster and its players were on the outside, looking in. We got treated the way Jazzmaster guys get treated now, and I'm past that.

Stuff like the John 5 and the Jim Root just make me wanna never buy a black guitar again. These guys select the T-style body shape to steal credibility from others, they don't do a thing to help the Telecaster. FMIC may see these guys as the future, but I think a lot of them evaporate overnite and no-one will admit they ever followed this band.

Kinda like Maestro Alex Gregory or Sigue Sigue Sputnik. What ever happens to these guys?

[timmer]

I think the issue is that people like Vince, Keith, and a lot of big-name folks is that they're purists; like many of us here. I mean how many incarnations can a stock '53 have?

The endorsements seem to go to the folks that put a different spin on the basic design, keeping it in the family as it were but different.

Eh, just my take on it.

[alexpigment]

Originally Posted by timmer

I mean how many incarnations can a stock '53 have?

haha. my thoughts exactly. and with the keith signature, it's a 70s telecaster custom more or less...which they make already

[SatelliteOrders]

The Malmsteen Strat is the Strat with a scalloped neck.
The Cray Strat is the Strat with a hardtail.
The Clapton Strat is the Strat with the midrange boost.
For the most part, the name guitars are guitars with a specialty niche. Beyond, of course, being guitars to attract new players.

[esteban]

Originally Posted by alexpigment

Yeah I definitely agree with esteban. In other words, it might be cool to have a Vince Gill model, but Vince fans are likely going to buy a fender/telecaster anyway. The John 5 model and the Jim Root both serve the purpose of getting people who would otherwise not buy a fender to do just that.

This says it. Metalheads look at B.C. Rich, Dean, Ibanez, PRS, Gibson, pretty much anything BUT Fender. There's a market Fender can pursue; one cannot say that about the audience of Vince, Brent, and Keith.