When the ears go

[BatUtilityBelt]

Sadly, Joe Walsh demonstrating he's lost a lot of his high frequency hearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9btQPgU7joQ

[Mossman]

Yeah.... That guitar is pretty bright and does not sound good my ears (and I have some high frequency loss too). It sounds like a bad Telecaster.

What's almost as sad is that Joe Walsh doesn't know how to set up a guitar.

[Rollin Hand]

To be fair, the guy was drunk from the 70s until the Eagles reunited.

As for his hearing, I suspect he just likes a more single-coil sounding guitar with a less deep neck angle -- I actually saw a vid where he said the same thing when praising a Carvin. His tastes are his own, and sadly he writes off the other stuff as wrong.

Me, I don't like recessed Floyds because I like how my hand feel above a raised or flush mount one. Just my taste.

[Mossman]

I actually saw a vid where he said the same thing when praising a Carvin. His tastes are his own, and sadly he writes off the other stuff as wrong.

His tastes are capricious... It's hilarious how when Joe Walsh gets a new endorsement deal, he utterly trashes the guitars he used to endorse. When he left Gibson to sign a deal with Carvin, he had nothing good to say about Gibson, and everything about them was "wrong". But when his Carvin contract expired (or they changed to Kiesel, I don't know), he went back to endorsing Gibsons! Now that PRS is his new favorite, I suppose Gibsons are garbage again.

[Rollin Hand]

I actually saw a vid where he said the same thing when praising a Carvin. His tastes are his own, and sadly he writes off the other stuff as wrong.

His tastes are capricious... It's hilarious how when Joe Walsh gets a new endorsement deal, he utterly trashes the guitars he used to endorse. When he left Gibson to sign a deal with Carvin, he had nothing good to say about Gibson, and everything about them was "wrong". But when his Carvin contract expired (or they changed to Kiesel, I don't know), he went back to endorsing Gibsons! Now that PRS is his new favorite, I suppose Gibsons are garbage again.

EVH was much the same. He loved the fact that his EBMMs were limited run, then said he went to Peavey because they could build more guitars. He loved the EBMM pickups, then said the Peavey pickups were better. Then he loved all the Fender stuff. On and on....

When Zakk Wylde left Marshall and Gibson, he went out of his way to say he was honoured to endorse them. That seems to be a better way to go about it.

[mickey]

Whores are paid to love whoever is paying them until the payment runs out, right?

[Chocol8]

Whores are paid to love whoever is paying them until the payment runs out, right?

Exactly, they are being paid to sell gear, not give honest assessments.

[Mossman]

Hey, I can be just as cynical as the next guy, but tone-chasing is a thing.

[Chocol8]

Hey, I can be just as cynical as the next guy, but tone-chasing is a thing.

I can chase tone as much as the next guy but the last person I will listen to is the guy getting paid to tell me what to buy. The second to last person may be the artist whose tone I am chasing, because they will lie to preserve their secrets. I learned that from EVH!

[LancerTheGreat]

I don't think I'd take an endorsement and then say "just buy my old model from the last brand, it was better", that's just shitty spokesmanship. Same if I was the one endorsing an artist, if I caught wind they were shit talking the new guitars instead of addressing the complaints privately during pre-production, I'd drop em and find someone that wants to play ball.

Besides I don't think anyone ever, in a semi-proper state of mind, ever said "Joe Walsh got the best toanz"

[andrewsrea]

Sadly, Joe Walsh demonstrating he's lost a lot of his high frequency hearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9btQPgU7joQ

I watched this the other day, before I saw your thread and thought the same thing. Brittle, ice-pick tone. His slurring, his gate, his sloppy playing and his random thought patterns led me to wonder if he is in cognitive decline or off the wagon.

As to this endorsement - he didn't trash any prior brands. He just stated he never seems to be totally satisfied with newly manufactured guitars, allegedly until this PRS signature. IMHO, he won't make enough money from 200 limited edition units to make it worth his while to burn bridges with other endorsements. Then again, if he is impaired...

[Mossman]

Sadly, Joe Walsh demonstrating he's lost a lot of his high frequency hearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9btQPgU7joQ

I watched this the other day, before I saw your thread and thought the same thing. Brittle, ice-pick tone. His slurring, his gate, his sloppy playing and his random thought patterns led me to wonder if he is in cognitive decline or off the wagon.

As to this endorsement - he didn't trash any prior brands. He just stated he never seems to be totally satisfied with newly manufactured guitars, allegedly until this PRS signature. IMHO, he won't make enough money from 200 limited edition units to make it worth his while to burn bridges with other endorsements. Then again, if he is impaired...

I didn't say he trashed anyone in this ad, but he did bad-mouth Gibson in interviews after he endorsed Carvin.

As for his behavior; he's been like this for a while. These are the effects of long-term alcohol abuse. I see guys like Joe (or worse) in AA and count my blessings.

Joe has a lot of weird (apparently self-formulated) theories about what makes or breaks a guitar design. It's usually some microscopic, insignificant element, like a 1/4" gap under the bridge, or the radius of the top-carve, or some minor detail. It makes me wonder if guitar makers tell him bullshit just to mess with him.

[Mossman]

Hey, I can be just as cynical as the next guy, but tone-chasing is a thing.

I can chase tone as much as the next guy but the last person I will listen to is the guy getting paid to tell me what to buy. The second to last person may be the artist whose tone I am chasing, because they will lie to preserve their secrets. I learned that from EVH!

Well, I can understand not allowing yourself to be influenced by endorsing artists. As a rule, I don't give a rat's ass what rock stars play, and I've never had a desire for any signature guitar, but to say that every endorsing artist is lying about the guitar they endorse is a bit of a stretch, I think. Is the Silver Sky actually a shit guitar and John Mayer is hoodwinking us all? Laughing all the way to the bank? Eh... Does Victor Wooten actually hate Fodera basses, but has been playing them all these years because he gets a check for endorsing them? I tend to doubt it. Is Eric Johnson actually fed up with his signature Strat, but suffers through it because he needs that sweet marketing cheddar? That's pretty specious...

Endorsing artists have to promote the product. That's mostly what they get paid for (and the use of their name, likeness, etc.). They don't get paid just to slap their name on the guitar. There's work involved. They have to go to photo and ad shoots, and do the interviews, and the media, and all that crap. It's a job. They should get paid for it. I certainly wouldn't give away my time and energy for free. And if the guitar sells because of their attachment to it, then they deserve to get a percentage of that too. I do think there's an off chance that it's actually possible to genuinely like and believe in the product that you're promoting (they usually collaborate on the design, so they ought to), despite the fact that they're getting paid to promote it.

[Chocol8]

My impression of the Silver Sky was that it was not significantly better or worse than what Fender can build. I think the difference is the personal attention Paul gives to his artists. I would also guess that the amount of money John Mayer is getting paid by PRS is insignificant to John.

So, should I buy a Fender, PRS, or maybe a Suhr? A good question, but John Mayer’s opinion isn’t going to weigh into it. His relationship with Paul doesn’t have any impact on me, nor does his royalty check.