TFF Product mentions: How much gear do Maiden get for free?

bbreeg614

bbreeg614

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I was going over every detail of TFF booklet and as always there is a list of Gear companies that Maiden use...do all these companies give Maiden their stuff?

I'm guessing that they buy what they really want but the companies will give them stuff happily for the public image and exposure

For example,when every metalhead in the world sees H playing a Jackson and Dave and Jan playing Strats ...it is more effective than a thousand ads in magazines..!

What do you all think?
 
Often times, companies will sponsor bands, especially ones of Maiden's caliber.  Of course a lot of bands replace instruments as seldomly as possible.  As a guitar player, I can say you get very attached to your instruments.
 
I'm sure that it has an effect, especially with those players who are starting out and want to emulate their heroes, or thoses who come to appreciate a certain sound or aesthetic that an endorsed instrument offers.

Not all endorsements mean that the artist in question is getting the gear for free, though.  Often the artist will receive endorsed products at a deep discount.  Stuff like strings and picks etc might well be thrown in for free, but the higher-end gear like amps, cabs and guitars are less likely to be freebies.  For a band of Maiden's status, though, I'm not sure whether that' the case - they may well get their gear for free.  And like infinitedreams7thson says, the artist will likely prefer not to be replacing his guitar/bass etc too often.  I'm pretty sure I read that Steve Harris has his main instruments refinished and repaired on a regular basis, rather than replacing them.  You do indeed get attached to your favourite instruments.
 
Kamelion said:
I'm pretty sure I read that Steve Harris has his main instruments refinished and repaired on a regular basis, rather than replacing them.
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Yep that's right. The one bass guitar he uses the most was first colored plain white with a black pickguard, then black with the mirror pickguard (which is awesome!). After that Steve changed to blue and now it's pearly white. Both adorned the mirror pickguard and the West Ham United logo. Personally the pearly white one is my favorite.

:smartarse:
 
bbreeg614 said:
I was going over every detail of TFF booklet and as always there is a list of Gear companies that Maiden use...do all these companies give Maiden their stuff?

I'm guessing that they buy what they really want but the companies will give them stuff happily for the public image and exposure

For example,when every metalhead in the world sees H playing a Jackson and Dave and Jan playing Strats ...it is more effective than a thousand ads in magazines..!

What do you all think?
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Any band you see listings like... Joe uses Paiste drums and Zyldjian cymbals... is getting their equipment for free from the manufacturer. In return they get the free ads and some musicians will be on the hook for store appearances and such.
 
I remember reading a feature on Ernie Ball strings in a guitar mag a few years back, they said Ernie Ball, like many companies, never give anything away but they do give a generous discount for endorsees.

TANSTAAFL...
 
wsoul1 said:
Any band you see listings like... Joe uses Paiste drums and Zyldjian cymbals... is getting their equipment for free from the manufacturer. In return they get the free ads and some musicians will be on the hook for store appearances and such.
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Paiste only makes cymbals! :smartarse:

LooseCannon said:
And Nick and Paiste. Though everyone knows Sabian is the best.
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I thought it all came down to a matter of life and death taste.
 
rolpol said:
I remember reading a feature on Ernie Ball strings in a guitar mag a few years back, they said Ernie Ball, like many companies, never give anything away but they do give a generous discount for endorsees.

TANSTAAFL...
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Sterling Ball still claims that and mentions it from time to time on the EBMM forums on which he is very active.  But he also doesn't do contracts with artists, everything is done as a handshake deal.  My guess is that if Morse, Petrucci, or Lukather, need a guitar they get them for free since they have their own signatures models, especially since they are making a very low percentage off of those models in comparison to what other companies pay their artists.
 
Twarkle - Do you know anything about PRS guitars endorsements? Contracts, how they pay and details? Just out of interest...

LooseCannon said:
Nope. Sabian is best. That's my Canadian Maritimer pride speaking.
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I hardly see that coming off as true. That's my... Paiste loving ego swelling up. :P
 
pilau said:
Yep that's right. The one bass guitar he uses the most was first colored plain white with a black pickguard, then black with the mirror pickguard (which is awesome!). After that Steve changed to blue and now it's pearly white. Both adorned the mirror pickguard and the West Ham United logo. Personally the pearly white one is my favorite.

:smartarse:
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Good eye Pil!

Not to nitpick,

but I know I saw arry playing this same bass on the NPFTD tour and it was painted in a black and white checkered pattern!

It suprised me at the time because it seemed like a very "happy go lucky" look as opposed to the dead seriousness I was used to from

Maiden but that whole show was very diiferent from other Maiden tours I had seen in the same sense...but thats a whole other thread!

Cheers!
 
pilau said:
Twarkle - Do you know anything about PRS guitars endorsements? Contracts, how they pay and details? Just out of interest...

I hardly see that coming off as true. That's my... Paiste loving ego swelling up. :P
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I don't know about PRS man, sorry.  I had a friend who had a deal with Mesa Boogie and he had to pay a percentage above cost for his gear.  Same thing with a buddy who had an  endorsement with one of the major cymbal manufactures, I think he had to pay 10% above cost.  I'm sure those numbers change if you are a huge star who brings in lots of business.

I do know that in a large number of cases, signature guitars that you can buy off the rack are not actually identical to what the player actually plays.  The best example of this is that the guitars Slash used on Appetite, and one of his main live guitars are not Gibsons.  They were custom made by Chris Derrig, and had Gibson logos on them when he became an endorser.  This is actually way more common than you would guess.  Very rarely are the models you buy identical to what the player uses, corners are often cut to make them more affordable.  A couple of exceptions to this that I know are Ernie Ball Music Man, Suhr, Anderson, and Fenders Custom shop, I assume PRS as well but I don't know for sure, which is why all those compnaies signature models start at around $2000 and can go up to $4500 easily.
 
bbreeg614 said:
Good eye Pil!

Not to nitpick,

but I know I saw arry playing this same bass on the NPFTD tour and it was painted in a black and white checkered pattern!

It suprised me at the time because it seemed like a very "happy go lucky" look as opposed to the dead seriousness I was used to from

Maiden but that whole show was very diiferent from other Maiden tours I had seen in the same sense...but thats a whole other thread!

Cheers!
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That's his second 70s Fender Precision Bass guitar :)

Twarkle said:
I do know that in a large number of cases, signature guitars that you can buy off the rack are not actually identical to what the player actually plays.
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Yes I am actually aware of that. They're making similar models, as much as they can but like you said cutting corners to save on the cost. After all, they're supposed to sell them to little fan kids. ;)
 
bbreeg614 said:
I was going over every detail of TFF booklet and as always there is a list of Gear companies that Maiden use...do all these companies give Maiden their stuff?

I'm guessing that they buy what they really want but the companies will give them stuff happily for the public image and exposure

For example,when every metalhead in the world sees H playing a Jackson and Dave and Jan playing Strats ...it is more effective than a thousand ads in magazines..!

What do you all think?
Click to expand...

It depends on the company but most of them "tier" their endorsers with "tier 1" folks getting stuff for free for the reason you mentioned above.  My buddy was endorsing Warwick basses as a "tier 5" (or whatever their equivalent was) and got a 10% discount...
 
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