Off Topic "Music Man guitars are like kids toys" - my little talk with Andy James

[Mordimer]

I think many of you know Andy James - he's very talented and very good guitarist, he made many very nice LickLibrary guitar lessons and he used to play EBMM guitars. Now he runs his own "guitar academy" and today on the FB group of this academy someone posted a picture with this funny comparison of "old" and "new" Andy:

I watch Andy's career and I'm impressed by his evolution as a guitarist. As a joke I paid attention that I liked him more when he was using EBMM guitars. And I was unpleasantly surprised...

I know it's a personal thing - you like some guitars more than others. But I was really, idk... touched(?) by what he said. It's kinda sad to me :/

 

[Gas Hed]

Don't know him until now. Could be that the neck width wasn't right for him, but who really knows, he is not elaborating. Only one thing to say really - haters gonna hate.

 

[mikeller]

Rubbish

 

[Mordimer]

You are right Gas - he added a post about the neck thickness later.
It's not a big deal the he don't like this guitars anymore. I was thinking why what he said is such a big thing for me and I came to such conclusion - every EBMM player I've met here, on Instagram, Tumblr, FB etc. and in real was a nice, positive, open-minded person. What's unique is that you can talk with everyone - no matter if it is Big Poppa, Gretchen, or some not-widely known player (Devin) - it's always a nice talk, with no negative feelings and words. And what Andy said was different than that.

 

[Gas Hed]

Now that's a positive post Mordimer - very nice my Polish friend! Na zdrowie!

 

[kestrou]

haters gonna hate.

Exactly - a hater - with no justification, just broad generalization and sh*t slinging.

I have no time for people like that...

Kevin

 

[ksandvik]

There are all kinds of subjective ways to justify anything.

 

[Big Poppa]

Listen....you cannot please everybody but for the life of me I dont understand the negativity....we had no relationship with him whatsoever....

 

[Benji Peterson]

All this proves is that the only dude on earth who would prefer an LTD Andy James model to a Music Man is Andy James.

 

[Gas Hed]

All this proves is that the only dude on earth who would prefer an LTD Andy James model to a Music Man is Andy James.

Now that made me laugh

 

[CHill]

This is why I don't like the internet - too many opinions and unfounded negativity. No more time for this thread because I have 2 EBMM guitars and 1 EBMM bass that I need to go plug in and enjoy the #@%& out of them. My 2 cents.

 

[MesaBeno]

Listen....you cannot please everybody but for the life of me I dont understand the negativity....we had no relationship with him whatsoever....

I was thinking he almost seems bitter BECAUSE of that. As if his desire for a signature or a one-off wasn't addressed, and so he moved on to LTD (which again, boggles my mind, since it's not even ESP).

 

[xjbebop]

I play and enjoy many different guitars, but I'm mature enough to not talk smack about any of them.
Sometimes you just gotta have pointy headstocks and EMGs to fit a certain image. And I'd say most MM guitars do not compliment the dirt bag look...
so, whatever...

 

[Monster212]

i have no clue who he is, but i will say my impressions of him seem like he has a big ego... i have played all kinds of guitars over the years. some good some bad.. but i will never rip any company apart. as you can take two guitars exactly the same and you might like the feel of one over another... picking a guitar comes down to the how the guitar feels to you etc.. i will never hate on anyone for what guitar they play no matter if its a low end or top end guitar, reason is i love music and love chatting with others who love music and can respect everyone,

 

[straycat113]

I think some guys are taking this way too personal! It is fine to have brand loyality, but you can't crucify or hate someone just because they don't like the same gear as you. I remember when James first started on Licklibrary as I have been a member since it's inception and before they even had video lessons. I stumbled upon it looking up Danny Gill who is a phenomenal player and arguably the best teacher you will find, as I owned 4 of Danny's books he did when he taught at MIT back in the day which were pretty advanced and his "Rock Lead Performance" book is a must own for any intermediate player getting into modes.

I had no idea how he wound up in the UK lol but that was the first site I ever joined on the internet. About 5 or 6 years later Andy James came on playing a couple of JP's and Axis models and as far as shredding the guy has insane chops and knows his theory. He also has a very unorthodox way of playing as he had something happen to his pinkie and uses his ring finger where most guys would use their pinkie 80% of the time. He also plays with his thumb dead center of the neck and can pulloff as wide a bend as possible without anchoring his thumb around the neck. I was surprised when I didn't see him with the EB's anymore and believe he played something else before his LTD sig.

The comments forumite (Mordimer) printed in his on line chat with James kind of made it sound like he has sour grapes or issues with the company, as you don't see many players ("if any) bad mouth a former companies guitars they used like that. It seems really black and white because if you got a gig teaching on LL which has arguably some of the best players and instructors in the world- Guthrie Govan- Danny Gill- Dave Kilminster- Jamie Humphries- Mike Casswell and others I highly doubt as the new guy you are going to do 2 hour video guitar instructionals with anything but your best and most comfortable playing guitars!

Whatever his issue is I really don't think anyone should be getting all twisted about it and letting it ruin there day. On the flipside you can look at one of the original Lick Library players and instructors Jamie Humphries who has an insane addiction for EBMM guitars! I am a big fan of Jamie and his DVD's (as he plays more in the vein that I do) and is a theory wiz. But I owned DVD's by him before I was a member of this forum and he would always talk about what gear he used before he started and if he was doing a lesson in the vein of a Strat player he would use a Silo even though he could of easily of gotten a Strat. For those who just know Jamie from this forum let me just say you have to be better then good to land the gig as Brian May's second guitarist! About a month ago they had a thread on The Gear Page that said - "Excluding Fender and Gibson name 3 guitar companies/builders who's guitars you love" or something to that effect and EBMM was named in over 70% of the responses, so to each their own.

 

[BUC]

Listen....you cannot please everybody but for the life of me I dont understand the negativity....we had no relationship with him whatsoever....

There you have it. What he really meant to say was,"BP never gave me any of this shiz for free so I switched to someone who gave me a piece of the action."

FWIW, I have no idea who this guy is. But I'm an acquaintance of Steve Morse and if it's good enough for him, it's way more than I need.

And I slept in a Holiday Inn last night.

 

[DrKev]

Let's use this as an appropriate time to remind ourselves of something. Read first post of the Forum Decorum sticky thread (linked at bottom of this post) but particularly point number 1 which I'll quote here...

1. Sterling: “Any threads that contain negative criticism of other players will immediately be deleted.“ I can’t imagine there would be any question about this. No one expects you to absolutely love every new band you hear, but “Wow, these guys suck” is simply unnecessary. If you don’t like it, don’t comment. Negative response is not an option. And this isn’t just about EBMM artists. Everyone in the music business is working hard to do the best they can. Let’s respect our fellow musicians even if what they do isn’t our cup of tea.

Not 100% on topic but you get the idea, right?

Andy James is great player and teacher, many people have learned a lot from him, some may have even come to EBMM because of him. The guitar market is a big place and there is plenty of choices and styles and no one brand will suit everyone. Would we slam him if he chose a Flashback over a Carbon Copy? It's the tools of *his* trade, if he's happier with his new toys than he was with his old ones then good luck to him. His comments are no more outrageous than comments we've all made about some guitars we've owned in the past.

Please also remember, this also the official EBMM company forum. Our negative responses are seen by the outside world as reflective of everyone on this forum and also of the company. Perhaps that's unfair or illogical but that's the way it is. In future let's think a little more before clicking the 'Post Reply' button, OK?

Thanks.

http://forums.ernieball.com/music-man-guitars/45577-required-reading-forum-decorum.html#post751245

 

[Mordimer]

I hope it's clear that I didn't want to offend Andy James in any way. He surprised me with his opinion on EBMM guitars and, maybe even more, the way he expressed it.

 

[Samoht]

The best analogy I can think of here is like Tiger Woods (or Lebron, Shaq, etc.), who chooses to drive Mercedes-Benz cars and the Cadillac Escalade or some other luxury brand, yet does commercials for and gets paid by Buick (or Kia, etc.). We know that Andy chose to play EBMM with no special treatment from or relationship with EBMM, yet now has his own LTD signature model. I guess it's possible that he really did hate the EBMM and think it was a kid's toy while playing it by choice.

I play EBMM guitars and basses by choice, with no special treatment from or relationship with EBMM, so I feel as though I can relate to his pre-LTD guitar choice. My personal experience with LTD, however, is quite different than his. I'll leave it at that

 

[MusicMan_Luke]

Like The Dude said :