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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Curious about Drip Guitar

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5/6/2003 3:46 PM
B Tremblay	Curious about Drip Guitar Zach, I'd be interested to hear more about the circumstances surrounding the introduction and subsequent removal of the Drip Guitar from your product line. Also, how did that experience influence the production of the Nano amp, another departure from an all-stompboxes product line?

5/6/2003 6:07 PM
Joe Gagan	My guess is that it didn't sell too many. No offense to anybody involved, but I think the shape was a major deterrent to a lot of people buying it. If I recall what Z said, the body shape was somebody else's idea[?]

5/6/2003 8:19 PM

yeah. heh. the guy who was making vox reissue guitars contacted me, or actually his partner did, and asked me if i would develop some effects for them. i modified the wah probe for use in a guitar, and it turned out so fun that they offered to make a bunch of guitars for me because they had a whole bunch of teardrop-shaped bodies and necks and korg was apparently not buying any more from them. i said sure... it was a very bad business mistake. that body shape is IMPOSSIBLE to hold on your knee. you can't practice comfortably, so it's just not a good sell in a store... consider, when was the last time you used a strap to try out a guitar in a store? on top of that, they were expensive to make.

i think i made a total of 65 of those guitars. they are mostly sold now. i still get nice emails about them as the last of them leave the stores, but i'm not anxious to get into guitars again.

the amps are a different story... they use the same box, same people, same assembly and painting techniques as the rest of my stuff... and they are so fun that everyone who experiences one first-hand is stuck grinning and shaking their head. the guitars were fun but not everyone "got it" and there were universal complaints. i don't get any universal complaints about the nano head except that it's too expensive. but that's nothing new in this business. i've sold 250 in 5 months so they are definitely a better idea than the guitars.

5/6/2003 8:25 PM
Mark Hammer	So, uh, I guess the moral is: EVERYONE has an Edsel at one time or another.

5/6/2003 11:52 PM
zachary vex	i had two, actually. the volume probe had a serious flaw in the antenna design. although it's cute to look at, it won't stand up to harsh use or bending. there was a chemical reaction between the adhesive in the clear cover and the coating on the wire, as well, which gave it a sort of goopy look after a while. i have a lot of those mangled-antenna units in a box on a shelf. it's kind of sad.

5/7/2003 7:31 AM
Joe Gagan	Musicstore musings I am contemplating some new offshoots to my product line, but I can't say any more here, the world is watching something that sells, for sure.

5/7/2003 8:48 AM
zachary vex	watch out, joe! don't say anything positive about your products or your company in here. the trolls, the trolls! good luck, whatever it is. 8^)

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