The Charvel EVH-Art Series to lose EVH endorsement

[GAR]

"Steve, you've got to get out of there - or youre FUCKED!" I copy that Oscar..

Oh boy.. I can see it now? How does one break a contract with FENDER when FENDER fucks you over like all its' other artists before ya?



ERUPTION

Mad, mad mad - I'd be mad like a DickTATOR™ booted from Bagdad~!

While Eddie is waiting for the year-end sales numbers to come in from Fender, they're not gonna be what he's expectoratin' them to be!

Fender Musical Instruments Corp (FMIC) who in Sept. 2003 bought out the Charvel/Jackson line and moved their people and machinery from Ontario 22 miles south to fucking horse-stench Corona, CA. is planning on stiffing on the Van Halen Art Series of guitars.

So far, less than 600 have been shipped out - stage-played, and eBay'ed auctioned about 30 ART-EVH's netted about 6500.00 USD average each, with about another 550 "plain-Jane" stock ones in the three-stripe configurations averaging another 2400.00 USD each.



WE'RE BREAKING UP
WE'RE BREAKING UP
LOSS OF CONTROL
BREAKER - BREAK~!!!



While Fender had stellar sales for 2002 and 2003, the last year was about 50% of those so far - with only 2 weeks left (California tax deadline is Jan 31) in the final for reporting sales, the word is in Accounting that productin cost losses will be "shifted" to the "higher producers" which include the 50th Anniversary Series (about 30% of the years' revenues for the American Series) and due to "offset" artist-model profitability.

Amazing. I'd be smokin' pissed about it.

[GAR]

If it weren't for the name Fender alone, Fender would be for shit.

They can't even build the Charvel correctly.

FUKKIT™!!

[GAR]

SO- Let us figure out why it is that:

Ed's paint job/humbucker/Floyd Tremolo combo guitar sales were probably among the most profitable items in the Jackson line - which probably saved asses on the Jackson side - yet due to overall production and sales being half what they should be, I wondered why it is Ed has to take the hit on HIS royalty for their overall ineptitude?

I spoke on the phone with my Dad today, who is an engineer. He said this happens all the time in ALL the Manufacturing Industry anytime you got an office full of people more concerned about keeping their jobs than actually DOING the work as it progresses. The blame for this incompetance, the loss from time and money pissed away in ignorance, those things have to be shifted to other departments till it looks good for them.

If FMIC don't give a shit enough about it to risk getting fingered in court, and EVH wont give a shit, we'll see another year of these things coming out!

[GAR]

Somebody take a vague look at these figures and gimme a ballpark then, at a 5% royalty rate of ALL sales (cuz I dunno what the recipe is for how many points he's getting):

About how much money are we talking about DUE here?

Cuz I flunked Algebra 1 for like.. 3 years n'shitt.

[GAR]

I got a joke:

Q. "What do you think of a 51st Anniversary Stratocaster to save Fender's ass?"

A. Let's see if Ed thinks its a fucking joke when he hears the news.

[kentuckyklira]

Fender´s definitely been losing it over the past few years. I mean, it looks like thy´re releasing a new model every week. A guy can hardly figure out what he´s checking out without looking at the tag.

Then you´ve got

Mexican parts assembled in the USA

US parts assembled in Mexico.

Korean parts assembled in Japan

Korean parts assembled in Korea

Japanese parts assembled in Korea

Japanese parts assembled in Japan

US parts assembled in Japan.


I mean, I can remember the days when you wanted a Strat and the salesperson would ask,

"maple neck or rosewood and which colour please"

and then,

"OK, I think you can pick it up in a week"!

[CamelSchlitz]

The whole point of his original frankenstein was that it was a cheap guitar... Charging 3,000 bucks for a 60 dollar pickup, in an 85$ body, with a 100$ neck... What the fuck... I would rather put together my own and spraypaint it myself.