Re: music just for musicians?

[pycraft@elec.gla.ac.uk (Dr M. P. Hughes)]

>>I'm not sure that's encessarily fair.  Just because a market is small,
>>doesn't mean it has to die.  Out of interest, how many JamMen were sold
>>compared to hour high-end reverbs?  The market for those must be tiny 
>(What
>>do you think, dear - change the car or buy a Lex 300?).
>
>OK, but try to remember that the Lex 300 also generates quite a bit more 
>profit
>than does a JamMan--especially when they have to be blown out to sell at 
>all.
>You have to sell a whole lot more Jampersons to make up what what you 
>make on a
>single 300.

True.
 
> Not to mention how much more advertising you have to do. Let's face
>it, you're market for the 300 is well defined: big studios who charge big
>dollars for their time. OK, we know who they are, they know who we are. 
>Easy.

Sure.  However, I think (I really honestly hope I'm not stepping of your
toes, or Greg's, on this one) that Lex gave the impression of really not
knowing how to approach the low end of the market.  The "32 secundos" ad
with zany graphics seemed so full of hype that it looked as if there was
something to hide.  Though I know their name distains thee, Digitech have
been selling low-end proto-loopers for not much more than the JM clearout
price and making enough profit to keep them in the line for years.  And
Digitech know how to sell a $500 box as though it's top-of-the-line, as do
Alesis (who have a reputation for quality sound, at least amongst us great
unwashed types).  FE, perhaps if the Vortex and Reflex had been bundled
together it would have competed (at the same price point) with the Midiverb
(which costs the same as either).  The Lex unit would have been better, but
on paper the specs would be about the same.  OK, the Lex would probably
have much higher SNR and bandwidth, but if it's going into a pair of
Celestion Vintage 30s who cares?
 
(rant mode off)

>Jamperson possible target audience? Uh, everyone who plays any 
>instrument. How
>do you reach them? How do you reach the sax players to tell them that 
>Michael
>Brecker uses a JamMan? How do you reach all the
>guitarists/bassists/percussionists/vocalists/violinists/DJs/ blahblahblah.

There was NO advertising in the UK for ths "baby" Lexes.  It got a tiny
mention as a competition giveaway in The Guitar Magazine (not that I'm
complaining - I won it  :)  ) and that was it - certainly no ads.  I only
ever heard about them - esp. the Vortex - from GP imports (which don't sell
well over here, on account of not raving enough about Oasis/Paul
Weller/Blur etc).  The entry for the Vortex was wrong in the GP buyers
guide (for 2 YEARS running), which can't have helped.  

> The
>point is it costs an incredible sum of money to properly market a product 
>like
>the Jamman--just to get to the limited number of peoples in each of these
>disparate groups. It really isn't a profitable idea, unless the product 
>costs a
>whole lot more. But, as we found out, the product didn't sell until the 
>price
>was dropped to the zero profit point.

If the PDS8000 could do it....  (sorry)

I think that a looper will come.  I think it will be part of a processor,
will retail for $700 and be made by Zoom.  After all, there's a genuine
4-sec looper in the 8080....

>I still maintain that the easy answer is a looping card for the PCM 80. 
>All the
>tools are in place, and it would be a really great product, albeit an 
>expensive
>one. But no one wanted to hear it, so...

I never thought I'd _ever_ actually say this, but it would be cheaper to
buy a TC2290.....

Michael

Dr Michael Pycraft Hughes      Bioelectronic Research Centre, Rankine Bldg,
Tel: (+44) 141 330 5979        University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K.
    "Wha's like us?  Damn few, and they're a' deid!" - Scottish proverb