Fender's new board members

[uwe]

Same here. Fender even had a non-musical engineer once who thought it a good idea to bolt a neck to a body with four screws and pin down the strings with force rather than a neck angle. Things can only get better with the Irishmen.

[Dave W]

...

Seriously, what's so bad about having musicians with major business acumen running an instrument company that has very nearly been run into the ground by failed investment bankers? At some point, it's nice to know that the art of the instrument is at least acknowledged by " the numbers guys."

Nicely said!  I'm with you.   

I'd be astonished if they were appointed for any other reason than that they're stars. Business acumen about their band doesn't imply any knowledge of the MI business.

Same here. Fender even had a non-musical engineer once who thought it a good idea to bolt a neck to a body with four screws and pin down the strings with force rather than a neck angle. Things can only get better with the Irishmen.

If things get better it will have little or nothing to do with celebrity board members.

Don't blaspheme St. Leo by comparing these two mugs to him. He wasn't a musician but he was a skilled radio and electronics guy who knew what musicians wanted. Bono is a rich investment banker when he isn't pretending to try to save the world.

[uwe]

Why do I always end up defending the non-defendable here, Led Zep, U2 - can't anybody say something nasty about Be Bop DeLuxe, so I can for once defend a band I really like?!!! (Health Warning: Bell bottom alert, but also a New Wave/Art Rock influence and - saving grace! - a Fender P to compensate!)





Bono's rich, yes, he worked for it too and while he likes to sunbathe in his charity work, the world would probably be a better place if all people as wealthy as him did as much (or, if you like, "as little"). The fact that he rehired one of his employees who had defrauded him before, indicates that beyond all the piousness there might be some real good in him.

I still like to poke fun at him. As do other people: In the "The Book of Mormon" there is a scene where a couple of whiter than white Mormon missionaries do a dance routine in a derelict black African village at the prospect of their first baptism convert. They sing "We are Africa!!!", and it's of course an incredulous scene with their fifties-style white shirts, ties and trousers "straight from Salt Lake City"-look. But it gets even more hilarious when one of them steps out (with sunglasses) during the "We are Africa!" chorus, stretches his arms out and exclaims

"Just like Bono!".

And of course the audience erupts with laughter.

U2 are easy game to pour derision over, but to give them credit: They were/are not a hype, they worked their way to the top and they did not stay a top draw over decades just for delivering crap, their music defined the 80ies more than any other band. They strike a note with a majority of people, just not with me (and, apparently I gather, some others in this forum!).

Still can't write a decent riff if their life depended on it though!