Alexi tells all...

[Rhoadsfan67]

Here is the lowdown on what REALLY happened between Alexi and Jackson.... this is totally mud on the face of Jackson. Read on...

Alexi Laiho: "There is a reason we play ESP. Last September, we had a gig in Helsinki in a venue we have a rehearsal place. We had a party after, and all these people we knew got totally fukked up, going home at like 6 AM. I went back and my guitars were gone. I had two custom made Jacksons. They were important to me. They were my babies! And they were GONE! And I was like, "what the hell?! What the fukk is happening here?!!" So I called up everyone and asked "have you seen my guitars?!" Nothing! I made a million phone calls. I reported it to the police. They were worth $4000 apiece, but that's besides the point. I would have been much happier if someone took $4000 from me instead of taking my fukking guitars! They're so hard to get. You have to wait a year from the Jackson custom shop! I was like, "what the fukk am I gonna play with?!" When it comes to guitars, I am picky. I didn't wanna settle - I wanna play the good stuff. We were endorsed by this shop in Helsinki, and they were importing Jacksons in Finland. They told me that if I ordered from the custom shop, that I might be able to get the guitars in a few months. Then a week later, this dude told me that Fender bought Jacksonand pretty much pulled every single European importer. Therefore, what happened was that these fukkers said they weren't going to make my guitars and they were going to cancel my order. And I am like, "oh my fukking God, can this sh!t really happen?!" So they cancelled my orderand did not give a fukk about what happened, and didnt give a fukk that I'd been doing alot in Finland for promoting Jackson. Then they told me that they'd just started importing ESP and they'd make me a guitar if I wanted. I was like, "well, fukk, that is the only thing I CAN do!" There's no other way. I would have preferred Jackson but since I couldn't get them, especially if they didn't care what happened, they can fukk off!"

Man, I hate to beat a dead horse, but FMIC and Jackson sooooo dropped the ball on this deal. Really sad, actually....

[Sunbane]

Re: Alexi tells all...

This is still a big can of worms I guess, but if it's true, it's one hell of a way to screw over an active endorser.

The reason Jackson pulled the European distributer was to find a way of making Jacksons more affordable in Europe (which they succeded in). That's probably the reason why the finnish shop lost their dealership and got Alexis order cancelled. Still, it's a shame it had to turn out that way.

I'd like to blame it on bad timing. If his guitars had been stolen only two months later, I bet it would have been a wholly different story.

'bane

[sevser]

Re: Alexi tells all...

I don't blame him one bit. What’s up Jackson? Fukking guy was you ambassador in Europe and Asia!

[lerxstcat]

Re: Alexi tells all...

He didn't mention his ESP deal directly or talk about the contract, but he said
"Here's why WE play ESP."

Alexi was the only one to lose guitars.
Why would all 3 guys in COB switch to ESP, seeing they all still had THEIR guitars, if not an endorsement deal?

I think his attitude can now be summed up in his last 4 words of that quote: "They
can fukk off". I think he feels he was loyal to Jackson for years, and that when
he actually needed their help, they blew him off. He feels betrayed, and he WAS betrayed, if only by confusion in the buyout. If FMIC didn't do enough market
research to know Alexi was probably THE KEY to the Eurometal market, they dropped
the ball bigtime. If they didn't know, they should have known. Everybody ELSE
did, especially ESP who jumped on the chance to get him onboard.

I don't see Alexi switching back. ESP is
probably paying him quite well, and though I wouldn't be surprised if he quietly bought more Jacksons in future because he does love the quality, for personal use, why would he now go back to a discount-only deal with a company that snubbed him, when he can get free guitars and good money from ESP, who I'm sure make him top-notch guitars?

Of course, since he must still love Jackson guitars if not FMIC, he might come back if they matched the deal ESP gave him, or even came close. Otherwise
he'll probably play ESP from now on.

[VoiceX3]

Re: Alexi tells all...

I believed that the problem was this. Alexi had his endorsement from the distributor, not Jackson. Most of the endorsements AMIC/Jackson had were handshake type deals with no real records recorded. When FMIC came in and took over the show they needed to do something to get their foreign distribution in order because I've also heard that it was in shambles when they took over. That's why foreign distribution was halted. Had Alexi spoken to McD or even someone at the custom shop, I believe things would've worked out diffrently. You can't blame FMIC/Jackson for something they really didn't know anything about. I do understand why Alexi went to ESP. When you gotta tour, you need guitars. I just checked thru all ESP's endorsees and his name and COB are not listed so I think his deal is still through the distributor. I'll bet if he were to contact Jackson now they'd be more than happy to help out.

[pro-fusion]

Re: Alexi tells all...

It sounds like Alexi could still be brought back into the Jackson camp if the company wanted to put a little effort into it. Of course, maybe they feel it's not worth it.

[Greg Crowe]

Re: Alexi tells all...

I told them, I told them, I F'ing told them!!!!

I told the Fender guys about this WAY early on, before is became a big stink. They totally dropped the ball. Oh well........... this one will haunt them for years, kinda like when Dean Zelinsky told me about blowing off a phone call from somebody in LA he'd never heard of named Randy Rhoads.

[Inazone]

Re: Alexi tells all...

While I can understand Alexi's feelings after having his Jacksons stolen, I think his expectations were a little off. Look at this part again:

"We were endorsed by this shop in Helsinki, and they were importing Jacksons in Finland. They told me that if I ordered from the custom shop, that I might be able to get the guitars in a few months. Then a week later, this dude told me that Fender bought Jacksonand pretty much pulled every single European importer. Therefore, what happened was that these fukkers said they weren't going to make my guitars and they were going to cancel my order."

At the start, he appears to be talking to the Helsinki shop, they tell him that he "might" be able to get a guitar in a few months, and then they tell him that Fender took over...a week later. Maybe things work differently in Alexi's world, but if he was only one week into this, wouldn't it have made sense to try getting in contact with Jackson directly? Or finding an American dealer who could accomodate him? There are always European folks here on the JCF working with American dealers to get Jacksons shipped overseas, with little or no difficulty. Considering that his deal was with the local shop, not Jackson directly, why would he expect special treatment? Alexi Laiho may be a household name in some circles, but probably not at the FMIC home office, a week into the Jackson acquisition.

So things could have been handled differently, and maybe people outside the JCF don't have quite the same knowledge of how custom orders and overseas distribution work, but Alexi comes of as being unrealistic and unreasonable. He took the word of the guys at the local shop at every turn. Sounds like a lot of "he said, she said" crap. I suspect that ESP had already approached him, and this made for a convenient reason to switch. Jackson's loss perhaps, but **** happens.

[img]graemlins/baby.gif[/img]

[lerxstcat]

Re: Alexi tells all...

Didn't you read Greg Crowe's post just before yours? HE made FMIC aware of the sitch before it was too late, but they did nothing. So neither you nor Voicex3
can say FMIC was unaware of the situation since they were made aware right at the time it happened. They just didn't do anything about it. They may not have heard of Alexi, but when someone with credibility tells them he's a big name in Europe and Asia, then they know, and ignorance is no longer an excuse. FMIC could have easily contacted Alexi through
the Fender dealer(s) in Helsinki to make a new deal with him, or at least to assure him they'd take a Custom Shop order ad make it for him. They didn't bother, despite Greg telling them they needed to.

Oh, Alexi might not be on the list of ESP endorsed artists, but the fact they have 2 sig models of his on their site, I'd say that's a pretty good HINT that he has an endorsement deal.

[ August 29, 2003, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: lerxstcat ]

[lerxstcat]

Re: Alexi tells all...

I forgot to mention that he was and is still listed by Jackson as a Jackson endorsed artist, so that WOULD give me some expectations. As for trusting the shop that endorsed him, they're THE SHOP
THAT ENDORSED HIM. He may have had the impression that Jackson had specifically
looked at and cancelled his order. The shop that was summarily yanked as a Jackson dealer was likely in the midst of
its own problems, like finding a new line to carry at a moment's notice, and didn't take pains to spell out the difference.

A couple of months elapsed between Alexi's guitars being stolen and him taking the ESP deal, so I doubt it was a
matter of convenience. He'd probably have been a more enthusiastic ESP artist
if that were so, but he seems to be a reluctant endorsee, basically there because Jackson ignored him.

[cryoprison]

Re: Alexi tells all...

don't forget the oncoming US tour too. gettin' pretty strong publicity amongst fans of all 4 bands. on boards all over. guaranteed it's opened all of them up to new audiences and expanded the fan-base over here as well. damn shame. who knows, i don't see anywhere in there where he states that he's an actual endorsee of ESP though. nothing about a contract signed or anything like that. things might change once the band hits the US since they'll be easier access with the people at FMIC to negotiate and possibly supply Alexi with his Jacksons in Europe as a custom order solely through the one shop. 4 months down the road, the Euro road might be opened to all again. just gonna' have to see. assuming this is all true, can't say it's a smart move at all.

[the_drip]

Re: Alexi tells all...

speaking of alexi. How does one from teh states go about getting one of those Japanese ESP signature models. My brother loves the damned thing.

[Greg Crowe]

Re: Alexi tells all...

Alexi DID have 2 custom orders and FMIC/Jackson cancelled both of them!... among other endorsee projects.

Hell, I even offered to lend Alexi a USA Jackson until he could get a new one.

[Steve]

Re: Alexi tells all...

Brian McDonald has a completely different story and said that they tryed to keep alexi on as a endorser but he couldn't wait 9 months for his customs , also that esp had snaged em 1st . and remember the other shop/distro dude started carrying esp so thats why he switched to them , and probably cause it people he knows and trust , just sucks that he went with them thats all , I bet when his deal is done he'll quit playing esp you can totally bet on it , he's still showing up to shows with both his Jacksons and esps [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] //Steve

[Newc]

Re: Alexi tells all...

Jackson Japan could have had him one in 6 weeks, and that's the same shop that built my JacksonStars NASL. I got a quote through the guy who helped me get the NASL for a Blood Drip Warrior, and he said he had to call the factory directly, and they said it would take 6 weeks - not months, weeks. Not a bad turnaround for a special order like that. It MAY have been a case where they were doing a run of them at the time and 6 weeks was the scheduled ship date, or it may have been they could actually do it in that time even if they were on a different run.
As well, some of the JacksonStars were made in Ontario, so who's to say exactly what's what?

I fault Alexi first for not keeping a better eye on his own gear, then his manager for not handling the dealer (like an active high-profile artist really has the hours in the day to hang out with the dealer who supplies his gear? Never seen that one myself [img]graemlins/brow.gif[/img] ), and I blame FMIC for not jumping on Alexi's guitars either in Ontario or Japan. ESP is going guns-blazing for Jackson's endorsees, and Jackson/FMIC should be going guns-blazing to keep them, but since everyone has their own business model, there's no industry standardization, and they will always shoot themselves in the foot somewhere.
It's worse when you come in behind someone else (AMIC) and have to clean up their mess before you can start working. Who oversaw the European market for AMIC/Jackson? I'd have that guy's balls on a rope for letting it get out of hand.
Too much golf, not enough work.

Newc