Viv Campbell slams Gibson

[CharvelRocker]

John Sykes is the guy who provided the awesome gitfiddling Viv mimed to in those Whitesnake videos

From a quick around the net, it seems that DL have sold considerably more albums over the course of their career. But the bulk of them were sold nearly 20 years ago. They have sold no where near as many albums as the Foo Fighters the last few years. As a result, Dave Grohl has a much higher profile TODAY than that other guy who joined Leppard to replace Steve Clark years after they were relevant to the general music buying public

Hell, the only DL you hear on the radio over here now are songs from Hysteria and when I mentioned to some work colleagues that they were touring, they were surprised to hear that the band was still together.

+1. Signature models and artist is about what you do now. If you're a guitar player in a top selling band, you'll obviously not only sell more guitars, but people know who you are and what you play. Very rarely do companies grant sigs and endorsements to people who's heyday was 20 years ago, and DL/Viv Campbell falls into this camp. Let's face it; if Phil hadn't been with Jackson almost since the start and honestly plugged them because he loved them, would he have a sig with them? Not likely, as cool of a guitar as it is. And let's give a hats off to Jackson to sticking with someone who the general public has long forgotten

[Bengal]

G,
Factor in the Nirvana albums and how close do they get to Leppard?

I don't know about Leppard selling more tickets than the Foo Fighters. Hell, they sold out Hyde Park in London, over 100,000 people. Lep ever do that?

[savage]

G,
p

I don't know about Leppard selling more tickets than the Foo Fighters. Hell, they sold out Hyde Park in London, over 100,000 people.

say what!

[Bengal]

Fuck it, I did it myself.

Lep: 60,000,000 worldwide
Nirvana: 50,000,000 worldwide
Foo Fighters: 15,000,000 worldwide

Hum, seems Grohl has sold more albums then Leppard. I kinda thought he did.

[Bengal]

say what!

Say what?

EDIT: Asking about the Hyde Park thing? Granted there were more bands there than just the Foo's but they were the headliner. Shitload of people man. DirecTV offered the show as a free-view a while ago.

[Bengal]

Oh yeah, Def Leppard is playing the Iowa State Fair this year.

Yep, the Iowa State Fair. Life is good, ain't it?

Foo's are selling out the biggest arena in Iowa.

Figure that one out.

[VitaminG]

Fuck it, I did it myself.

Lep: 60,000,000 worldwide
Nirvana: 50,000,000 worldwide
Foo Fighters: 15,000,000 worldwide

Hum, seems Grohl has sold more albums then Leppard. I kinda thought he did.

and Pyromania & Hysteria are almost half of that 60,000,000

[Bengal]

and Pyromania & Hysteria are almost half of that 60,000,000

Yep, and the others sell on those 2 albums reputation.

I have nothing really against Def Leppard. I have not liked them since High and Dry but more power to them.

But Grohl is a bigger star than all of Def Lep put together. The dude is as big of a star as they get right now.

And one of the coolest dudes walking the planet.

[roodyrocker]

Doesn't matter how many albums Dave Grohl sold, when it comes to guitarists I think its safe to say Viv Campbell is held in MUCH higher esteem than Dave Grohl. You're not trying to sell Les Pauls to everyone who listens to CD's, only the guitar players. I didn't even know till this thread that Grohl had a sig Les Paul, what a joke that is! If Grohl has a sig Les Paul then Viv Campbell has every right in the world to slam Gibson. Other artists like Page, Lifeson, Sykes, I can see but Grohl Umm, NO! Its like which does not belong?
Anyway, on a side note I always thought the Les Paul was Les Paul's sig and that no one else should be able to put their name on it! Les Paul is in his 90's and invented half the stuff we use musically. The Foo What? Nirvwho?

[Rupe]

Maybe he should run back to Rand. He'd be the big fish in that pond.

Bullshit, then he would have to contend with me

And to address some of the other silliness being said in this thread, just because Viv may be technically more skilled than many of the artists with signature Gibsons doesn't make him a better promoter for the brand. Talent and skill rarely equal popularity, whereas popularity does equal sales...which is what an artist guitar is typically all about for the manufacturer.

[Bengal]

Doesn't matter how many albums Dave Grohl sold, when it comes to guitarists I think its safe to say Viv Campbell is held in MUCH higher esteem than Dave Grohl. You're not trying to sell Les Pauls to everyone who listens to CD's, only the guitar players. I didn't even know till this thread that Grohl had a sig Les Paul, what a joke that is! If Grohl has a sig Les Paul then Viv Campbell has every right in the world to slam Gibson. Other artists like Page, Lifeson, Sykes, I can see but Grohl Umm, NO! Its like which does not belong?
Anyway, on a side note I always thought the Les Paul was Les Paul's sig and that no one else should be able to put their name on it! Les Paul is in his 90's and invented half the stuff we use musically. The Foo What? Nirvwho?

Nope, Gibson gave him something much cooler than a Les Paul.

http://www.gibsoncustom.com/inspiredby/Grohl.html

I guess it's only an "Inspired By" guitar. Not a production piece. Still pretty cool.

About who's held in higher esteem? I guess it depends on who you ask. My wife would say Dave Grohl.

[necrotechno]

Vivian is by far Dio's most recognizable guitarist.

Yet Craig Goldy is always the guy Dio turns to when he needs a guitarist.

[horns666]

Yet Craig Goldy is always the guy Dio turns to when he needs a guitarist.

Personally, I think Goldy smokes VC and fits Dio's style in every way shape and form! VC work with Dio is classic but he completely lost me after Riverdogs!

[slo100]

Vivian is certainly a 'better' and more accomplished lead guitar player as far as lead guitar players go.

Dave is a bandleader, great songwriter, frontman, and competent enough guitarist. He's also a rare example of a drummer from one mega-band moving to the front of the stage and been quite successful in creating another mega-band. He is also mindful of his idols...what other modern band has shown respect and shared the stage with members of Rush, Led Zep, Queen, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, etc.? I saw a short interview of Dave and he was asked about Slayer. He went on to talk about seeing them at the Warner Theater in D.C. and was obviously a knowledgeable fan of the band. There is a lot more to Dave than a lot of folks give him credit for.

While it is generally not a good practice to compare people in such ways, especially apples to oranges artists such as these two, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd say Dave has been able to do a bit more with his career. But I'd bet he couldn't nail the Rainbow In The Dark solo!

Gibson is no better or worse than Fender (or any other brand) in leveraging endorsees, marketing their products, defending their intellectual property, and trying to stay profitable. History tells us that products directly associated with famous popular culture individuals = sales. Jimi/Eric/Jeff: Strat. Page/Frampton/Moore: Les Paul. Randy: RR. EVH: Charvel/Kramer/EBMM/Peavey.

At least you didn't mention the Keifer Sutherland model from Gibson!

Bret

[Rich#6]

Since this is a guitar forum , I don't think the Nirvana albums should count since he played the drums in that banc and it was not him that made that band famous or what it was. I may like some Nirvana songs but they killed HM in the early 90's (or gave it the final blow) so f*ck'em.