Rory Gallagher signature pedal!

[TheIronBeast]

Glasgow based amp company Flynn Amps have just released a signature Rory Gallagher Hawk Booster, based on his original treble booster. As a massive Gallagher fan I have been anticipating the release of this pedal for a while and I've listened to the sound clips on their site and it does sound very nice!

I never thought it would have a price tag of £185 though! That is a little bit too much I think. I live only about an hour away from Glasgow so I might ring them up and ask if they would allow me to try it out.

For anybody who is interested:
http://www.flynnamps.co.uk/hawk.html

They also have it for sale in their eBay shop too:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rory-Gallagher-Signature-Hawk-Booster-by-Flynn-Amps_W0QQitemZ180351930099QQcmdZViewItem

[blue]

it looks interesting, and i'd love to give it a go, but £185!?!?  crazy.  that's a £100 premium over their own treble booster.  i'm sure it's very good, but i think i'll stick with my Thundertomate.

[Philly Q]

How can they call these things "signature" pedals when the artist has been dead for years?  Some applies to that Tommy Bolin fuzz pedal DnL mentioned a couple of days ago.

[Denim n Leather]

How can they call these things "signature" pedals when the artist has been dead for years?  Some applies to that Tommy Bolin fuzz pedal DnL mentioned a couple of days ago.

It's signature in the fact that this particular effect is  most often associated with that particular player, as well as being a replica of the original, with the approval/permission of the player's estate.

So ... stop pissing in our Cornflakes!!! PDT_008

[Prawnik]

How can they call these things "signature" pedals when the artist has been dead for years?  Some applies to that Tommy Bolin fuzz pedal DnL mentioned a couple of days ago.

The estate of the dead dude in question wants to cash in, that's how. (vid. the Hendrix Estate; once they won their court fights, they have been willing to stick Jimi's face on 'bout anything for cash...)

In fairness, the products in question are at least aimed to get the Average Frustrated Guitarist somewhere close to the Dead Dude's sound.

[Philly Q]

Nah, I'll keep pissing.  In fact I'm off to drink six pints of lager just to fuel up on piss.  :P

I'm sure these are great pedals, but the players concerned never got to actually try them or approve them.  Even if they had, they might have loved the pedals, but not wanted their names on them.

And what do their Estates know?  (Off topic, but look at Janie Hendrix - barely knew Jimi but making millions out of his Estate!)

I'm not that bothered about it, it's fair enough associating them with the artists to indicate what they were designed to do (and, obviously, to make some money off them!), but to actually call them "signature" models is going a bit too far.  :)


(EDIT -  Prawnik beat me to the point about Hendrix!)

[Denim n Leather]

In fairness, the products in question are at least aimed to get the Average Frustrated Guitarist somewhere close to the Dead Dude's sound.

Well, besides the argument that the Dead Dude might've been equally frustrated, your overall point is correct (if callously stated) -- If the product works, I don't care if it's the Hamburglar Signature Fart Sound in a stomp box -- I want it.

[Denim n Leather]

I'm not that bothered about it, it's fair enough associating them with the artists to indicate what they were designed to do (and, obviously, to make some money off them!), but to actually call them "signature" models is going a bit too far.  :)

Agree to disagree --

To paraphrase Richard Dreyfus in Jaws, if a pedal maker comes out with a replica of the Sam Ash fuzz pedal, people say, "Huh?" Put Bolin's name on it, and it makes tonnes more sense.

You now have an iconic, identifiable tone to associate with the effect.

It's certainly better than saying "Oh, it sounds like the fuzz Gallagher used". So, why not put his name on it in the 1st instance?


Even Tim does it with his product, for Pete's sake! So quit yer b!tchin'!!

[Philly Q]

Agree to disagree --

To paraphrase Richard Dreyfus in Jaws, if a pedal maker comes out with a replica of the Sam Ash fuzz pedal, people say, "Huh?" Put Bolin's name on it, and it makes tonnes more sense.

You now have an iconic, identifiable tone to associate with the effect.

It's certainly better than saying "Oh, it sounds like the fuzz Gallagher used". So, why not put his name on it in the 1st instance?


Even Tim does it with his product, for Pete's sake! So quit yer b!tchin'!!

As I said, it's not the use of the name, it's the implication of artist approval that bothers me.   Steve Stevens and Geoff Whitehorn have been involved in the design of their pickups (but Peter Green hasn't).

But fair enough, let's agree to disagree. 

And put me on the list for one of those Hamburglar Signature Fart Sound pedals.



(But only if Hamburglar's actually given it the thumbs up!)

[blue]

my hapenny's worth?

yes, tim has kinda done it, but rather than say "the Rory Gallagher Strat Set" he's called them Irish Tours, for Knopfler, Sultans, Clapton Slowhands, etc.   it seems Donal Gallagher was involved with this pedal, which probably contributes to it's high price, so i suppose it's fair enough to put Rory's name on it, but i'd have preferred to see it called, say "the Bullfrog booster" and cost £120.

likewise, the Bolin fuzz, it could have been called, say, "the Teaser fuzz"?

[Denim n Leather]

likewise, the Bolin fuzz, it could have been called, say, "the Teaser fuzz"?

Besides the fact that Ronsound already makes a Teaser fuzz? PDT_008

I'm sure that's part of their deal with the Devil when getting their hands on these iconic effects to replicate them!

[blue]

yeah, that's why i can see why it went that way with the gallagher one, they examined and replicated Rory's actual pedal, with his estate's permission, and presumably Donal et al get a cut.  i didn't realise the Bolin one was the same deal, i hadn't actually looked  :oops:  afraid i've never heard of Ronsound  :oops: :oops:

it is cool that these guys names are still out there, and that these excellent devices are available again because of their association, it's just a pity that that same association puts such a premium on the price.

'

[Denim n Leather]

Well, eventually, these sounds will be able to be replicated digitally. Until that time, there will always be a market for pedal designers -- both legit and fraudulent.

[AndyR]

Sounds to me like Philly would be happy if the word "signature" was dropped from the product name but it still had "Rory Gallagher" writ on it :lol: (apologies if I'm mis-attribruting opinions to you there Philly!)

So, it would still need the licensing etc that Donal's obviously getting, and the "marketing strategy" would still work.

However, I suspect that Rory (the one sadly frozen in time) would be a little non-plussed about it himself :lol:  I imagine his reaction would be "see if you can get yourself a good one of those old Hawk boosters I used... but any old boost circuit will work if you learn how to use it for what you want..."

I'm a big Rory fan, and I occasionally tweak and fiddle, looking to sound like him - but after nearly 30 years of doing it, I'm convinced most of it was in his fingers/attitude. No way would I consider buying this thing, even at half the price!!

BTW - for the record, the "signature" itself is accurate, it looks just like the one he did for me in 1980 :D

[Philly Q]

Sounds to me like Philly would be happy if the word "signature" was dropped from the product name but it still had "Rory Gallagher" writ on it :lol: (apologies if I'm mis-attribruting opinions to you there Philly!)

So, it would still need the licensing etc that Donal's obviously getting, and the "marketing strategy" would still work.

However, I suspect that Rory (the one sadly frozen in time) would be a little non-plussed about it himself :lol:  I imagine his reaction would be "see if you can get yourself a good one of those old Hawk boosters I used... but any old boost circuit will work if you learn how to use it for what you want..."

Exactly, Andy!  I don't want to keep on about it (he says, keeping on about it  :roll:  ) but that's the point I was trying to make.  It's a pretty subtle distinction, and ultimately it doesn't matter much..... but "Signature" implies endorsement.

As I also tried to say earlier, even if the artists had loved the pedals, they might not have wanted to actually endorse them.  You know a lot more about Rory Gallagher than I do, but he seemed a very modest guy and, as you said, he might have been a little non-plussed about gear with his name on it.