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-   -   Esteban Geico Commercial! (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66833)

Serenity 08-15-2005 08:48 AM

Esteban Geico Commercial!
 
Just got a giggle from the latest Geico commercial. This band is practicing in a garage and they stop to tell the guitar player that they are sorry but it's just not going to work out. All of a sudden they turn and Esteban is sitting on a pile of boxes and he starts going on about how millions of kids yearn to experience the gift of music. The leader of the band asks if he is going to teach the bad guitar player how to play and then ....yes...

"No, but I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico".

This guy just keeps on going.

I did play one of his guitars the other day....my local shop had one on consignment. It was terribly built and it sounded terrible too. The finish very cheap and it was wearing very badly.

cotten 08-15-2005 09:04 AM

Which proves that a weak product can be successfully marketed. Too bad.

cotten

dthumb 08-15-2005 09:11 AM

Shucks...
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Abdiel
I did play one of his guitars the other day....my local shop had one on consignment. It was terribly built and it sounded terrible too. The finish very cheap and it was wearing very badly.

Just for the record....I"inherited" an Estaban from my father-in -law. Now, I don't know what he paid for it but I gotta tell ya...it doesn't suck. The finish is fine, the building is..well, not great, the action is good and with a fresh set of Elixirs on it, the sound is not too bad. Makes a great "beater" for the boat.
I just hope it wasn't much dough for him. I've never seen another one so I don't know what they cost??? You could do worse I guess...a low end Fender acoustic, maybe? ;)

bobbyg67 08-15-2005 09:25 AM

dthumb, you must have been one of the lucky ones to receive an original made by esteban himself! LOL! the elixirs are worth more than the guitar. they build every tenth one good enough to actually play.

dthumb 08-15-2005 09:44 AM

I'm just wonderin"....
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbyg67
dthumb, you must have been one of the lucky ones to receive an original made by esteban himself! LOL! the elixirs are worth more than the guitar. they build every tenth one good enough to actually play.

have you played enough of these things to know that for sure or is this just "forum" hearsay with a bit of snobbery? Not being ugly but, I know Estaban is a favorite "whipping boy" for this forum and I can't find fault in this thing if its not represented as more than a beginner's guitar. I admit to my own ignorance on this. Never encountered them before this forum and the one I "inherited".
hard to believe a guy with a name like Estaban is Chinese though.... :roll: :roll: :roll: :ha: :ha:

justinc 08-15-2005 10:59 AM

This guy I work with ordered one. He recieved two they must of known that there would be a problem with the first. Anyway one was beat up the other good so he's trying to make some money off of it.I told him I would give him $5 dollars for it. I needed something for my little sis to start on. He didn't like my bid and my sister started out with a nice Tacoma. I would not of given him $5.01 for it. really.

Kevin Gallagher 08-15-2005 11:45 AM

Cheap guitars
 
The power of endorsement is a mighty thing in our culture....or any culture for that matter. Take a very inexpensive guitar and do an extensive set up on it and put it into the hands of a pretty proficient player with a great band behind him and you have a formula for successful marketing campaign.

I've had about 20 or so of those guitars come across my repair bench after being purchased by local folks who just don't know any better. Not a single on eof the instruments was worth more than a small fraction of the price that they paid for them. All had a ad build, poor finish and even worse set up for playability. They blindly throw down their credit card and buy because it sounds good when Estaban plays it through a great system and then has it tweaked even more by the editing and remix crew for broadcast. There is a local music store here that stocks a load of entry level guitars by several overseas manufacturers that sell for as little as $69.00 that put the Estaban guitar to shame as far as tone and playability go. Are they great instruments? No, but they are far better than what is being offerd through that now very visible and famous infomercial.

Avoid these guitars and avoid the temptation to spend some late night dollars on a product that has no customer service representation other than to just send out another poorly made instrument to replace the first. Tell your family and friends to see you before buying a guitar from TV. Give them a few minutes and take them to your local music store where a person is behind the counter and help them pick out a guitar to learn to play on. They'll be happier and betteroff in the long run.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Serenity 08-15-2005 11:57 AM

What really annoys me is that for what he is charging for those things he could, if he really wanted kids to "experience the gift of music", provide a really nice beginner guitar. If you can convince people to lay out $200 on the sayso of some glorified lounge player with spurious connections to a classical guitar legend then you could use that influence to actually provide a worthwhile product and still make a nice living at the same time.

I don't admire him for being good at marketing. I detest the fact that he, and people like him, give marketing a bad name.

dthumb 08-15-2005 12:07 PM

Wow!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Abdiel
What really annoys me is that for what he is charging for those things he could, if he really wanted kids to "experience the gift of music", provide a really nice beginner guitar. If you can convince people to lay out $200 on the sayso of some glorified lounge player with spurious connections to a classical guitar legend then you could use that influence to actually provide a worthwhile product and still make a nice living at the same time.

I don't admire him for being good at marketing. I detest the fact that he, and people like him, give marketing a bad name.

Ya'll rally hate this guy, huh? Are they really that bad in general? Like I said, I have no idea what was paid for the one I have nor wheather or not it was bought from an infomercial. I only know that it seems like a nice beginner guitar for what I would presume to be not much money. Perhaps we got the one that slipped through the buggering station..I dunno??? A cheap guitar is a cheap guitar in my view.Thay are cheap aren't they?

tac5 08-15-2005 12:38 PM

Esteban is nothing more than a fraud. His endorsement by Segovia is a lie, and the guitars he endorses are junk. And that's all I have to say about that!

dthumb 08-15-2005 12:44 PM

Really?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by tac5
Esteban is nothing more than a fraud. His endorsement my Segovia is a lie, and the guitars he endorses are junk. And that's all I have to say about that!

I've never seen one of his ads. What do they claim? What do they cost? The one I have really doesn't suck..I mean, it ain't a Martin but its very playable and actually, OK ..for a beginner I would think.

Allen Shadd 08-15-2005 12:53 PM

I've watched the infommercial, never played one of his guitars but will admit that he has decent chops as a guitar player. No, he aint no Doyle or Tommy E, but he can play pretty well. But myself being a professional musician (being one that is inviolved in music for a living) I'll tell you this. Just being able to play doesn't gaurantee that you'll be able to make a living out of it. You have to be able to do alot of other skills. I've done things that include lessons, workshops, wrote articles for guitar magazines, etc. just to try to make ends meet.
Today's mentality of music should be free has cost musicians all over. Spend about ten grand or more to record a project, and Joe Scmoe buys it, burns it, and slaps it on the www and the musician gets burnt. You have no idea how many times I've went to do a workshop and had people tell me they had heard my cd and burned a copy from their buddy, as they tried to tell me they enjoyed it they inadvertently tell me they stole it.

So say what you will about Esteban, he found a marketing way to make money as a musician, I respect that. And as I've said before, he's not trying to sell to you and me, his package is aimed at an audience that doesn't comparison shop or do their homework when it comes to quality of a product. Most sales on the shopping channels are impulsive, how many of you have seen that infommercial running at 3AM? Now, how many have been to the music store at 3am to compare guitars? See my point? That is a bonafide market that was just sitting there, somebody had to find it and I guess it was Esteban. I say more power to him.

BTW, Steve Kaufman (3 time national Winfield champ, instructional guru) just entered a deal with Harmony guitars. It ran on QVC for the first time a few nights ago. It consists of a Harmony acoustic guitar, 2 hour instructional dvd w/book by Steve, strings, picks, gigbag, stand, etc. for around $100. Steve said it did pretty well and that Harmony wants to run it again, but not sure when. Maybe ol esteban will have a little competition in the market now.
________
Honda cb125

Jeff M 08-15-2005 01:10 PM

What gets me is going from Steven to "Esteban", the Bolero hat and sun glasses, and his attempts to associate himself to Segovia. (There was a good article on "Esteban" some time back I can't find now describing his history. Basically, he was a Segovia "stalker" who kept sending Segovia letters asking Segovia to allow him to come study with him. Finally, he just showed up on Segovias doorstep when he was touring the US. Segovia immediately recoginized the name, allowed him to sit down and play for a while, made some polite comments (which, if he was teaching you, was generally NOT his style from what I have heard from folks who did interact with him;) ) and said good bye. ) Did Segovia call him "Esteban"? I'm sure he did, as that is Spanish for "Steven".
Did he endorse him? No way.

samchar 08-15-2005 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistolero
Steve said it did pretty well and that Harmony wants to run it again, but not sure when.

Yes, but did he save a load on his car insurance?

Folkstrum 08-15-2005 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dthumb
have you played enough of these things to know that for sure or is this just "forum" hearsay with a bit of snobbery? Not being ugly but, I know Estaban is a favorite "whipping boy" for this forum and I can't find fault in this thing if its not represented as more than a beginner's guitar. I admit to my own ignorance on this. Never encountered them before this forum and the one I "inherited".
hard to believe a guy with a name like Estaban is Chinese though.... :roll: :roll: :roll: :ha: :ha:

Didn't read the rest of the thread. Sorry, If I'm repeating. This IS represented as being "as good as" or comparing to a Martin 40 series. This is a joke. Not a funny one. Comparing his plywood el-junko to a high-end Martin is a travesty.

If I were CF IV, I'd sue the guy. "hey, lookit my 5k guitar! Mine's just as good for 1/10th the price (or less)." Right.Sure. Esteban may be a marketing genius, but his guitars have no cred on the street. They blow chunks. Read the reviews and the poor folks who have been suckered in by these. Sad.


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