[ Max ] A lot of the Player Series was already in place . We have a roadmap that ’ s out two to three years plus , that we ’ re looking at in order to plan for the future . Of course things change , the market changes , and we need to be agile with the problems we want to solve .
As you saw from the launches with American Pro and American Elite , and American Original , this type of refresh on the more venerable lines has been going on for years now . This is the cherry on that effort and I think the team has done a really good job with that .
[ WM ] One of the things that I love about the promo videos for this line is that there is a huge range of diversity in the artists that are being featured . If Melanie Faye can ’ t convince you that these instruments sound great , nobody can !
[ Max ] There ’ s a really exciting movement that ’ s going on in music . More and more women are picking up guitar than ever before and that ’ s exciting . It ’ s bringing a whole new style of
playing , a new style of musicianship , and a new character to the industry as a whole .
We want the players to understand what these guitars , amps , and instruments deliver as a solution for creative inspiration . So , some of the people we feature in these ads are really good archetypes for who we ’ re speaking to , and that ’ s why they were chosen . They understand it . They resonate with other customers who are looking . It ’ s pretty simple from our standpoint as far as the authenticity of us communicating with these artists and our customers , all of it is genuine .
There are all kinds of new diverse music out
Melanie Faye there where guitar isn ’ t necessarily a lead instrument . Sometimes its atmospheric . Sometimes it ’ s doing other things , like being creative in other ways where historically the guitar didn ’ t play that role .
[ WM ] At Summer NAMM you introduced the Albert Hammond Jr . Signature Stratocaster . Ironically , Albert ’ s main guitar was a MIJ ( made in Japan ) reissue of a ’ 72 Strat , not entirely different than the instruments in the Player Series . Noting that these instruments will likely be played by a number of the coming generation of influences , how much were you thinking about this as you crated this line ?
[ Max ] Tons . Throughout my whole career that ’ s been my inspiration . All of us in the product group are guitar musicians . We ’ ve all been in bands . We ’ ve all toured . We ’ ve all done it professionally . We ’ re very connected to our customers and artists in that way . We ’ ve all experienced that for ourselves , as fans , and through our mentors and what they play . It ’ s kind of front and center when we ’ re putting
66 August 2018 WorshipMusician . com