Metal Monthly: Last time I was at Namm one of the products that caught my eye is called Guitar Facelift, It is my pleasure to have Mike Hrano to speak about this killer line of guitar accessories, Welcome to Metal Monthly.com Mike, and Thanks For your time...
Mike @Guitar Facelift: My pleasure. I'm really pleased you noticed our product at Namm, where it did turn a lot of heads and, quite literally, stopped passers-by in their tracks when we demo-ed it. I'm excited by the opportunity to reach your readers. I appreciate it.
Metal Monthly: Cool, So Tell our readers about your product, and Your involvement with its creation?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Cutting a l-o-o-o-ng story short, one of my 'day jobs' is a company I have which handles official merchandise, worldwide and across all media, for a number of musicians - from Pet Shop Boys to Chris de Burgh. The busiest act of all, on the road, is the UK band Status Quo, which has been going for more than 40 years, has sold in excess of 100 million records and has had more Top 40 hits than any other act in the history of the British charts. I was asked to work with Quo in 1992 and, over the years, I developed a great friendship with the band's co-leader, rhythm guitarist and singer, Rick Parfitt. In 2003, we set up a business together, Rockano Productions Limited, to market and develop a game Rick had invented. The success of 'The Name Game' opened up the creative, inventive floodgates for us both and, one day, Rick called me and said 'I've got another idea. I'm backstage, strumming away on my guitar, and I suddenly thought 'Wouldn't it be great if there was a way of instantly transforming the way your guitar looked, without it being permanent?' He added 'That's all I have for you: I don't know how to do what I'm suggesting, how it might work or what material to use...' Over a period of months, I researched potential materials and developed the concept, finally hand-cutting the original Facelift template on my dining room table before decorating it simply with diagonal stripes of red masking tape. As soon as I had that first demo sample, I arranged for Rick and I to meet with Fender UK's A&R guy. Fender was the obvious place to go: both Rick and his partner in Quo, Francis Rossi, are synonymous with their respective white and green Teles. Indeed, at the time of that meeting, Fender had just produced a limited edition run of two 'Signature' Teles based on their guitars.
Metal Monthly: I am a Fender Guy myself, are your designs limited to only Fender Bodies?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: No. In fact, I've just signed a licensing agreement with Yamaha, allowing us to produce official Facelifts for two of the Pacifica models - although, initially, we can only do so for the UK market. It was our good fortune that we had an open door to Fender: the biggest manufacturer of guitars in the world. So that was an obvious place to begin, and we were able to develop our product to completion with Fender's advice and enthusiasm. Fender even loaned me guitars to work with and, ultimately - two months after we launched - it gave Facelift an Official License. Since then, Fender has commissioned us to make custom Facelifts for use in store, to help sell Fender guitars. Our first Fender Facelift was to support the recent 'Make History' campaign which re-launched the American Standard series and, right now, we're doing something for the VG Strat. For the future, we have just about every guitar shape in our sights: Gibson, Gretsch, Ibanez - you name it. We haven't made Facelifts yet for bass or acoustic guitars, either. That's all to come, in the future.
Metal Monthly: That is Great...So where can our readers purchase your product?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Prior to the Namm show, we exhibited Facelift at a much smaller, more intimate trade show, organized by the Music Distributors Association. Ten minutes before the end of the show, we picked up USA distribution with both Kaman and Musicorp, the top two distributors of musical instruments and accessories in America. Kaman placed Facelift in its Quarter 2 catalogue, which dropped in March, and Musicorp did the same with their catalogue, which reached in April. A combined total of 13,000 copies of the two catalogues have just hit stores and dealers, coast to coast across America, so first stop to find our product should be 'your local store', although it's obviously early days for us in America since our product launch is currently in progress there.
Meanwhile, all 18 of our currently available designs - nine each to fit Teles and Strats - can be purchased from our on-line store at www.guitarfacelift.com Click on 'Shop' followed by 'Facelifts' once there.
Metal Monthly: What is involved to apply a facelift...roughly how long would it take me to pimp out my boring black strat?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Peel your Facelift away from its template base and simply apply it to your Strat. That entire process takes literally seconds. Truthfully, I can pimp a dozen guitars with Facelifts in less than a minute.
Metal Monthly: Say I change my mind a few weeks down the road, and want to remove the facelift, will any residue or evidence be left behind?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: No. Facelift leaves no residue, at all - no matter how long you leave it on a guitar for. Although our product is not intended to be used on a permanent basis - it is a temporary 'makeover' solution - during testing and development we did place one on a guitar for three months. When it was removed, it left no residue, whatsoever, and came away as easily as if it had been applied a minute previously. The 'tech spec' of the
'ultra-removable, low tack' adhesive we use on Facelift states: 'For sensitive/delicate surfaces. Extremely easy to be removed (no residues).' Once you've done with using your Facelift, place it back on its template and it'll be ready to rock another day. In fact, you can use and re-use it almost indefinitely, so long as you clean your guitar before applying and ensure that you don't get anything stuck on the reverse of the Facelift.
Metal Monthly: Can you facelift my car, or my wife?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: You bet. Since before we even launched Facelift, it was always our hope and intention to be able to Facelift your wife! In order to achieve that, cost-effectively, it took some research but, earlier this year, I found the technical and financial solution to it. For the moment, I am choosing not to market that option, odd though that might appear. But I believe my logic is sound: we launched Facelift to the world at the London Guitar Show in May, 2006, and we are still working hard to position our product and create awareness of it. Once 'everybody' knows what our product is and what it does, that will be the time to let everybody have any Facelift design they might wish to have.
Metal Monthly: Any future designs in the works?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Always. We have plans for a day-glo range, a glitter range, holograms, wood finishes, mirrors - you name it: the options are completely endless. However, and once again, we have to be patient and establish our brand and product before we flood the market with it - never mind the other, related
products we have plans for.
Metal Monthly: What about the ability to upload ones own .jpeg image or custom photo, is this something that is possible or probable?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Of course. Down the line, we'll have a 'Custom Facelift' website which will be able to achieve precisely that. As ever, the launch of that is a question of patience and the right timing.
Metal Monthly: Is Facelift more popular in any one region of the world?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: We now have global distribution deals in place, everywhere from the UK to South Korea, Japan to Canada and Australia to Austria. However, our aim is to sell most Facelifts in the biggest market for guitars and accessories in the world: America. As I mentioned earlier, we are at the very beginning of our USA journey with the Facelift, but we have high hopes for our success there.
Metal Monthly: Anything you would like to add for our readers that we have
not covered yet?
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Only that I'd hope your readers, and everyone else, would see and accept Facelift for what it is: a simple, fun idea. At its most functional, Facelift is the cheap, removable alternative to a more costly and
permanent custom paint job but, beyond that, it's just an easy way to accessorize your guitar. Rick and I always laughed at the fact that, although it was possible to customize almost every single part of a guitar, from the scratch plate to the strings to the neck, there was never anything to apply to the single largest area of a
guitar - the body - until Facelift. I wish I had a cent for everyone who has since said to us 'I thought of that idea (however many) years ago...' Well, Rick and I put our money where are mouths are and actually did it, purely for the fun and challenge of it and because it excited us. In the end, it took two laughing idiots to finally give life to such a simple idea...
Metal Monthly: Mike, Thank you very much for your time, We appreciate it,
it is nice to see products that are not of the Status Quo
Mike @Guitar Facelift: Thank you very much, too, for the chance to discuss Facelift. It's a constant thrill that it's being so well-received and that it provokes so much interest, right across the board, whether from the MI industry or, most importantly, from players. Our product has been welcomed with open arms, smiles and enthusiasm. You've got to love that, haven't you?
Metal Monthly: ROCK ON MIKE!
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