Guitar Center Drops Fulltone Pedals Following Insensitive Protest Comments

Guitar Center has announced that they will be removing Fulltone products from their stores and website following comments by founder, designer, and president, Michael Fuller.

June 8, 2020

Written by

Cynthia Schemmer

Photos by

She Shreds

Last week, in response to the protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, Fuller took to Facebook to criticize looters. His comments were not only tone deaf—ironic, coming from a company that prides itself on guitar tone—but also extremely offensive on multiple levels, including his prioritization of buildings over Black lives. When Fuller received an email from a concerned and righteously angry customer, he responded with hostility and threats:

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A post shared by She Shreds (@sheshreds_media) on Jun 4, 2020 at 1:28pm PDT

Fuller posted an apology shortly after, and has since deleted the comments and apology, both of which have been screen grabbed and widely distributed. Musicians have taken to social media to ask guitar retailers to cut ties with Fulltone, resulting in Guitar Center’s decision, and to ask other gear companies what they are currently doing to support Black lives.

https://twitter.com/guitarcenter/status/1268954318670979073?s=20

While Fuller’s apology and Guitar Center’s decision is a start, it’s certainly not enough. We posted on a screenshot of Fuller’s comments on our Instagram, and our readers came through to express their frustration with the lack of consideration and support of Black lives from not just Fulltone, but other gear companies as well. And we, along with our readers, demand action. A simple social media post or hashtag will no longer suffice in an industry that has built its entire empire on the backs of the Black community, and we plan to hold the music industry accountable in any way that we can.

Wow! The very gestapo like view you have of his comments is interesting to say the least. His words represent many small business owners who have come off of being dictated to shut their businesses down for three months (whilst Wal-Mart and the rest of the big dogs were allowed to stay open), many on the verge of losing everything. Now, they are watching people destroy said businesses to protest the death of George Floyd, something these business owners had nothing to do with. He is expressing his view on these rioters and thugs, no……..not “protestors”, violent thugs having complete immunity. Nowhere in his comments does he even mention George Floyd, black folk, police brutality or racism for that matter, only that looting is WRONG! He is absolutely right……..unless we now live in a society that has wiped it’s arse with the Constitution and it is now officially legal to break things, burn things and kill people when you are angry about something.
“an entire industry that has built its empire on the backs of the black community,” REALLY??? Care to back that up with any facts whatsoever?
There is a GINORMOUS difference between standing up to racism and police brutality and crossing that huge leap into this notion that our society is inherently and systemic with both. VERY interesting that if one isn’t willing to make that leap that they are instantly chastised and labelled. That alone speaks volumes.
Racism sadly will always exist in some form and the fact everyone needs to accept is racism knows no color. Police brutality will always exist in some form. But are either systemic in our society? Absolutely not. Do police really target black folk more so that whites? No, they don’t. Choosing to think for yourself and do so objectively along with about a 30 min. search on these subjects proves so. The problem is these truths do not fit the desired narrative of those such as the author of this nonsense, which speaks volumes more about those doing it than anything else. Here’s yet another inconvenient truth to swallow:
Chicago, Memorial Day weekend, 49 people shot, 10 murdered. This is not an uncommon occurrence, especially on holiday weekends and this tragedy has been going on for well over a decade. So far, in just less than the first half of 2020, 200 homicides and 826 shootings. They are due predominately to gang violence and the victims are overwhelmingly predominate poor black folk.
Now the only way one knows about anything this horror is to catch news stories from local Chicago news outlets, because the national media doesn’t talk about it, nor does the NAACP, nor does BLM……..AT ALL. In fact, when one dares to bring it up, it stirs great consternation. Many have told me that I’m just trying to divert away from the cause. 200 dead, mostly black people is a diversion. How inconvenient for them.
Apparently, it seems “Black Lives” only “Matter” when it is politically expedient……..and that is what this is really all about. This isn’t about George Floyd or police brutality or racism. It is an opportunity to stir hate to benefit from it politically.
Comment by Doug Rixmann on June 11, 2020 at 12:15 pm
Last week, in response to the protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, Fuller took to Facebook to criticize looters.
Comment by shell shockers on June 16, 2020 at 1:02 am
Hey Doug Rixmann, you sound like the same type of obsolete racist grandpa as mike fuller and nobody here cares what you have to say
Comment by Jim on June 22, 2020 at 9:56 pm
“Chicago, Memorial Day weekend, 49 people shot, 10 murdered….. the first half of 2020, 200 homicides and 826 shootings”’ due predominately to gang violence ..”
No they are not. They are the pollution expelled by a multi-billion dollar arms industry that makes money on every dead body, promotes sales after school shootings, and arms the police with military style weapons at our expense. All so a couple of hundred CEO’s and investors can buy a new private jet and vacation home every year. We are a violent society because a few people make money on selling weapons and ammunition and profit on every dead body that results.
Comment by Patrick O'Heffernan on July 7, 2020 at 4:27 pm
hey folks, could we please capitalize Black – black is a color, Black are the people. thank you! especially important for non-Black writers…
Comment by ingrid on August 19, 2020 at 7:14 am
Hi Ingrid! Thank you so much for leaving this comment. We have been capitalizing the B in Black for years so I don’t know how this escaped our editing or why this happened in the first place. Appreciate you and your feedback!!
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