As my feedback on this site (and eBay for that matter) shows I'm still an old fashioned gentleman, if I say I'll buy it or sell it then that's what I do.
We've got a shooting ground a mile away, I find the noise really soothing, nothing better than sitting in the garden reading a magazine with a coffee and listening to the irregular pops and bangs.
I've even heard people say clay pigeon shooting is cruel.....
I bet there's a lot of pros using Squire stuff, not necessarily famous players from famous bands as such but pros or there playing, cruise ships, corporate functions, recording sessions, theatres etc etc etc
I like how people always use Fender as an example of how Gibson and Rickenbacker should do business yet Fender have been in massive debt for years, most if not all of my life AFAIK!
Pli would only be a scam if they didn't pay out when they should.
Like in many trades I think these things help to some extent, the dinosaurs with ratty old kit that won't have PAT testing done or take out public liability or think buying the stickers off eBay will do the job generally don't get the better gigs and certainly not the better paying ones! Long may it continue.
I do the PAT testing and a years insurance costs each band member about ten quid.
Due to a drink driver I've got a sister with one leg and a paralysed arm mate, I know what she got and I know what the medical experts and legal people got!