Producer Switch: How creative professionals can use the placebo effect to resolve subjective feedback and create a win-win situation with collaborators.
Article: The truth behind Lee Sklar's custom 'producer's switch'
The legendary bassist Leland Sklar famously installed a "Producer switch" device on his bass to handle producer feedback. Whenever his producer asks for a new sound adjustment, he flips the switch dramatically to produce "something different" from his playing.
The catch? The switch does absolutely nothing.
However, as long as he performed this theatrical adjustment, the producers were immediately satisfied with the new "improved" sound. This producer switch saved Sklar a lot of time and energy arguing with the producer by doing nothing.
This is the placebo effect in the wild at its finest. By providing a psychological but visible solution to subjective requests, Sklar created a win-win situation: producers felt heard and satisfied, while he maintained his preferred sound.
Many creative professionals who regularly navigate subjective feedback and client relationships can also adopt this kind of placebo effect. If you can deeply understand human perception and expectation management like Sklar, you can get away with many headaches while satisfying everyone.