Gear listings on artist's pages: do you care?

[Benjamin Strange]

I've noticed on certain musician's websites, they have a gear list, or sometimes even a rundown of what was used on particular tracks. Is this of any interest to the public or just an ego trip?

I'm considering making a gear page on my site. Why? Boredom, mostly. I wonder how this kind of thing is perceived by the community at large. Does an artists gear list interest you at all? Do you think it's lame that it's even mentioned? Does this distract from the music by stripping it down to it's nuts and bolts?

What say you?

[Rocker949]

If I like the music, sometimes I might be interested in what kind of bass was used, especially if the bass parts were exceptional.

[stretchcat]

If it's a small budget independent release, then it's interesting to see what was used to record it in terms of outboard preamps, compressors, converters, etc. I'm less interested if the bass player used a 65' J on one track and then switched to the 62' for another.....<yawn>.

[seanm]

I consider gear lists lame. I never bother looking at them. One, what are the odds they are up to date? And two, who cares other than musicians?

Really, unless your endorsement forces you to do one, I would not bother. But that is just me.

[keb]

I'll go against the grain here and say I love 'em. In fact I wish more artists did them.

I'm just kind of a gear nut. It's not really a GAS thing where I lust after every bit of equipment in the universe, but I'm always curious to see which tools were used where and what they sound like. Maybe something to do with my interest in instrument design and electronics design in general. Hell, I look at schematics and pore over service manuals for fun.

But I'll agree only certain musicians would be interested in such a thing. And general listeners probably couldn't possibly care less.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

I've noticed on certain musician's websites, they have a gear list, or sometimes even a rundown of what was used on particular tracks. Is this of any interest to the public or just an ego trip?

I'm considering making a gear page on my site. Why? Boredom, mostly. I wonder how this kind of thing is perceived by the community at large. Does an artists gear list interest you at all? Do you think it's lame that it's even mentioned? Does this distract from the music by stripping it down to it's nuts and bolts?

What say you?

Some people are interested. But if Tom Bowlus put up a gear page on his website, there wouldn't be any bandwidth left for anything else.

[jenderfazz]

I've wondered on many occasions how certain bassists have gotten their sound. Not only for recording - live sound as well. Sometimes you'll catch a glimpse of a setup onstage and think, "wow, that sounds great. I wonder what it is, exactly?"

Besides the useful aspect, some musicians just love showing off their gear, talking about it, etc. I don't see anything wrong with that.

[steve21]

I dig them, but only if they're up to date. Just saying something like "_____ uses x brand guitars and y brand amps" that's like 540 years old, f'gettabout it

[Fishbrain]

i like em

[Toasted]

I like it - I always like seeing what other musicians are using

[tzadik]

I think a lot of times it's a thing people do to try to get business for companies from which they want free stuff.

But in general, gear talk is something I avoid unless I can't help it.

[James Hart]

I love music.... I love gear.

I've gone so far as to contact players to question the gear used.

[ALiP BoB]

Originally Posted by Rocker949

If I like the music, sometimes I might be interested in what kind of bass was used, especially if the bass parts were exceptional.

+1000

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Some people are interested. But if Tom Bowlus put up a gear page on his website, there wouldn't be any bandwidth left for anything else.

Well, my blog does maintain a list of gear in the 'Bowlus Bass Borg', and so far, the internet has not shut down.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

Well, my blog does maintain a list of gear in the 'Bowlus Bass Borg', and so far, the internet has not shut down.

I have to admit, I have looked through the gear list for the Bowlus Bass Borg. But Tom's reputation preceded him

But I make a distinction between a band or solo acts site and a musicians personal individual site. For example, like I mentioned earlier, I almost never look at a bands equipment list, but I quite often look at the profiles at TB.

A band site may only list what is endorsed and it also might not be an accurate reflection of the musician. For example, a classic rock band lists that the bassist uses a Fender P through an SVT and a fridge. Cool. What it doesn't tell you is that he may only play that to look the part. In every other context he only plays custom 9 strings through boutique amps.

[Benjamin Strange]

Well, just for boredom's sake, I put one up on my site. Woo. It's just a list presently - I may augment it with pics in the future, depending on how lame I'm feeling.

[Jeff Moote]

And two, who cares other than musicians?

Well I think that's kind of the point...

I mean, I'm pretty musician-centric to begin with. I like a lot of music that is probably not appreciated by most non-musicians, etc. Isn't that pretty much the norm for musicians? I know for me an opinion about my playing/sound/whatever means a lot more if it comes from a musician than if not. The gear page kind of reflects that mentality...

[Kelly Lee]

I like them as long as they are detailed ("Trace RAH350SMX head w/JJ's 12ax7" instead of just "Trace head") and is up to date.

[guy n. cognito]

With the number of threads asking "What setup does John Doe use on XXX album? it would seem pretty clear that people are interested in the gear used by other musicians. As a certified gear whore, I find it interesting.

Don't worry, you're a bassist. No on but other bassists is looking at your site anyways.......

[Joe Nerve]

I'm with you on the ego thing. I don't particuarly like seeing that. When people endorse something I feel it's acceptable because it's part of the deal, but otherwise I always thought it looked pretentious.

On the old Nerve website I wanted to rant a little about my gear, even though I wasn't endorsing anything at the time. What I did was make so that ya had to really be into us and spend some time on our site if you wanted to find it. I actually never even finished it... just checked to see if I even still had a link to it. It's terribly outdated - I only own 1 of the basses on the page. If ya feel like looking for it have fun www.thenerve.info. Hint provided above.