Indy bands with outrageous equipment

[crow01]

Went to jam with this indie band.

They had:

8x10 ampeg with a hybrid ampeg amp
a Full marshall stack with tube amp
That guitar that BB King plays
A vintage fender guitar...so they said
A full set of drums with 2 bass drums, 2 snares, like 10 cymbals.

I was like woow, I guess these people have to play major gigs.

Me: So have you played in the such and such Theater (Max capacity 2 thousand people)

He: Laughs...I wish

Me: (Weird)...Why do you have such huge amps. Do you play big clubs? What's the biggest crowd you ever played.

He: We play small venues. The largest...mmmm like 30 so far

Me: (wwwhat?)

I wonder why these people spent at least $5000 on all of these equipment. They have odd jobs and the music was not great.

[madrob]

Because if you can't play/sound good you might as well look good!!!!

[oldrookie]

Sounds like they spend more time on forums reading about "tone" than they do practicing.

[ryognbass]

its the whole underground vibe. i see it some here in jersey

on the other hand, if the tone is right, go for it. just my $.02

[kander]

Some people think fancy, expensive gear makes them a better player.

[FritoBandito]

There is a local kids band near where I live (the oldest kid can't be more than 16), and they have probably $10K-$15k worth of equipment. Parents with deep pockets I guess, but it's completely ridiculous.

[RobertPaulson]

Because for most people it's not a job, it's a hobby and as such generally does not make you money. I doubt I'll ever break even on all the money I've spent on gear playing music - this doesn't bother me in the slightest. Music is not my main source of income, and most likely never will be - it's what keeps me sane from all the b.s. of my other job.

[bassbombs84]

fact: no one wants to see a bunch of wimps with tiny solid state combo amps whining about "proper stage volume". music is for ENTERTAINMENT. big amps and nice gear sounds better, and looks cooler. roll in stack em up and rock their faces off. end of story. bittly amps make it look like your not putting in the effort. so you'll never get the gig at that 2k capacity venue.

[tycobb73]

This comes up all the time.

I used to race RC cars. Had about 5 of them. The equipment I had for that would easily dwarf my musical equipment. I spent $25 a week just to race. Was upgrading cars. Off road truck, buggy, oval car. Upgraded them often. Didn't go to prom because I just bought a new RC truck. Spent all my money on it. I didn't make 1 cent from the hobby. Why did I do it? Because I could and I loved it.

[StuartV]

Doesn't sound outrageous to me. Sounds normal. Being an indie band suggests right off the bat that they're musicians who are more interested in doing what they LIKE than trying to turn a profit. So the fact that each one of these guys or girls has chosen to spend money on good quality equipment that really floats their individual boats is also not a surprise. Guys that I play with that are more focused on trying to make money are the ones that mostly just play covers and have relatively modest equipment - i.e. just what they need to sound good and be able to gig.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by bassbombs84

big amps and nice gear sounds better, and looks cooler.

A small, cranked guitar amp can sound much better than a big amp with the master volume on 1.

[NickyBass]

It's probably a bit overkill, size-wise, but I don't think it's outrageous. Ampeg, Marshall, Fender, Gibson....These are all industry standard names (i.e. Gear that alot of people use). Nothing too crazy there.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by oldrookie

Sounds like they spend more time on forums reading about "tone" than they do practicing.

Originally Posted by kander

Some people think fancy, expensive gear makes them a better player.

Guilty as charged...

[JustOpenYourMind]

They bassicly only need two reasons,

They like nice gear/tones

They can afford it...

That's about it.

[Spraeg]

If you're playing anywhere larger than a small bar, often times you need at least a half stack IME- your amp is your stage monitor, and you need to be able to hear yourself over a drummer playing at stage volume. Also, the sound is much, much different coming from a full tube stack versus a small combo. As far as the drummer goes- the more stuff you have to hit, the more stuff you can do, you can change your fills up, different cymbals sound different. Remember, we have 4-6+ strings, ~24 frets, and a multitude of playing styles at our disposal to get the tones, sounds, and notes we want- the drummer has 4 limbs, a pair of sticks, and whatever he can afford to put in front of him and fit on the drum riser.

[BZadlo]

Originally Posted by bassbombs84

fact: no one wants to see a bunch of wimps with tiny solid state combo amps whining about "proper stage volume". music is for ENTERTAINMENT. big amps and nice gear sounds better, and looks cooler. roll in stack em up and rock their faces off. end of story. bittly amps make it look like your not putting in the effort. so you'll never get the gig at that 2k capacity venue.

Yeah, I'd agree with that. It of course depends on the style of music but, I like to see a pop/rock put some effort in with the look of the stage.
I moved out to Ca from NYC and it was shocking to me at first.
It's a different ball game when you drive your own gear to the venue instead of using one vehicle or public transportation. I used my own amp about 30% of the time in NYC. I often wondered why I even had an amp.

[hdracer]

Originally Posted by RobertPaulson

Because for most people it's not a job, it's a hobby and as such generally does not make you money. I doubt I'll ever break even on all the money I've spent on gear playing music - this doesn't bother me in the slightest. Music is not my main source of income, and most likely never will be - it's what keeps me sane from all the b.s. of my other job.

+1 Also, just like cars,motorcycles & guns. You can NEVER have to much POWER!!!

[Hector_G]

As with any hobby, if you love it, you'll put everything you got into it.
I know a bunch of car fanatics. They drop thousands in their "Euro" cars or muscle cars.
Most of them will never race them or enter them in competions. They'll never make a dime off of it.
They just love their hobby.

[DaveDeVille]

Originally Posted by JustOpenYourMind

They like nice gear/tones

They can afford it...

That's about it.

... this .

[Will006]

maybe they bought it cheap off of craigslist
i know a guy who has a whole garage filled with amps and guitars he got from that site