Black tape over amp logos on t.v.

It is sometimes because of a conflict over endorsements, i.e. Flea is endorsed by GK, and if he appears on TV playing an Ampeg, it could cost him his endorsement.

More often, it is the band and/or the show not wanting to give a manufacturer free advertising.

 

I've heard that there are people on the shows that run out and tape over the logos just before the band is about to go on, so that the show isn't giving free advertising to anyone. Of course some bands just do it themselves for whatever reason. I feel that if I like a companys product enough to be playing it onstage then that company deserves a little bit of free advertising from me~Josh

 

like embellisher said, its all about advertising and endorsements, kinda like on some shows i've seen if someone is wearing some tshirt or hat that has a company name or logo on it they will blur it out.

 

I tape over the brand names on my gear to stop people judging me on my gear.

 

FWIW - Saw Nathan East on BET's Sunday Jazz program this past weekend. He's on the Eden endorser list but in the BET video his rig was totally Aguilar.....no tape.

Maybe that's because Eden has been going through some changes at the company level.

 

Nate's an Aguilar guy now.

 

I wish we had that channel... the amount of money we spend on cable and we don't get that one. Pisses me off.



Who was Nathan playing with?

 

The taping is typically done by the TV show/producer. Its to keep from airing free advertising. Some shows don't care. Others, like The Tonight Show, have a policy of taping large, obvious logos whenever possible.

Occassionally, if a show has on-hand some backline gear that was given to it by a manufacturer, they will let the logo shine.

 

I put black tape over the Peavey logo on my MIDI footswitch so I don't have to see it.

 

That is a pisser. I was sitting in my hotel room a few weeks ago and the show was all Stanley Clarke.

East was with Fourplay (Larry Carlton). Such tone!!! I could have sworn that Yamaha was a double bass on one tune, if I closed my eyes.

Oh well, at least you have MTV - Bobby Dall and Nikki Sixx!

 

One of my dad's friends is Willy Nelson's guitarist, and he has to remove or tape over the logos on everything in his backline. He also has to replace all the grill cloths with black, if they aren't already. Mr. Nelson's reasoning is that he doesn't want any glare from the lights reflecting back off the stage.

 

Once Kim Deal (then bassist with the Pixies) told me she taped over the Marshall logo on her amp because she though it looked too macho for a girl to play through a Marshall.

I'm not sure she wasn't just pulling my leg

 

Probably a completely different reason, but filmmakers can't have any corporate logos in shots unless they have licensing agreements for them - they could get sued. Even if you buy a can of Coke, you don't get the intellectual rights to reproduce the logo (using "intellectual" in its legal sense here. )

 

When I did the Golden Globes, I pulled the gaffers tape off of my amp and cab right before we went on TV live.

I told the cat it affected the sound! Ha!

It's absurd, most people who know equipment can recognize it logo or not.. it's simply ridiculous.

 

Conventional wisdom: Covered logo = Peavey.

What really ticks me off is that sometimes a band will be playing and they'll crop the shot of the player at the headstock!

 

LMAO!!

 

Muso likes brand X and asks for an endorsement. Brand X says no. Trouble is Muso likes brand X, so he buys the gear himself, but covers the logos on principle, because the barstuurds didn't give him any gear "why should I promote their gear"?

 

I'd rather be known for my playing instead of what gear I use.

 

Some shows have exclusive agreements with certain brands, and anything other than those brands gets taped over.

Here's a parallel situation: in televised NFL games you see coaches and sportcasters, et al, wearing boomsets that say Motorola on them. But the sets were actually made by Telex; Motorola only paid the NFL some millions of dollars to have their name and logo put on the boomsets.