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Indy bands with outrageous equipment

#41
What band?

Jason P Bass said:
Oh, let's see. My indie band has:

I have a custom bright red speaker cabinet from LDS
A custom bass guitar on the UPS truck
Lead guitar has a custom unique body guitar
Also a custom covered Mesa amp
Drummer has a complete custom built boutique drum kit
I have a buddy with a CNC laser cutter who is making us unique metal parts to decorate our guitars and amps, and mic stands

It is basically 100% douchebaggery, all-for-show, just so that we hit the stage with stuff that you can't get. It's part of the entertainment.

And we've got the money to do it, so why the heck not? Should we wait until we're on MTV to get awesome equipment? Our band is a bottomless money pit, and the only thing I would change (if I could) was how much money we make playing music.

I'm having an email conversation right now about spending $2000 on T-shirts that we might never sell. :rolleyes: But the shirts are cool, and people are gonna think we're cool for having them, and if spending $2000 makes people think we're cool, then by God we're spending another $2000.

It's complete douchebaggery, and we don't care. We think our music is top-notch, so now we're gonna do anything we can to get people to pay attention to us. It's a bottomless money pit and I love it.
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#42
I have a Ampeg V4 as my amp. I use an 810 cabinet. I play in an indie band. The reason why I have such a big cab is I need to be able to hear myself and have the crowd hear me at gigs that don't have PA support. A lot of us aren't playing in high-end bars and clubs. So I use my 810 on every gig. Why? Because I don't own two cabs.

(and it looks really cool!)
 
#44
FritoBandito said:
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.
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Maybe, but I'm 14 and have a Spector NS5CRFM, GK Full stack, 700RB-II head, and im about to buy a rackmount tuner.

Not my parents, this is my entire life's savings since I was four years old.
 
#45
I'm 23, play in an Indie/Rock band (The Dialogue)
I have a pretty simple live rig I think:
SVT AV/810, 71 P, Pedalboard, sometimes I use my Avalon U5
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I have more gear at home including: Mid Seventies SVT, SVT CL/810 (For sale), B100R combo, a few extra pedals (Russian Big Muff, Maxon D&S I and II (Both for sale), and a Korg DTR 2000. I have been on a huge selling spree of things I don't use anymore. Refuse to be a bass hoarder and can totally put that money into new toys. Currently shopping for a nice Sadowsky P/J and maybe a nice 70's Jazz.
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#46
elavate7 said:
well i found out that being a musician is about how you look, its about how you sound. the audience has no idea how much your gear cost, all the know if it sounds good or not.
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Unfortunately, the audience often has no idea how good you sound. You often don't yourself while onstage. If a band looks killer, plays at a volume appropriate for the venue (or louder ;)) and confidently, then usually that's all it takes to move the masses.

Meanwhile, the ones of us who DO care about the sound and the size/tone ratio hang out here on TB. And b**** about it.
 
#48
Colin_D said:
but did you have enough *kegs* for a small festival? :bassist:
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we apparently did NOT.... LOL... we had 2 kegs and by 10pm (we started playing at 5) they were empty... plus... 8 30gallon garbage cans were filled with bottles and cans from the everything that other people brought...

I'm sure my garbage man is thinking ***.

One big note for anybody planning a backyard party that the expected turnout is going to be over 100... get at least 1 maybe 2 portapottys... we had 1 and at times there was a line.

-J
 
#50
too big gear? are people on TB actually saying such things?
what a strange thing to say!

ok.
sometimes the gear definitely isn't necessary.
but... it is partially the look.

i used to play in a metal band (until very recently) and running my rig (full 8x10 fridge, 8 spot rack, gigantic pedalboard, a couple of basses... a five and a six).. for playing.. everything from decently sized venues (a few hundred people) to basements.

now i'm running the same rig (down to a four string bass and a much smaller pedalboard) in a post-rock/indie/instrumental band.

the guitarist in my last band had a hybrid head and a mesa cab... and was super loud. the drummer had a custom kit made to his specs that does not have a particularly quiet sound to it. (one of three kits)
the drummer is playing in my new band.... and our new guitarist has a combo amp and extension cab.
on tour though? we're running dual extension cabs and combo amps... and being as loud as we want to be.

i'm also really good friends with a three piece from Richmond, VA whose guitarist runs two full stacks (with enough rack gear to stack up to another full stack's height) and TWO ampeg fridges. and they mostly play basements and house shows (one of the loudest bands i've ever seen, but they're awesome)

*shrugs*

i don't care what the gear is... as long as it sounds good.
if i could get the volume and tone out of a bass combo or a kickback or something? sure. i'd do it. it'd be a lot easier than dragging my fridge around all the time. would it look as cool? probably not... but i like being able to turn up and still have a consistency to my sound. plus i have to be able to match up with my bandmates. we're not a background noise band (no offense to the more bar/cover-band guys in here.) if you come to a place we are playing... you can't talk over it... you either stay and listen... or wait until we're done. that sounds a bit snobbish now that i've said it... but i'll stand by it.

[spunj13]
 
#52
In the last bunch of gigs I've been playing, I've been definitely seeing an upward trend of ridicu-gear.

I played a 3-night festival the other weekend, and all I was seeing were these stacks of gear from all makers.

I walked on with my Aggie and a single 12" cab - people were looking for where the rig was. One guy asked my guitarist what the "extension cab" was he was using, he responded "oh, that's the bass amp."
 
#55
i see this ALOT

now i admit i have ALOT of gear BUT ive never spent more than £199 on a bass/guitar. the most ive ever spent on anything was my bassman.... i had to fork over 8 weeks pay AND christmas money

id rather spend my days running round pawn shops and 2nd hand gear stores. plus i like fixing cheep gear

but i do see it alot

a few years back i was pulling sound duty at a gig and it was a small club (only 40 people came) but this band came in with the following gear

marshall jcm 800
ampeg 8x10
ampeg head (i dunno much about ampegs but i seen the head for £1480)
mesa boogie rechtifier
matching 4x12 cabs
3 warwicks (bragging how they cost £2500 each)
2 gibson les pauls
3 ibanez jems
light system
lazers
a smoke machine

and they kept saying to me "you cant make us sound bad because we have expencive gear"

it was quite funny though

there bass player just spent the whole show plucking his b-string
 
#56
I thought this thread was going to be about the trend of indie bands who use all sorts of "strange" gear at shows and pack the stage with tons of random doohickeys and noisemakers, not just another "why do people use more speakers than they absolutely need?" thread.

examples:

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