• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Is anyone image conscious about their rig?

#62
I'd like to say I'm not but I am - in a way. I don't need/want an 8x10 Ampeg. Not only do I not care for the tone, it's complete overkill for my gigs.

I suppose I go for the other image. The "you got all that sound out of that little amp?" side is my thing. If I need more than my Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0-12T combo, I have a PA.

Honestly, there are about 5 preople in town notice my rig, and only 1 or 2 of them "care" enough to say anything.
 
#65
Not at all. My rig is typically hidden by the guitarists standing in front of it (Schroeder 1210L & Acoustic Image Clarus II), but it sounds decent, and I can load in & out with one trip each.

Honestly, I'm playing a bar that pays me $80-$100 (on REALLY good nights), typically around once or twice per month. I'm playing originals and classic rock covers to drunken folks who dance around a lot more when we play "Light my fire". This isn't exactly the epitome of music here. I get to play whatever I want, regardless of what it looks like.

I too would play through an ipod if it were decent enough sounding. I imagine with the way electronics are going, amps will be that size someday anyway.

ian
 
#67
it depends on the situation you're at musically anyone who's in a band that plays originals in a semi-pro or pro environment is image conscious. Rock n roll itself has always had a vain, self indulgent undertone to it whether it be in front of 2 or 2,000 people and anyone who says "no way man I'm just doing it for the rock!" is a liar. Obviously you're doing i for "the rock" we all are but there will always be a thought of "how do I look" it's part of the game.
 
#68
When I traded my head and cabs for two combos, I did so in the face of what I viewed as a loss of cred. New rig weighs half as much and sounds better. :bassist:

I have always had a strong preference for a matching head and cab, but that's just OCD.

--Bomb :bassist:
 
#69
My current rig is generally met by other musicians with looks and comments of derision. I usually hear some kind of comment about 'oh, are those some kind of home made speaker cabs?' complete with a sarcastic look.

Then I play.

Then I have people come up later and ask me just what the hell I have and how can they get one.

And this was with just one cab, now that I've got a couple... ;)

I have no branding on the cabs at all.
 
#72
I think looks play a bit of a part into my gigs.

When I play jazz gigs, I'm not bringing the GK 700rb/410/115 fullstack.

When I play my punk gigs, I'm not bringing the GK combo.

I do love the look and feel of a huge rig behind me. And I loved the old style of GK's grills, the big GALLIEN-KRUEGER across my cabs is just so much ballsier than their new polite "GK" on their current cabs.

I do like to match my rig to be brand specific, and to me it looks ridiculous when a backline looks like a NASA yard sale, with all the blinking lights of the processors, 3 different amp heads, 4 mismatched cabs, etc.

Do I NEED to lug my nearly 200lbs of gear? No. But hey, I'm only 20, I could use the exercise. Besides, when my hypothetical kids are playing out when they're all grown up, I can give them the old "when I was your age, I used to haul an amp FOUR TIMES the size of your DI box up a hill, through the rain, and in the 100 degree whether for FIFTEEN miles and I didn't complain" story.
 
#73
BurningSkies said:
My current rig is generally met by other musicians with looks and comments of derision. I usually hear some kind of comment about 'oh, are those some kind of home made speaker cabs?' complete with a sarcastic look.

Then I play.

Then I have people come up later and ask me just what the hell I have and how can they get one.

And this was with just one cab, now that I've got a couple... ;)

I have no branding on the cabs at all.
Click to expand...

fEarfuls, eh? I've read a lot about them
 
#75
BurningSkies said:
Yep.

One of the naysayers borrowed my rig for his set too. I saw him a few weeks later and was told that he'd been having sleepless nights since...that he couldn't get that tone out of his head and it was killing him.
Click to expand...

awesome. I've been thinking about building the fEaRB 15/sub, but i don't have very good woodworking skills, so yeas..


OT
i have since noticed what you actually mean by being image conscious. I assumed you meant what the rig looks like, not that the brand is the same. I could care less what brand the equipment is, as long as it sounds good. Am i proud of my rig looks like? Hell yes
 
#78
Sounds kind of lame to me. If the image is important to you, so be it, but to me it has always been about the music.
If could make some sense if you were Gene Simmons or the likes, where music is just a part of the show. (Kiss' music and their playing is great by the way.)
 
#80
I have to admit I'm a little conscious of it, but only in the sense of brands that I associate with junk. For example, I wouldn't want to be seen with a Behringer. But I've played other 'lower-end' setups.

But I don't care how big the rig is, as long as I have the power and tone I want. In fact, I prefer small if I can get away with it. Just picked up Markbass Little Mark III and Traveller 102P. When I bought the cab, I was asked if I needed help getting it in the car. "No, if I can't carry it myself, my wife will be mad." (because she'll end up helping me at some point...
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back