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Where do the pro's get their gear?
- Thread starter Charles Riggs
- Start date
Remember "Daddy's Junky Music"? There was a used fretless Modulus at a Daddy's that I used to frequent in Connecticut. I was considering buying it. I came back the following week to check it out again and there it was--gone.
Ozzy was in Hartford that Saturday evening and his bass player bought it the the Friday before.
Ozzy was in Hartford that Saturday evening and his bass player bought it the the Friday before.
A drummer that I used to play with was playing a gig in Santa Fe and went to the restroom on break. As he was standing at the urinal, Billy Gibbons walked up to the next one and proceeded to relieve himself, as if he were merely human.
Billy Gibbons shows up in the oddest places!
Bands that regularly tour on multiple continents have gear in multiple locations, so nothing has to cross oceans. There is a warehouse in Nashville that houses a LOT of band's gear for North American tours (I've seen it)- it flooded in 2010, and a lot of bands' gear got demolished.
Musicians get their gear in various ways. Joe Bonamassa has people come to his tour stops with stuff, and he trades some of it himself at Norm's and such. Some guys have their techs scour local places while they're on tour for them. Some folks have stuff they endorse (signature models and the like) dropped off wherever they are - on the road or off. If you're John Mayer, you just call Paul Reed Smith and tell him what you want, and it magically gets made and shipped to John.
I've crossed paths with a couple pros at the guitar center in Atlanta. They might be successful but I'm pretty sure only the top few have cronies that run their errands for them
Rule #1- Be Smart! Never get in the van unless they show you the candy first.
I was playing at a blues festival and asked one of the other bass players how endorsements worked. He said he just called up the company as asked them and he got accepted. This was for GHS strings so no big bucks involved but even free stings would be nice.
When I (briefly) worked at Guitar Center in 2006, we had both tour managers (Widespread Panic) and the artists (Todd Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters) come through for gear.
Things may have changed in the past 17 years, but I'm going to guess there are still plenty of players who like to browse on the off chance they find something cool/unique/indispensable...and other players who don't geek out about gear quite as much, so they ask someone else to pick up essentials for them.
Things may have changed in the past 17 years, but I'm going to guess there are still plenty of players who like to browse on the off chance they find something cool/unique/indispensable...and other players who don't geek out about gear quite as much, so they ask someone else to pick up essentials for them.
Well, I'm not rich or famous, but I've played a lot of stages and for a few years about a decade + ago, I made a living as an internationally touring pro. My experience was that for fly-in gigs or tours starting from a location I'd have to be flown into (which were most of them), I'd provide the TM with my gear list/rider and they'd supply it at the start of the tour or if it was a one-off, at the venue. I'm sure the production team was renting it all, but I don't really know. I'd usually fly out with my bass and maybe a few pedals and that was it for my part of providing gear. Occasionally, I'd have to get the TM to get me a bass for different reasons and that was usually rented although it depended on what sponsorships/promotions the artist was pushing at the moment. Once or twice there was a Gibson rep involved so I'd have to go to a big production warehouse in Manhattan and pick out a Gibson bass for a run of dates (I am NOT a Gibson guy so those were bummers for me).
A lot of our tour stuff was picked up from various rental/production staging places in the starting location - Atlanta, New York, Nashville, etc. For Europe runs we often relied on the on the ground TM crew there and would be using other bands' touring gear (for a fee paid to that band, I'd guess).
Regarding my own stuff during that time - I would buy/shop anywhere like anyone else. Our drummer was always scouting craigslist for towns we were going through. For new stuff I'd email or have our production email some providers about "artist pricing" and occasionally get a 10-20% discount on stuff but that was very occasional.
A lot of our tour stuff was picked up from various rental/production staging places in the starting location - Atlanta, New York, Nashville, etc. For Europe runs we often relied on the on the ground TM crew there and would be using other bands' touring gear (for a fee paid to that band, I'd guess).
Regarding my own stuff during that time - I would buy/shop anywhere like anyone else. Our drummer was always scouting craigslist for towns we were going through. For new stuff I'd email or have our production email some providers about "artist pricing" and occasionally get a 10-20% discount on stuff but that was very occasional.
BobDeRosa
Commercial User
- May 16, 2012
- 2,444
- 4,402
- Disclosures
- Owner, Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps
Where did Pino see that it was available? Reverb? Craigslist? TalkBass?
Manufacturers have AR guy who work with heavy-hitter performers on discounts, endorsement instruments and signature guitars/basses.
Then there're other resources. A friend owns a local vintage instrument shop and works regularly with guys like Billy Gibbons & Vince Gill. We spent an afternoon driving around town with Eric Johnson once who my friend opened up his shop for to look at a vintage amp. Eric plays a combination of vintage and signature instruments. I would suspect Fender provides him with his signature guitar at no charge for the good PR that gives them.
PRS provided Alex Lifeson a guitar for no charge according to a friend who was close to the situation, though there was never proof he actually used it on stage.
Then there're other resources. A friend owns a local vintage instrument shop and works regularly with guys like Billy Gibbons & Vince Gill. We spent an afternoon driving around town with Eric Johnson once who my friend opened up his shop for to look at a vintage amp. Eric plays a combination of vintage and signature instruments. I would suspect Fender provides him with his signature guitar at no charge for the good PR that gives them.
PRS provided Alex Lifeson a guitar for no charge according to a friend who was close to the situation, though there was never proof he actually used it on stage.
In the Double Bass world, I've got a few friends with pretty nice DB's like Juzek Master Arts, etc. with relatively common/reliable pickups like a Realist Lifeline, and they rent them to touring artists who can't or don't travel with their own large and expensive instruments. They broker it all through a rental agency in town.
When 48th Street was still 48th Street you couldn't sling a dead cat without hitting a recognizable pro or star. In a span of 45 minutes I ran into Will Lee, David Byrne, Ace Frehley, and Dr. Ruth all shopping for themselves.
