Musicians that buy cheap gear

[fuzzball]

This is cheap and very effective:

[S.L.B.]

I want one of those $18 ukulele's.

[Roy Brooks]

I have a couple old Danelectro-made Silvertone U1s with a single lipstick and a dolphin nose headstock. Both were cheap back in teh day. But they are set up well, play well, and sound very distinctive. I gig with them from time to time because they sound like back in the day, dogg.

[asdfjkl semi]

 

yeah, me too. I bought a Roland Cube 30 for $200, and my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for $500.

 

+1

 

I run my modded MIM Strat though economy pedals and my HRDx and, for what's been reviewed as a cheap and flat-sounding amp, I get compliments on my tone all the time. My entire gig outfit is probably worth less than a grand including the guitar case, but I've got no real need to upgrade right now. Sure, I could sound a bit nicer with a Mesa Boogie and a USA Fender Custom Shop whatever, but my bank won't let me, and I couldn't justify the return on investment even if I could afford it.

 

My bass player has been using the same Crate SS amp and Squire P-bass for 5 or 6 years without a problem. My drummer's got a budget kit from DW's Pacific line, and when we're on stage, we sound good and nobody gives a {censored} who makes our gear.

[fuzzball]

It is all about the sound and the reliability, not the cost.

[RobRoy]

This is cheap and very effective:

I actually just found this picture of myself on my bands website. That's my $139 Rondo (SX) bass. Plays like a charm (over two years now) and gets lots of comments, even from musicians. Click on the picture. It gets bigger.

[wades_keys]

This is cheap and very effective:

 

Depends on what you're after I s'pose - but sure.

 

Body woods and thickness and type of finish do make a diff sonically, so it pays to know what kind of tone you're looking for first (I like the alder body sound with a strat style body - tends to have a more sg-like tone)

 

One prob I find with cheap axes is frets tend to be a little rough/unfinished and pickups can suck.

 

Both probs are fixable fairly cheaply though...

[fuzzball]

Good points, but I also have other cheap guitars for different tones such as a OLP MM1. It gets a sound between a strat and a LP. I also use a LP studio (hot rodded) and a MIM strat for gigs.

[fuzzball]

 

I actually just found this picture of myself on my bands website. That's my $139 Rondo (SX) bass . Plays like a charm (over two years now) and gets lots of comments, even from musicians. Click on the picture. It gets bigger.

 

 

I can't really see the guitar there?

 

Cool pic though.

[RobRoy]

 

I can't really see the guitar there? Cool pic though.

 

It's basically this one in tobacco sunburst and "tortoiseshell" pickguard: http://www.rondomusic.net/vjb62ct.html

[fuzzball]

Oh I see, nice.

[BlueStrat]

 

I have a couple old Danelectro-made Silvertone U1s with a single P90 and a dolphin nose headstock. Both were cheap back in teh day. But they are set up well, play well, and sound very distinctive. I gig with them from time to time because they sound like back in the day, dogg.

 

 

 

+1000

 

I had one that I learned on, a Silvertone tele knockoff with one lipstick tube pickup in it my mom bought used for me for 45 bucks. It played like butter and would have made a killer slide guitar had I been smart enough to have kept it.

[fuzzball]

I had a cheap Magnum that played great, I put good pickups in it and better hardware....it was pretty darn good. I sold it years ago I wonder if anyone is playing it now...I miss it a little.

[Li Shenron]

When I buy a piece of gear, FIRST I check out how it sounds and how it feels to play it, and THEN I check how much it costs and if the price is worth.

 

There are just too many exceptions, both ways. Crap that costs like gold and gold that costs like crap.

[RobRoy]

 

When I buy a piece of gear, FIRST I check out how it sounds and how it feels to play it, and THEN I check how much it costs and if the price is worth. There are just too many exceptions, both ways. Crap that costs like gold and gold that costs like crap.

 

+1:thu:

[fuzzball]

Very good, I try to do the same. Then sometimes the price scares me away! Too high...I tend to like expensive stuff most of the time.

[madjack]

With the advent of romplers and analog/digital hybrids, it is much easier these days to get a good keyboard sound for not much money than it was years back.

 

I play an Ion for much of my retro synth sounds. I don't consider the $600 I spent on it to be a lot of money for a keyboard, and I like many of the sounds I can get from it. Many of the factory patches are less than sterling, but with a little programming they can be made much better (much like doing set-up on an inexpensive guitar).

 

Some good points have been made about trying to get a good piano sound, but any piano sound, electronic or acoustic, is greatly dependent on the ability of whoever is running the pa, not just on the sound in the keyboard.

I use a Fatar controller I bought new on clearance for ~$350 and run it through a sampler($250 used) or a rompler($85 used) for the various piano sounds. I get compliments on my piano sounds from other musicians, but I've never had a regular audience member comment on a keyboard sound.

A good friend of mine uses a Roland XP10 which she bought years ago for under $500 as her main keyboard. It has many great sounds and covers most of what she does quite nicely.

 

Due to the nature of the beast, keyboards have always been more expensive than guitar gear, but just like guitar gear, for the wise shopper it is quite possible to get a great rig for not a lot of money these days.

 

A comment was made earlier about the keyboard player for Dickey Betts having a crappy piano set up. I don't know if it's true for Betts' band, but for many touring bands the keyboard player doesn't take his/her own rig on tour but specifies that certain gear be available at the gigs as part of the rider. This puts the keyboard player to some extent at the mercy of the gear provided, but is really the only practical way to handle those sorts of fly-dates.

[rocket888]

One thing that has not been mentioned in this thread is image.

 

Call me whatever you want, but when I see a band that has a lineup of pro gear (Fender or Vox or Marshall amps, for example), with top-quality keys (Hammond, Nord, Roland, etc,) there is a positive professional image to that setup that a line-up of Behringer amps and Casio keyboards simply does not convey.

 

This has nothing to do with sound or reliability...As many posters have mentioned, you can get good sound out of so-called lesser gear, and great gear does absolutely does not mean great sound (or reliability...).

 

The band I am in (early blues and boogie-woogie) tries hard to convey a pro image... our dress, promo materials, banners, etc are all geared to convey that image. Quality gear on stage is part of that image.

 

This does not mean that we would not have someone in the band with less than top-shelf gear...How you sound is the bottom line. I am talking about gear in general as a plus or minus component of a band's stage presence.

[Outkaster]

 

One thing that has not been mentioned in this thread is image. Call me whatever you want, but when I see a band that has a lineup of pro gear (Fender or Vox or Marshall amps, for example), with top-quality keys (Hammond, Nord, Roland, etc,) there is a positive professional image to that setup that a line-up of Behringer amps and Casio keyboards simply does not convey. This has nothing to do with sound or reliability...As many posters have mentioned, you can get good sound out of so-called lesser gear, and great gear does absolutely does not mean great sound (or reliability...). The band I am in (early blues and boogie-woogie) tries hard to convey a pro image... our dress, promo materials, banners, etc are all geared to convey that image. Quality gear on stage is part of that image. This does not mean that we would not have someone in the band with less than top-shelf gear...How you sound is the bottom line. I am talking about gear in general as a plus or minus component of a band's stage presence.

 

 

Good point I actually had not thought of it.

[BlueStrat]

Great. I'll buy a Matchless dummy head and cabinet and put my HRD behind it.

[fuzzball]

I have never had someone complain that I was using a cheap guitar on stage after they hear me play.

 

I use Peavey amps and I tend to get many compliments and I have never had a person say I don't like your appearance because you don't use a VOX or other more expensive amp.

 

Not saying that it can't happen, it just has not to me (and I have been on stage for around 16 years.

[ggm1960]

Kurt Cobain, "junk is always best"

[fling the poo]

my stuff may not look like much. my cabs all have torn tolex and holes in the grill. my case hinges are repaired with nails and paperclips and held together by band stickers. my heads have beercan rings and until recently, broken knobs. my $175 GK bass head with the speakers i found in the carvin dumpster sounds better for my purposes than an eden or trace elliot.

 

My 300 dollar jcm 800 with ampeg 4x12 sounds better for me than any boogie or even other series marshalls incl plexis. i travel, i play music and i play all the time. my guitar is so dinged up that you cant read the name on the headstock anymore. i use my gear and i maintain what counts. if some douchebag were to deny me a gig because of the way my stuff looks i'd probably put another ding in my guitar with their teeth. it took me years to finally be able to admit to myself that i actually know what i am doing when i turn a knob on an amp and how that affects the rest of the tone.

 

i have been new guitar curious lately so i have been going to stores looking for stuff. the 200 dollar jazz stang squire is the best guitar i've played in years. it feels like it was made for me. i'm sure someone else would rather i play an overpriced les paul or something. i'm sure i'd probably lose a spot in a cover band for bringing one to practice.

 

just because equipment is "cheap" doesn't mean it can't server a purpose. If i had a buck for every triple rec owner i've had to teach the basics of sound to i'd be able to afford every junk shop guitar i even wanted.

 

i remember this local band had asked me for suggestions on a studio becuase they liked the sound of our records. i gave them the addy of a studio that was cheap and did great work and had recorded pretty much every local band in their collection. they went to the studio and decided to go with another local studio and the sound on their album was horrible. i asked why they didnt go with the one i suggested and the answer was "their equipment looked old and there were cables all over the floor and amps everywhere. the one we chose was clean and really nice equipment and everything was neat and organized" my response was "thats because THEY DONT USE THEIR STUFF."

[fuzzball]

I keep my stuff neat and clean..I use it (and take care of it).

[lonotes]

Great. I'll buy a Matchless dummy head and cabinet and put my HRD behind it.

 

I have a friend that plays guitar in a metal band. Onstage he has two Marshall full stacks, complete with plexiglass sound control barriers, and miced. But they are completely empty. The only functional thing about them is the pilot lights on the heads. They're battery operated. The heads and cabs are completely empty. His sound comes from a couple of Peavey Bandit's offstage. The bass player has an Ampeg SVT with two 8x10 cabs, also totally empty. He is DI'd. The stage props allow them to get the "image" for the gigs, and still keep a low stage volume, and lightweight load in/out.