Members LateGreats Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 What expense/purchase by your band have you deemed the biggest waste of capital you've ever had? Here's an example: A band I was once in decided that we'd get a banner with the band name and our band insignia/mascot on it. Our guitarist knew someone who could do the work, as they had designed our CD cover and done really good work. So we ok'd the purchase. Two weeks later, the guitarist comes in with this painting on a giant piece of canvas you could cover a house with. It was completely unusable. And it just sat in our practice space collecting mold until it stunk so bad we had to throw it out. Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Biggest waste by far has been any pay to play deal. I can't for the life of me think of a worse way to waste band funds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 We had this great idea of getting our own guitar picks made, with our band name on it (with the .ca at the end so it's the webadress at the same time). Problem is: the picks are so low quality, I can't even finish one song with one of them. They're made in cheap plastic and they wear out incredibly fast. So I went back to Tortex and we just give the picks to people asking about our band, then they lose the thing on their way home cause it's so small and it's basically just a waste of time and money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shellpink Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Hehe, we've got those picks too, but I never intended to use them, since I love my Dunlop Jazz III XLs... they are just giveaways. But the people love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THB Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 I like those picks! I use mediums anyway and it's cheaper to order 600 with my band name on them than to buy Fender mediums by the handful. They make good little business cards for flinging out at people, girls like them and I leave them on stages so other bands will at least have heard of us, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cherri Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 144 t-shirts. Got a great deal on the large amount, but they don't sell very fast. We sell one now and then but haven't come close to getting a return on that investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LateGreats Posted November 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Originally posted by cherri 144 t-shirts. Got a great deal on the large amount, but they don't sell very fast. We sell one now and then but haven't come close to getting a return on that investment. Kind of like how some bands make 1000's of CD's even though only 20 people come to their gigs and they only play three places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Godot Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 An 18" replica of Stonehenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Back in the early 70s we bought an old bread truck to haul our gear in. We pushed it more than we ever hauled anything in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Originally posted by Godot An 18" replica of Stonehenge. :D note to self - never draw schematics on a napkin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 1. Recording a CD only to find out in the middle of overdubs that one band member had decided to move out of state (thus leaving the band). The guy told us he hadn't decided FOR SURE to move until after we had laid basic tracks. I kept wondering why he didn't tell us he was even thinking baout it before we went into the studio The band chose to break up rather than replace him, so the end result of the $3000 we had already spent on the studio sessions was a $600 CD-R copy of the rough mixes for each member 2. Buying PA speakers and power amp for $2000 only to have the band break up within a month. When noone wanted it to buy it from the others we sold it back to the dealer at a loss of $1000 ($200 apiece). Too bad GC and it's 30 day-no questions return policy wasn't around back then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted November 18, 2005 Moderators Share Posted November 18, 2005 Originally posted by LateGreats Kind of like how some bands make 1000's of CD's even though only 20 people come to their gigs and they only play three places. A thousand CDs cost exactly the same as five hundred, if you get them pressed commercially. That's part of the problem. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Paying the drummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted November 18, 2005 Members Share Posted November 18, 2005 Originally posted by squealie Paying the drummer. LOL we must of had the same drummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THB Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by squealie Paying the drummer. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HuskerDude Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 My band is pretty cheap, so we don't have any stores like that, but my co-worker's band came into some money and decided to spend most of it hiring a "booking agent" to get them more gigs out of town. A couple grand and 4-5 bowling alley/biker bar gigs later, she was fired, and nobody in town will use her anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d. gauss Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 a used 8-track player for the van. nobody ever told me they don't make the tapes any more! now all we got to listen to is the "grease" soundtrack and "cat scratch fever!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JacieFB Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by d. gauss >a used 8-track player for the van. nobody ever told me they don't make the tapes any more! now all we got to listen to is the "grease" soundtrack and "cat scratch fever!" Hit the flea markets. They sell lots of 8-tracks there, from what I've been told. Our drummer wants to buy some old 8-tracks and dub over them with our music to have as a bit of a gimmick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Our old band had the same thing. I mean old...this was back in the late 70s. A huge logo on black canvas. It was really well done. I think the drummer still has it somewhere. Bad thing about that stuff...bands usually break up after you invest a chunk of change in something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by Meatball Fulton 1. Recording a CD only to find out in the middle of overdubs that one band member had decided to move out of state (thus leaving the band). The guy told us he hadn't decided FOR SURE to move until after we had laid basic tracks. I kept wondering why he didn't tell us he was even thinking baout it before we went into the studio The band chose to break up rather than replace him, so the end result of the $3000 we had already spent on the studio sessions was a $600 CD-R copy of the rough mixes for each member 2. Buying PA speakers and power amp for $2000 only to have the band break up within a month. When noone wanted it to buy it from the others we sold it back to the dealer at a loss of $1000 ($200 apiece). Too bad GC and it's 30 day-no questions return policy wasn't around back then You're item #2 is the main reason I tell young bands never, NEVER, NEVER buy items out of a "band fund". Individual purchases only. "Joe, you buy the power amp, Jim, you buy the speakers, I'll buy the board". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted November 19, 2005 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by JacieFB Hit the flea markets. They sell lots of 8-tracks there, from what I've been told. Our drummer wants to buy some old 8-tracks and dub over them with our music to have as a bit of a gimmick. Yeah, but to do that you'd need an 8-track recorder, not just the player. And those were scarce as hen's teeth back when everyone had the players in their cars. I was running a studio at the time, so I had a Realistic (Radio Crap) 8-track recorder. The big problem with 8 tracks (they sound better than cassettes due to the higher speed) is that tape is pulled from the inside of the spool, so the tape must be lubricated for this to work. Image what condition the lube is in after all this time. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by LateGreats Kind of like how some bands make 1000's of CD's even though only 20 people come to their gigs and they only play three places. Yeah our bass player had to leave the country. The band broke up and we had 600 CD's left over. Our biggest waste was buying a PA system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matter-Eater Lad Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by LateGreats Kind of like how some bands make 1000's of CD's even though only 20 people come to their gigs and they only play three places. We did that in this old original band I was in. He asked me, "Should we get 1000 or 500?" I said, "Get 500. We can always have more made." He gets 1,000. I think we sold 20, gave away 50 and the remaining ones are in boxes somewhere now. 'cause the band is not in existence anymore. That was like the tail end of an overall huge waste because to record it we went to a nice studio & the only reason we did is because the singers Dad paid for. It was around $5,000 or something for recording 5 songs and mixing 8. I kept saying, we could rent a damn adat system for week and do it ourselves, IT'S JUST A DEMO. No one ever listens to me. I'm the realist. Everyone else always had their head in the clouds "We're going to make it big!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 19, 2005 Members Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by Matter-Eater Lad We did that in this old original band I was in. He asked me, "Should we get 1000 or 500?" I said, "Get 500. We can always have more made." He gets 1,000. I think we sold 20, gave away 50 and the remaining ones are in boxes somewhere now. 'cause the band is not in existence anymore. That was like the tail end of an overall huge waste because to record it we went to a nice studio & the only reason we did is because the singers Dad paid for. It was around $5,000 or something for recording 5 songs and mixing 8. I kept saying, we could rent a damn adat system for week and do it ourselves, IT'S JUST A DEMO. No one ever listens to me. I'm the realist. Everyone else always had their head in the clouds "We're going to make it big!" Exactly that is how it was with us only it was just a waste of moeny, we should have got 500 CD's made. You relaly never realize it till the shipment comes. 1000 Cd's is a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted November 19, 2005 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2005 Originally posted by Outkaster Exactly that is how it was with us only it was just a waste of moeny, we should have got 500 CD's made. You relaly never realize it till the shipment comes. 1000 Cd's is a lot. There's not much difference in price between 500 and a thousand. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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