Playing out with expensive gear?

[Adam Of Angels]

If you have nice gear, you have it for one of or all of these reasons:

1. Expensive gear makes you feel like a better player
2. You're too good of a player to play half-assed monkey business
3. You have expensive taste
4. You'z a pimp
5. You have more money than brains
6. You'z definitely a pimp
7. You're absolutely passionate about guitars and gear and you think about it more often than most things (this is why I spend all of my money on gear)

No matter what the reason is, you should be yourself on stage more so than anywhere else, and so you should not only play the music you're passionate about, but the gear as well. If a painter was doing a public painting, do you think he'd say "Well, I'm just going to use my cheap shit today... Can't be bothered to fuck up my good brushes!"?

Be your best, do you best, and use your best.

 

[cwhitey2]

No matter what the reason is, you should be yourself on stage more so than anywhere else, and so you should not only play the music you're passionate about, but the gear as well. If a painter was doing a public painting, do you think he'd say "Well, I'm just going to use my cheap shit today... Can't be bothered to fuck up my good brushes!"?

Be your best, do you best, and use your best.

 

[ghostred7]

Now that I've bought the Loomis FR (will be here tomorrow )...I'll be "retiring" my most valuable (to me) guitar....my 1993 Les Paul Studio Lite. My father bought it for me in '92 and passed away in '98. I'd die if that ended up missing/stolen. Insurance can't cover emotional loss. Aside from that though...if it did NOT have the emotional attachment, I'd use it every time. My audience and me deserves the best. If I were worried about value over quality, I'd buy a Crate amp to take on stage instead of my Line 6 or Marshall.

 

[Coffin]

Originally Posted by Adam Of Angels
No matter what the reason is, you should be yourself on stage more so than anywhere else, and so you should not only play the music you're passionate about, but the gear as well. If a painter was doing a public painting, do you think he'd say "Well, I'm just going to use my cheap shit today... Can't be bothered to fuck up my good brushes!"?

Be your best, do you best, and use your best.

 

[vanhendrix]

I'm hard as hell on my gear, so I'm worried about certain guitars. It's not the money, it's the value. Some guitars can't be replaced, and those should stay at home. I always also like to keep one guitar as the "top of the heap" for jamming/practicing only. Whenever I buy a fancier one than that, I can then take the 2nd place one out to shows. As for amps and other gear, who cares. Each one made is identical.

Right now my PRS lefty stays at home, because tracking down another one of those....forget it. Plus it happens to be my soulmate.

 

[Lon]

That's why I do my own tech work!

respect for doing your own techwork, i'm absolutely the same, i just learn how its done, besides i know how "tech work" is handled in most music stores and i would be insane to drop my 2k$ ibanez there

and: yes i like to play expensive gear live, its not uber boutique stuff but i never opt for lesser quality, i settled on highend guitars for unbeatable playability, and this is why i play them live

 

[drmosh]

Why would you use less valuable gear when the whole point of having that gear is so you can use it live and sound EPIIICCCC?
Don't get me wrong, I definitely agree with the insurance thing, but I think hoarding your nice gear at home for your eyes and ears only is kinda selfish and lame (no disrepect )

i really think "selfish" is absolutely the wrong word.

 

[sleepy502]

yeah not really the correct choice of words.

and I haven't had a problem yet. I'm crazy with my gear and nobody but me or my band touches it.

 

[noob_pwn]

I live in australia,
we've never had gear stolen EVER or even heard of gear being stolen but we have had our merch till stolen with a shit load of cash in it, not much you can do about that.

My greatest fear is really having our trailer broken into overnight. As a measure we always have one, usually two people sleeping in the van where possible. I would be nice to not have to leave gear in a trailer overnight but when you're sleeping on someone's kitchen floor there isn't really a lot you can do except invest in the best padlocks you can get your hands on.

at shows gear is always in plain sight for the most part, and if someone is seen taking something of ours (our gear is very distinctive), I'm sure somebody would say something.

If anyone stole one of my rico's i would hunt them down and hack their body into minute pieces

 

[Dickicker]

I have two of everything just in case anything goes wrong, I have the EXACT same setup as my back up!

 

[krypter]

I'm fascinated by the fact you folks can afford multiple set-ups. My live rig has to be my recording rig and so on.

I can only afford one set of nice stuff. My rack case has KRYPTER in green all over it, and my cab has 3 ft. longhorns on the front and a kryptagram painted on the grill. If some one wants to take off with those i'm pretty sure i can find em.

I do worry about guitars sometimes but i move like a crazy person and none of my "regular" guitars are at all knick free. So i just don't know who'd wanna steal em.

 

[DaveCarter]

I gig with a fair amount of expensive gear, always have done. My rules are simple:

Insure everything.
Trust no-one.

Plus most of what I have is in flightcases, so nothing has ever been damaged, and I keep an eye on all my gear at all times so nothing has ever been stolen. No point having good gear if you dont get to use it!

 

[jymellis]

I'm fascinated by the fact you folks can afford multiple set-ups. My live rig has to be my recording rig and so on.

I can only afford one set of nice stuff. My rack case has KRYPTER in green all over it, and my cab has 3 ft. longhorns on the front and a kryptagram painted on the grill. If some one wants to take off with those i'm pretty sure i can find em.

I do worry about guitars sometimes but i move like a crazy person and none of my "regular" guitars are at all knick free. So i just don't know who'd wanna steal em.

alot of the people here do this for jobs or have multiple jobs (music being the main.
when your serious about your JOB, you have to have the right tools.
same goes for maintenance or repairman/painters/drywallers/plumbers.

 

[loktide]

I bought gear to use it, because it sounds / performs better than other gear i've tried, so no qualms about using it live here.

this.

 

[MesaENGR412]

My rule of thumb is, if its too expensive to replace, insure it.

I concur. It's worth it to me to have the expensive gear (if you have it) because it sounds great, and the gear was designed to be played live.

-AJH

 

[krypter]

alot of the people here do this for jobs or have multiple jobs (music being the main.
when your serious about your JOB, you have to have the right tools.
same goes for maintenance or repairman/painters/drywallers/plumbers.

not quite sure what you're driving at.....


Anyway, i have 2 jobs too, just that between those, and the regular bills that comes with being a responsible adult, i only have money left over to buy ONE set of really good stuff. Not two of everything (well except my 8 guitars) but i was mainly talking about racks/amps/cabs/ etc. I buy the good stuff and use it for everything.

I can't imagine having one set of things for studio, and a whole other set of things for live.

Not that i wouldn't if i could.

 

[MesaENGR412]

not quite sure what you're driving at.....


Anyway, i have 2 jobs too, just that between those, and the regular bills that comes with being a responsible adult, i only have money left over to buy ONE set of really good stuff. Not two of everything (well except my 8 guitars) but i was mainly talking about racks/amps/cabs/ etc. I buy the good stuff and use it for everything.

I can't imagine having one set of things for studio, and a whole other set of things for live.

Not that i wouldn't if i could.

I don't believe he is talking about being able to afford the gear or not, but about how it's important to have the proper tools to do that job, and those tools can be expensive, both in regular businesses or in music. Just because a mechanic has to pay $6000 for his tools doesn't mean he leaves those at home and takes some cheap knock offs to his shop to work on cars with. The same goes for musicians with nice gear. Going back to the original topic, if you have nice gear, play it live. Which band do you take more seriously: a band that has a bunch of cheap 1x12" combos or a band that has a full backline and sounds massive? I know i'm guilty of this gear assumption while on tour when meeting 2-3 different local bands per night, for weeks on end. If I see a band with respectable gear, I am more inclined to give them a listen because to me, most of the time, it shows that they are serious about their sound and don't just have rich parents.

-AJH

 

[BryanFTWL]

In my opinion, show off your prized gear. What's the point of having it if no one will ever see it? What's the point of getting that crazy custom amp/guitar and only show it off to your dog while you sit in your mother's basement?

You best believe as soon as I get my EC back from being swirled by Ben that thing will be my main stage guitar.

 

[TRENCHLORD]

Yeah thats right, life is to short. Unless your deadset(npi) on passing it on to someone then what could you be saving it for? I mean we'll live our lives and decompose much faster then that wood anyway. Ever watch AXMEN and see those logs comming out of water in better than new condition. Of coarse I'm not recommending anyone throw their Les Paul in the pond behind my house. Oh wait, YES I AM! Just tell me where you threw it.

 

[krypter]

I don't believe he is talking about being able to afford the gear or not, but about how it's important to have the proper tools to do that job, and those tools can be expensive, both in regular businesses or in music. Just because a mechanic has to pay $6000 for his tools doesn't mean he leaves those at home and takes some cheap knock offs to his shop to work on cars with. The same goes for musicians with nice gear. Going back to the original topic, if you have nice gear, play it live. Which band do you take more seriously: a band that has a bunch of cheap 1x12" combos or a band that has a full backline and sounds massive? I know i'm guilty of this gear assumption while on tour when meeting 2-3 different local bands per night, for weeks on end. If I see a band with respectable gear, I am more inclined to give them a listen because to me, most of the time, it shows that they are serious about their sound and don't just have rich parents.

-AJH

ahh. yes. that makes more sense. My bad.