Pics of indie bands' pedalboards, guitars, amps, etc.

[younglungs85]

I run sound at a venue and recently started a photo blog documenting bands' gear as they come through.

(some of the bands - No Age, Cults, The War on Drugs, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, This Will Destroy You, Polyphonic Spree, Man or Astroman?)

Check it out if you're interested:
http://OtherBandsStuff.com

[mjau]

Great idea!
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sounds

[mjau]

Great idea!
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sounds

[BrontoSoreAss]

just killed half an hour - fun blog. I will revisit.
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NCC-1701-D

[death by chandelier]

Like very much. Thanks for sharing.

[vvv]

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vlayman; THD; blog; TFP

[calaverasgrandes]

I was at an art show last year and a band was setting up. My sister asked if I wanted to hang around for the band.
I said, based on the gear they had, no.
My sister said I was crazy to think I could judge what a band was going to sound like based on their gear.
I said, well, Kaos pads and MicroKorgs indicate trendy shallow bands that suck to me. It's possible for good bands to use this kind of gear. But usually they dont.
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[Snarl 12/8]

The last gig I played, years ago, we opened for a "punk rock" band. They had beautiful, sparkling $5,000 guitars, "like new" looking Dumble amps, boutique wahs and shit. I told my wife that I didn't know what kind of music they were playing, but it couldn't really be punk on gear like that. They sounded, to my ears, like a caricature of 80's punk. They sounded like a "punk rock" preset on a band simulator. But maybe my ears had preconceived notions based on what my eyes were seeing.
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Carl Keil

[calaverasgrandes]

wait, were you in LA?
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[vvv]

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vlayman; THD; blog; TFP

[kslight]

I'm surprised how many people just throw their shit on the ground for every gig...regardless of how good or crappy their gear is... Like I realize pedal boards cost money...and make you look all corporate... But okay I have a solution for you!

1. Go to Goodwill (or dumpster dive if you prefer), find some ugly sturdy piece of wood/other that is of sufficient size to fit your pedals (and more).

2. Paint it black (or whatever).

3. Cut out some Care Bears from placemats (also found at Goodwill).

4. Glue them to your board, cutting them open a bit so they are spilling their guts if they had them.

5. Take hot glue to the Care Bears guts and in random places on the board.

6. Paint the hot glue red!

7. Drive a couple nails into the corner of your board.

8. Hang a power strip there.

9. Put some velcro on the board and on the backs of your pedals.

10. Hook it all together with a 1 Spot and some short cables.

11. Use excess velcro on the base of various zombie action figures.

12. Instant pedal board!


Or really, you know, you could skip a whole lot of that if you don't want to end up with my pedal board.

[winky dinglehoffer]

The TU-2 is ubiquitous.

[vivalastblues]

The more pedals a band has, the less likely I am to like them. Fuck pedal fetish.

[chris harris]

FIRST OF ALL....
This blog is awesome! Thanks! Love the pics!

Regarding the other comments:
It's funny... the kind of people who are fucking around with KAOS pads and MicroKorgs and guitar pedals, and who maybe don't have a pedal board because they're constantly changing their signal path, are EXACTLY the kind of readers/participants who helped get this magazine and message board going during the early years. Maybe the decline in participation here has something to do with those people not feeling very welcome here anymore. It's just my opinion, but it feels like the board used to be frequented by people with more interesting/adventurous taste in music, and a more open mind regarding music as art.

I'm not looking to debate anyone about their taste in music. To each their own. I merely wanted to point out that there is a whole segment of readers/forum participants who maybe feel unwelcome here. There's always been lame dogma with how people perceive and enjoy music. But, there's more of it here, now, than I ever remember seeing on the board.
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Studio - http://www.hookechosound.com
Label - http://www.wearenicepeople.com
Band - http://www.depthandcurrent.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/HoodEchoSound

[calaverasgrandes]

There are two kind of musicians that use unusual gear. There are the ones that are doing it because they have adventurous tastes. Then there are the ones that are just hopping on the latest trend.
Some folks are not satisfied with how their gear sounds, because it doesn't give them the soudns they hear in their head. So they modify their gear electronically. Adding switches for different frequency cutoff points or inductors. Then there are the "followers" that buy modded gear on ebay, because that is the cool thing now.
and for the record, I make some of the most off the wall music out there. I am far from a "conservative".
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[top_ape]

Judging anyone by their gear is silly and closed-minded and only really serves to limit your experience. Very handy for insecure people too afraid to delve too deeply into their experiences though.

Putting on some uniform (which could be spraypainted pedals or Dumble amps or anything really) to try to fit in is just about as pointless and serves a similar insecurity.

Sitting here judging either of them... jeez don't we have anything better to do?