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Was just reading an interesting thread on this elsewhere and it made me wonder. How many people have experienced this? Have you been turned down by a band because of what you play? Personally I've come across this far more in America than in Britain which is not entirely surprising given the cultural differences. I've heard about bands only being willing to hire people who had a Fender P-bass and an Ampeg SVT stack, stories about people being rejected for being left handed and even one case where a band replaced their drummer while he was on vacation because the new guy had white drums! I've personally seen a situation where a band refused to hire by FAR the best guitarist they auditioned solely because he used a solid state amp (JC120 - so we're not talking Ibanez starter pack here) although he had killer tone. I also know a great guitarist who was turned down because he played a 335 instead of a solid body although it would have suited the material the band were doing just fine.

Mostly though its people sneering at labels. Turn up to an audition with a Squier or lower end Ibanez (Or even a Mexican Fender) and get told to go home before they've heard you play.

I'm not sure why it is. I think maybe people get this "Dream band" in their heads and tend to exclude anyone who doesn't fit into their silly fantasy.

I sincerely hope and pray that everyone says "Nope. I've never heard of this happening" but I think that might be hoping for a bit much.

who'd want to be in that band anyway.

Don't really know what you're talking about, but it sickens me that it exists somewhere. Fuck it, I filled in at a gig the other night in my drummer's friend's band with my yellow daisy rock flower bass. I got a few compliments on the bass but a few people had good things to say about my playing without even mentioning the bass at all.

Whenever I play out with my Ovation Tornado or Hagstrom Viking I always get asked "what guitar is that?" In a good way though, like.

I can understand why you wouldn't want to show up to an audition with a squier affinity strat pack or something, but not having the right "good" guitar and amp is lame.

Well, I've had one guy come in my rehearsal space to buy my Harmony H306 amp sneer at my ex bandmate's Classic 50 and squier CV telecaster, once.
He was some kind of crappy 60's budget brand snob and kept going on about his Teisco guitars, which we openly mocked considering he was looking down at a clearly superior instrument. He did buy the amp but left angry.

That being said, I have discriminated against people's gear that've tried out for my band(s). Example:
- Dudes with more than three toms, rototoms, suspension racks or splashes in their kits.
- Dudes with more than four strings on their basses.
- Guitar players with full stacks. (yes this has happened to me).

Because my music doesn't call for it or because what little use they would get is no justification for the space they take up in my studio.

- Figured wood guitars
- Basses that look like they were crafted by Hobits.
- Any kind of burst finish drum set, non-chrome rims/hardware, black cymbals.

Because they're ugly and I don't want to look at ugly shit when I'm playing music.

I haven't experienced this. The bassist in my band used a 'Rockwood' bass until recently and I regularly jam with a guy who plays a Westfield bass. If it sounds good, who cares? I can definitely imagine this sort of thing happening though.

I WILL admit to not replying to offers for an ad I posted on craigslist looking to get a band going because their guitars (as seen on their myspaces) were gaudy prs or warwick clones with transparent colored foto flame and gold hardware.

Money does not buy taste.

laterallateral wrote:- Basses that look like they were crafted by Hobits.

hahaha




*hobbits has two Bs

Not a fan of basses that look like coffee tables myself but I'd never discriminate against someone for it. I never thought someone around here would own up to dismissing people because of the colour of their gear.

Ah! I mix up which one has two B's, HoBBit or Habit.

Well, It's a matter of personal taste, right?
If I'm going to spend several hours a week looking at something, I'd rather it not be ugly as shit.

It's not like I think these people are lesser than me or anything like that. I just wouldn't want people to associate my music to something that looks like shit to me.
Wether I like it or not, when I see a band play, what kinds of instruments they're playing does factor into how receptive I'm going to be to their music.
This is not to say that I'll totally dismiss a mindblowingly good PRS/Warwick/ridiculously complicated drum setup playing band or that I'll blindly buy records from a shitty Offset/Pbass/diminutive drumset playing band... I just might not be outside smoking and talking shit with people, when they start up...

If that makes me vain, so be it.

I love basses that look like coffee tables. such as this very cool looking bass:



it's more when you start straying into this kind of stuff that you're really pushing it.



[youtube][/youtube]

laterallateral wrote:Ah! I mix up which one has two B's, HoBBit or Habit.

Well, It's a matter of personal taste, right?
If I'm going to spend several hours a week looking at something, I'd rather it not be ugly as shit.

It's not like I think these people are lesser than me or anything like that. I just wouldn't want people to associate my music to something that looks like shit to me.
Wether I like it or not, when I see a band play, what kinds of instruments they're playing does factor into how receptive I'm going to be to their music.
This is not to say that I'll totally dismiss a mindblowingly good PRS/Warwick/ridiculously complicated drum setup playing band or that I'll blindly buy records from a shitty Offset/Pbass/diminutive drumset playing band... I just might not be outside smoking and talking shit with people, when they start up...

If that makes me vain, so be it.

pretty much nails it for me.

But I'm always more impressed with those who do big things with low end instruments then those who do the same old wank with goldplated hardware.

Around here it's surprising how the snobbery stems from a hatred of anything mainstream-released.

I'd say "anything pop", but that's not the case...There are plenty of silly pop bands in Korea who get club approval as an "indie" band. If you ever had a contract with a large production company/management or had a tune featured in a Korean drama, clubs (of all folks) will turn you down and never give you a slot, save maybe a desolate Tuesday night. The funny thing is that kids rarely thumb their nose at you for gear, half of the problem being that no one moves their own amps: It's absolutely bizarre, but every single club in Seoul is guaranteed to have at least two JCM-2000s and an SVT-3, rain or shine.


It's actually easy to join a band. Listen to their stuff, and then based on who they're most significantly ripping off you decide whether you need to tell them that you really like, in order to gain instant approval:

1) Nirvana
2) Muse
3) Radiohead
4) Jamiroquoi

The end.

I've seen it quite a lot and three quarters of the time them people are shit/average players .
Using a Crate Power Block for some time raised eyebrows until they heard the RAAAAWK!
I think categorizing is more common.. "oh you got a Jag. you like Nirvana and that"?. Or "you can't play Metal on a Jag lol" and i own BC Rich guitars so i must only play Heavy Metal!?

Its all crap of course. Look at Proggy on here, he uses a Les Paul made by Vintage (most people dont rate them highly) but he sounds great and is an awesome guitar player. A decal means nothing, people get too pre-occupied with image and what's expected with gear. Me included.

One of my favorite videos to show gear snobs and people who think you need a pointy guitar with EMGs for metal is this one:

[youtube][/youtube]
Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden playing a stock Squier Tele

Oh totally, totally...

I like this guy Stefano for metal played with non conventional metal guitar.

[youtube][/youtube]
Pinch harmonics, fingertapping AND third bridge shit!

I'm pretty sure Fran did a video of him playing some shortscale and melting people's faces off with teh metal but I can't find it...

I haven't really seen that sort of thing go down around here... mind you, most bands around here aren't formed by people responding to ads and trying out, they tend to be a little more organic.

I'm not going to lie, I will occasionally hold some reservations about people/bands if I see them using shit gear... but more often than not, it ends up being more along the lines of "Man, they were awesome... and they were playing Squiers and Epiphones!"
That's a better situation than I'm sure other people have when they see people like me who have (imo) great gear, and can't play it properly "It's a shame that beautiful guitar is being played by that guy... what shit!"
That said, I'm far more open minded about brands and gear quality than I was in my youth.

Some of my musical heroes or just bands that I really enjoyed when I saw them play cheap gear, but sound incredible. Substance over the gear.

Definitely +1 about the PRS and Mesa Boogie bullshit. I reserve the right not to anus-inhabiting fretwanker dickheads try and muscle in on something I'm trying to do. When it comes down to it, I'd rather have the guy with a solid state Orange amp and a Squier '51 than the dude that thinks the more money the better.

I never really understood all the mesa boogie hate. Their sound isn't for me, but mesa boogie does make some very high quality amplifiers and their dual rectifier and mark V cost less than a new jvm410.

Would you like a guy that plays a dual rectifier in your band?
I wouldn't mind but you sound like you would.
And what do you tell this guy?

You tell him to fuck off.

If it sounds good, it obviously doesn't matter what's being played. I saw a funk band some time ago where the guitarist was using a Line 6 Spider - it still sounded good and he copped the requisite AC30 sound that every Milwaukee band must have.

If it sounds like ass, that's when I really notice it. Like flame maple topped acoustics with super quacky piezos or strat players who never get off the bridge pup, regardless of how ear-piercing it is.

Vis might know John Sieger from the Milwaukee area. He goes down to Nashville a lot, so he has the required 1966 Tele. But live, it was usually too bright and thin sounding so he switched to a:

*drumroll*

Silvertone 1448. The cheapest, crummiest guitar Danelectro ever made. But it sounds great, so who cares? His acoustic is a similar deal - a Gibson SJ that someone tried to install J-160E electronics in but chickened out after drilling all the holes in the top. It looks like a wreck, but sounds awesome and set him back like $400 total.

Sound is all that matters, and most people I know get that.