most wankerish muso/gearhead genre

Don't Thrills or someone like that do a whole weekly column that takes the piss out of techno gearheads, including drum machines which need to be shaved and bass sequencers which will march you up hills?

Anyway... to respond...

Back in the mid-90s, I was in a band (we called ourselves "Kraut Hop" probably cause the term IDM hadn't been coined yet) consisting of a drummer, a guitar gear-head (obsessed with obscure Italian guitars, Russian effects pedals, anything Vox, and certain kinds of bass strings) and a keyboard playing, sampling, sequencing, Moog-twiddling, 303-pounding synth boffin.

He was much much MUCH worse than I could ever be. So I will say that you are right.

I've actually found that when a guitar-based act attracts loads of fans who play music, then these fans constantly ask about that band's set-up so they can get it and - somehow - sound like them!

They did, Kate. Techno News with Troy Wembley.

Shoesgazers are always obsessed with their heros' pedals. Who has the biggest pedalboard these days? Kevin Shields and Robin Guthrie have both gone all digital to rack mounts, so I think it really is Peter Holmstrom of the Dandy Warhols.

who has the biggest pedalboard? Helios Creed (i'm told)(i never seen him live).Most I ever seen - Bardo Pond - about 10 each per gtrist, the bass player i think had 6, the singer only 2.

Didn't the Kitchens Of Distinction have some insane amount? Like 8 just on the bass guitar or something? Or are my memories exagerrating insanely?

I think with techno a lot of the upfront gear fetishisation (eg. 808 State) is a part of the whole retreat-from-personality approach so many take. Whether it's excusable or not , I leave up to you.

Drummers as a species always seem eager to talk about gear, probably because of the near-infinite number of configurations we can use to come up with a kit.

I don't know many jazzers who are also gearheads, since about half of them are acoustic purists (not necessarily biased against technology, just not interested).

I'd have to agree with electronic music, judging from the sheer amount of money flows from the musicians I know for the purchase of new sound-producing devices.

I'd have to say alcoholic subway buskers. Yesterday I overhead an argument concerning the merits of a two-string Japanese Westone strat copy vis-a-vis an Argos own-brand acoustic with a rusty machine heads and a cracked body.

i have to agree with duane here, i read somewhere that bardo pond used 37 pedals on tour!

Bands that use a lot of guitar pedals crack me up. Little do they know that, while they're frantically stepping all the place like a flamenco dancer and tweaking their settings until they're JUST RIGHT, the inadequate sound systems in most clubs make sure that what comes out is just a rumbling, indistinct noise, and whatever FX configuration is on MAKES NO DIFFERENCE!

Peter Holmstrom of the Dandy Warhols has about 40 pedals. (the pedalboard has been slowly growing- I only have about a 3-year old photo of it when it had about 20, and it has grown exponentially since then. That's not even counting the other two guitarists, one of whom has 3 or 4 pedals, and the other has about 10. I think that has Bardo Pond beaten, even just with Peter's pedals alone. ;-)

I really do think that this is gearhead sillines, to have *that many* pedals, and I have teased Peter about this, but he claims that he uses every single pedal in every single show.

When collections get this large, I really do think that Tarden (?) has a point. Once you get past having one each of the basic set, it really does become hair-splitting. Although on record, you may be able to hear subtle differences between an MXR Phase 90 and a Smallstone, live it does kind of become a bit of a moosh.

I mean, true, different pedals can give out vastly different signals, and even the same pedals can produce very different effects depending on their settings (a slow cycle vs, a fast cycle, signal to output ratio, distortion vs. overdrive) but honestly... would it be THAT difficult to just bend over and change them during the show?

Having huge amounts of FX pedals is fine by me. I tend to buy them when I see them cheap in used gear shops (last purchase = crowther audio "prunes and custard" pedal. Quite indescribable! Favoutite - TC Mk12 phaser - have I damned myself enough yet?) However, when it comes to taking it all out to gigs, well, then I also agree with Tarden. Not only is all the subtlety you'll get in the studio or at home lost, there's also the considerable risk of getting hard-to- replace stuff pinched, and wiring all that stuff up adds a lot to set- up time = less time to soundcheck. for gigs multi-FX pedalboards RULE IMO....

xoxo (+ apologies for muso-ness!!!!)

I mean, true, different pedals can give out vastly different signals, and even the same pedals can produce very different effects depending on their settings (a slow cycle vs, a fast cycle, signal to output ratio, distortion vs. overdrive) but honestly... would it be THAT difficult to just bend over and change them during the show?

Depends what you're wearing.
Also, if you're trying to sing as well, certain logistical difficulties present themselves. The best thing to do is have a good soundperson manipulate your tone off- stage.

Didn't john mcgeoch IIRC when he was with the banshees have an electric mistress flanger mounted on a little pole, so he could twiddle with it whilst playing? Thanks for making me remember that, tarden. Now I AM the lamest!!! PH33R /|\y L4M3N3SS!!!

xoxo

That picture cracks me up. The thing is that most of those pedals are digital, and you could very easily just use one box with a midi-pedal to select different settings.

Still, each to their own, I suppose he probably likes the tone better...

I had an FX pedal in the Jazz Insects for my guitar. It was called OCTAVE DOUBLER which sounds v.feeble. It had two settings: off, and TOTAL ELECTRONIC WAR THROUGHOUT THE COSMOS, inc. other instruments not even connected shorting out, and sparks (well, once) coming out of the main plugboard. When we made a tape at a local studio, the two sad-baldy engineers refused to allow me to use it on "Here Comes the Accident", which sorta spoiled the point of "HCtA"... I tht myself Mecha-Levene, tho I have to say I do not and will not listen to the copy I still have of the tapes we DID make. Oboy do I fear we were bad.

The Octave Doubler just stopped working one day, presumably when the parallel galaxy it was draining energy from vomited up its last neutrino and went dead.