Display Your Keyboard Logo On Stage?

[JamPro]

One of the first things I do when I purchase a keyboard, is get out some tape and cover over the large intrusive audience-side keyboard logo.  So for my Roland RD-2000, I used black duct tape to cover over the Roland logo.  Similarly, black duct tape covers the logo on my Nord Electro.  For my Hammond XK-3, I was able to rub off the big white painted-on logo while preserving the wood finish underneath with careful effort.

 

I figure that I will not do the company's advertising until they start paying me, so I hide the logos.  I myself think the keyboard rig looks cleaner without the large logos.

 

And while perusing the "Show Us Your Rig" thread, I noticed that a lot of readers don't bother and leave the keyboard logos on display.

 

So I would like to hear from others: do you show or hide your keyboard logos?

[Adam Burgess]

Don't care in the slightest! 🤷‍♂️

[Red Ranger]

I don't put tape or stickers on any instruments or cables. Preserving resale value/ avoiding sticky tape residue is much more important to me than inadvertent advertisement for a company. But I doubt anyone would buy a keyboard based on my playing anyway! lol

[Old No7]

I'd only do it for a Casio........

 

But it's fine on my other boards. 😉

 

Old No7

[PianoMan51]

 

[Stokely]

As an aside, if Members Only jackets are still out there my 20 year old son would be all over it.  He dresses more 80s than I did in the 80s.

I've never thought about covering logos but I thought about covering the obnoxious blue light on the back of my pc361.  In pictures of the stage that thing would be blinding!

It does bring up a topic my friend and I were discussing.  Many of us care about the looks of keyboards to some degree; I tend to be ultra practical, I want things easy to see and use, but even I like a nice-looking instrument.   When you get down to it, all most people see if your beautiful keyboard(s) is...a black thin rectangle.

[Delaware Dave]

Why?  What point are you trying to make by covering up the name?

[CEB]

I wouldn’t bother. Nobody gives a s*** what I play anyway.  The only people who can maybe see my logos are the drummer and maybe bassist. 

[Dockeys]

I never cover them up. Don’t see the point although a few years ago I use to do TV work and the techs used to always cover up the keyboard logo. Maybe seen as free advertising otherwise? Not sure but they never covered up the guitarist or drummer instrument logos. 🤷‍♂️

[CEB]

A friend had an Alesis rig I would have covered the logos on if I could have color matched the silver. They were silver QS8.2 and QS6.2 on a Silver stand. It looked super sharp and clean. Covering the logos in silver would have put it over the edge. 

[DJkeys]

When I was touring, we covered all of the logos with black contact paper. The only thing we wanted audiences to see was the name of the band.  We also did not want to do free advertising.  It actually was a pretty cool look, and the black contact paper comes off easily and leaves no residue at all-

 

-dj

[stoken6]

18 minutes ago, CEB said:

silver QS8.2 and QS6.2 on a Silver stand

Nice.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Shamanzarek]

The only time I ever covered a logo was when the BL asked me to cover the Casio name on my WK-3800. Over the last 40 years I have proudly displayed my Roland, Oberheim, Yamaha, Sequential, Korg, Kurzweil, Hohner, ARP, Wurlitzer, Vox, and Gibson keyboards on stage with the logos showing.

[Jose EB5AGV]

1 hour ago, Old No7 said:

I'd only do it for a Casio........

 

But it's fine on my other boards. 😉

 

Old No7

 

I usually proudly display my Yamaha Montage 6 logo (I find it cool looking 😃). But I have also a Casio CT-X5000 and, when I have played it in public, it does not bother me at all. Anyway, my playing sucks the same on both! 🤣

 

Jose

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

3 minutes ago, Shamanzarek said:

The only time I ever covered a logo was when the BL asked me to cover the Casio name on my WK-3800. Over the last 40 years I have proudly displayed my Roland, Oberheim, Yamaha, Sequential, Korg, Kurzweil, Hohner, Vox, and Gibson keyboards on stage with the logos showing.

Perhaps you could cover up the Casio name, and put on some lettering from a higher-end brand?  I did that with a bicycle once....  No one knew I was riding a Walmart bike!

[drawback]

I’ve had to cover up logos for television.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

Actually, I can't remember if my Casio has a large name or logo on the front side.....  I can't see than side of it when I am seated!

[drawback]

I’ve often thought of printing out life size logos as anagrams to stick over the originals. 
 

dr no

rod

no

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dnr

 

[Mike Davis]

There are definitely agents and venues who insist that you cover up the logos. Usually the same people who hate orange extension cords.

[octa]

Think I put electrical tape over my old Ensoniq KS-32 logo once. -- Seeing more of these enclosures that look like uprights etc. lately. I suppose that's not only covering up the logo, but many in the crowd assume you're playing an acoustic upright. 

[KuruPrionz]

For a LONG time, I would remove the logos on my Peavey amps, just a couple of screws and you could put them back on when selling. 

The habit stuck, I did it for my Mesa Boogies too. 

 

I'm back to Peavey and I leave the logos on. Sometimes I turn them upside down. 

[konaboy]

I only ever use black tape to change Roland to Poland.

 

It does pain me to promote a brand without getting anything in return.

 

I get the same feeling when wearing a rucksack, using a laptop, riding my bicycle or driving in my car. You just have to accept you're providing free advertising.

 

But why do keyboards and synths always have to display their brand and model name/number on the top panel for the benefit of the owner/player? I never got that and dislike it immensely.

 

[BluMunk]

I was doing a musical theater gig with the small band on stage, and I showed up after a dress rehearsal with the logo on my RD-700GX covered neatly with black gaff tape.

 

Leaving aside the fact that this was done without letting me know in advance, it made sense and I kept that tape on there as long as I owned the board.

 

Reading advertisements is not a value-added experience for most audiences for most of the playing I do. 
 

 

[DaveMcM]

2 hours ago, Old No7 said:

I'd only do it for a Casio........

 

But it's fine on my other boards. 😉

 

Old No7

First to answer the OP question, no I do not cover the logos. The only folks who would care are other keyboardists. Which leads into a comment regarding the above quote.

 

Several years ago when my Korg Krome 88 died I drove to Sweetwater in order to try as many different brands/models as possible.  I tried every newer Yamaha, Korg, Nord, and Kurzweil. Then for fun and not expecting much, I tried the Casio Px-560M. Much easier to get around on for on-the-fly splits/layers than any of the others. Color touch screen that is nice and bright and accurate. Good feeling keybed with textured keytops that are way better than the so-called IvoryTouch keytops used by another brand. Very good, useable sounds. Some very nice editing features with abilities not found on the other brands. I could keep going but I'm not trying to do a commercial here. Just making a point that several of the popular brands out there started out making crap and since have grown into good products. Casio never made crap, but they did focus on toy type instruments. Not so any more.

 

Back to the OP... I love the fact that CASIO is written really big on the back of my keyboard, especially when other musicians, specifically other keyboardists are in the audience. Even more so when I know they have spent far more money on their keyboard than I did on mine. Because it gives me a chance to hear them say, "Man, your rig sounds great. What are you triggering?" And I get to say your just hearing the Casio.

 

 

[Bill H.]

Way  back when (in the previous century) I took the logo off my CP80 because was ugly, and stuck out towards the audience on the harp section - making it way too obvious and obnoxious. Now I wish I could find it. 

[RABid]

Never thought about covering a logo on keyboards. Only time it has bothered me is when I saw a classical concert on TV and the grand piano had a big Yamaha painted on the side. To do that to the beautiful finish of a grand piano. 

 

I do absolutly refuse to buy clothing that has the designer's name in plain site. Why would you wear a t-shirt with "TOMMY" on the back if your name is not Tommy?

[Mark Zeger]

[marino]

[Reezekeys]

I guess those of you against "free advertising" also remove or tape over the badging on your cars? 🙂 

[MathOfInsects]

I cover mine and always have. I also avoid clothes and anything else with logos. It's not that I think I am moving so many units for the companies, I just don't like being used as someone's brand ambassador--unless I want to be. If they want to pay me instead of vice versa I will change my tune ASAP. Until then, if it's really no big deal, they wouldn't be putting their brand in big white audience-facing letters in the first place.