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When a keyboardist solos like a guitarist....


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The one thought which I took from this is...why is it only keyboards where the player is forced to cover up the branding on their instrument? Nobody thinks to do this with a Strat, or a set of drums. I suppose it's down to real estate, but I always think it looks crap. And the commercial effect is no different, really. People are no more likely to go out and buy a Yamaha stage piano than they are a Les Paul, based on TV exposure etc.

Studio: Yamaha P515 | Yamaha Tyros 5 | Yamaha HX1 | Moog Sub 37

Road: Yamaha YC88 | Nord Electro 5D

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The one thought which I took from this is...why is it only keyboards where the player is forced to cover up the branding on their instrument? Nobody thinks to do this with a Strat, or a set of drums. I suppose it's down to real estate, but I always think it looks crap. And the commercial effect is no different, really. People are no more likely to go out and buy a Yamaha stage piano than they are a Les Paul, based on TV exposure etc.

As someone who (tastefully and nigh-on invisibly) tapes over the audience-side branding on all my equipment, I can tell you that it's the sheer size and visibility of it that bugs me. I'm not trying to tell people "NORD!" when I play. I have sometimes used that real estate for propaganda of one kind or another, but I most often just leave it black and try to let the playing do the talking.

 

To be sure, I also do not wear labels on my clothing, unless it is something I personally mean to say. I think my time in the advertising world soured me on being a company's free billboard. If they want to use me to advertise, they can fork over the cheese for it.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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The one thought which I took from this is...why is it only keyboards where the player is forced to cover up the branding on their instrument? Nobody thinks to do this with a Strat, or a set of drums. I suppose it's down to real estate, but I always think it looks crap. And the commercial effect is no different, really. People are no more likely to go out and buy a Yamaha stage piano than they are a Les Paul, based on TV exposure etc.

Covering up manufacturer brand names and logos is an old practice that goes back to when most KBs looked similar especially from the side or rear. Musicians didn't want to provide free advertisement for KBs they weren't being paid endorse. Record labels and management companies encouraged the practice too.

 

Of course, KBs today come in different shapes, sizes and colors, so it's easier to know the brand without seeing the name. Unless tastefully done, tape just makes it look tacky now. :laugh::cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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The one thought which I took from this is...why is it only keyboards where the player is forced to cover up the branding on their instrument? Nobody thinks to do this with a Strat, or a set of drums. I suppose it's down to real estate, but I always think it looks crap. And the commercial effect is no different, really. People are no more likely to go out and buy a Yamaha stage piano than they are a Les Paul, based on TV exposure etc.

 

 

I used to black out all of my guitar amps. Many of my gigging guitars and basses have been parts builds with no logo on them anywhere.

 

A good friend covered the logo on his Ventura hollow body with a sticker he found at dollar store that said "KILL", that was pretty cool.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Musicians didn't want to provide free advertisement for KBs they weren't being paid endorse.

Or if a musician WAS being compensated to endorse company X, he might have not wanted to (or been permitted to?) obviously be using a product competitive to the brand he was endorsing. I also remember reading that sometimes a TV broadcaster would not want to provide any obvious free brand advertising, and so something being made for broadcast would have to be discreet about such things. But hey, you read all kinds of things on the internet, so who knows...

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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ever since the days of my Roland AXIS (the original and still the best of the Rolands)

Tough call for me between the Axis and the AX-Edge. I totally agree that the Edge is an ugly, overgrown beast compared to the Edge, plus the pitch/mod wheels of the Axis are a lot better than the ribbon/bar of the Edge. But the Edge is wireless, and has sounds, and has the nice patch select buttons (which can be used to select either internal or external sounds).

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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