Musicians using cheaper instruments than you'd expect

Brian Eno supposedly mainly uses his Yamaha DX7.

Most of the people who think it's a piece of trash have never tried anything other than the built-in patches. Here's some of Brian's patches:

 

The white Explorer James Hetfield played on the first two Metallica albums was a cheap knockoff that he slapped a fake Gibson logo on.

 

Charlie Parker played a plastic Grafton saxophone at Massey Hall in May 1953 with Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach and can be heard on the CD "Jazz at Massey Hall"

 

Randy California played a Teisco on the first two Spirit records.

 

Ed Sheehan uses a Martin Travel guitar, that retails for barely $400 Canadian.

 

I think in the case of these two. The tone of those guitars suits their musical styles. But you got to know, those guitars aren't just pawn shop crap. There has been a lot of customization and tweaking and very very rare materials in them.

 

Yes, but I'm confident that David Lindley could play something made in an afternoon from a two by four, some baling wire and a Spam can and make music on it.

 

Lindley goes to great lengths to NOT modify his vintage instruments or amps in any way. I remember him saying in an interview that he doesn’t even vacuum the dust out of his old amps.

 

Elmore James played Silvertone guitars modded with Kay pickups.

 

I think the price of custom shop labeled guitars is ridiculously high, but myself, as a player, i can tell you there is a huge huge difference between a made in China or Korea or Indonesia in the $300 or $400 electric guitar and something that comes out of an American or Mexican custom shop that retails for $2000 to $4000. (Not to mention the resale value!) Is it actually worth that much in materials and craftmanship -- I don't know, but that's what the prices go for. I am not saying you can't find something decent sounding and decent playing in the $400 range, you can, but you need to look far and wide and get really lucky. Those factories in China and Korea don't really give a flying crap how its put together, they just make them fast and cheap.

 

Not sure about a knock-off - that looks like a '66 to me. That said, Keith totally turned him down.

 

Until they stopped touring XTC used a mini Korg 700 in concert. I'm pretty sure The Cure used the same synthesizer early on.

 

Its possible. I am a huge Lindley fan and have seen him live quite a few times. I can tell you pawn shop unmaintained stuff does not sound as good and clean as what he plays, and the stuff he plays sounds bloody incredible -- its not just his fingers -- there are no crackles or weird failing electronics. I think he and his guitar tech does lots of stuff to his guitars. I recall an interview a long time ago where Cooder claimed he was going to visit him in his house and every time he goes, all the necks and bodies have been switched around. I have to dig it up.

 

Jeff Lynne was an early endorser of Electra guitars, he had a black model that looked superficially like a Les Paul Custom. He used a Shaftesbury telecaster knockoff in the early 70's as well.
Around the time of the Zoom album, he was photographed with an old no-name acoustic his dad bought him as a child
I don't have the article at hand, but his comment about the guitar was something along the lines that it cost his father a couple pounds to buy, and cost Jeff a couple thousand dollars to repair decades later. He used it for most of the tracks on Zoom.

 

Those Grafton’s are funky I don’t see how anyone could get a good sound out of one. I believe that at one time Ornette Coleman played one too.

Charlie Parker’s notorious heroin habit meant his horns were always in hock. I’ve read he could be seen playing on a different horn almost every night. Usually borrowed and in various states of disrepair. Hard to imagine that he could so that and still deliver great performances night after night.

 

At 5:43 in this video, Rev Peyton plays a guitar made out of a ham can.

 

Leslie West used to play Gibson Les Paul Juniors back in his Mountain days because they were cheap and plentiful. Nobody got heavy, raunchy, rock tones out of those cheap guitars like Leslie.

 

Rod Hamdallah, of the Legendary Shack Shakers, Dirt Daubers and solo, plays Silvertone Stratotone guitars and gets an incredible sound.

 

what makes you think thats a knock off?

 

Dexter Romweber always played Silvertone guitars too, early on a U1, then a series of 1448's that he wore out and replaced.

 

Anyone know what type of guitar Hound Dog Taylor used?

 

Vagabond Yes?

 

Robin Trower had a bunch of his vintage Strats stolen while he was on the road, so for a while after that he only toured with cheap Squiers.

 

He's mostly associated with the Kingston SD-40