Topic: Guitar smashing, yay or nay? (Read 27661 times)

bucky_2300 · « **on:** 15 May 2005, 21:23 »

Guitar smashing: entertaining in moderation, or a crime against all things six-stringed and 21-24 fretted?

I personally think that one has to be able to play the hell out of a guitar before smashing it is acceptable. E.g. Pete Townshend.

Signum_Tenebrae · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 May 2005, 21:32 »

Most definitely nay.

Druid · « **Reply #2 on:** 15 May 2005, 21:37 »

I think if the song and moment warrents it's cool.

If Dave Matthews smashed his guitar after playing an acoustic set it would be weird.

niatinari · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 May 2005, 21:37 »

It really depends on the guitar in question, but as a rule, nay.

pistachio · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 May 2005, 01:18 »

everyone should hear the song perfectly good guitar by John Hiatt

That song describes how I feel about this bizarre trend in a nut shell..

There are a lot of people that would love to have a guitar but dont, for whatever reason (me included) and if I did have a guitar, Id die before smashing it...

a pack of wolves · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 May 2005, 01:31 »

It was cool back when The Who did it but these days it's just not an interesting way to finish a set, much like putting your guitar next to the amp and creating feedback when you walk off. I hate that. Feedback as musical tool yes, but I wish people would stop doing it for no damn reason.

QC_fan · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 May 2005, 02:28 »

Nay...becuase what if you havent got another one that works and you arew buggered then

Schmung · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 May 2005, 02:45 »

Yay. If you are cool enough to do it. That means nay to most anyone, apart from bands that truly 'rock' in, of which there few nowadays.

Praeserpium Machinarum · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 May 2005, 02:49 »

nay, basically smashing guitars is too easy, people should try and smash organs or stand-upright basses etc. smashing guitars is for pussies.
However it would be interesting if Tori Amos grabbed a battleaxe at the end of her set and then trashed her piano, now that would be a sight

zekterellium · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 May 2005, 05:01 »

yeah, it's a waste of an instrument and yeah, it's been done to death. but it's sooo dammmm cuuuute.

Faker · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 May 2005, 05:23 »

I say, nay, mainly cause, although it CAN look cool, I just think the artist should consider the poor unfortunate fan standing there wishing they could afford a guitar like the one the performer is destroying...

negative creep · « **Reply #11 on:** 16 May 2005, 05:28 »

yay, if you do it right.

weevil · « **Reply #12 on:** 16 May 2005, 07:29 »

Cleary, Pete Townshend is a god and can do whatever the hell he feels like.

bucky_2300 · « **Reply #13 on:** 16 May 2005, 07:48 »

Quote from: Praeserpium Machinarum

nay, basically smashing guitars is too easy, people should try and smash organs or stand-upright basses etc. smashing guitars is for pussies.
However it would be interesting if Tori Amos grabbed a battleaxe at the end of her set and then trashed her piano, now that would be a sight

I saw a guy smash an upright bass once. Did a flying side kick right into the middle of that thing. It was pretty cool.

sXeSamurai · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 May 2005, 08:23 »

Total waste, espicially if your Greenday, they suck, when my brother was at the woodstock he was hit by a peace of a guitar, and a fucking nice one at that.

Kai · « **Reply #15 on:** 16 May 2005, 14:28 »

Nay. Smash People instead.

Also, bonus points to Bucky for the Dead Kennedys avatar.

wheriend_ndyubgn · « **Reply #16 on:** 16 May 2005, 15:30 »

if somebody smashed dashboard's guitars while they were trying to play... NOW that would be good.

thehoopiestfrood · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 May 2005, 16:27 »

It's a waste. Give it to some kid in the audience if you don't care enough about the guitar to keep it. Just leave it in one piece. Maybe they'll start a band.

Hector Gilbert · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 May 2005, 17:07 »

A thousand times NAY. It's really puerile and selfish. If they wanted to get rid of their guitars they could at least give them to members of the audience.

Johnny C · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 May 2005, 17:40 »

The exceptions to the rule of "don't be selfish dicks and smashy" are as follows:

-The Who
-...Trail Of Dead
-Nirvana

and two of those bands don't really exist anymore.

Revenge_Therapist · « **Reply #20 on:** 16 May 2005, 17:45 »

How much did you pay for the chunk of his guitar,
The one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show?
And how much will he pay for a brand new guitar,
One which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show?
-Cake

kilconey · « **Reply #21 on:** 16 May 2005, 18:08 »

Quote from: Johnny C

The exceptions to the rule of "don't be selfish dicks and smashy" are as follows:

-The Who
-...Trail Of Dead
-Nirvana
.

word to that.
looking at it from afar, yeah it makes the band look like asses when they smash their shit. and it usually just comes off as an awful cliched stunt for a band that's lacking musically.
but sometimes, at the end of a really intense show, it just makes SENSE. (like at ...trail of dead shows).

jeph · « **Reply #22 on:** 16 May 2005, 19:12 »

Smashing instruments is stupid.

Also Trail of Dead were pretty underwhelming when I saw them live, instrument-smashing and all. Explosions in the Sky opened for them and blew them away.

Druid · « **Reply #23 on:** 16 May 2005, 20:05 »

I think it would be kind of hard to come on after Explosions in the Sky. I wouldn't want to.

siobhan · « **Reply #24 on:** 16 May 2005, 20:13 »

it upsets me to see an innocent instrument smashed..

though i wonder, does the musician smash the guitar because he/she feels they need to make up for their music ? you know, end the show with an 'oompf' they couldn't provide otherwise..

Tartar Martyr · « **Reply #25 on:** 16 May 2005, 22:12 »

It is stupid and cliche.

There are no exceptions.

To me it goes in the same chapter of "what not to do when playing live" as synchronized jumping and over animated strumming. If you want to call attention to yourself or to your band learn to play... or buy a delay pedal that will self-oscillate so you can make space ship noises, at least then you won't look like a douchebag when you try to attract people who have never touched an instrument before and thus are impressed by such things.

kikanjuuneko · « **Reply #26 on:** 16 May 2005, 22:27 »

It's okay only, and only, if the guitar is already at a visible point of breaking through overuse.

Simulacra · « **Reply #27 on:** 16 May 2005, 23:28 »

i agree with jeph and tartar. one should only smash an instrument if said smashing occurs over the head of one's enemies.

Inlander · « **Reply #28 on:** 16 May 2005, 23:36 »

You know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see someone, at the end of a gig, dismantling the guitar. Get the toolkit out, remove all the bits and pieces that can possibly be removed, line them up across the stage in a neat, orderly row from largest to smallest, then walk off.

Sure, it'd take a while, but it'd be different! And then when everyone's gone home the guitar can be put back together again, good as new.

Empty Friend · « **Reply #29 on:** 17 May 2005, 00:32 »

I love watching idiot douchebag pop-punk morons smash guitars they didn't pay for and that will be replaced by their label. It totally rocks.
[/sarcasm]

Amsterdarn · « **Reply #30 on:** 17 May 2005, 00:37 »

I want to see a band finish their set by smashing the guitarist. Preferably Dave Matthews Band, but I'm not too picky here.

TheCourtJester · « **Reply #31 on:** 17 May 2005, 01:34 »

A resounding "nay." It pains me to see an instrument come to an untimely death. Though for some reason the mental image of John Denver smashing his guitar into pieces makes me laugh uncontrollably.

As for stand-up bass smashing...are they insane? And how the hell can they AFFORD to do that? It's not like those are exactly CHEAP instruments.

Sturge · « **Reply #32 on:** 17 May 2005, 01:42 »

Only if they're being smashed in the drummers face.

maxusy3k · « **Reply #33 on:** 17 May 2005, 02:09 »

I'm saying nay, though it doesn't escape my attention that I only own a guitar because my best friend bought it to smash it up but forgot about it, therefore having a spare guitar about the time I decided I wanted one.

SuperSUGA · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 May 2005, 05:20 »

Sadly almost anything you do on stage these days can seem like a cliché. The second your feet leave the ground you're stuck in the jumping group, everyone does the "walking around the stage" thing anyway and even if you just stand there doing nothing then you're jumping on the shoegazer thing. Of course there are exceptions, but I can't think of any names off the top of my head. Unfortunately if you just do your thing and concentrate on the playing you get accused of having no stage presence, there's no way to win!
I think a cetain type of band could pull off the gear smashing thing, so long as they were suitably angry, and I think thankfully most bands know not to do it, as I've only seen it done in the flesh once, if I recall, and I'm pretty sure that guitarist would switch to a squire for their last song and give that a good smashing afterwards rather than wasting a Fender.

kilconey · « **Reply #35 on:** 17 May 2005, 06:26 »

Quote from: SuperSUGA

I'm pretty sure that guitarist would switch to a squire for their last song and give that a good smashing afterwards rather than wasting a Fender.

that's probably not seen as "hardcore" enough. you're dead on about the other stuff, too.
i won't lie, though, i like to go see a band for the visuals. if i solely want to hear them sound good i'll just put on the record on my nice, shiney headphones. while instrument-smashing would be wildly out of character for most bands i listen to, i do like to see a band jump around and act the fool onstage.

Tartar Martyr · « **Reply #36 on:** 17 May 2005, 11:22 »

Quote from: Sturge

Only if they're being smashed in the drummers face.

I saw a video once of a guy attempting to "bitch toss" his guitar over his shoulder, but the strap broke free right as the guitar was reaching its peak. It then flew directly into the drummers face/upper body, knocking him off of his little chair and out of commission for the remainder of the video clip.

I laughed a lot.

Bobby I · « **Reply #37 on:** 18 May 2005, 17:13 »

I've got a shitty, old-ass Warlock with all the hardware screwed up, the neck is twisted and it had really horrible intonation to begin with, that was given to me three years ago, and the paint is actually sanded off for a good deal of the body, it hardly works, and it's just overall a total peice of crap. Next time I play a decent sized show, I'm smashing that baby because it is completely worthless, if I sold it I might make $25 at most, so screw it.

La Creme · « **Reply #38 on:** 18 May 2005, 17:22 »

I personally, as a guitar player, think that breaking a guitar is stupid. Even the lowliest squier can still make some decent music if you rig it up just right. And why break anything that makes good music, right?

But smashing an accordian...

Kai · « **Reply #39 on:** 18 May 2005, 18:05 »

Woah, no smashing the greatest instrument ever. Accordians are here to stay.

Bassoons, on the other hand...

La Creme · « **Reply #40 on:** 18 May 2005, 18:08 »

How's about a compromise? No bassoons to be smashed if no accoriands are smashed either. Dealio?

We can compromise by torching every oboe on the earth, right? I... hate... oboes...

P.S. I just hate trying to PLAY accordians. I'm a TMBG fan. I don't think it's possible to be a TMBG fan and not like accordians. Sorry about the misconception, that was a sort of wanky thing for me to say.

Kai · « **Reply #41 on:** 18 May 2005, 18:15 »

Done. No bassoons, no accordions, destroy the oboes, throw in a few piccolos or something to keep the fire going.

Inlander · « **Reply #42 on:** 18 May 2005, 18:16 »

Tee-hee, all this talk of accordion-smashing reminds me of a joke I heard a few years ago at the National Folk Festival:

Q: What's a banjo?
A: Kindling for an accordion fire.

(For the record, I LOVE both banjos and accordions - I'm just a sucker for silly jokes. And while I'm rambling - can I get a "hell yeah" for harpsichord smashing?)

KharBevNor · « **Reply #43 on:** 18 May 2005, 18:30 »

Rammstein blew up some of their instruments when I saw them. And one member of Apocalyptica stabbed through a drum with his cello spike, though I think that might have been accidental.

I am generally against this, unless it is done with extreme style and panache.

La Creme · « **Reply #44 on:** 18 May 2005, 19:05 »

Bela Fleck, the first time i heard him, in like 6th grade completely changed me. It made me decide that every instrument diserved a go. And yes, you can get a "lets break some fucking harpsichords". Bach would have been the shit if he just used a goddam piano. But no, he had to go do the better portion of his amazing classical on a goddam harpsichord.

The only good piccalo is one that has been shattered and rebuilt into a nice statue of a peice of human defication.

Cello spike THROUGH a drum?! Hurray for that. Drums are cheap. Why dont drummers ever smash them? Cheapo drummers...

P.S. I don't hate drummers. Just to establish that.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #45 on:** 18 May 2005, 19:11 »

Quote from: La Creme

Cello spike THROUGH a drum?! Hurray for that. Drums are cheap. Why dont drummers ever smash them? Cheapo drummers...

He ran up the drumkit and spiked a snare (the reason I think it was an accident was because he then pulled it out before planting it on top of one of the bass drums) before playing the solo from Master of Puppets. Apocalyptica may be a string quartet and a percussionist, but they easily rank as one of the most unbelievably metal bands I've ever seen.

La Creme · « **Reply #46 on:** 18 May 2005, 19:19 »

I'm trying to start a jam-metal-prog-fusion-jazz-absolutelyeverything (except pesky ol' emo, hardcore, and cheap techno, and rap cuz we're all white and would otherwise get majorly fucked up, seeing as we live in LA where there are a shitload more black and hispanic people than use honkies) band with some friends of mine and I just realized that this kid Isaac I went to middle school with is a fantabulous violin player. That was a big-ass long William Faulkner stylie run-on sentence. Anyhow. We are going to jam like it wasn't no thang. And maybe do some metal-klezmer which we think would actually work out really well. We definately need to cover "Ghost of Stephen Foster" (Squirrel Nut Zippers) in this style.

Lyrics from Ghost: "Ships are made for sinking, whiskey made for drinking. If we were made of cellephane, we'd all get stinking drunk much faster."

KharBevNor · « **Reply #47 on:** 18 May 2005, 19:26 »

Pretty damn awesome.

Lol, most of my musical projects at the moment are techno. I've got my one-man Troll Techno*/Atmospheric/EBM/Game Soundtrack project Halo of Flies, I've got my industrial collaboration with the mighty Dread Conveyor, and I've agreed to do some electronic keyboard work for my mates avant-garde project. So, until I get my Crossover Thrash/Deathcore joke band started up properly, or make some more Defiled Pantheon stuff, instruments hardly come into it.

I suppose I could, like, delete fruityloops after making every song, or something.

*In techno, ANYONE can make up a genre!

La Creme · « **Reply #48 on:** 18 May 2005, 19:39 »

I love techno. Actually, i hate 99.9% of it. But now and again a killer group who list themselves under the unfortunate label of "techno" will come along and blow me away. Lemon Jelly, The Dust Brothers, some of Kevorkian's stuff, and Kraftwerk.

Connecting all this tangent conversation back to the issue at hand, has a techno/DJ sort of person ever smashed their mixer on stage? I'd like to see that.

Speaking of smashing shit, I need a window-breaking party... like now. If anyone in LA anywhere is having one, please please please inform me. And don't make an age limit. It's not my fault i'm 15. My parents just obviously didn't make sexy early enough. Shudders at thought. Leaves computer to eat chicken-apple sausage and polish cabbage stew. Yumkins.

Johnny C · « **Reply #49 on:** 18 May 2005, 22:22 »

Quote from: KharBevNor

Rammstein blew up some of their instruments when I saw them.

Like, actually exploded? Because that'd be both a waste and INCREDIBLY COOL.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Poll

Smashing guitars?

Author Topic: Guitar smashing, yay or nay? (Read 27661 times)

Signum_Tenebrae

Druid

niatinari

pistachio

QC_fan

Schmung

Praeserpium Machinarum

zekterellium

weevil

sXeSamurai

wheriend_ndyubgn

thehoopiestfrood

Hector Gilbert

Revenge_Therapist

Druid

siobhan

Tartar Martyr

kikanjuuneko

Simulacra

Empty Friend

Amsterdarn

Sturge

Tartar Martyr

Bobby I

La Creme

La Creme

La Creme

La Creme

La Creme