Larry and brand loyalty

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Edge_Orchestra

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Larry has been pretty loyal to the manufacturers of his gear.

He's played Yamaha drums since summer of 1982.
He's played Paiste cymbals and Promark sticks for about as long.

There has been a few other things tried/used in the studio. But for the most part, Larry has been loyal to his gear brands for over 30 years.



One time Larry played a different brand of drums live? 15 years ago today. Larry sat in with show-opener, Garbage - and played Matt Chamberlain's DW KIT.

Matt was sitting in for Garbage drummer, Butch Vig. Butch had gotten ill during he tour. Larry even offered to play with Garbage every night for the remainder of the tour. But Garbage were able to draft studio/live session ace Matt Chamberlain for the gig.

But the. Came closing night. Larry took his shot and played a tune w/ Garbage.

It was on this particular night a 15 years ago, December 2nd, 2001, that U2's Larry Mullen Jr. played drums with Garbage; playing Matt Chamberlain's kit during a performance of "I'm Only Happy When It Rains".

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Some call sticking with the same thing for all those years boring. Like you should have experimented with stuff, constantly trying to find new things. Personally I'd say if you find something you like, why bother trying to find something better? Maybe you will, maybe you won't, in this case sticking with the same brand allows you to concentrate on making music instead.

A nice touch for Larry that he offered to drum for Garbage.
 
Bono has been pretty royal to Gretsch, at least in 2000s and 2010s, hasn't he?

Also, I don't really value brand royalty especially for pro artists. who cares if companies give them good shit? you know, signature guitars, pedals they designed, etc. However, it seems like bunch of metal guys are getting endorsements from Fender family (like Charvel, EVH, Jackson) and that looks very obviously like a money move so i don't think i can appreciate all that. but still, i am not crybaby about it.


Look at EVH. he's got none of it and we don't blame him for that.
 
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When an artist sticks with a certain brand for a very long time, you know its something he or she values. It's like a recommendation from your favorite artists that it's good shit. When an artist hops brands every year/album/tour you know his or her endorsement means squat. At best it's the latest piece of shiny to have caught their eyes, at worst they got some free stuff out of that deal. There's nothing wrong with that in itself, who doesn't like free stuff? And it's not like in this day and age most artists still make millions selling records. But its not exactly a glowing letter of recommendation either.
 
Seems to be in his character I'd say. He only started a family in his 50's and its not like he never had a girlfriend before. The dude seems to like trying out new things.
 
I wouldn't know, I'm a guitar player. I'm basically tone deaf when it comes to bass guitar tone. Getting them to play their parts right is taxing enough with these 4 stringed weirdos.
 
I think his sound and his playing changed a bit during the latest years, to me...


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