is smashing a guitar cliche?

[starbuck26]

my bass player and I got into an argument last night on the subject of smashing the shit out of a guitar with regard to delighting in its destructification. you see, i snagged a 25 dollar epi sg off craigslist the other day. i restrung her. my bass player saw it and was like, 'yo, whatchoo doin wit dat p.o.s. (piece of shit).' I said I'm gonna smash it on November 12, 2008 (first show after the election) if Obama loses while screaming unflattering musings and making unwanted sexual advances on Cindy McCain. But he said naaaaa, man, joo can't do that mang, smashing a guitar is cliche. what's next? you gonna light it on fire and play it with your teeth and then push your infant son out a window and write a song about it? totally cliche. doan do it, mang."

but i still wanna. is it cliche? or is it badass. i'm more interested in the sound of a dying guitar than the visual. but i imagine it will be pretty fun.

ps. don't give me any of this 'a guitar is sacred' or 'give it to a poor kid' nonsense. this is a shit guitar and it's useless to everyone.

[mshilarious]

It's cliche. Now, if you and the bassist beat each other with your gits until they (or you) break, that is hip

[starbuck26]

Originally Posted by mshilarious

It's cliche. Now, if you and the bassist beat each other with your gits until they (or you) break, that is hip

that's actually a great idea. it might happen, but likely at practice. i'll try to get it on youtube.

[Gear_Junky]

well, why don't you break it in a studio, sample the resulting sound and make a pedal out of it. That'll be a true cliche.

[mikeh]

Nothing is cliche' if done in good taste

[ggunn]

EVERYBODY!

it breaks my heart to see those stars
smashing a perfectly good guitar
i dont know who they think they are
smashing a perfectly good guitar

[lpdeluxe]

Originally Posted by ggunn

EVERYBODY!

it breaks my heart to see those stars
smashing a perfectly good guitar
i dont know who they think they are
smashing a perfectly good guitar

John Hiatt had it right. What's with tearing stuff up?

Yes, it's a cliche, and a juvenile one at that.

[WhiteStrat]

It wasn't cliche when I did it...


...in the seventh grade...


...twenty-eight years ago...


...in 1980.

(In spite of the tremendous shock value, we still lost the Jr. High Talent Show. )

[TelePaul]

It's not clichéd as much as it is retarded.

[reklus]

Why punish a poor guitar for America letting Ms Teen Carolina and an Alzheimer patient steal the election?

[Nightfire]

If you must smash it, smash it on JordanD.

[elenore19]

For all the people who are against smashing it...Have you ever smashed a guitar? Or like destroyed anything on stage?

I used to be WAY against smashing guitars.
I still haven't smashed a guitar...But part of mine and my buddies act (we're a two piece me-guitar him-drums) is that at the end I run in the drumset basically beating the shit out of the drums with my guitar.

Nothing that has ruined either my guitar or his drums yet. One show I tackled him too. I've done more damage to my self than to the instruments. But yeah.

People always compliment us after the show and really dig the crashing of the set. And also, it's Amazingly fun. Like, I look forward to it every gig. So I can't wait to get a hold of my old crap guitar to smash the living hell out of it.

Cliché? Maybe. But I haven't seen anyone do it for a long time. And it sure is going to be fun.

So there are my thoughts.

[Fusioninspace]

If you do it. Do it right.

You need to do a little prep first. The idea is that when you wack on the stage (or whatever/whoever), it blows up into a million pieces.The hard part would be to try to figure out how to weaken the entire structure so that when it hits, everything breaks at once.

What's lame is when the guy smashes it about 10 times before anything happens and he's running out of juice to keep the show going.

I wonder if you could put in a zillion of those little poppers that are "kid safe" fireworks and somehow get them to pop (they spark a little too) and the parts to fly off.

How about this: Route out the back, fill it with goo (ala Nickleodion), recover the back with THIN balsa wood. Just at the right moment, hold up the guitar to the audience, jab your hand into it's back and pull out the goo (maybe put a fake heart in there for added effect). Toss the goo/heart out into the audience. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

[TelePaul]

Originally Posted by elenore19

For all the people who are against smashing it...Have you ever smashed a guitar? Or like destroyed anything on stage?

I used to be WAY against smashing guitars.
I still haven't smashed a guitar...But part of mine and my buddies act (we're a two piece me-guitar him-drums) is that at the end I run in the drumset basically beating the shit out of the drums with my guitar.

Nothing that has ruined either my guitar or his drums yet. One show I tackled him too. I've done more damage to my self than to the instruments. But yeah.

Why??????

[starbuck26]

Originally Posted by Fusioninspace

If you do it. Do it right.

You need to do a little prep first. The idea is that when you wack on the stage (or whatever/whoever), it blows up into a million pieces.The hard part would be to try to figure out how to weaken the entire structure so that when it hits, everything breaks at once.

What's lame is when the guy smashes it about 10 times before anything happens and he's running out of juice to keep the show going.

I wonder if you could put in a zillion of those little poppers that are "kid safe" fireworks and somehow get them to pop (they spark a little too) and the parts to fly off.

How about this: Route out the back, fill it with goo (ala Nickleodion), recover the back with THIN balsa wood. Just at the right moment, hold up the guitar to the audience, jab your hand into it's back and pull out the goo (maybe put a fake heart in there for added effect). Toss the goo/heart out into the audience. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Great white, dude. Great white.

I'm going to remove two of the four screws on the neck prior to the show. I'm also going to whack it against the top of a marshall 1x12 cabinet, not the floor. I have no doubt that the body is coming off. In one swipe.

For real. I've been going to the gym.

But I like the idea of the heart being pulled from the guitar.

[starbuck26]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

Why??????

why not???????????????????

[elenore19]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

Why??????

I guess I worded it a Little harshly. I really go to down with my guitar on the drumset. One show I did, I whacked the neck of my guitar on the hi-hat about 5 times. Which was fun. Only a couple nicks. Can't notice any difference in playability.

What I usually do is just sort of go into the drumset and throw cymbals this way and that and sort of knock the whole thing over while my drummer still tries to drum. So that's that, I don't really aim for hurting the instruments. But if they get damaged a little, so be it.

So as to why?
Because it seriously is a lot of fun. And also it gets people to come up to us after the show and be like "man, you guys rock. Want to play a show with us next weekend?"
It gets us gigs. It's all about gigs. At least in my opinion. The internet only goes so far as to getting your music out there.

So there's as to why. Understand? or no?

Like I said, it's not like I have some 2000 Telecaster in my hand or anything. I have an ESP that's 250 brand new. But it's not like I destroy my guitar. I only have this one guitar, and I've done this whole shindig a good 10 times and it still plays flawlessly.


Elliot

[Tadpui]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

well, why don't you break it in a studio, sample the resulting sound and make a pedal out of it. That'll be a true cliche.

Oh yes, I like it! It could be added as another setting on that Jimi Hendrix expression pedal from Digitech.

[starbuck26]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa0MZ...eature=related

[mandrum]

Hey dudes, never done the forum thing before and this might sound stupid, how do I start a new thread please?

[TelePaul]

Originally Posted by mandrum

Hey dudes, never done the forum thing before and this might sound stupid, how do I start a new thread please?

main forum page, top left?

[BrentDomann]

Originally Posted by starbuck26

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa0MZ...eature=related

The look on this fan's face at that Who concert is how I feel about smashing guitars:

[elenore19]

Originally Posted by BrentDomann

The look on this fan's face at that Who concert is how I feel about smashing guitars:

Haha, great shot.

I've heard that Townshend would go out and like buy these $2000 guitars the day of the show, basically on loan from a local shop. Then at the show the owner of the shop shows up and watches with horror how Townshend destroyed the guitar.

Apparently he was always like 2/3k in debt.

Someone told me about this through a DVD they watched on the who. So I'd say it's pretty credible.

[Fusioninspace]

Ok, here's the fundamental problem with this guitar destruction thing. When the body separates from the neck, you end up with this clunky hunk of body sort of wobbling around in the air haphazardly while the guy still has the neck (which obviously weighs nothing) still in his hands and both parts are still connected with the strings.

I still think the ultimate guitar destruction has to be a guitar that explodes on that first hit - and I mean into a cataclysmic display of dust, light and sound.

What us guitarist need is a perfect playing, yet explodable, solid exotic body, set neck, Shaller tuners, Floyd Rose trem, custom bone nut, chromium wammy bar, pure ceramic caps, solid gold hardware, groupie butt-cheek-smudge-on-the-back guitar that provides the ultimate in show ending pyro emergency room headline catching class action law suit congressional hearing Evangelical damning crescendo of historic proportions. Now, THAT would be cool.

Maybe something in a nice Silvertone?

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by Fusioninspace

Ok, here's the fundamental problem with this guitar destruction thing. When the body separates from the neck, you end up with this clunky hunk of body sort of wobbling around in the air haphazardly while the guy still has the neck (which obviously weighs nothing) still in his hands and both parts are still connected with the strings.

I still think the ultimate guitar destruction has to be a guitar that explodes on that first hit - and I mean into a cataclysmic display of dust, light and sound.

What us guitarist need is a perfect playing, yet explodable, solid exotic body, set neck, Shaller tuners, Floyd Rose trem, custom bone nut, chromium wammy bar, pure ceramic caps, solid gold hardware, groupie butt-cheek-smudge-on-the-back guitar that provides the ultimate in show ending pyro emergency room headline catching class action law suit congressional hearing Evangelical damning crescendo of historic proportions. Now, THAT would be cool.

Maybe something in a nice Silvertone?

Rosewood or maple?