MovieChat Forums > The Runaways (2010) Discussion > The guitars and backline ?

The guitars and backline ?

posted 13 years ago by hfp-195-816773
3 replies | jump to latest

Amazed at the speed of which a non-gigging band practising in a trailer park moved from Danelectro etc. guitars to Gibsons and Rickenbackers plus Marshall amps.... as a long suffering Brit band member through the 60s and 70s I had to slave for every penny to move up slowly ....... and make that waaayyyyyyyy slowly through the ranks of crap pieces of junk until I could afford a pretty gnarly Fender Telecaster.... now mebbes Kim Fowley scored/financed/borrowed some guitars and amps... he certainly had the nous and gift of the gab to manage that.... mebbes the backlines were the property of the "house" or the headline bands.... dunno??? Oh another thing, when they get busted by the cops at the party at the first gig.... "Lita" grabs a Marshall head and runs with it waving it around like a tissue...... go on just try it..... OK artistic licence... errr good movie otherwise Dakota done grew up and got SERIOUS !!!

[–] DavidStHubbinsUSA 12 years ago

The amp head was obviously empty as they are too heavy to swing like that so easily. I wondered about Joan not taking hers as well as it was a Plexi Marshall, top of the line then and expensive. It looked like she changed to Orange heads in the studio session. When I played parties and everyone ran I always stayed right there with my gear. Never got busted and no way was I leaving my half stack behind and 4X12 cabs aren't going anywhere fast even on castors, not to mention the P.A. system..

[–] rmontro 12 years ago

I know guitar and amp companies used to give out equipment to successful bands. Actually, they still do that. It's like free advertising. I didn't notice exactly when in the movie they moved to Gibsons and Marshalls. But maybe Fowley was able to convince the companies that he was going to make this band a success, get them a record contract, etc. The fact that they were an all girl group at least made them kind of unique.

Another possibility is that when they got their record contract, maybe they got a good advance on their first album, and they bought new instruments with that. I understand an advance is a fairly common clause, it helps cover recording costs and such, and has to be paid back later.

[–] DavidStHubbinsUSA 12 years ago

They suddenly had gibbys and Marshalls in the trailer right before the house party gig. They hadn't been sighned yet. Reason I noticed was because I was cringing every time Joan swatted beer cans with the headstock of her Les Paul. They didn't just make a small jump. They went from beginner gear to top line gear. I mean a Les Paul, an Explorer a Rick and Plexi Marshalls, Ampex bass amp were about the very best then and still are. It really doesn't matter and unless you play, you would never even think about it but like the guy above I played a lot of crap gear a long time before I got a Marshall and Hamer guitar in the mid 80's..