Wampler Pedals |

New Wampler Pedals artists....

2011-07-25T08:03:00.000-04:00

We are delighted to bring diverse artists such as acoustic guitar virtuoso Adrian Legg into the fold... The Benge Family Band... Oli Brown... So many artists from so many genre's.

Don't forget to keep a look out for our monthly pedal giveaways..!

Free pedal give aways...

2011-04-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

Every month we give away a free pedal to the one lucky person who subscribes to our newsletter... Are you on it..?

To sign up, just hit the link at the top of our website, www.wamplerpedals.com... Good luck..!

New fuzz pedal almost ready....

2011-02-21T11:47:00.000-05:00

We've been working very VERY hard on our new fuzz coming that is coming shortly, the Leviathan fuzz... It will be a monster.

I threw together a quick clip of the fuzz in action (and more importantly, in context) using a Smashing Pumpkins backing track found on the 'net, but the intention was to really nail that Pumpkins fuzz tone.

www.wamplerpedals.com/fuzz/leviathan.html

You'll hear about 40 seconds of the fuzz on the mp3 behind the backing track, then the fuzz by itself. All guitars are with this pedal using a G&L strat into a Marshall JVM410h using the Plexi mode and the JCM800 mode, gains backed off to bare minimum. On the backing track there are 3 layered guitar parts... I think the original had many many more than that, but it'll give you the idea of the tone.

Fuzz controls: bass/treble/volume/gain and a switch to go from Germanium to silicon (diode selection, not transistor). The pedal is NOT a Big muff, fuzz face, or any other clone. It's actually a combination of transistor and opamp gain stages, a completely original fuzz design.

Look for the 'official' release in about a month or so

New Paisley Drive is available!

2010-11-03T13:30:00.000-04:00

We've been working long and hard with Brad Paisley for a while... trying to come up with the overdrive that he's 100% happy with. Finally, after months and months we've got it!

Brad wanted a pedal that could get very clean and yet get nice and crunchy with a bit of 'beef' to it, yet he wanted a fluid tone when soloing. Something that will add just a bit of 'hair' to the tone or can add flat out ball busting gain without wrecking the tonality... something that when he stepped on it gave the notes girth without sounding like a pedal.

The pedal LOVES strats and humbuckers as well. Many times you may have a pedal that sounds great with one guitar and utter crap with a different guitar. Not so with the Paisley Drive. You can get great greasy tones - you know, those blues tones that just drip with personality, dynamics, and inspiration.

It may, in fact, save the world. No, seriously. ;)

Now stop what you are doing can go buy it. Your friends will love you, more Mom will love you, and you will eventually take over the world.

http://www.wamplerpedals.com/paisley.html

Free Cranked AC VST plugin, and Demo of my Shaw amp

2010-09-16T14:37:00.000-04:00

I've been working with a fellow on creating a few plugin versions of our pedals and I wanted to give you a free copy of the Cranked AC plugin version. It is a VST plugin,in a .rar file. Once extracted it will have a .dll file that you will add to your plugin library. If you download it, please leave me a note to let me know if you like it!

Here is the plugin: http://www.indyguitarist.com/plugin/CrankedAC_vst%20plugin.rar

Tips on installation: http://www.freesoundeditor.com/installation-plug-in-vsteng.htm

Unfortunately, we are not offering support on this plugin, but it is available to anyone who wants to give it a try.

New Shaw Amp, the Full Tilt 18
A few weeks ago I told you I had bought a new Shaw amp that I was really liking ALOT. I made a quick video of it for you in case you like Voxy and Fender style amps.

Here is the link to check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM-xqcExGCM

The new Black '65 Overdrive is here!

2010-08-05T11:56:00.001-04:00

As with all new releases, I'm offering newsletter members a discount for the first week or so. Normally $199, but for newsletter members it's $179 this week.

Click Here to go to the Black '65 page.

If you aren't a newsletter member, sign up in the blue box on the front page of the website.

My visit with Brad Paisley last weekend

2010-06-11T14:20:00.000-04:00

*See all the pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7297852@N05/sets/72157624127413669/

Last Saturday Brad Paisley came to town. We went up to hang out a bit and talk gear to Brad, Chad, Jody and Gary and I took some pics. Keep in mind, this is after the huge Nashville flood, so all the gear is brand new.

As you can imagine, ALOT of Dr. Z amps, A vox ac30, rack stuff (click HERE to learn about the specifics of the rack stuff), new Crook Guitars (LOVE THEM!)... and pedals! I talked to Brad quite a bit about the current "Brad Paisley" Signature Overdrive prototype we are working on. Brad's loving it - he told me it replaced his Zendrive. I gave him another proto that is flavored a bit different to see which he likes better, this one with a 3 band eq. Brad's current touring board has these pedals:
wampler pedals ego comp
wampler pedals analogecho
wampler pedals"brad paisley overdrive" prototype
mxr phase 90
aquapuss delay
boss delay
maxon delay
keeley/ibanez ts9

Sometimes the Maxon delay is replaced by another one of our analogecho's.

Pic is here: farm2.static.flickr.com/1305/4687948963_0e9584ea4c_b.jpg

Jody Harris and Gary Hooker are using a ton of our pedals too - Jody and Gary are both backing guitarists for Brad and they both are SMOKING hot players in their own right.

Jody is using:
Ernie Ball volume
Wampler Ego Compressor
Line 6 Delay
Wampler Analogecho
Wampler Plexidrive
Hermida Dual Boost
Peterson tuner

Pic is here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4688579446_fdccf9018b_b.jpg

Gary is using:
Wampler Nirvana chorus
Wampler Faux spring reverb
Wampler Analogecho (2 of them)
Wampler Pinnacle
Visual Sound Open road
Hermida Dual boost
Wampler Ego Compressor
Zvex seektrem
Dr. Scientist Trem
Keeley Fixed Wah
Wampler Faux tape Echo
Ernie Ball Volume
Wampler Ecstasy Drive (switched in and out)
Hermida Distortion (switched in and out)

Pic is here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4687946145_a6b46f0687_b.jpg

New Wampler Pedals Artists!

2010-05-05T11:55:00.001-04:00

We are proud to announce new artists who are using Wampler Pedals:
John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival), using Hot Wired, Pinnacle, Faux Spring Reverb and the Analog Echo.
Tony King and Lou Toomey (Brooks and Dunn), using Ecstasy, Hot Wired, and Ego Compressor
Jody Harris (Brad Paisley), using plexidrive, faux tape echo

Welcome guys!

New Plexidrive and Ecstasy Drive videos!

2010-04-03T12:08:00.000-04:00

Email problems

2010-03-26T09:50:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, I've been getting farther and farther and farther behind on email. That's unacceptable and YOU deserve better than that! I guess it's the downside to the business growing a bit and getting a bit more well known.

If you have emailed me in the past week, month, or couple of months and I haven't answered, I'M TRULY sorry. I was not trying to ignore you at all, I have just been having a hard time getting everything done that needs done while filling pedal orders. We are reorganizing a bit and I've hired several people to help with answering emails, questions and concerns. If you have had a question and it's gone unanswered, please go here and submit your question and one of us will reply back to you ASAP - 99% of the time within 24 hours.

https://wamplerpedals.mojohelpdesk.com/login/create_request

Thanks,
Brian

Brad Paisley and Wampler Pedals, George Lynch, Neal Schon news...

2010-01-27T15:34:00.000-05:00

The Scoop

There's been a TON of things going on this month for us...NAMM went very well for us, and we are in the process of working on custom pedals for George Lynch, Neal Schon, and several other well known players as a result of NAMM.

However, I wanted to let you know about the new Pinnacle 2 reissue video I just uploaded. You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8HbpZNXJd4

More info about the pinnacle here: http://www.wamplerpedals.com/pinnacle_2_reissue

Brad Paisley and Wampler Pedals

I'm not sure if you are a country music fan or not, but I'm pretty sure you are familiar with who Brad Paisley is. If not, let me just say he's a MONSTER of a guitarist, great singer and songwriter as well. I've been
a huge fan of his for a while and found out last year that he was using my analogecho pedal that he purchased from www.truetonemusic.com.

After purchasing the analogecho he picked up the ego compressor and underdog overdrive as well.

I was invited to come down and meet him last week and had the chance to sit down and chat about gear quite a bit. I was floored by how humble of a guy he was - truly refreshing!! Just such a cool person.

I found out that he actually went to TrueTone Music and tried out tons of their delay pedals and picked mine out of all of them because it sounded best to him... that made me feel... well, I don't think there is a word
for it. Flattered x 10,000!

Now, I'm not meaning to boast, but I wanted to sure share with you a little personal victory in this, as I've said I was a huge fan for along time!

Anyway, I took some pictures of Brad's gear for you to check out, here is the link to view them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7297852@N05/sets/72157623263677258/

I just wanted to thank YOU for your interest in my pedals, and spreading the word which resulted in this little personal dream coming true for me!

New Blackheart little giant demo with warehouse speakers

2009-11-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAo4JzVn-G4

Blackheart amp that I modified a bit to have more gain, be a bit tighter on the bottom end as well as be less spongy. I wanted something closer to a Matchless type of sound through a marshall cab so here ya go!

Speakers are from www.warehousespeakers.com and are veteran 30's on the left side, green beret's on the right.

GearMannDude demo's Wampler Pedals

2009-10-19T13:16:00.001-04:00

There is an ongoing discussion as to whether this guy is Jack Black... Gear Mann Dude. If you haven't heard of him, he's a sort of a youtube celebrity among many gear hounds. He's a great player, very funny, and sounds remarkably like Jack Black (you know, the "school of rock" guy). Jack, err... GearMann, just uploaded some videos of our Pinnacle, Ecstasy, and Super Plextortion. Check it out:

Triple Recstortion and new Faux Tape Echo videos are up!

2009-07-10T14:53:00.000-04:00

I think you are really going to like where we are going - check this out.

The triple recstortion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRD_x9Qtmw

The new "Faux" tape echo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Gw09bAdkE

You'll notice that our tape echo is quite a bit different than most pedals that claim to be like a tape echo. We dont' do modulation that sounds like a chorus pedal. I've designed a circuit that emulates the flutter from a tape delay unlike any other company. TRUE flutter - not just vibrato added onto the signal.

The Triple Rec will be available on or before August 1, the Faux tape echo will be available on or before August 10th. Newsletter member prices will be around $150-160 or so. To get on the list, simply email me back and we'll put you on it.

Also, if you are at summer NAMM next weekend, let me know - I should be hanging out with Seymour Duncan most of the time, but am not doing a booth. I WILL (as well as my better half) be there during the whole time though.

New Contest - win a FREE pedal of your choice!

2009-01-07T01:37:00.001-05:00

Starting immediately until February 1st - an easy and fun way to win a FREE Wampler pedal of your choice! Here are the stipulations:

Demo any Wampler Pedal on a youtube.com video, even older versions of our pedals are just fine.
Video must show the Wampler pedal during it's entirety. In other words, if your 5 minute video shows the pedal for 30 seconds and your other pedals the rest of the time, that most likely won't be a winner.
You must have a link to our website (http://www.wamplerpedals.com or http://www.indy-guitarist.com/) in your video description. Bonus points if there is a link in the video itself. ;)
After uploading your video to youtube, post on our forum ( http://indyguitarist.com/forum/index.php?topic=1439.0 ) and include the link to your video.
Videos will be judged by our small staff after Feb 1st and you will be contacted through youtube.com, the forum, or your email.
We are looking for good sound, decent video quality (if possible), and your enthusiasm!
Bonus points for videos with alot of views and high ratings.
Double bonus points if you post your video to sites IN ADDITION to youtube (myspace, etc). Make sure you post that link on the blog as well!

Winner gets ANY pedal of their choice!!

Let the videos begin and have fun :)

Brian

Paul Danial using the Pinnacle Distortion

2009-01-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

Very cool!

New Hot Wired video

2008-10-06T00:43:00.000-04:00

Purchase at http://www.indyguitarist.com/

2008-08-31T02:47:00.000-04:00

For those who love that "Class A" sound of a cranked Vox AC-30,

I've developed an overdrive pedal that will get that tonality

that I love so much. I'm building these in a limited number

one by one. Color is either a purple metallic or blue metallic.

Features:

* True bypass

* Multi-color LED

* Small box size (roughly the size of a boss pedal)

* No battery - requires a 9vdc power source (same as a boss pedal)

* Very pick responsive - play light and it's clean, dig into

the strings and it gets nice and dirty

* Very light overdrive all the way to near fuzz-like when at max settings

* Sounds great with a tube OR solid state amp

* Sounds great at low OR high volumes

Currently: 3 week waiting time once an order is placed.

Here is the link:

http://www.indyguitarist.com/cranked.htm

New Fender Blues Jr. modifications

2008-08-06T14:41:00.000-04:00

http://www.indyguitarist.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=106
and
http://www.indyguitarist.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=105

New Indyguitarist website (guitar effect pedals)

2008-05-10T14:04:00.001-04:00

New web address for Indyguitarist - http://www.Indy-Guitarist.com

Free boss ds-1 mods

2008-04-20T22:24:00.000-04:00

After the newsletter last week (and a couple of very angry emails from those who felt I was stepping on toes...) I wanted to send you out some different mods for another pedal.

These are some mods I created especially for the great folks at Premier Guitar magazine, if you haven't caught the article yet make sure you do! Great stuff, and not in the DIY books.

http://www.indyguitarist.com/free_boss_ds1_mods.htm

I appreciate your interest in my products, newsletter and general ramblings!

Also, keep on the lookout as there are some very cool new pedals coming soon to wamplerpedals.com:

* A delay pedal that will blow away anything you've heard so far... and priced where you can afford it!

* A chorus pedal that will make you salivate

* A clean boost pedal, totally original design, unlike anything you've ever heard

* An exclusive "tone saver"... a wonderful buffer

New "Ego Squasher" compressor available!

2008-03-18T13:43:00.000-04:00

The new compressor as seen here is ready - go to http://www.wamplerpedals.com/ego.htm to check it out.

* Four controls - volume, sustain, attack and blend
* Not 'dull' sounding like dynacomp/ross compressors
* Totally different tonality and circuitry than the Barber Comrpessor
* Blue "sparkle" finish, white font
* size: 4 3/8" by 3 3/8"
* includes battery connection and 9vdc power connection (boss style)

Hot Wired pedal demonstration...by Brent Mason!

2008-03-04T00:52:00.000-05:00

purchase now at http://www.bmpedal.com or visit the members link for a discount (newsletter members only)

How the church learned to stop worrying and love Rock n' Roll

2008-01-12T23:51:00.000-05:00

A great article I found...

Click here to read article

2007-12-20T16:11:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone-
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas - thanks so much for your part
in helping to make this such a great year!

I have uploaded a few more videos to youtube, check them out here:
www.youtube.com/user/wampcat

Among them is videos of the new Celestion blue alnico clones from
warehouse speakers - you can see the hear them on the video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X882Wq1qTpI

I will also be uploading a video of the "Greenback" clones in action
to youtube as well today.

For more information about the speakers, go to
http://www.WamplerPedals.com/speakers.htm

***********************************************
New "Ecstasy" pedal

I have the final version of the Ecstasy finished, it is going to be
a Black finish with a blue/purple "speckle" to it... depending on
what angle you look at it (the color changes depending on the angle).
It's very cool...

You can hear it in action on the youtube site as well (see the
"prototype" pedals videos). I incorporated both of the versions you
see on the video into one box. The introductory price on this is $149...
I won't be keeping it there long though!

If you want to go ahead and order one, go to
http://www.WamplerPedals.com/ecstasy.htm

Thanks and have a great Christmas!

Thanks,
Brian

"Dumble" tones in a pedal? Is it possible?

2007-12-15T12:22:00.000-05:00

Recently I received an email asking me if I could get Robben Ford's Dumble tone on Talk to your Daughter and the Blue Line records......sustain with no fizzy top end and in the afternotes ...but not compression...

The email went on to say, "Some say the (*popular pedal name) gets it but too much lead time and too expensive...Robben sets his amp clean and kicks in the over drive. "

That tone is amazing, isn't it!
I'm working on a circuit that approaches this dumble tone like none other - and at a realistic waiting time! While many of the builders nowadays are counting in years the period of time it will take for you to get your pedal, I can do it within about 3 weeks.

That's just ONE of the advantages of a custom build! For example, recently I built a custom pedal that was basically a popular pedal (one with about a 2 year waiting list) with a bass control, more volume, and more dynamic response... for $150. It took about 2 weeks for that one.

Keep in mind that if you are a pedal collector or just want bragging rights, I wouldn't advise you to look into a custom build. Custom builds tend to be best for players that have been through tons of pedals and are tired of trying the newest "biggest thing since sliced bread" only to get disappointed. A custom build will allow you to get just about any pedal built and tweaked in a way so as there is only one of them in the world - yours!
Custom builds, however, worry less about prettiness and much more about tone quality.

Let me know if there is a tone that YOU want and haven't been able to get yet - chances are I can get you there.

OH! Nearly forgot - keep in mind that as a member you get huge discounts on pedals - see www.wamplerpedals.com/members for more info and pricing. Feel free to pass this on to a friend too - a friend of yours is a friend of mine. :)

Don't forget: Downloads and book prices are discounted for members here too: http://www.indyguitarist.com/mods_new

Have fun!
Brian

Plextortion video

2007-12-13T14:10:00.001-05:00

Here's a great video from youtube demonstrating the plextortion, sounds great!

Brent Mason - How I get my lead guitar tones

2007-12-13T13:57:00.000-05:00

Brent talks with me about how he gets lead guitar tones, how he uses chorus and delays for textures and how he gets his modern country tones.

Brent talks with me about how he gets lead guitar tones, how he uses chorus and delays for textures and how he gets his modern country tone. Filmed in Mach 2007. Make sure you check out his new cd available at http://www.brentmason.com

What am I doing wrong?

2007-02-21T02:49:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone-
Please give me your honest advice...where are we (I say 'we' meaning myself and the other IG staff) dropping the ball? Are we doing something BAD that you wish we'd change?

On the other hand, what are we NOT doing that you wish we'd do?

Don't hold back - let me have it! I want to know how I can improve things for YOU!

Please post your comment here - you'll notice that you shouldn't have to 'sign in', create an account or anything, so you can remain anonymous. :)

(edit) Thanks for the comments - just so you know, I'm talking to web designers now. SO, if you happen to be one, shoot me an email.
(/edit)

And don't forget - you get the download for 50% off - here is the link again: http://www.indyguitarist.com/1105-memberpricing.htm

Thanks and I look forward to reading your advice!
Brian
http://www.indyguitarist.com/

the problem with music

2005-07-09T01:02:00.000-04:00

The Problem With Music
by Steve Albini

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke". And he does of course.

Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A & R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire." because historically, the A & R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly. These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave.

Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well. There are several reasons A & R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences. The A & R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it. When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast. By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A & R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.

These A & R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on. The spookiest thing about this harmless sounding little memo, is that it is, for all legal purposes, a binding document. That is, once the band signs it, they are under obligation to conclude a deal with the label. If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength. These letters never have any terms of expiration, so the band remain bound by the deal memo until a contract is signed, no matter how long that takes. The band cannot sign to another laborer or even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens. Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.

One of my favorite bands was held hostage for the better part of two years by a slick young "He's not like a label guy at all," A & R rep, on the basis of such a deal memo. He had failed to come through on any of his promises [something he did with similar effect to another well-known band], and so the band wanted out. Another label expressed interest, but when the A & R man was asked to release the band, he said he would need money or points, or possibly both, before he would consider it. The new label was afraid the price would be too dear, and they said no thanks. On the cusp of making their signature album, an excellent band, humiliated, broke up from the stress and the many months of inactivity. There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized "independent" label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label. They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus -- nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work. To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyways, it doesn't cost them anything if it doesn't work. 15% of nothing isn't much! One day an A & R scout calls them, says he's 'been following them for a while now, and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just "clicked." Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time. They meet the guy, and y'know what -- he's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude.

They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot. The A & R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question-he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Warton Tiers, maybe-- cost you 5 or 7 grand] and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about. Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself.

Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children-- without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties. Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer--one who says he's experienced in entertainment law and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be great royalty: 13% [less a 1O% packaging deduction]. Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever. The old label only wants 50 grand, an no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's English. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter million, just for being in a rock band! Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contract over too. Hell, it's free money. Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody In the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands like Therapy? and Sloan and Stereolab use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better.

The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on T-shirt sales! ridiculous! There's a gold mine here! The lawyer Should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe. They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picked them up in a limo. They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old "vintage" microphones. Boy, were they "warm." He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very "punchy," yet "warm." All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies! Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are: These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. income is bold and underlined, expenses are not.

Advance: $ 250,000

Manager's cut: $ 37,500

Legal fees: $ 10,000

Recording Budget: $ 150,000

Producer's advance: $ 50,000

Studio fee: $ 52,500

Drum Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $ 3,000

Recording tape: $ 8,000

Equipment rental: $ 5,000

Cartage and Transportation: $ 5,000

Lodgings while in studio: $ 10,000

Catering: $ 3,000

Mastering: $ 10,000

Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc. expenses: $ 2,000

Video budget: $ 30,000

Cameras: $ 8,000

Crew: $ 5,000

Processing and transfers: $ 3,000

Off-line: $ 2,000

On-line editing: $ 3,000

Catering: $ 1,000

Stage and construction: $ 3,000

Copies, couriers, transportation: $ 2,000

Director's fee: $ 3,000

Album Artwork: $ 5,000

Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $ 2,000

Band fund: $ 15,000

New fancy professional drum kit: $ 5,000

New fancy professional guitars [2]: $ 3,000

New fancy professional guitar amp rigs [2]: $ 4,000

New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $ 1,000

New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $ 1,000

Rehearsal space rental: $ 500

Big blowout party for their friends: $ 500

Tour expense [5 weeks]: $ 50,875

Bus: $ 25,000

Crew [3]: $ 7,500

Food and per diems: $ 7,875

Fuel: $ 3,000

Consumable supplies: $ 3,500

Wardrobe: $ 1,000

Promotion: $ 3,000

Tour gross income: $ 50,000

Agent's cut: $ 7,500

Manager's cut: $ 7,500

Merchandising advance: $ 20,000

Manager's cut: $ 3,000

Lawyer's fee: $ 1,000

Publishing advance: $ 20,000

Manager's cut: $ 3,000

Lawyer's fee: $ 1,000

Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 =
$3,000,000

Gross retail revenue Royalty: [13% of 90% of retail]:
$ 351,000

Less advance: $ 250,000

Producer's points: [3% less $50,000 advance]:
$ 40,000

Promotional budget: $ 25,000

Recoupable buyout from previous label: $ 50,000

Net royalty: $ -14,000

Record company income:

Record wholesale price: $6.50 x 250,000 =
$1,625,000 gross income

Artist Royalties: $ 351,000

Deficit from royalties: $ 14,000

Manufacturing, packaging and distribution: @ $2.20 per record: $ 550,000

Gross profit: $ 7l0,000

The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.

Record company: $ 710,000

Producer: $ 90,000

Manager: $ 51,000

Studio: $ 52,500

Previous label: $ 50,000

Agent: $ 7,500

Lawyer: $ 12,000

Band member net income each: $ 4,031.25

The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month. The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige. The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their T-shirts yet. Maybe the T-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys. Some of your friends are probably already this *******.

Steve Albini is an independent and corporate rock record producer most widely known for having produced Nirvana's "In Utero".

Advance:	$ 250,000
Manager's cut:	$ 37,500
Legal fees:	$ 10,000
Recording Budget:	$ 150,000
Producer's advance:	$ 50,000
Studio fee:	$ 52,500
Drum Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors":	$ 3,000
Recording tape:	$ 8,000
Equipment rental:	$ 5,000
Cartage and Transportation:	$ 5,000
Lodgings while in studio:	$ 10,000
Catering:	$ 3,000
Mastering:	$ 10,000
Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc. expenses:	$ 2,000
Video budget:	$ 30,000
Cameras:	$ 8,000
Crew:	$ 5,000
Processing and transfers:	$ 3,000
Off-line:	$ 2,000
On-line editing:	$ 3,000
Catering:	$ 1,000
Stage and construction:	$ 3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation:	$ 2,000
Director's fee:	$ 3,000
Album Artwork:	$ 5,000
Promotional photo shoot and duplication:	$ 2,000
Band fund:	$ 15,000
New fancy professional drum kit:	$ 5,000
New fancy professional guitars [2]:	$ 3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp rigs [2]:	$ 4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar:	$ 1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp:	$ 1,000
Rehearsal space rental:	$ 500
Big blowout party for their friends:	$ 500
Tour expense [5 weeks]:	$ 50,875
Bus:	$ 25,000
Crew [3]:	$ 7,500
Food and per diems:	$ 7,875
Fuel:	$ 3,000
Consumable supplies:	$ 3,500
Wardrobe:	$ 1,000
Promotion:	$ 3,000
Tour gross income:	$ 50,000
Agent's cut:	$ 7,500
Manager's cut:	$ 7,500
Merchandising advance:	$ 20,000
Manager's cut:	$ 3,000
Lawyer's fee:	$ 1,000
Publishing advance:	$ 20,000
Manager's cut:	$ 3,000
Lawyer's fee:	$ 1,000
Record sales:	250,000 @ $12 = $3,000,000
Gross retail revenue Royalty:	[13% of 90% of retail]: $ 351,000
Less advance:	$ 250,000
Producer's points:	[3% less $50,000 advance]: $ 40,000
Promotional budget:	$ 25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label:	$ 50,000
Net royalty:	$ -14,000
Record company income:
Record wholesale price:	$6.50 x 250,000 = $1,625,000 gross income
Artist Royalties:	$ 351,000
Deficit from royalties:	$ 14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and distribution:	@ $2.20 per record: $ 550,000
Gross profit:	$ 7l0,000
The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.
Record company:	$ 710,000
Producer:	$ 90,000
Manager:	$ 51,000
Studio:	$ 52,500
Previous label:	$ 50,000
Agent:	$ 7,500
Lawyer:	$ 12,000
Band member net income each:	$ 4,031.25