JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Duct tape: The musician's friend

I use it to fold up and shorten excess microphone cord. Any good duct tape stories out there? Ben

http://benwillismusic.com

Doesn't that leave a bunch of sticky goop on the cable?

I recommend "gaffer's tape", which will still leave goop but not if you only use it for less than 24 hours or so. Plus you can get it in nice colors like flat black, or bright pink. [G]

Dunno, I've never taken it off.

Buddy Holly used duct tape to fix his broken tooth before he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. The movie has him using chewing gum, but take my word for it, it was duct tape.

I've used it to attach a mike to a stand


Emily

Bingo Emily, why spend three dollars at Radio Shack on a mike socket when you can use ol' reliable duct tape. Ben

I duct taped the camera to a mike stand to take my avitar. Didn't have a tripod.

Hey John I thought gaffer tape and duct tape were the same thing. I must have used miles of it anyway. Taping cables to the floor to stop people tripping over them. Many repair jobs both temporary and permanent. Holding tripod stands together and bits in place. Lighting. geez make that hundreds of miles. If you play live never go anywhere without it. I only thought it came in black or silver. Pink!!!! who needs pink gaffa!!! wow, women must have discovered it we are all doomed.

Jim: They're different. Gaff tape has a different adhesive, and a matte color; duct tape is shiny. On a stage you won't see black gaff tape on camera. The stagehands used cases of it at TNN doing all the productions, back in the day when I worked there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaffer_tape

Duct tape is also good for criminals to make masks.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293208,00.html

John Thanks for info. We in the UK have different manufacturers than you do so brand names become confusing. Duck tape and gaffa tape are generic terms here. The tape I use is matt and easily removable so it must be gaffa.

Duct tape is so sticky. It does leave goop. Electrical ties could be used to shorten the mic cables. I have used painters masking tape to tape down cables to the floor. Less sticky.

Not only did we attach the mic with duct tape, we built the stand out of two rakes and duct tape. Gaffer tape, all of a sudden, got really expensive. The first time I heard of Gaffer tape it was cheaper than duct tape. Now, its about three times as costly. Gaffer is definately easier to work with.

I had a noisy groupie once, who's husband was in the other room!

I used ductape in side my instrument to hold the wiring down, (it was always comming apart) but not after the duck.

then there was this time, after the show these girls, Me , a roll of ductape... just kidding... that was gaffer tape.

-steve

Ducted taped a guitar case that came apart. Used the duct tape to keep it closed.

We had a bass player who used to wrap tape around his thumb so he could slap his bass. He said it produced a better sound (debateable).

We also had a drummer who used tape to "dampen" the sound. He spent ages sticking small patches all over the skins. He went mad when they were peeled off. It happend a lot. Someone in the band had a wicked sense of humour.

Once we forgot to pack mic stands and ended up taping mic cables to ceiling and suspending mics, it worked great.

Hi,

Whenever possible, I use electrical tape as opposed to duct tape. As others have commented, duct tape leaves an annoying sticky residue. Electrical tape leaves next to nothing, and actually holds stuff better.

John is correct. For bands, stage crews, film crews etc, gaffer's tape is far better than duct tape. It is the same size. It is cloth tape, it adheres very well, but you can peel it easier and it leaves far less sludge. If that isn't reason enough, it also comes in flat black and looks way better than dict tape.

For you cheapskates, it IS more expensive.

"If you can't fix it with duck tape or bailing wire, it ain't worth fixing."--Neil Aspinwall

I hear it's good for removing warts. Not sure how long you leave it on before you pull it off, but I hear it works. Not sure also if it's the power of the pulling it off that pulls off the warts or if it suffocates the wart causing it's demise???