a waste

sei046

Was out at a band there yesterday and the guy had

a PRS Custom 22
1974 Fender Super Twin
Boss GT Pro

He could barely play and his sound was so rubbish its not even funny. I Know sound is very subjective but his tone was completely unpalatable. Yee would have cried. He might sell me the twin though ........

Doctor J

Sadly the celtic tiger didn't bring talent as well as riches. Ah well

I remember a gig I did in the Wexford Inn back in 1995, I think it was. A few bands were playing and one guy was doing a solo guitar thing along to a backing track played through his ghettoblaster hooked up to the PA. He was more of a sonic-texture player rather than a shredder but he had the worst tone I've ever heard. It wasn't until we came upon the concept of imagining him playing in a submarine, and the audio tomfoolery you could imagine that entailing, that we began to enjoy his set, "This is what a gig would sound like in a submarine", we thought. Rockin!

sei046

the other guy had a tsl112, boss gt8, some dunlop wah and maverick and godin and he was doing such messing! he had all the channels he could want and he was messing around to get volume boosts for solos with his wah and everything. His effects mix was all over the shop. Such a bloody waste!

Doctor J

Were they young? It seems to be a curse of youth that guitarists think they need at least 5 effects running constantly. Nobody seems to just plug straight in and rock out anymore

sei046

Well im 17 and three rigs down i am at a 6101LM, Wah and Pod Xt in effects loop. THey were in their 20s and 30s. I think the gear just surpasses the player. It was just crazy. THey were playing Vertigo on Prs's and stuff. I admit i am the same as i do covers but still! Its just such a waste. Gonna see if i can get that Fender off him

Owen

Doctor J wrote:

Were they young? It seems to be a curse of youth that guitarists think they need at least 5 effects running constantly. Nobody seems to just plug straight in and rock out anymore

I think a minimum needed for rock is slight delay, and when needed, chorus or wah. Having said that, I own a GT-Pro for those pitch shifting RATM solos, or flanging, or the acoustic simulator which rocks for softer numbers. Sometimes tech is good!

Of course people who 'plug straight in and rock out' are using effects, albiet the ones in the amp - reverb, overdrive, basic eq, and where the newer amps are concerned, delays and choruses anyway.

feylya

A minimum for "rock" is a guitar, an amp, distortion and reverb. That is all. IMO of course.

Doctor J

ned78 wrote:

I think a minimum needed for rock is slight delay, and when needed, chorus or wah. Having said that, I own a GT-Pro for those pitch shifting RATM solos, or flanging, or the acoustic simulator which rocks for softer numbers. Sometimes tech is good!

Of course people who 'plug straight in and rock out' are using effects, albiet the ones in the amp - reverb, overdrive, basic eq, and where the newer amps are concerned, delays and choruses anyway.

We'll agree to differ then. Delay, chorus and wah are like chocolate sprinkles on a dessert. They can be nice but used all the time and you start to feel sick

I'm not dismissing effects, they can introduce some excellent and interesting tonal variances, I just grow weary of their overuse.

feylya

Misuse I would have said

Doctor J

You should have written that post then

Owen

Doctor J wrote:

I'm not dismissing effects, they can introduce some excellent and interesting tonal variances, I just grow weary of their overuse.

No, I'd whole heartedly agree with that. I've seen some terrible shocking combinations used on stage. There's a lad who I had the misfortune of playing with, it was his band, and he insisted on using a behringer v-amp, the basic one, using the standard patches, and a crappy imitation strat. Those presets are designed to wow 12 year olds at the store into buying the units, but all it sounded like was a half cocked wah pedal on permenantly, overlayed with lush chorus, 1 second delays, reverbs too, and a crappy overdrive sound. Course, there was no talking to him either.

Maybe Karma caught him though, because no one will play with him anymore, and he can't get a gig in the country because of his 'rock star' attitude towards venues.

sei046

Ye i use delay on my lead channel.
Chorus sometimes on my clean and a tad of delay.

Adds a bit of depth to a solo like sandman (covers)

Mystic Fibrosis

Doctor J wrote:

Were they young? It seems to be a curse of youth that guitarists think they need at least 5 effects running constantly. Nobody seems to just plug straight in and rock out anymore

I do :P

It wasn't me!

As do I. I don't even turn off the OD. Now that's rock! (or lack of footswicth, due to poverty)

Karl Hungus

You know, as far as the whole 'Gear doesn't suit the skill level' thing, I say let 'em buy whatever they want, it's their money. As long as someone loves playing/enjoys music, then it doesn't matter if they're playing with a Harley Benton or a PRS.

Now, if we were talking about some kid who's rich parents bought him a PRS which he stuck in the back of his closet after a week... Then that would be quite the waste!

As for effects. I'd definetly be of the variety that'd just plug straight into the amp, and play.

Eoin Madsen

feylya wrote:

A minimum for "rock" is a guitar, an amp, distortion and reverb. That is all. IMO of course.

Just the guitar and amp, imo.

John

You might need a lead too

Karl Hungus

John2 wrote:

You might need a lead too

And maybe a pick.

John

Karl Hungus wrote:

And maybe a pick.

Only if you're feeling saucy

jcoote

in fairness i got sucked into the whole buying gear thing nstead of learning techniques and **** and its not a nice road to go down...now i am happy with my tone and think a lot would agree but my ability leaves a fair bi to be desired...but in fairness i would like a custom 22 and a gt-pro so let them at it i say

noh showband

Because I´m such a poor player, I´d like to stand up for these guys you´ve been criticising. Playing live scares me and has done for a loooong time, so I rarely do it at all anymore (recording lets me fix mistakes), but when I´m on fire (which happens sometimes) I really wish others could witness it and tell future generations about that guy they heard once.

Consequently, I spend a lot more time on tone than I do on technique, for better or worse. If I were thrust onto a stage it seems you guys would be lambasting me for having such a great guitar sound while hitting all those duff notes. I guarantee, 80% of that will be nerves and misjudging how to play safe - or ´lack of experience as we call it in the trade. I think my love for the instrument and those on-fire moments still justify me laying out the dosh and putting in the effort.

Oh, and I´m over 30, so it goes for us granddads, too.

John

I don't see why you can't work on your technique and buy nice equipment?

steveland?

Karl Hungus wrote:

As for effects. I'd definetly be of the variety that'd just plug straight into the amp, and play.

Ditto...

Have a Maverick F1 I bought 3rd hand for €170 (perfect condition!) and a Marshall 30w which is great for just sitting in my room blasting out covers.. distortion built into the amp... that's all I need. Bought a Big Muff Pi a few years ago, played with it for about a month and thought "feck it the amp distortion's good enough"

Although after playing guitar for 7 years I still suck

sei046

No, my argument is this guy has this great equipment and doesnt know how to use it. He obviously wont spend the time to get the best out of his rig and complains about it saying i am going to sell it all and buy a marshall.

It makes no difference what gear you buy as long as you can handle it, and if you cant dont complain. An experienced player can sit down and get a better sound of a cube than an amateur could get out of a Dumble. The amateur should not complain about the dumble....

fish-head

It's an unavoidable fact that some people are just tossfactories..
I like playing Guitar-Tuner-Amp whenever I can, but a boost is kind of necessary when you're in a 4 piece band.