Controversial gear opinions…….lets hear them.

[DanTravis62]

I actually brought this exact thing up yesterday when someone was relaying a story about being kicked out of a band, citing their inability to play the parts correctly and consistently as an issue, which of course was followed by a “I just love music, music is my life, I don’t know what else I could do”

Riiiiight…..so were you just so moved by the music because of its importance that your emotions wouldn’t allow you to properly learn and play it? How is the most “important thing” in your life also the same reason you’re getting kicked out?

Meanwhile, I just left a thread at TGP where there’s another virtuoso guitarist/hired gun/hot session guy who refuses to display a single bit of the work they’ve done in the last 30 years of supposedly being high in demand.

It’s because this shit is an aesthetic to some people, like a clothing style you can toss on and become, no more than an avatar to select when jumping online. To be fair, it’s not just people online because I’ve got PLENTY of buddies who will still call themselves guitar players/musicians though they aren’t doing *anything* with music and barely even play anymore, they’re holding onto the person they once were….they sure as fuck watch a lot more TV than they do anything with music.

Joining gear forums in the mid-90’s I guess I always had it in my head that “Well, of course people are putting in the time when they’re not talking gear on the internet……that’s what all this shit is for, yeah?” but 30 years has shown me that is certainly not reality.

Apparently we are just jealous we don't have some dude's gear, man

I just want to see people actually using some of this gear they have sometimes

 

[VonBonfire]

Nothing screams musical knowledge like strumming that G cowboy chord through 35k worth of guitar, pedals, and amp.

 

[DanTravis62]

Nothing screams musical knowledge like strumming that G cowboy chord through 35k worth of guitar, pedals, and amp.
View attachment 442461

Hey man, you're just jealous and want his gear

it definitely isn't that it's a complete waste of time and money, and lying to everyone on the internet about their competence in an effort to pretend they are an expert on something they know fuck all about

TGP is like patient zero for what @DrewJD82 are talking about

 

[DrewJD82]

Apparently we are just jealous we don't have some dude's gear, man

I just want to see people actually using some of this gear they have sometimes

I’m more than happy to offload the unrelenting guilt of not having enough musical output!!!

I practically need a therapy session to justify sitting on my couch to watch a history documentary instead of working in the studio.

 

[tallcoolone]

That's not even remotely what the take was

Good b/c that is straight out of Dans commie playbook

 

[DanTravis62]

I’m more than happy to offload the unrelenting guilt of not having enough musical output!!!

I practically need a therapy session to justify sitting on my couch to watch a history documentary instead of working in the studio.

That takes forever to get over, but it can be done

Honestly, something that helped me, was the same realization about just how much i get done compared to my online guitar peers

I know its reductive, but if you have guilt then you aren't one of the guilty ones

 

[VonBonfire]

I practically need a therapy session to justify sitting on my couch to watch a history documentary instead of working in the studio.

I don't have a tv so I been playing guitar on the couch 3-4 hours pretty much every day. Either that or cutting firewood. You should hear the tone of it when I light my woodstove.

 

[Kordoba]

Meanwhile, I just left a thread at TGP where there’s another virtuoso guitarist/hired gun/hot session guy who refuses to display a single bit of the work they’ve done in the last 30 years of supposedly being high in dedemand.

I've seen countless variations of this on a number of forums over the years:

I do fly gigs but I won't tell you the names of the bands or where and when the gigs were played.

I do session work for famous artists, but I can't tell you the names of the artists or the songs I played on because I sign non-disclosure statements.

I've been in bands that played on tours, but I won't tell you the names of the bands, what other bands were on the tour, and will not post any posters from the tours. I will not post any pictures of me on stage on the tours, and forget about any audio or video clips.

 

[DanTravis62]

I think there’s a huge gap between reality and the general consumer’s thoughts/knowledge on gear and tone. Just starting at the basic point of- how many fucking threads and how much time has been spent “cracking the code” on a guitar tone when there’s a complete dismissal of the studio work/production that went into creating the tone, attempting to make an amp sound like an album when the amp is sitting in a room by itself with none of the other instruments or players that are on the album.

Or seeing the cynicism around gear demos and “I don’t know what they do in post”…..yeah, that’s because you don’t know what gets done in post on a normal recording and you’re just running your mouth spittin’ out shit you don’t understand. Hint- no geartuber is out there carving out tones with post-EQ for a pedal the manufacturer sent to 50 other Youtubers. Pete Thorn makes shit sound good because the dude put in the time to know wtf he’s doing, just because your unmotivated ass did not does not mean geartubers are pulling the wool over your eyes, you just have not put in the time to even know what the fuck you’re talking about.

Dudes slaving away for months or years, believing they’re working towards some unique guitar tone that’s going to define them as a player and they haven’t written a single fuckin’ song where they can utilize that tone, nor do they realize that the second they move that amp out of that room that the tone will change, or without knowing what kind of mics and mic placement is going to deliver that tone onto a recording, it’s fucking pointless, unless the point was just to hear it in the room they’re in at the time.

No one would have given a fuck about Ed’s tone if he didn’t have something to say with it and he had his vocabulary pretty well figured out before he started working on the sound of his voice.

Yeah, but that would mean you have to actually practice man!

And why actually play the fucking guitar when we can argue (authoritatively, of course, like amp chaser) about whether EVH's underwear racing stripes were angled northeast or southerly during the recording of "Aint Talkin' Bout Love" and whether this high gainer has the right je ne sais quoi for playing "diver down" in your mancave of shame while you cry about not seeing your kids

I've seen countless variations of this on a number of forums over the years:

I do fly gigs but I won't tell you the names of the bands or where and when the gigs were played.

I do session work for famous artists, but I can't tell you the names of the artists or the songs I played on because I sign non-disclosure statements.

I've been in bands that played on tours, but I won't tell you the names of the bands, what other bands were on the tour, and will not post any posters from the tours. I will not post any pictures of me on stage on the tours, and forget about any audio or video clips.

Right???? Apparently we got a bunch of really shy big shots here, on the guitar internet

 

[japetus]

I just want to throw this out there, is it unacceptable for a man to "want another mans gear". I get it if you are like right on, he is using X guitar and X Amp and that's a cool tone. But all of the sudden, his name is on your amp, now it's on your headstock. Now you are getting emails, feeling special that you "have a chance" to buy a limited edition guitar from him. And then, it comes to pass that some of these dudes are dead, and people are fighting over a tone... this passed away man is now financially taking over your life, your tone, everything. It's wild.

 

[nightlight]

That's the thing though, as a non-gigging musician, do you love music enough to keep your interest up? That's the real question

And it isn't a matter of if you deserve it - that's a given. But the real question is who gives a damn about what you think?

And I mean that rhetorically, not at you personally. Because one of the "red pills" i've had as someone interacting with a ton of the online guitar sphere is that a bunch of these people aren't like me, and I initially thought "oh hell yeah a bunch of cool musicians into gear." And there's certainly a couple of those, but it's more like "a bunch of mid life crisis guys who have very little actual interest in music and guitar and a whole bunch of interest into playing the perfect rendition of "panama" in their man cave"

I know what you mean, some of those collections are so large, you could never run through every possible rig combination in a meaningful way in one year.

Personally, I think GAS has ruined me financially in some ways. I could have bought another house, picked up a motorbike, travelled.

Instead, it's like Tyler Durden said, "The things that you own, own you."

 

[csguy0]

I play guitar for me. One day maybe I'd share this with other people, play in a band etc etc. But for now, it is purely and selfishly for me. Often I buy gear it's because I want to know what it sounds like in person: in my room, through my speakers, cables, strings, tone knobs etc. More than often I buy because I hear something I like, and think I also need to hear that thing in person.

MY controversial confession: I have way more gear than I know what to do with, but I love it to death. It keeps my mind healthy and active, and it keeps me out of bars wasting my time away.

 

[DanTravis62]

I know what you mean, some of those collections are so large, you could never run through every possible rig combination in a meaningful way in one year.

Personally, I think GAS has ruined me financially in some ways. I could have bought another house, picked up a motorbike, travelled.

Instead, it's like Tyler Durden said, "The things that you own, own you."

It's just sad when those huge collections aren't getting used at all

One of the saddest things, for me, is watching as my favorite brands and models of guitars became collectible as the internet gained steam

Back in the day, it was like a secret handshake if you had a golden era Hamer or BCR or something, because only players knew about them and the prices were generally pretty low

Now they are overpriced collector's pieces in these massive collections collecting dust until its "TGP family picture" time. When the whole point of them was that they were the cream of the crop for people who actually played the guitar.

 

[SoooRad]

It's just sad when those huge collections aren't getting used at all

One of the saddest things, for me, is watching as my favorite brands and models of guitars became collectible as the internet gained steam

Back in the day, it was like a secret handshake if you had a golden era Hamer or BCR or something, because only players knew about them and the prices were generally pretty low

Now they are overpriced collector's pieces in these massive collections collecting dust until its "TGP family picture" time. When the whole point of them was that they were the cream of the crop for people who actually played the guitar.

This is so true. Its funny/sad to think a significant part of why I don't have any "real" guitars outside of my modded Charvel is because the stuff I would be interested in I got priced out because of people that for the most part just have a bunch of shit just to have a "collection". The fact that I can put together a better version of something like a Kramer Baretta/BC Rich Gunslinger for 1/4 of what people are asking for them out of good parts is stupid. I don't need a Dan Lawrence paintjob enough to spend 3500 on a Gunslinger with the shit kicked out of it. When I can get a Gotoh trem, a good pickup and a body and neck for well under a grand.


and like @DrewJD82 mentioned, the people who play guitar as an aesthetic also make me sad. The drummer that's been in our band the last few years laughed because I've got a crew cut and "style" like a background character on King of the Hill, but I don't need someone to look at me and be like "wow! a rock and roller!". I would say guitar is definitely more than a hobby for me, but it also comes second fiddle to other time wasters in my life (Trout and Salmon fishing in rivers is a limited time offer, but my amps will turn on 365 days a year).

 

[DanTravis62]

I don't need a Dan Lawrence paintjob enough to spend 3500 on a Gunslinger with the shit kicked out of it.

JFC i've seen so many of these. It's painful, physically

 

[The~Kid]

JCM800s are overrated

 

[Fiesta Red]

A woman who knows how to handle a firearm is sexier than a woman who knows how to play the guitar.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Style is in the fingers/hands

Tone is the noise your gear makes

 

[Fiesta Red]

One day soon playing a black satin guitar will be as embarrassing as wearing a pair of Angel Flights while having a shit-stained piece of toilet paper dragging along stuck to one of your vinyl platform shoes.

 

[ners]

A tele with a humbucker is not a tele.

Much like a strat with a humbucker is a super strat, any real strat/tele requires a single coil strat/tele pickup.

This is a hill I will die on.