Do Forum Guys Obsess to much over details

[Ventura]

Great thread, and my answer would be 'yes'. The reasoning behind it, as I see, is that cats who make a living playing music don't have time to sit behind computer screens, or perhaps, don't need to sit behind computer screens as much as 'we' do. I'm generalizing about the majority of us here - save for the chubtones, dstrouds, Peter Thorns, Mark Days, etc.

Peace,
V.

You have to take me off of this list. I spend way too much time on Rig Talk and really consider this the modern day equivalent of hanging out with guitar friends. In the old days I was constantly talking to other friends who played about who used this and who used that and who we had just seen and what they were using. The problem is that most of those friends have grown up and joined the real world and either don't play at all anymore or barely play. What these forums provide us is a place for all of us gear obsessed "survivors" to meet others as deranged as we are and talk about what we still want to talk about. If I would stop spending so much time doing this, I would have my next CD done already which is full of acoustic steel and nylon string stuff in a style my own wife describes as "panty melters". I have been informed she doesn't want me gigging these songs anywhere unless she is able to go

So I appreciate being included on the above list with those great players, I don't deserve because i think they are all working harder than I am.

Fair enough... But let's just say you DID manage to actually put some music out there (and continue to do so!!). And that means during the pre, actual, and post production, you WERE doing something other than fapping away with your fellow (and Laura) gear gufaaaawing brethren on this forum...!!

Peace
V.

 

[JakeAC5253]

I think that there is definitely a middle ground. Every variable is contributing to the sound and feel in some way, so if you value your sound then you owe it to yourself to research every link to make sure that every part of your rig is coming together to form a larger whole. Denying this is foolishness. If you don't use your ears to do this and instead rely on someone else's ears, or a products' reputation or worse, a flowery worded writeup that you read on the internet, then you are heading further down into the rabbit hole. There has to be a balance between those things on the sides of your head and the thing that lies between them.... if you don't use your ears and you don't use your brain then why bother?

 

[Shawn Lutz]

Thank the Internet for it. Before the net things were much simpler, you didn't care what Joe Blow guitarists were using. I gigged in the mid 80's to the early 90's with basically single channel JCM800 heads and stock Marshall 4x12's, Boss SD-1, GE7, DM3 and a volume pedal and an Ibanez HD 1500 delay/harmonizer. It sound good that's all I cared about and didn't spend hours or days getting my tone. Hell I didnt even know they were 2203's and 2204's that I had or Celestion 75w speakers until later when the net and guitar forums began and we'd talk about discuss it.


Fast forward to today and I have a room full of amps and cabs. I've tweaked, tube swapped and tweaked some more. Thank god I never got into rack shit. I still have my old stuff. I came to the conclusion that I'll sound like myself regardless of what I plug into. I just want to play fuckin guitar, not tryout every gizmo that may or may not have any effect on my tone.

 

[kasperjensen]

The pro's that I know and have had the pleasure of learning from, generally have a different mindset to that of a "forumite".
What I noticed the most is that some (not all) are not guitarists. They are musicians who have been given the role of producing the guitar for the given song.
Instead of just switching to the lead patch, they will think "Ok, this is the song. What should I play that would fit the song the most? An octave funk thing with driving 16ths? A single swell to complement the synth? A fierce power chord?"
Once they know, they quickly call up something that is close enough (rehearsals/recording sessions are expensive), and play the damn part in time and with no clams. Job done.

You need gear that won't let you down, and it needs to be easily replaced should it fail.

If you are in a famous band, it's a different story. People normally come to see you specifically. You are no longer someone who also happens to be there. Like The Edge... He can afford to go nuts on gear, AND its in his job description. He is integral to the sound. And so is his gear.

The reason a lot of us here obsess too much, is that we have nothing better to do. Idle hands...

 

[steve_k]

Justin should send all that mess to Friedman to sort him out a proper board and rack.

Take Justin Derrico for example, he has been on tour with Pink for 2 and 1/2 years now almost supporting over 160 tour dates. His pedalboard has some boutique pedals on it, but for the whole live show he plays one Les Paul, and as you can see his pedalboard has no bypass loopers, no tidy wraps in case something goes wrong it can be fixed quickly. He uses two Bogner Shiva's, not 20th anniversary and his tone on the Pink live DVD just kills for everything he does. He has some cool pedals, but when you look at a lot of the pedalboards we all post, everything is so tidy, like we spend more time putting them together than playing......

I know there are a lot of different styles of music we each play, etc. but the point holds true for most touring musicians, you just do not see the obsession over all the gear back and forth as you do from most of us. And do not say their tone suffers from it because usually this is not the case at all.....

Of course this is IMHO only and it is Friday.... Note: I know Bogners are Boutique, but Shivas are so old news, well not the 20th, but there are not 15 or more in the classifieds right now, so they cannot be too popular.

 

[petejt]

Some people love playing, some love gear and having a tidy rig, and some love both. The Steve Stevens rig above is a perfect example of a dude who loves both.

 

[petethorn]

I like to call this phenomenon-

"Worrying about the WRONG SHIT".

We all do it to some degree, some more than others. It's best to try and get a handle on it though, as life improves exponentially I've found when you "concentrate on the RIGHT SHIT", and don't "worry about THE WRONG SHIT".

IMHO, of course.

 

[Ventura]

I like to call this phenomenon-

"Worrying about the WRONG SHIT".

We all do it to some degree, some more than others. It's best to try and get a handle on it though, as life improves exponentially I've found when you "concentrate on the RIGHT SHIT", and don't "worry about THE WRONG SHIT".

IMHO, of course.

Ain't this life in a nutshell plain and simple?

Nicely said!
Mo

 

[ttosh]

I like to call this phenomenon-

"Worrying about the WRONG SHIT".

We all do it to some degree, some more than others. It's best to try and get a handle on it though, as life improves exponentially I've found when you "concentrate on the RIGHT SHIT", and don't "worry about THE WRONG SHIT".

IMHO, of course.

This is 5% of why you are where you are right now. The other 95% is raw raging freaking talent. I think you summed up my overall thoughts of this initial post in the above. I am however guilty of worrying about the WRONG SHIT way too often, but I am working on changing that daily.

BTW I have not grabbed your new CD yet, I am guessing the lesson option is gone now correct?

 

[petethorn]

I like to call this phenomenon-

"Worrying about the WRONG SHIT".

We all do it to some degree, some more than others. It's best to try and get a handle on it though, as life improves exponentially I've found when you "concentrate on the RIGHT SHIT", and don't "worry about THE WRONG SHIT".

IMHO, of course.

This is 5% of why you are where you are right now. The other 95% is raw raging freaking talent. I think you summed up my overall thoughts of this initial post in the above. I am however guilty of worrying about the WRONG SHIT way too often, but I am working on changing that daily.

BTW I have not grabbed your new CD yet, I am guessing the lesson option is gone now correct?

Hiya, ya for now no more lesson, but the CD is on CDbaby! And it's on itunes, amazon, etc.

thanks for the kind words! I worry about the wrong shit all the time too. in life in general, it's a daily battle. I like to think it'll get better the older I get- this is why I think you see some people chill out when they get over 65- they just say, "ah, fuck it, what difference does it make?" about 90% of the stuff they used to worry about.
I think when you get old and you start to see your friends and family pass away you get a whole new perspective on
what's important and what's not.

i guess that's taking it WAY beyond how neat your pedalboard is, hahaha but I think it's actually the same thing....

 

[some dude]

The reason a lot of us here obsess too much, is that we have nothing better to do. Idle hands...

I've found this to be extremely true.

When all I do is sit around my house and jam by myself everything about my playing/tonality goes under the microscope. Minor little details about the way my gear sounds can really irritate the hell out of me, and next thing you know I'm ripping everything apart and trying to "fix" what can't be fixed... only to eventually wind up a couple of days later with everything in pretty much the same configuration they were in before.

When playing with a band however it's different. Tone takes a back seat to musicality and my tonal requirements are simplified into either "it works" or "it doesn't work".

 

[FourT6and2]

I'm not a very good guitar player. I am, however, a fairly decent photographer. And I laugh every time a friend of mine who is just starting with photography asks me questions about gear.

What type of lens do I need? Is this one better than this one? What about the glass coating? Sensor types? Megapixels? Tripods? All that shit...

At the end of the day, no matter what you're doing, be it playing guitar, photography, racing cars, painting, writing... it's really all about your creativity and skill. Not the gear or tools you use. That's why professionals generally don't obsess over gear. It's all just a tool you use to do what you do. I have very little emotional connection to the camera equipment I use. I'll use Nikon or Canon or Pentax or whatever just as long as it works and does what I need it to.

Gearheads, though, are another story.