How have you attained your rig knowledge?

[LLEADD]

I gotta say for me, I didn't know crap before the internet, in hindsight I can't believe how much I know now, even just the basics.
So is everyone here in the same boat?

For me I live in a small Canadian city so there's not much in terms of guitar/amp culture, I guess most of what I learned back in the day was from magazines (Guitar Player) and my teacher.
Once the internet took off I couldn't believe all the stuff I missed out on, then again it didn't effect all the major players we listen to, they grew up with even less or did they?
The only thing that makes sense to me is that all the major players, and the knowledgeable people on forums like this, must've been situated in a big city where things were happening, word getting around, the sharing of knowledge through word of mouth. But that wouldn't explain guys who know a ton living in butt-fuck Idaho so to speak, no offence to Idahoians(?).

Anyways, just curious, it's been bugging me.
The thread about modded marshall albums started by danyeo got me thinking again, how do you guys know all this stuff?

 

[sg guy]

-I'm old and no longer brootlz, I grew up in an era of no internet,.. we had pong,..no DWI's,.. We didn't have air bags, we had metal dashes!!.... You could smoke anywhere,... The first song you learned was smoke on the water.. -(how did kids learn how to play before smoke on the water?)-

-we learned the old fashion way,.. By pretending we new-(but of course we didn't)-and made really bad gear choices based on how cool it looked,..a HONDO II guitar,..that cost us frustration, tone,money,heartache and failure,.. If ya made it past that stage,.. Well if ya do anything long enough UA can't help but get better...

 

[tallcoolone]

-I'm old and no longer brootlz, I grew up in an era of no internet,.. we had pong,..no DWI's,.. We didn't have air bags, we had metal dashes!!.... You could smoke anywhere,... The first song you learned was smoke on the water.. -(how did kids learn how to play before smoke on the water?)-

-we learned the old fashion way,.. By pretending we new-(but of course we didn't)-and made really bad gear choices based on how cool it looked,..a HONDO II guitar,..that cost us frustration, tone,money,heartache and failure,.. If ya made it past that stage,.. Well if ya do anything long enough UA can't help but get better...

I definitely resemble that remark lol. IMO YouTube is like cheating!

 

[Mailman1971]

I was happy in the 80s playing. Never knew my tone sucked till I found out on the Internet.

 

[Chris6870]

Studying Musicians Friend and AMS catalogs in the 90's..and scouring music shops, Much easier now with the interwebs and all.

 

[Racerxrated]

I bought a Lee Jackson modded 2204 on eBay back in 2009. Cool amp, my first gear purchase in years. Prior to that I had an ADA MP1 and a mosvalve power amp, couple guitars... Same rig since 91. After that 2204 I started learning about modded marshalls, and it took off from there...found Rigtalk at some point and started chasing any and every cool amp out there. And cabs. And guitars.....

 

[sleewell2]

trial and error

talking to other guitar players at gigs and seeing what they use

forums

 

[LLEADD]

I read EVH used a phase shifter so I bought one. A BOSS PHASER.

 

[Bishop5150]

Internet for sure. Mainly this forum once I found it.

 

[Beandust]

I'd have to say I like this topic and have definitely wondered the same,as it would make sense there were more things shared on a personal level or maybe even from going to gigs and scoping gear and techniques,the Internet has been like a time machine.lol.I remember being a kid in a po dunk town hearing van halen 1and wondering does an A5 cord really sound like that.The amps and guitars I could hear and play couldn't even get close,and even the beloved distortion pedals,which his sound is not from.The thing I like is all the pysco delic sounds and gear was every where at that time and the masses were looking for the brown sound.Now it seems it's the other way around.I know that is something I won't forget,and love the fact mxr has an evh overdrive which never existed in his signal chain,and he says that verbatim.I wonder sometimes if I had not lived thru that 70s sound that was exploded by a modded marshall into a power crunch with the beloved British distortion would I hear it the same way? I don't know,i will say there have been crazy good players if not better to come along but I don't know if I will live to see another person ahead of technology that has people chasing it as deeply involved as that era was.To me the irony is all I had were peavey amps and couldn't get a van halen sound no matter what pedal or guitar bla bla bla,but then wait you can with a signiture 5150 peavey.NOT!

 

[Mailman1971]

Internet for sure. Mainly this forum once I found it.

Quoted for the truth!!

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

My progression of amps. No internet when I started. Just trial and error.

First

Sounded like shit.

Added this and I thought I was in heaven.

then I discovered Racks

and power amps

And thought that was the pinnacle of tone.

Till I got this

can't remember what I had for a power amp.

Then I got this exact setup.

Then I took 10 years off of electric guitar. I didn't learn my lesson with the previous Line 6 rack and once again I bought one of these buzz saw preamps

I got rid of it 2 weeks later and vowed to NEVER buy another Line6 product as long as I live.

After that I've had 2 Mark V heads and a Triple Rectifier. I quickly realized that I do not need 2 loud heads and it's ridiculous to own them. I liked the idea of modeling, but did not want a Line6 or another rack. So I took a chance on this and that's where I'm at now. Some days it sounds awesome, other days it sounds like shit. I think that's my experience with everything I've ever owned as far as amps.

 

[dstroud]

trial and error of years of recording and gigging. Learning how amps/pedals/pickups work together, what combinations sound the most consistent from room to room. Lotsa $$$ gone lol But now I know what works for me

 

[Zachman]

Lots of experimenting w/ various gear, combinations of various gear, and methods to route it all.

Reading up on the gear used by those; whose sounds caught my attention, and using my ears to tell me if I achieved what I was after.

Back in the day, mid 80's when MIDI guitar rigs were 'the thing' to do, I remember going into Lab Sound (1st retail Mesa/Boogie outlet store), and hearing a stereo rig w/ TC 2290, Eventide H3000, Lexicon PCM70 etc..., and thinking to myself that I had no idea that 'that' was possible, and it was a game changer for me. I asked questions and tried to understand the 'Why' the particular selections were made, and 'How' they were routed together, as well as 'Why' they were routed the way they were. It was what started me down the road to discerning the things which made up the sounds I was hearing, which made figuring out tone recipes less of a daunting task.

 

[bdm]

I was a teenager in the early 90s. Lots of watching closely and listening carefully, reading everything I could get my hands on and spending a lot of time at my neighborhood guitar shops every weekend.

 

[gtrwun]

The hard and expensive way. That's all I can say about that.........

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

Just to reiterate

DO NOT buy one of these. I can't remember how much I paid for this POFS back in the day

 

[Mailman1971]

Just to reiterate

DO NOT buy one of these. I can't remember how much I paid for this POFS back in the day

I remember when they came out. Supposed to be the right hand of God tone.

 

[sg guy]

-I don't know what the hell that thing at the bottom is but I keep looking to see if Santa left me a Lil sumthing,sumthing under it.





quote="billsbigego"]My progression of amps. No internet when I started. Just trial and error.

First

Sounded like shit.

Added this and I thought I was in heaven.

then I discovered Racks

and power amps

And thought that was the pinnacle of tone.

Till I got this

can't remember what I had for a power amp.

Then I got this exact setup.

Then I took 10 years off of electric guitar. I didn't learn my lesson with the previous Line 6 rack and once again I bought one of these buzz saw preamps

I got rid of it 2 weeks later and vowed to NEVER buy another Line6 product as long as I live.

After that I've had 2 Mark V heads and a Triple Rectifier. I quickly realized that I do not need 2 loud heads and it's ridiculous to own them. I liked the idea of modeling, but did not want a Line6 or another rack. So I took a chance on this and that's where I'm at now. Some days it sounds awesome, other days it sounds like shit. I think that's my experience with everything I've ever owned as far as amps.

[/quote]

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

Just to reiterate

DO NOT buy one of these. I can't remember how much I paid for this POFS back in the day

I remember when they came out. Supposed to be the right hand of God tone.

Yeah just like this chainsaw which I own. Good campfire music player though