If someone shows up to a audition w/Epiphone or Squire...

[guitarslinger]

anyway, a killer player would probably sound just as good on both...

BUT it's your opinion and you're entitled to it....I'm just disheartened to hear people still carry around this sentiment

But, you play a REAL ESP through a Splawn. I can assume you are a great player who likes hair metal.

I also play an epi through a blackstar..boosted with a $25 boss SD 1...and I play a warmoth beater frankenstrat....lol...

you don't have to assume..you can check out my clips and decide from there, regardless of gear =)

Dude, I DEFINITELY didn't say I had a problem with Boss pedals. Actually, the best players USUALLY have at least a couple boss pedals. Also, these days, any kind of Frankenstrat is usually an indication of a good player. I've never heard a Blackstar or seen one, so I can't comment on that.

 

[shreder75]

anyway, a killer player would probably sound just as good on both...

BUT it's your opinion and you're entitled to it....I'm just disheartened to hear people still carry around this sentiment

But, you play a REAL ESP through a Splawn. I can assume you are a great player who likes hair metal.

I also play an epi through a blackstar..boosted with a $25 boss SD 1...and I play a warmoth beater frankenstrat....lol...

you don't have to assume..you can check out my clips and decide from there, regardless of gear =)

Dude, I DEFINITELY didn't say I had a problem with Boss pedals. Actually, the best players USUALLY have at least a couple boss pedals. Also, these days, any kind of Frankenstrat is usually an indication of a good player. I've never heard a Blackstar or seen one, so I can't comment on that.

never said you did...just making a point that while I do have an expensive ESP and a boutique half stack, I also play a cheap guitar into a cheap pedal into a cheap amp =)

 

[Mailman1971]

My 2 cents...
for the 1st 15 years of playing I didnt care about gear. Just PLAYING and PRACTICING.
I had a Kramer focus 3000 I played religiously thru a Crate GFX212 combo.
Ran a Boss pedal in front. Think it was DS-1.
My tone wasnt the 'greatest" But I could play and handle pretty much damn near any song list we went thru.
And I was outplaying the boys with the BIG RIGS.
It wasnt untill the last 10 years that I started to become a "gear head" and focused more on getting bigger and better gear rather than playing my ass off.
Sometimes I miss that old part of me that said piss on the gear and just practice and shred!
But its much more fun getting new bigger and better gear!!

 

[marvcus]

So, here's another question for you guys......


guy shows up with a really "crappy" rig, can play, but has tone for shit, and thinks it sounds good, but regardless of how nice your rig is and how well you play, it makes everything else sound bad. Do you still play with him?

"...paging Mr. Vai..."

This WAS Steve Vai. Great player, awful tone. Then Frank Zappa got hold of him and told him his tone sucked.

So YES, I would play with someone like that.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

I used to play out with an Epi LP Standard (birdseye top) all the time. I gutted all of it's original electronics, pickups & changed the tuners and it was a really great guitar. Many times people couldn't believe it was an Epiphone (it was an older one, I might add, late 80/early 90's I think) and would sound that good. Five piece body, maple top w/birdseye veneer, I'm pretty sure. I sold it after 8 years of ownership to a guy on eBay who promptly gave me a negative for not boiling the grunge out of the bridge intonation screws (right...how many of you boil your intonation screws before selling a guitar that's 18 years old?) and wanted a full refund.

I wish I had the guitar back, quite frankly. I got an Orville LP Goldtop (correct headstock) that I've done it all to as well, but that Epi was a player and a half.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

fuck no..absolutely nothing wrong with epiphone or squire

I have an epiphone LP ultra that sounds and plays killer since I upgraded the pickups..honetly it plays better than some true blue gibsons that cost five times as much that I've played...and I played a $179 squire strat that was set up amazingly well and played like butter...

some people put too much emphasis on this sort of thing..skills are skills, tone is tone...

I've seen people playing on $2000+ boutique kinda guitars (PRS, Suhrs, etc etc) that can't play their fuckin' way out of a wet paper bag...and I've seen people play on shitty beaters that absolutely rip....

quite frankly, entertaining the idea of dismissing someone from an audition just because their guitar didn't cost thousands of dollars is about as snobby as it gets...

not accusing the OP of being a snob, but just calling it as I see it...

Perfect

 

[shreder75]

I used to play out with an Epi LP Standard (birdseye top) all the time. I gutted all of it's original electronics, pickups & changed the tuners and it was a really great guitar. Many times people couldn't believe it was an Epiphone (it was an older one, I might add, late 80/early 90's I think) and would sound that good. Five piece body, maple top w/birdseye veneer, I'm pretty sure. I sold it after 8 years of ownership to a guy on eBay who promptly gave me a negative for not boiling the grunge out of the bridge intonation screws (right...how many of you boil your intonation screws before selling a guitar that's 18 years old?) and wanted a full refund.

I wish I had the guitar back, quite frankly. I got an Orville LP Goldtop (correct headstock) that I've done it all to as well, but that Epi was a player and a half.

that thing is sexy looking! love that top

 

[guitar_god123456]

So, here's another question for you guys......


guy shows up with a really "crappy" rig, can play, but has tone for shit, and thinks it sounds good, but regardless of how nice your rig is and how well you play, it makes everything else sound bad. Do you still play with him?

dial it in for him to get it as good sounding as you can

 

[Lance-a-not]

As long as they can wail and sound good doing it I don't give a rats ass what they play

 

[Mailman1971]

That old Crate GFX212 I sold to a buddy of mine a long time back, well we were playing about 6 months ago at his place and I saw it in the corner. Asked him if it still worked. He said yeah but sounds like shit. Well we dug it out. Dialed it in and continued the rest of the night on that old Crate. Still sounded like me but we were doing all old thrash 80's metal and it sounded good for that. So alot of the tone is in the hands of the player. I wouldnt snub anyone no matter what they showed up with. If he couldn't play then I would show him the door.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Ok. Now I have had time to think about how absurd the question is, it reminds me of a good friend of mine.
This guy fucking rips. I mean when he was 15(and I was 22) he was pegging Randy Rhoades stuff. Plays classical,jazz,metal you name it. A real "do it all" guitarist. Over the years he has run into some real bad luck, from having his gear stolen (x2), to employment issues, all kind of stuff.
I have seen this guy play on some of the best gear and some of the worst. He always makes whatever he is playing sound killer.
The last band he was in was on the verge of making it when their management screwed them. He didn't even own a guitar, he was borrowing one because his stuff was stolen.
Don't judge a book from it's cover cuz you might miss out on a diamond in the rough.

 

[MARK1970]

So, here's another question for you guys......


guy shows up with a really "crappy" rig, can play, but has tone for shit, and thinks it sounds good, but regardless of how nice your rig is and how well you play, it makes everything else sound bad. Do you still play with him?

I would record the band and playback to him and point out the ugly sound from the speakers is you. If he is not open to change, I would get rid of him. Especially if you get paid to play. I actually walked out on a bands entire set just because their guitarist guitar sound was, not just annoying, it made everybody sound bad. I was not the only one who walked out. About 90% of the people walked out within 5 minutes.

 

[badger71]

I don't give a shit what gear someone uses. However, you can usually tell within about 5 minutes into an audition if they can play.

 

[mysticaxe]

IMO, gear comes more into play in the area of being able to keep up with the band. I had a bass player once show up to an audition with a 8" practice amp... Looking around the room between the 2 4x12's and the 6 piece drum kit, I had to try really hard to suppress a laugh about the little amp keeping up, which it didn't. We ran the guy through his paces, and said thanks for coming down (not a musical fit). Moral of the story is, if he were good, we would have told him that he needed a little more junk in the trunk...

 

[guitarslinger]

I don't give a shit what gear someone uses. However, you can usually tell within about 5 minutes into an audition if they can play.

Try 5 seconds.

 

[EXPcustom]

I don't give a shit what gear someone uses. However, you can usually tell within about 5 minutes into an audition if they can play.

That is what I mean that even if they have crappy gear if there playing is that good it of course makes up for the crappy gear.

This question for everyone so I can clarify myself:

I guess the point of the topic is from the point the guy walks in up to the point he plugs in before he plays a single note.

Do you look at his gear and automatically think to your self "Ah jeez not this shit again..." I know I have been guilty of it and proven wrong but that is rarely the case.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't give a shit what gear someone uses. However, you can usually tell within about 5 minutes into an audition if they can play.

That is what I mean that even if they have crappy gear if there playing is that good it of course makes up for the crappy gear.

This question for everyone so I can clarify myself:

I guess the point of the topic is from the point the guy walks in up to the point he plugs in before he plays a single note.

Do you look at his gear and automatically think to your self "Ah jeez not this shit again..." I know I have been guilty of it and proven wrong but that is rarely the case.

Absolutely not. Honestly though, I can't remember the last time I dealt with "blind tryouts".

 

[chunkomatic]

i have but one instant predjudice when it comes to auditions. no camo shorts. 99.9% of the time that a guy shows up in camo shorts he's a white trash, beer-swilling goon. you better have a full set of teeth and speak in complete sentences if you show up to my gig in camo shorts.

 

[BenoA]

Interesting thead! Very interesting.

So how do you say to your singer that he should not play the guitar and only sing!

The guy has a very good american strat but damn, when he plays...

 

[Anonymous]

i have but one instant predjudice when it comes to auditions. no camo shorts. 99.9% of the time that a guy shows up in camo shorts he's a white trash, beer-swilling goon. you better have a full set of teeth and speak in complete sentences if you show up to my gig in camo shorts.

Hopefully, you don't play metal. Because you might have just lost out on one of the greats....