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Re: Emgs vs Duncans
Guys, I can't believe what I'm hearing!! I mean, like 15 years ago when I was in high school I was into metal and the like, so I am not putting your taste in music down (although I PROMISE you if you stick with guitar your tastes WILL change as you get older). BUT EVEN METAL has clean guitars on a somewaht regular basis. You mean to tell me that you would totally sell out the natural sound of your guitar just to go for that ONE hot tone??? What really kills me is that there are sooooo many good p'ups out there that do both well enough. DiMarzio's TONE ZONE is GREAT cranked up and not terrible clean (when split, that is). When I was playing for a living I chose the TONE ZONE because it cut through the mix and was versatile enough to cop all the top 40 stuff that i was forced to play (unfortunately for us Jazz guys there aint much money in our kinda groove, so if you want to eat you have to do the club scene, or at least here in philly you do :{ ). When playing the heavier rock cover gigs I often thought how much I would like that pickup if I were a metal head. In addition to the TONE ZONE, I hear the JB is very similar and if anything better. But from what I understand the JB does better in a mahogany/basswood or set-neck than it does in an alder/ ash bolt-neck. And with either of these p'ups you have the option of actually playing clean! Remember, even the big metal ballad has clean guitars in it. In fact I would say that at least 50% of metallica's songs have some clean in there.
Let me turn you guys on to some cool tunes...
Say you like agressive music? I did too. About 12 years ago my friend, who I thought was a total "jazz geek", was trying to get me into more complex, melodic music. Knowing that I liked distorted guitars and funky beats etc, he let me borrow a couple of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever records. One listen to "The Inner Mounting FLame" by Mahavishnu and I was hooked for life!!! I had just never heard anything like "The dance of Maya" or "Vital transformation" or "Meeting of the Spirits". That was the record that sparked me into opening my mind to different styles of music. No single event has had more positive impact on my playing than realizing that there was more to music than just different kinds of rock/ metal.
Had I persisted down my narrow-minded course I'm sure that today I would still be pretty much the same 4 scale knowin'-bar chord playin'-harmonic pinchin'- pentatonic lovin'- power chord maniac that I was 12 years ago.
Another thing... I was also soooooooooo into gear back then. I knew every single piece of gear of all types that was available. i spent all my time looking through catalogs or in music stores or gossipin' about gear or whatever. I should have been spending that time PLAYING!!! I'm sure that there are many objections, so don't anyone take offence, but I get the feeling that for many of you guys here are a lot more into gear than you are into playing!!!
See, you can BUY your way to sharp gear and great sound, but you cant buy skills. Those take years of passionate and persistent practice and study. YES I SAID "STUDY"!!! Another thing is that before that I thought I was to good to take a lesson or to open up a book and learn some theory. I was really afraid to learn new things because I was afraid to fail. i was afraid that this Identity that I had invented of myself as a great guitar player would be shattered.
It was shattered, but it was the best thing that eveer happened to me musically or otherwise!!
Sorry for the looong rant, but this was the soundest and most influential piece of advice I've ever heard. If just one person reads this and because of it picks up one record that he wouldn't have otherwise then this was worth it for me.
Guys, I can't believe what I'm hearing!! I mean, like 15 years ago when I was in high school I was into metal and the like, so I am not putting your taste in music down (although I PROMISE you if you stick with guitar your tastes WILL change as you get older). BUT EVEN METAL has clean guitars on a somewaht regular basis. You mean to tell me that you would totally sell out the natural sound of your guitar just to go for that ONE hot tone??? What really kills me is that there are sooooo many good p'ups out there that do both well enough. DiMarzio's TONE ZONE is GREAT cranked up and not terrible clean (when split, that is). When I was playing for a living I chose the TONE ZONE because it cut through the mix and was versatile enough to cop all the top 40 stuff that i was forced to play (unfortunately for us Jazz guys there aint much money in our kinda groove, so if you want to eat you have to do the club scene, or at least here in philly you do :{ ). When playing the heavier rock cover gigs I often thought how much I would like that pickup if I were a metal head. In addition to the TONE ZONE, I hear the JB is very similar and if anything better. But from what I understand the JB does better in a mahogany/basswood or set-neck than it does in an alder/ ash bolt-neck. And with either of these p'ups you have the option of actually playing clean! Remember, even the big metal ballad has clean guitars in it. In fact I would say that at least 50% of metallica's songs have some clean in there.
Let me turn you guys on to some cool tunes...
Say you like agressive music? I did too. About 12 years ago my friend, who I thought was a total "jazz geek", was trying to get me into more complex, melodic music. Knowing that I liked distorted guitars and funky beats etc, he let me borrow a couple of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever records. One listen to "The Inner Mounting FLame" by Mahavishnu and I was hooked for life!!! I had just never heard anything like "The dance of Maya" or "Vital transformation" or "Meeting of the Spirits". That was the record that sparked me into opening my mind to different styles of music. No single event has had more positive impact on my playing than realizing that there was more to music than just different kinds of rock/ metal.
Had I persisted down my narrow-minded course I'm sure that today I would still be pretty much the same 4 scale knowin'-bar chord playin'-harmonic pinchin'- pentatonic lovin'- power chord maniac that I was 12 years ago.
Another thing... I was also soooooooooo into gear back then. I knew every single piece of gear of all types that was available. i spent all my time looking through catalogs or in music stores or gossipin' about gear or whatever. I should have been spending that time PLAYING!!! I'm sure that there are many objections, so don't anyone take offence, but I get the feeling that for many of you guys here are a lot more into gear than you are into playing!!!
See, you can BUY your way to sharp gear and great sound, but you cant buy skills. Those take years of passionate and persistent practice and study. YES I SAID "STUDY"!!! Another thing is that before that I thought I was to good to take a lesson or to open up a book and learn some theory. I was really afraid to learn new things because I was afraid to fail. i was afraid that this Identity that I had invented of myself as a great guitar player would be shattered.
It was shattered, but it was the best thing that eveer happened to me musically or otherwise!!
Sorry for the looong rant, but this was the soundest and most influential piece of advice I've ever heard. If just one person reads this and because of it picks up one record that he wouldn't have otherwise then this was worth it for me.
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