Re: Dr. Z says modeling amps are going to be the next wave...
I know the whole digital vs tubes thing gets peoples knickers in a twist.
Personally i feel you can play through pretty much anything and sound good if you can play good.
VIce versa if you cant.
Most people use gear that can offer far more expressiveness than their playing allows.
BEst remedy is to use whatever suits you and just play more. It is amazing how much you can simply do with the right phrasing and choosing the right notes at the right time.
Sometimes, a whole bunch of tone options and tweaking can get in the way of doing what is really important...playing.
Kinda like a fat guy who buys a golf cart cos his knees hurt when he walks.
Yeah i went there! flame on.
I agree. Tone is ultimately in your fingers and not your gear. The gear will get you the last 10-25% of the way. But if you're not a good player, then it won't matter how impressive your guitars and amps are. There are some guys on this forum and TGP who've bought and sold a ridiculous amount of top shelf gear. Even more than me! LOL! But there are a few whose clips I've heard who I honestly felt a combination of pity and confusion for. They evidently weren't very self-aware... because if they were, they wouldn't have posted those clips. NO one is perfect, especially non-pro, bedroom players. But honestly, a few would have been far better off skipping endless forum classified browsing, and more time woodshedding. I've never said anything, because even though I'm very direct... I'm not on a mission to hurt feelings and cut a player down publicly or in private. But unfortunately, I end up glossing over their posts after I become aware of their playing level because it's very apparent that their chops and their ears aren't anywhere near the level of their gear. In other words, they're not utilizing the actual potential of that primo gear. They might as well be playing gear that costs far less than what they spent, presumably seeking forum cred for gear, rather than actual playing.
I had been playing in bars, clubs, recital (classical) and concert stages for 10 years before I could afford anything better than a MIM level strat. I was jealous of guys' gear, but not always their chops.
Btw... the players that I'm speaking about haven't posted in this thread. Just a disclaimer in case someone wonders if I'm referring to them. My point is only to say that you're wasting your time and money on boutique gear if your playing is at a novice level. If you get a thrill out of owning great gear and have the money... great! I think that's the primary case with many of these players. But they're not buying the tonal upgrade that they THINK they are. A great player can plug a 200-series Ltd into a Katana and kill it. A novice can plug an $8K LP Custom Shop Reissue into a Two Rock and not sound near as good. Both in terms of how well they phrase, mute strings, pick attack, dynamics, etc... and in terms of having the ears to use the gain, tone controls, etc. I think that some on gear forums think that they will automatically get a tonal upgrade with better gear. Not necessarily true. A pro mountain bike racer can do more on a Huffy than a novice can do on a $10K Santa Cruz. And I'm not looking to critique the flawlessness of a guy's chops when he posts a clip aimed at showing the tones that his gear can produce. But if his playing is so novice as to distract from actually focusing on the tone (not to mention him/her not actually producing good tonnes), then that defeats the whole purpose. I see a ton of that on YouTube gear reviews as well.
