Gear Advice You Wish You Could Have Given Yourself

[Sirion]

"Follow your ears, not the Internet." I spent my teens using way too little distortion for what I was hoping to achieve, because of the continual advice to use less gain than you think you need.

 

[Dahla]

"Follow your ears, not the Internet." I spent my teens using way too little distortion for what I was hoping to achieve, because of the continual advice to use less gain than you think you need.

Goes for anything. «Don’t scoop your mids». Or «jb in les pauls su*ks».

Trust. Your. Ears. It’s the easiest to give, but also the hardest advice to trust.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[solspirit]

Just keep practicing every single chance you get.

 

[Securb]

Do not sell the Travis Bean

 

[Clint 55]

Stick with the keyboards. Don’t get into guitar, there is a whole heap of weird tone obsession going down wit dat thang…

Recently went back to keys exclusively. Guitar was the last instrument I learned. I'm glad I did though. I feel it rounded me out as a musician and helped me understand popular music more. I listen mostly to popular music so that was pretty important. I feel I achieved my goals. Understand music as a whole, learned recording, main axz are Hammond and piano, and I'm also proficient at guitar and bass, although I don't practice them anymore.

 

[Juanhanglo]

I am surprised that beginner me made such good gear decisions back then. Who woulda thunk?

5 years ago me apparently knew what today me really wanted. Lol

Post 2017 i started acquiring gibson type guitars, which i really like, but its the older decisions that get the playing time now.

I guess the biggest things i could tell my younger self are:

take your time choosing gear. Buy what you really want.

buy the stuff you want because it will be harder to find later.

Focus on the mechanics of playing and learning the fretboard.

 

[alex1fly]

Well gents, lets hear it



One thing I'd definitely stress to myself, if I could go back and acquire gear with the knowledge I have now, is that "since you mod the **** out of everything anyway, just make sure your purchases have good bones, and go from there."

This is a great one for me, too. I started playing piano in 1995 and have been adding instruments every couple of years and without a doubt, my most consistent quality musical output has come when I've been using good gear. But I've wasted * a lot * of time and energy trying to make budget gear sound good just to save a few hundred bucks, or selling gear I KNEW was good just to try something else out of curiosity.

 

[IMENATOR]

Just get a tube amp and learn how to EQ it.

 

[solspirit]

I'm seeing a lot of advice given from the perspective that you had a decent sized bank account and money to throw down on anything back then. That wasn't the case with most people.

 

[devastone]

Spend more time practicing than messing with gear, your tone will fix itself.

 

[jeremy]

that is great advice for anyone

 

[dave74]

I'm seeing a lot of advice given from the perspective that you had a decent sized bank account and money to throw down on anything back then. That wasn't the case with most people.

Good point , I know my options were very limited in those early years. So my advice to greenhorn dave74 is to just work in one direction while building a setup. We've all been through the whole thing where we keep changing random elements like pickups or pedals and then suddenly finding ourselves preferring the other guitarist amp over our own. So take your time and select a guitar and pickups that really are well suited for the style, and then use it to find an amp that really meshes well with it. It's different when you're older and can have many guitars, pickups, boosters and a few different amps and cabs. When you are a cash-strapped teen you need to make good choices the first time around, although these days it';s much easier to flip gear that you aren't happy with.

 

[solspirit]

^^ plus.. Own your tone regardless what you're playing on, be BB King or Dime in that moment. Believing that you have the ability and capability to do it is the first step. If you don't believe in yourself nobody else will.

 

[formula73]

Don’t buy an Ampeg 810 cab. You’re too short to move it effectively.