Gear snobs can be so foolish

[ThisDyingSoul76]

Just had a guy on Facebook see I had Seymours in one of my guitars and feel compelled to tell me he won't even look at a Seymour Duncan product because he won't buy anything that can be bought in Guitar Center.

I get that Guitar Center is the music industry answer to Walmart... But doesn't ruling out gear choices this way essentially amount to passing over an inexpensive piece of gear that could be the difference between you ultimate tone and spending a fortune for a jewel encrusted unicorn turd?

Why not at least consider the cheaper stuff and see how it works with your rig first before spending a fortune on picks made of Minotaur horn? If you've done the research and the only product that gets the sound you want is only available at the shop only carries boutique brands, great, have at it... But to suggest a piece of gear is not good enough to consider based on one store chain that carries it is complete idiocy in my opinion.

I like boutique gear as much as the next guy, but I'm not about to get rid of my Timmy or my TL Pedals stuff (local guy who builds and sells pedals from his basement) just because Guitar Venter or some other big box store starts to carry them...Nor will I pass over a Boss pedal without seeing if it gets me what I want before moving on to more expensive options.

 

[thanaton]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Then again, there's probably a lot of Seymour Duncan devotees who'd never consider Artec / GFS or Tonerider, just because they're cheaper or made in Korea.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

So if GC stocked PRS, Gibson, Fender, Marshall, Vox and Gretch does that mean he won't buy them too??

I liked that pedal parody video where about halfway through there was a bit where a guy said 'I liked this guys tone, until I saw what he was playing through'

 

[Diego]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Today I saw The Captain say a brilliant phrase while chatting with the folks from That Pedal Show:

"It should be illegal to have an opinion on any gear without trying it out first".

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Just had a guy on Facebook see I had Seymours in one of my guitars and feel compelled to tell me he won't even look at a Seymour Duncan product because he won't buy anything that can be bought in Guitar Center.

I get that Guitar Center is the music industry answer to Walmart... But doesn't ruling out gear choices this way essentially amount to passing over an inexpensive piece of gear that could be the difference between you ultimate tone and spending a fortune for a jewel encrusted unicorn turd?

Why not at least consider the cheaper stuff and see how it works with your rig first before spending a fortune on picks made of Minotaur horn? If you've done the research and the only product that gets the sound you want is only available at the shop only carries boutique brands, great, have at it... But to suggest a piece of gear is not good enough to consider based on one store chain that carries it is complete idiocy in my opinion.

I like boutique gear as much as the next guy, but I'm not about to get rid of my Timmy or my TL Pedals stuff (local guy who builds and sells pedals from his basement) just because Guitar Venter or some other big box store starts to carry them...Nor will I pass over a Boss pedal without seeing if it gets me what I want before moving on to more expensive options.

I only get the hate for Guitar Center to a certain extent. For the people who don't know anything about gear, GC does go after those people. That being said, it's not different than anyone who goes to Home Depot without knowing what kind of lawn mower they want. I go to Guitar Center. I know what I like in a piece of gear. I know what I'm looking for and I generally try to stay up to date on the common brands (PRS, Gibson, Fender, Schecter, ESP, Jackson, etc.) so I never really have any questions to ask.

Just respond to him that Joe Bonamossa must have a terrible tone. Along with Scott Ian, Yngwie, and plenty of others.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Slash recorded Appetite for Destruction with a fake Les Paul loaded with Alnico 2 Pros and a rented amp.

He then toured the world with two B-stock Les Pauls (also loaded with A2Ps), a Dunlop wah, a Boss GE-7 and a DD-3.

Your Facebook friend can eat a d*ck.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Slash recorded Appetite for Destruction with a fake Les Paul loaded with Alnico 2 Pros and a rented amp.

You say "rented amp" like it's some Peavey Bandit. Slash (among others) found #39 to be something of a holy grail as it had some mods that he really dug. Lots of LA guys in the mid-80's fell in love with that amp.

As for the GC thing, it's kind of a mixed bag. If you're in the MI business, you're not going to grow beyond a certain size without doing business with Guitar Center. Personally, my tastes do run a bit on the obscure side but there's plenty of quality kit to be found at GC...it's just not the stuff that they salesdrones are likely to be pushing.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Slash recorded Appetite for Destruction with a fake Les Paul loaded with Alnico 2 Pros and a rented amp.

He then toured the world with two B-stock Les Pauls (also loaded with A2Ps), a Dunlop wah, a Boss GE-7 and a DD-3.

Your Facebook friend can eat a d*ck.

You say "rented amp" like it's some Peavey Bandit. Slash (among others) found #39 to be something of a holy grail as it had some mods that he really dug. Lots of LA guys in the mid-80's fell in love with that amp.

As for the GC thing, it's kind of a mixed bag. If you're in the MI business, you're not going to grow beyond a certain size without doing business with Guitar Center. Personally, my tastes do run a bit on the obscure side but there's plenty of quality kit to be found at GC...it's just not the stuff that they salesdrones are likely to be pushing.

Appetite for Destruction was actually recorded with SIR #36. Slash had used #39 during pre-production, but it had already been rented by someone else when Slash asked for it. SIR sent him #36 (which had similar, but not identical mods) instead without telling him about the swap.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Personally I really LOVE closed-minded people when it comes to stuff like this... they're easy to piss off and make them go away!

 

[Timoteus96]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

I had somenody bashing on me and my taste of music for no ratiobal reason, just because I told them how much fun it can be to set up a cheap guitar to it's finest and get some nice pickups for it. Well, I do still believe that in case you are a beginner with litle cash it doesn't mean you have to have a crappy instrument.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Appetite for Destruction was actually recorded with SIR #36. Slash had used #39 during pre-production, but it had already been rented by someone else when Slash asked for it. SIR sent him #36 (which had similar, but not identical mods) instead without telling him about the swap.

And the 'fake' LP was a burst clone......made by a guy whose other builds regularly go for 5 figure sums. Generally about 10x what a Gibson of similar age goes for.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

And the 'fake' LP was a burst clone.

aka... a fake Les Paul.

.....made by a guy whose other builds regularly go for 5 figure sums. Generally about 10x what a Gibson of similar age goes for.

Because Slash plays one. Without Slash no one would have heard of the guy.

If Boss had discontinued the GE-7 or the DD-3 people would be paying too much for those too.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

^ Nice try.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Meh, I don't bother with what kind of limitations other people impose on themselves. No skin off my nose.

I on the other hand own guitars that cost 300€ and guitars that cost 3500€ and have upgraded pretty much all of them with either Duncan or Tom Anderson/Suhr pickups.
Only pickups I've ever kept stock were Duncan and ironically, the neck Rockfield SWC in my Patriot Limited which to me sounded like a sweet sweet overwound PAF with a little added top end while only reason I swapped the bridge SWC at all was that I wanted sth a tad hotter than a PAF.

I also don't see any kind of correlation between how much a guitar cost and how often I tend to pick it up.

In short, if it's good, it's good regardless of how much it cost or where I got it from.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Just had a guy on Facebook see I had Seymours in one of my guitars and feel compelled to tell me he won't even look at a Seymour Duncan product because he won't buy anything that can be bought in Guitar Center

Sign of times... *sigh*

 

[mechanic1908]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

If the dude won't buy " anything that can be bought in guitar center " what is he using presently? I'd make a list of all the brands they carry, but I'm on my mobile so I will refrain. I have never bought anything from GC , but they carry pretty much everything I own. Sad,,

Sent from my 6045I using Tapatalk

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

I had somenody bashing on me and my taste of music for no ratiobal reason, just because I told them how much fun it can be to set up a cheap guitar to it's finest and get some nice pickups for it. Well, I do still believe that in case you are a beginner with litle cash it doesn't mean you have to have a crappy instrument.

Yeah, I find it to be enjoyable and challenging to modify cheaper instruments... fact is I think I'd be a little afraid of messing too much with something more expensive! Also, I've been playing for a little over 30 years now and I STILL don't really have the extra cash to dump into buying more expensive gear, so I satisfy my needs with lesser expensive or used goods and setting them up well.

I think it's also important, though, to not become a "reverse gear snob." These are the ones who look down on people who can and do purchase higher priced (and presumably higher quality) gear as well, saying that they're stupid for wasting their money when cheap gear is just as good. I love my cheap gear, and I'm proud of what I've done (and can do) with it, but believe me when I say that if I could afford a $5K guitar (hell, even a $1.5K) I'd be all over it! Same with amps, effects, etc.

It seems to come down to people all over the spectrum trying to justify their decisions and tastes for gear purchases. The snobs (at either end) are the ones who justify it by cutting down the decisions of those who do/see things differently. The fact is that there's no need to justify your decisions or tastes to anyone. They are what they are... embrace them as a part of yourself but keep an open mind (and perhaps a closed mouth) to the decisions and tastes of others.




Oh, and by the way... the reverse gear snobs are just as easy to piss off and make go away as the other ones!

 

[voggin]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

^^^awesome post

 

[Brandenburg]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

i dont use SD,dimazio or any others..but use all Iron Gear with a few exceptions such as my EMG loaded SG.. All the others 'pup makers vary from good,ok, to great but i wanted to have all of my guitars with the same mfg of 'pups.I really like IG pickups for their cost as well as the tonal qualities..Tried 5 models and only one i was not pleased with

i can care less what other people use

on the subject of guitars.. i can say with absolute certainty that my squire stage master plays and sounds as well as any off the shelf sub $1200 guitar.. My DK-2 plays very well but needs a fret job.Once that happens, she will smoke sub $2000 guitars..

I'm dont like buying any off the shelf guitars and mainly buy used. last off the shelf model i bought was a Kramer focus 1000. Technically it wasnt "off the shelf" as I ordered it from the dealer.. most expensive guitar I had ever bought. I think I spent like 1400 which is equivient to like 26 or 2800 now adays
My next guitar will be a custom guitar to my specs.. Basically this will be a clone of DK-2, but with several alterations/improvements..

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Gear snobs can be so foolish

Just had a guy on Facebook see I had Seymours in one of my guitars and feel compelled to tell me he won't even look at a Seymour Duncan product because he won't buy anything that can be bought in Guitar Center.

I get that Guitar Center is the music industry answer to Walmart... But doesn't ruling out gear choices this way essentially amount to passing over an inexpensive piece of gear that could be the difference between you ultimate tone and spending a fortune for a jewel encrusted unicorn turd?

Why not at least consider the cheaper stuff and see how it works with your rig first before spending a fortune on picks made of Minotaur horn? If you've done the research and the only product that gets the sound you want is only available at the shop only carries boutique brands, great, have at it... But to suggest a piece of gear is not good enough to consider based on one store chain that carries it is complete idiocy in my opinion.

I like boutique gear as much as the next guy, but I'm not about to get rid of my Timmy or my TL Pedals stuff (local guy who builds and sells pedals from his basement) just because Guitar Venter or some other big box store starts to carry them...Nor will I pass over a Boss pedal without seeing if it gets me what I want before moving on to more expensive options.

Ask him how high his last album charted.

.