Guitarists.....

[L.W. Badger]

I've been thinking about this.......a musician is a person who can beat on a log and create a rhythym.....so it is a guitarist can strum on just about any stringed instrument, and create a sound that appeals to the masses, if they're a musician........(caveat: a log-pounder with "talent").

Good equipment, bad equipment, it doesn't matter to the guitarist intent on making a sound, but it's easier done with better equipment. We've heard, a good guitarist can make a poor guitar sound good, but not the same with a bad guitarist with good equipment.

My question to the "guitaristas" of the modern age of economics.......i.e. you can't afford top of the line equipment.........do you want to "sound good"......or "BE good"........It may sound obvious, but I was brought up in an environment of "Be, Know, Do"........what say you?

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Guitarists.....

For me, I'm torn in half. When I started out I wanted to be a technician, but didn't feel I necessarily needed the best gear to be successful at that.

These days I'm torn between wanting to have a rock solid sound and technique, but sometimes it seems it'd be better to just throw caution to the wind, and just have fun playing the fundamentals and craft audience-thrilling songs.

Who knows? I'm just a conflicted weirdo - it's probably all good.

 

[L.W. Badger]

Re: Guitarists.....

Ok, I'll throw this out there.......Orianthi........A guirtarist who has the chops, yet makes a commercial sounding record for the sake of commercial success to get her noticed....sell-out or smart marketing?

Yes I've got a huge crush on the woman herself, she's beautiful, has her peculiaritic flaws.......but that's all part of her natuarlist beauty, and what makes her "acheivable" to reach out to........I could go on about her in-ad-infinitum , but the gist here is........what makes a good guitarist, and their equipment....... good.........?

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Guitarists.....

Ok, I'll throw this out there.......Orianthi........A guirtarist who has the chops, yet makes a commercial sounding record for the sake of commercial success to get her noticed....sell-out or smart marketing?

but the gist here is........what makes a good guitarist, and their equipment....... good.........?

She's not a sellout mostly because the end result is something that helps her life out overall - musically and financially. So, even if she was like, "I'm gonna lose the chops and from now on just play three-chord rock with a keyboard", still wouldn't be selling-out simply because she can do whatever she feels like doing.

A good guitarist is one that is capable at whatever he or she is playing at any given moment. I mean, how many of us have had that random stranger listen to us play and say that we were a good guitarist? You're thinking like wtf?!

While your random dribbling is good enough for a stranger, it very well may not be good for a world-class recording session.

Good gear is also one of those things where it could be subjective, but probably more often than not, good gear is usually regarded as gear in good shape and can thereby be tweaked easier than rusty, outdated equipment. But, bad gear has been known to get good tone for some revered players.

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Guitarists.....

Also, in addition to good equipment, is that it's gear tested and generally approved to be fully able accomodate a musicians particular style - musically and even visually - so much so that it is considered good for said player and styles, but is sometimes found good to the one-off player.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Guitarists.....

I´d rather hear a good song with crappy tone than the oother way around.

Likewise, I´d rather be a better musician than have a better tone or better gear.

Thankfully, these things do not necessarily cancel each other out

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Guitarists.....

Where's the option to have one's playing skills and sound grow and develop together, in parallel ?

I think it also depends on what a person wants to achieve. They might want to impress with their chops, or at the other extreme, they might want to get inside the listener and move them with simple things that have a sound that can resonate with the listener's heart or soul. So i would imagine a path between the two extremes would suit most of us, depending what each of us individually hope to achieve.

As for moulding one's style for success v's not compromising (for reasons of integrity or whatever), that is a choice each indiviual can make for themselves ... I always think that not being famous is a benefit, in that one can do whatever one wants, there is nothing to lose. It's only a problem once a preson becomes known for doing something, then there is pressure to keep doing the same thing to maintain the level of success.

I saw some well-known jazz guitarists when i was in my teens, and as much as i was awed by their playing skills, i was stunned at how they seemed to have no idea about pleasing tone, they seemed to just plug into any amp that would make them louder and that was it. They would use the most dreadful amps and never even seem to tweak the controls looking for a particular sound. Hopefully even traditional jazz players nowdays are a little more enlightened in how a good tone could enhance their musical skills.

Personally, i have always wanted to be good and sound good, and to get better and sound better. For me, the two go hand-in-hand and i wouldn't have it any other way. But hey, that's just me, and i rarely seem to fit in anywhere anyway, so don't listen to anything i say.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Guitarists.....

a log-pounder with "talent"

I wouldn't go around telling your friends that you're a talented log-pounder.

-Hunter

 

[blueman335]

Re: Guitarists.....

I´d rather hear a good song with crappy tone than the oother way around.

Likewise, I´d rather be a better musician than have a better tone or better gear.

+1. Try as we may, the most important part of making music can't be bought.

 

[StratTom]

Re: Guitarists.....

Honestly, I want to a better guitar player first and then own the better guitars. I had a friend who told me the only way I would get better at playing guitar would be to go and buy an expensive guitar, like he did.

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Guitarists.....

Honestly, I want to a better guitar player first and then own the better guitars. I had a friend who told me the only way I would get better at playing guitar would be to go and buy an expensive guitar, like he did.

:lol: your friend reads too many guitar advertisements.

I'd rather have great chops then great tone, but as it stands now, my tone is much better than my average-chops. The good news is my chops get a bit better every day.

 

[JordanM82]

Re: Guitarists.....

I would also like to be a better guitarist first, but a great guitarist also imo knows what good tone is and uses it to enhance his ability to perform... (not play but perform, there is a difference)

 

[Bludave]

Re: Guitarists.....

Practice makes Perfect! Your skills as an individual can be improved upon greatly with a solid effort of practice. The right note played on a great guitar through a great rig will always sound right. The wrong note..... no matter what you play it on or through is still going to be wrong!

 

[sosomething]

Re: Guitarists.....

Being good begets sounding good.

If you are a hack, you will hack it up on even the nicest gear.

If you have good hands, you will sound pretty nice on anything that's at least playable and will stay in tune.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Guitarists.....

I had a friend who told me the only way I would get better at playing guitar would be to go and buy an expensive guitar, like he did.

That is totally false! The guys that say that either work in a music store or want to flaunt their expensive gear.

Like Sosomething said, if it's playable & stays in tune, that's all you really need. Put the time into practicing, learning, and absorbing. It's too easy to walk into a music store with a credit card & think you'll walk out being a better guitarist. All it makes you is a better customer. If you're not the guitarist you want to be, don't blame the equipment.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Guitarists.....

Being good begets sounding good.

If you are a hack, you will hack it up on even the nicest gear.

If you have good hands, you will sound pretty nice on anything that's at least playable and will stay in tune.

this is why people always compliment me.

this is why i sound good through anything.

it all starts with technique!

 

[sosomething]

Re: Guitarists.....

^^ Well said, Blueman


One thing though - and I'm aware that I'm putting a dent in my earlier statement in this thread - but I did see a few BIG leaps in my playing ability around and shortly after the same time I graduated to pro-quality guitars. This might have as much to do with my refocusing on my style and re-learning a lot of techniques that I had been doing wrong, but having a good instrument did rule out a lot of guitar problems when it came to self-diagnosing my issues as a player.

You know, "Well, this guitar is awesome, so I know the issue here has got to be me. Let's work on fixing that..."

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: Guitarists.....

Good gear to me is anything that sounds and plays good, now that I have some gear that sounds decent, I'm working on becoming better at playing the instrument. It's more fun to play with gear that sounds good rather than sounds crappy. I strive for a happy medium I suppose.

 

[StratTom]

Re: Guitarists.....

That is totally false! The guys that say that either work in a music store or want to flaunt their expensive gear.

Like Sosomething said, if it's playable & stays in tune, that's all you really need. Put the time into practicing, learning, and absorbing. It's too easy to walk into a music store with a credit card & think you'll walk out being a better guitarist. All it makes you is a better customer. If you're not the guitarist you want to be, don't blame the equipment.

I think his theory was, he wanted to play like the pros, so play what the pros play. I remember an argument starting because he said his Gibson SG was better than my Epi. Now I never saw nor played his SG, and it may have in fact been a "better" guitar, but my guitar is playable and I like playing it. All and all, I think he just wanted to flaunt his gear, as you said Blueman.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Guitarists.....

... I had a friend who told me the only way I would get better at playing guitar would be to go and buy an expensive guitar, like he did.

While I don´t generally agree, there is SOME merit to this statement.

When you look at "cheap" guitars, you often find many things that direly hamper the instrument´s playability. A too high nut, uneven fretboard, poorly dressed and polished frets, sharp fret ends or badly finished neck can detract from playability and the overall enjoyment to a massive degree, especially when encountered in combination.

This was admittedly a much greater issue 10 or 15 years ago than it is today, where even 100$ Johnson strats have overall decent workmanship in these aspects.

Then there´s the aspect of plywood or even particle board vs real wood vs tone wood. Particleboard and plywood can sound better than some cheap "real woods", so this is a bit of a moot point. However, it IS generally accepted that actual tonewoods will sound better when properly selected.

And these generally negative things are all less likely to to be seen in a more expensive instrument, at least up to a certain point (IMO around 1500-2000 $US, street price not MSRP).

After which you`re mostly paying for Name, exclusivity, eye candy, and other factors that do nothing major for tone or playability. There are of course some exceptions, such as guitars with more advanced technological features, but for the main differences after that price point are usually visual.