Street Cred

O

OlinMusic

New member
So here is my moral dilemma:

Every so often I see a guy wail on a $500 rig and I feel bad for having expensive crap (though lord knows I DO NOT PAY RETAIL & CANNOT AFFORD IT). I happen to be blessed with some very nice gear (I know some of you have nicer). I wonder why I don't just own a Japan Strat/Epi LP, 5150, and a fender Deluxe RI.

I am happy as sin with my current rigs. Should I feel guilty? Is it un-rock n roll to have expensive crap, and not just purely focus on the playing/writing portion?



PS - I hope I am communicating this right. If I get a lot of negative posts I will delete this thread.
 
Re: Street Cred

I often feel the same way. However, I realize that I've worked hard for everything I have. I've been playing a long time (over half my life...eeek, its been that long?) so its not like I don't know how to play and am an undeserving begginner. And ultimately I wouldn't be happy with much less. I've found what works for me and prioritized my funds so I could get here.

None of its necessary. Hell, even one guitar (even if its just a squier bullet strat) isn't a necessity of life. You can live with out it. But if its your passion you shouldn't feel guilty about it at all.... assuming you obtained everything in a legal and ethical manner. Everyone has a passion which they hope to excel at and part of that is wanting the best equipment IMO. I just don't feel you're passionate about guitar if you don't desire to have equipment of superior quality and tone. But once again, thats just my opinion.

Feeling guilty about too much or too nice of gear? I say not, unless you don't use it. And really its a free country so you can hoarde gear all you want.
 
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Re: Street Cred

I usually have an opposite feeling, but I see where you're coming from, and I consider myself blessed to have as much as I do!
 
Re: Street Cred

Sometimes I feel as though I'm not deserving of all the money I plop down on this stuff. Objectively, I know I'm pretty decent. But in my head, I still have the idea that I suck hard (which, compared to you guys I do). There are a lot of people who are tons better than me who don't have $2000+ worth of equipment.

On the other hand, I like it! Good stuff makes me want to play better, and makes me happy! So screw it, I LOVE buying stuff. Just as long as I keep my priorities and don't go overboard.

That being said, I'm buyin a Gibby SG as soon as I have the money for it!!! :)
 
Re: Street Cred

I pretty much have my dream gear: Les Pauls, G&Ls, and Mesa amps--I have a LOT of guitars--I think 38 at last count. But, I've been doing this for years, and I've paid my dues. I think I've bought pretty wisely, with some pretty steep discounts, or used at below market value.

I think in one sense, you have to be happy and centered for the good stuff to be able to come to you. The happiness has to come first--I don't think the GEAR makes you happy and fulfilled.

Enjoy. Love your gear, and allow it to love you back.

Bill
 
Re: Street Cred

I have far better gear than I do skill. No two ways about it. The way I look at it, I'm the one that scrimped and saved to buy the gear. No way I'll apologise to anyone for having nice gear. I worked very hard to get what I have. The guitars aren't terribly fancy, but the amp is certainly way over the top. Average guitars and a really good amp = seriously good tone. Good stuff inspires me to play better. Nothing wrong with that.
 
Re: Street Cred

If you worked hard to get what you have and are proud of it, who cares. There are some lawyer and doctor weekend warrior players out there that go out and buy the most expensive stuff in the store because they can. Then you have the older cats that have been playing since they were 3 and would play through something they found at the local Goodwill, just because that's what they're used to, or whatever. You also have those who have played and earned what they have over time (seems like you fall in to that category).

It's easy to get caught up in the massive amount of choices out there and want more and get what someone else is using and all that. It's called keeping up with the Joneses. How many times have you gone to a gig, heard someone play and be so floored with their tone that you just have to go check out the rig and then head down to the local stores the next day in search of those pieces, or figure out what you need to sell in order to get that? Probably a bunch. We all have.

Truth is, no matter what you play through, be it a $200 amp or a $2000 amp, same goes for guitars, you will sound like you. Everything else is just spices.
 
Re: Street Cred

I spent alot of years doing more with less. I had one or two solid guitars and up until only a few years ago didn't have a solid amp really for all the years I was playing.

I could probably get the same done with half of what I own now, but alot of the excess is stuff I have in flux. If push came to shove I could unlaod msot of it and not feel like I lost anything I couldn't do without. As it is my amps mainly collect dust these days as I'm not really gigging and my guitars go untouched as I've been playing bass mainly.

But eventually I will return to gigging and playing out alot and leaving amps and guitars at rehearsal spaces and I will be using what I had and will really be needing it.
 
Re: Street Cred

lol...if i owned the gear that equaled the level of my playing i'd have a First Act rig from Wal-Mart!

i buy the best i can afford at the lowest price i can find...simple as that!
 
Re: Street Cred

I wasn't being defensive. Just stating how I feel. Music isn't my career. It's my hobby/therapy. I could spend the money I spend on gear or I could give it to a quack with a PHD. Either way I'll blow it somehow...

Noone should feel guilty for playing good gear. Sure there's millions of better players out there who struggle along with poor stuff, but they've made choices to spend their money on other things and not on gear like others have.

Case in point would be my little brother. He wishes he owned a certain item right now, but he's unwilling to spend his money to get it. He instead spends his extra cash on weed. I'm not going to give him said item just so he can have one. If he wanted one badly enough, he'd stop spending his money on weed and start spending it on other things.

Musicians like Olin should not feel guilty for making investments in their future by purchasing good stuff. If the audience likes the playing and tone better and the albums sound better because of better tone, what in the world is wrong with that? If you're a capitalist at all, you shouldn't feel guilt for owning something nice. Guilt and happiness don't mix. If good stuff makes you happy, don't let guilt rain on your parade.

I do believe in helping struggling players out with better gear etc. My nephew is one of those cases where his gear doesn't quite match up with his skill. He's much more knowledgeable about music than I am and has theory down etc. He has the foundation to be very good and I encourage him by giving him good stuff to help with getting better sounds. I helped him buy the EMG's in his custom strat. I gave him a mint Sovtek Mig 50 with new tubes along with a gig-worthy 2x12 with new speakers so he could join a band and keep up with the other guitarists in terms of volume/tone etc. He can now do what he's only dreamed of as a teen. He wanted to join a band and had the skill to do it, but didn't have the equipment to play out. He played on borrowed stuff when he could but now he's doing what he always wanted on his own gear and it's all pretty good stuff. Right now he has a lot of my recording stuff too. All my mics and cables etc.
 
Re: Street Cred

GR8 Scott and Bill (everyone else too) your thoughts are interesting and very fulfilliing to hear.

I mean unsubstantive image has always been a problem - we listen with our eyes not our ears. We glorify drug habits. Then we glorify wannabe 15 yr old "rockers" who try to act like they hang in the same scene as the late 80s. I think you know where I am going with this.

Trust me, I am a sucker for showmanship and great tone.

Now onto gear - do you think fashion rules? I played a gig with a 52 Tele RI and a Relic'd Blues Jr. (tweed/Jensen) and someone thought they were both the "real" old thing, and complimented the tone (this answers all the HC and SD posts about people complimenting your tone). People are so in awe of old Marshalls, Fenders, and vintage guitars (LP, Tele, etc). It goes the other way with GASers into the expensive junk.

I realize some of the players chiming in are a little older than some of the others. I do think a 50 year old, seasoned vet with a 57 Strat / Bogner looks different than a 20 year old.

Any thoughts on that?

Admittedly, the guy who sold me my Shiva was a weekend warrior who sold it because Shivas are precise sounding, and he wanted something "mushier" to cover his mistakes. Ironic, but to my benefit. The one think I can say is having one has forced me to actually practice... lol.
 
Re: Street Cred

Olin, you should not feel guilty in the least!

I have never seen a carpenter or tradesman appologize for having expensive tools, so no musician ever needs to apologize for the tools he/she uses. :) It is the entire spectrum of musicians from bedroom players to professional musicians that make the gear we use possible. Everyone benefits!

We are in a "musical Golden Age" right NOW! Lots of drool worthy vintage gear was created when dollars were really expensive (LOTS of labor hours to buy a piece of gear), and almost no one without a little bit of happy insanity would ever have bought them. For instance, a Maestro Fuzz in the 1960's retailed for $40 in mid 1960's dollars. It is natural for people to grumble about Gibson's pricing for the gear they sell these days, but if you factor inflation/housing/new car costs...it gives more perspective to how many fewer hours of labor is needed to afford some of these $4000 Gibsons. I'm using Gibson just as an example.

The guy playing the $500 Epi (like me), would have been playing "air guitar", a few decades ago. The quality and price-point simply did not exist on a scale remotely close to what we have today.

edit:I remember buying my Boss SD-1 for $60 or so, about 1980. I would think that equals $180-$240 in today's money. Lots of "vintage gear" has not kept up with the rate of inflation, even when compared to ebay pricing.
 
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Re: Street Cred

Don't make apologies for having nice gear unless you stole it.
You earned the money, and bought it with YOUR hard earned money.
You could have spent that same money on something else rather than gear that brings you great pleasure; good job.

Besides, we all have gear that we want, some just haven't gotten it yet.
I'm one of those at the moment, but I will get it.
 
Re: Street Cred

"Now onto gear - do you think fashion rules?"

If that's what matters to you then yes, it does. 90% of the people watching you don't care what you're playing. They're there to hear the music and have a good time. The other 10% are people like us and we always check out the gear. ;) It might even be less than 10% depending on the venue. In an open jam night, it might be more.

Bottom line, it's not what you play, it's how you play it. If you love playing what you have and how you sound, and bonus when getting comments from strangers, then play that stuff and forget the rest.
 
Re: Street Cred

OlinMusic said:
wannabe 15 yr old "rockers" who try to act like they hang in the same scene as the late 80s.
Click to expand...
did i hear my name???

nope, that was my name 2 months ago haha.

gear, one big illusion some of us are stuck into and cant get out of (me included). never satisfied completely with what you have, always wanting more, and always getting more. you shouldnt be ashamed of youre quest for the perfect tone, no matter how much you get or spend on it.

the sad part is that i worry more about my gear than i actually play, i really gotta snap out of it, it isnt hearlthy, or normal, if i spent the amount of time i spend looking at gear, playing guitar, id be of slash comparison by now!!
 
Re: Street Cred

Owning lots of great gear isn't superficial, but giving a crap what people think about your great gear sure as hell is. Quit navel-gazing and play the damn instrument!

Oh, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
 
Re: Street Cred

Gr8Scott said:
Noone should feel guilty for playing good gear. Sure there's millions of better players out there who struggle along with poor stuff, but they've made choices to spend their money on other things
Click to expand...
Quoted because it bears repeating. :)
 
Re: Street Cred

I've been actively playing guitar every single day for the past 26 years.
My first guitar and amp cost $75 out of a Sears catalog.
I came from a single mom family, where every dime I spent on gear was earned. I left my house at 18 to play in bands and scrape by with menial jobs, with no money or support for college. I haven't asked my parents for a dime since I was a teenager.

I love playing music, and I love cool music toys. I have nothing to feel guilty about, except the fact that years of toiling away at music hasn't paid off the way I thought it might. Welcome to the world of 1 billion guitarists fighting for positions to be a high paid guitar player.
 
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