Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

[Powdered Toast Man]

So I'm curious. For those of you who are NOT beginners but don't really know how your guitars and amps work, why is that? I think you know who I'm talking about - the player who can play but when it comes to any of the knobs or switches on their guitar or amp they are lost. They have lousy tone because they don't know how to dial in their amp, and/or they're playing a guitar that's so hopelessly out of spec that it sounds awful. Like I was over at my buddy's place the other night and we played some guitar and his guitars were so unbelievably off in their setups that I was like, "dude... let me fix this for you."

I'm of the mindset that if you call yourself a guitar player should know how to do basic maintenance on your instrument: String changes, adjust neck relief, set intonation. I get how two decades ago this might have been harder to do, but all the knowledge on how to do this stuff is a google search away.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I’m always puzzled by this. I assume the same people can’t set the clock on their microwaves.

I always see these people complain when a guitar has too many controls. But do they treat the rest of life that way? There’s lots of knobs and buttons in your car too!


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[Artie]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

Maybe it's a left-brain / right-brain thang. I can set up, dial-in, and tweak a guitar to the 9's. That way, it sounds good for all three chords.

I wish I could play like you guys do.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I wish I could play like you guys do.

Poorly?

 

[Artie]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

No. I got that down. :beerchug:

 

[solspirit]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I can do most of it and I usually do but sometimes I just can't be bothered because of other life requirements.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I’m always puzzled by this. I assume the same people can’t set the clock on their microwaves.

I always see these people complain when a guitar has too many controls. But do they treat the rest of life that way? There’s lots of knobs and buttons in your car too!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What's that you say
That thing is supposed to blink 12s right

I can't play well
Cant set up a guitar
Or tune an amp

Just like to decorate the walls with them

Some years ago some girl came by and said I needed to decorate
With something I was interested in

And that started it
I didn't mean to collect them but that's how it happens

I too think that eventually the ten or twelve minutes I spend playing a month will add up to the 10 thousand hours it takes to get good

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I like tinkering with stuff almost as much as I like playing. One of the reasons I go through so much gear is I love the challenge of getting the new stuff set how I like it. Once I do, I look for some inspiration to change something, like the setup, or even the instrument.

So yeah, I don’t get it either.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I have been learning as much as I can over the last few years.
I can completely rewire a guitar from scratch although I still need a diagram to follow.
My basic setups have improved greatly as of late as well.

I can’t and don’t really want to mess with fret work. It’s intimidating.

I can dial in good tone on my amps. That’s something I’ve been obsessed with for a while.

However.....let me play devil’s advocate just because.


I’d venture to guess that probably all of us (or 99% anyway) have a driver’s license.
I’d also wager that the vast minority of us have the knowledge to rip apart a given automobile system and repair it.
Mind you....I didn’t say anybody lacks the SKILL to do it.....

It’s very possible that many people don’t care to learn how to work on guitars...just like many people don’t care to work on their cars.


And yes....I know that there’s going to be SOMEBODY that chimes in and tells us how they do all of the work on both their guitars and cars.....

Who’s it going to be?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

For me, it was always a necessity. I couldn't afford to take my gear to someone else, so I had to learn to work on stuff.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

And yes....I know that there’s going to be SOMEBODY that chimes in and tells us how they do all of the work on both their guitars and cars.....

Who’s it going to be?

ME! But I totally agree with your point: most drivers can't rebuild or repair their cars and as best I can tell a fair number of really good guitar players don't really understand the nuances of their guitars any more than a typical driver understands how fuel injection works.

We are the geeky minority. That is why we are on a forum like this in the first place!

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I learned a lot from the guys I played with back in the early 70s when I was starting out.

No Internet in those days of course. There was a book called How To Fix Your Electric Guitar.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

Sounds logical that you would be curious to want to know, until I think of many of the best guitar players in the world who have no idea how any of it works -guitar or amp -they spend their time playing more not thinking about electronics, acoustics and transduction

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I can dial my amp's in, work on my guitars (anything from wiring to basic fret-work) and do some basic stuff with amp's/electronics. Where I don't really like to mess around is with digital stuff. I hate messing with ton's of menu's/parameters/sub-parameters/options etc. Presets is the only way to go :lmao:

Not really obsessive about tone anyway....I mean "good enough" is fine for me. When it comes to tone.. fat, sweet, loose (ish), dark & round is what I go for mostly..

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

ME! But I totally agree with your point: most drivers can't rebuild or repair their cars and as best I can tell a fair number of really good guitar players don't really understand the nuances of their guitars any more than a typical driver understands how fuel injection works.

We are the geeky minority. That is why we are on a forum like this in the first place!

Ha!!
For years I wanted to learn how to maintain my guitars but was intimidated.
I had bought one of Dan Earlwine’s books but still....I don’t have the confidence.
It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that I gave learning another chance.
And like you said....forums like this one and the people that post here have given me the confidence to attempt again.


So thank you to the membership here doing what you do!!

 

[nexion218]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

Sounds logical that you would be curious to want to know, until I think of many of the best guitar players in the world who have no idea how any of it works -guitar or amp -they spend their time playing more not thinking about electronics, acoustics and transduction

I recall a Q&A section from Marty Friedman's website from like 15 years ago, where he totally dodged any questions regarding his gear, especially the stuff used on Rust in Peace, saying that he went into the studio to play the insturment, not to play around with gear (or something along those lines). He might have been on to something, right?

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I think some of you guys have overshot the point. I don't think you need to understand how to rebuild a guitar or the theory of how pickups work. I'm talking about BASIC maintenance like how to adjust a truss rod, or checking and setting the intonation. You know, the basics of making it playable?

Someone compared it to a vehicle. No, most people don't know how to change their oil, but they do need to know how to adjust their seat and set the mirrors.

As for amps, continuing with the car analogy, imagine you get into the car with someone and they've got the heat on in the middle of summer. When you mention it and suggest turning on the A/C they say, "Oh I'm not really sure what any of those knobs or buttons does so I don't want to mess it up by changing them. I know the key goes in this thingy here and when I turn it the car turns on. That's all I know about how this car works."

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I recall a Q&A section from Marty Friedman's website from like 15 years ago, where he totally dodged any questions regarding his gear, especially the stuff used on Rust in Peace, saying that he went into the studio to play the insturment, not to play around with gear (or something along those lines). He might have been on to something, right?

Marty also says he’s skeptical of any sort of technique with a name, then utilizes many of those techniques. I take what he says with a pretty big grain of salt.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

I know several players that can't even change their own strings. I offer to teach them, they don't care. They don't care about pedal order, what a good amp is, etc. Some of them are good players, some have stumbled onto good tone. Still, I don't know how you can be surrounded with guitar in most of your free time and not be the slightest bit curious about how it all works or come together. But I've seen it.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Those of you who don't know how your equipment works - why?

If I had spent all the time tinkering around with stuff to try to sound better in my life just playing my instrument more, I'd sound better. Absolutely, guaranteed.