Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

Nothing worse than seeing some guy with a dimmed Bogner on stage. I try not to judge but c'mon dude! Spend an hour with it! Please!
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

baritone said:
i like what Morello says because, throughout my years of playing, I've never believed in "bad tone". To me, there are just different tones.
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Every tone is useful. You just have to know where it should sit in the mix. I can remember Kirk Hammet commenting on the guitar sound of The Black Album and how after the primary guitar tracks were done Bob Rock brought in all these old Canadian made guitar amps that most people, even Canadian guitarists, never heard of and made them record their double tracking through them. He said on their own they were horrible sounding and they *****ed and complained at first... Then Bob played back the tracks combined with the tracks they did with their Mesa amps and how huge the blended tracks sounded.

What many consider a bad tone is just not being used in a way that compliments the music.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

It's funny though... For all that I understand that gear is secondary, there is that sound in my head that I continually strive for.

One thing that has mostly changed for me though is that I'm closer than ever to that sound and I spend less money trying to get there. I recently went through a phase of buying as many pedals as I could for different sounds while chasing my ultimate tone. When I finally decided to admit that the amp I was using was the thing holding me back, I turned my focus there. I sold off any pieces of gear I had that weren't getting much use.

I realized I had about a dozen pedals all aimed at getting the high gain Marshall sound. I still don't have a Marshall, but the Egnater Rebel 30 gets me in the ballpark of the sound I'm after and then some. My gear lust has since slowed. I'm still picking up pedals here and there to get sounds I want (fuzz is a sound most amps don't do) and a few that are really just a way of refining my sound (finding that Tube Screamer variant that has just the right mid bump or a transparent overdrive for those times I just want my amp tone but bigger).

At the end of the day, I'm ready to work with what I have for the most part. I haven't really GAS'd for guitars in a few years and now that I have an amp voiced how I want to sound,I'm not obsessing over amps either... And while I still buy pedals, it's one every few months as opposed to 2 or 3 per month.

I think you need to go through that gear phase to find your sound. Some are luckier than others and find it really early, others will never figure it out. Then there are those guys like Tom who just had to make due with what they had. He doesn't need to make due any more, but I think when he got to where he could afford better gear, he realized that the gear he had was inspiring him to make the music he liked... That's what matters. It doesn't matter if you spent thousands or just hundreds. As long as it inspires.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

He's a Clown and here's why I feel that way.
I've been playing since 1979 so I know a thing or 2 about playing and gear. I'm also a Technician and understand signal flow. I grew up in a musical family and been around music since birth.
Gear matters. They are tools to help you create or re create music. That's like saying to a Mechanic Tools don't matter. A Mechanic needs special tools to his job. Not any tool will do the job.
A Fender Twin reverb has probably hands down the best sounding cleans in the world. That kind of tone free's you and allow you to write songs that express how you feel not be tied down to an amp that can't express what you feel inside.
Same goes with a guitar. Some guitars feel good in your hands and some don't. Some sound the way you want them 2 and some don't. Personally if the guitar I'm playing doesn't take to me , I lose interest in playing.
Effects are a way to create what you feel and need to make the sound the way you want it. How can that not matter? This is a stupid comment.

If your a gear snob then so be it ,thats your choice. If you feel you need a wall of ENGL amps to create your sound then so be it. I really don't care what anyone uses. All gear is just tools to get the job done no matter how you feel about it. To say in any way it doesn't matter sounds like clown stuff. Everything matters from the pick you use, the strings you feel are right, the guitar in your hand, the chords to plug it in, the effects out front , the preamp the loop and the effects in there and the power amp right down to the speakers inside the cabinet. If you think none of this matters then so be it. Go play whatever and make whatever music out of whatever you want. Still doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is my sound , my music and my gear.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

mantis said:
He's a Clown and here's why I feel that way.
I've been playing since 1979 so I know a thing or 2 about playing and gear. I'm also a Technician and understand signal flow. I grew up in a musical family and been around music since birth.
Gear matters. They are tools to help you create or re create music. That's like saying to a Mechanic Tools don't matter. A Mechanic needs special tools to his job. Not any tool will do the job.
A Fender Twin reverb has probably hands down the best sounding cleans in the world. That kind of tone free's you and allow you to write songs that express how you feel not be tied down to an amp that can't express what you feel inside.
Same goes with a guitar. Some guitars feel good in your hands and some don't. Some sound the way you want them 2 and some don't. Personally if the guitar I'm playing doesn't take to me , I lose interest in playing.
Effects are a way to create what you feel and need to make the sound the way you want it. How can that not matter? This is a stupid comment.

If your a gear snob then so be it ,thats your choice. If you feel you need a wall of ENGL amps to create your sound then so be it. I really don't care what anyone uses. All gear is just tools to get the job done no matter how you feel about it. To say in any way it doesn't matter sounds like clown stuff. Everything matters from the pick you use, the strings you feel are right, the guitar in your hand, the chords to plug it in, the effects out front , the preamp the loop and the effects in there and the power amp right down to the speakers inside the cabinet. If you think none of this matters then so be it. Go play whatever and make whatever music out of whatever you want. Still doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is my sound , my music and my gear.
Click to expand...
He wasn't literally saying gear doesn't matter at all. The original poster just framed it that way and you might find he would agree with what you said. They are tools. It's just about keeping things in perspective and not putting the cart before the horse.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

Beer$ said:
He wasn't literally saying gear doesn't matter at all. The original poster just framed it that way and you might find he would agree with what you said. They are tools. It's just about keeping things in perspective and not putting the cart before the horse.
Click to expand...

Exactly... Gear helps shape the sound, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what brand name is on it or how much you pay for it. or also, I sometimes see people look down on other for having certain pedals (like EQ) like its a shortcut. As long as you get your sound, it doesn't matter how you do it. There are no wrong answers as long as you are happy with it. That's what Morello is trying to say.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

ThisDyingSoul76 said:
Exactly... Gear helps shape the sound, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what brand name is on it or how much you pay for it. or also, I sometimes see people look down on other for having certain pedals (like EQ) like its a shortcut. As long as you get your sound, it doesn't matter how you do it. There are no wrong answers as long as you are happy with it. That's what Morello is trying to say.
Click to expand...
Clowns do such things.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

mantis said:
Gear matters. They are tools to help you create or re create music. That's like saying to a Mechanic Tools don't matter. A Mechanic needs special tools to his job. Not any tool will do the job.
Click to expand...

Hoorah! Way to totally miss the point. :)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

I use the gear that gets the sound I like, and makes me feel good because Of the way it looks and performs. Our eyes and the impression gear makes also affects our enjoyment with using it. So the gear does make a difference as it also affects our attitude and how we play.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

I'm a very "plug-in-and-go" type guy. I hate spending hours tweaking tones and stuff, if I can get a working sound in about 5 minutes (if even that when bands soundcheck) live I'll stick with that and play the show, and just enjoy it. I like reliable gear that just works for what sound I need.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

mantis said:
So if I missed the point then what is the point of making an opening state like that one?
Click to expand...
The point is that certain gear will influence the music you write - writing metal on a Tele and a Twin or country on a Soldano Avenger and a Jackson, for example - but the specifics that we fixate on all too often don't really matter.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

Half of you are half right,
The other half of you are half wrong.
Example: Mike Bloomfield, arguably one of the best white blues player ever, sounded and played awful with his Tele, in my opinion, and when he finally got his Les Paul, his sound and playing changed so radically he became a whole new guitarist, and at the time, he was leading the pack with Clapton just behind him.
In fact, in a recent article, they both said about the same thing about each other. NOW, to be clear, I know M.Bloomfield had drug problems, but before it got the best of him, he went back to a Strat and Tele for a couple of albums, and he sounded like ****, his hands must have felt awful on those 7.5 radius necks, and his sweetness and they way he caressed the strings changed completely.
So yeah, I think gear mattered a lot. In his case. And yes, he did not obsess over it, once he got that "Super Session" tone, he stayed with it. So yes and no. Bloomfield is a great example.
This is my unshakable opinion; opinion being the operative word.
And I admit to being guilty of wanting more gear than I need, I just enjoy the hunt. I am one who talks more than he should, and plays (practice) less than he should. I get excited when I buy a pedal I have been studying for months. I get enthused and play more for a month or two, as I am careful in my choices. This is me talking too much.
Sincerely hope you understood me.
Steve B.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

SJ318 said:
Half of you are half right,
The other half of you are half wrong.
Example: Mike Bloomfield, arguably one of the best white blues player ever, sounded and played awful with his Tele, in my opinion, and when he finally got his Les Paul, his sound and playing changed so radically he became a whole new guitarist, and at the time, he was leading the pack with Clapton just behind him.
In fact, in a recent article, they both said about the same thing about each other. NOW, to be clear, I know M.Bloomfield had drug problems, but before it got the best of him, he went back to a Strat and Tele for a couple of albums, and he sounded like ****, his hands must have felt awful on those 7.5 radius necks, and his sweetness and they way he caressed the strings changed completely.
So yeah, I think gear mattered a lot. In his case. And yes, he did not obsess over it, once he got that "Super Session" tone, he stayed with it. So yes and no. Bloomfield is a great example.
This is my unshakable opinion; opinion being the operative word.
And I admit to being guilty of wanting more gear than I need, I just enjoy the hunt. I am one who talks more than he should, and plays (practice) less than he should. I get excited when I buy a pedal I have been studying for months. I get enthused and play more for a month or two, as I am careful in my choices. This is me talking too much.
Sincerely hope you understood me.
Steve B.
Click to expand...
It matters up to a point, then it absolutely doesn't. Get it right, finish your soup and play that sh!t.
 
Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

Lampy H said:
You play better when you enjoy the sound coming out of the amp.
Click to expand...
I agree, but you could also look at it this way:
When you play better you enjoy the sound coming out of the amp. :cool2:
 
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Re: Your gear (all of it) does NOT matter !

I'm going to start a new humanitarian organization. Gearjunkie Lives Matter. I'm going to insist that Tom Morello support my cause and donate his 30M. :bigok:
 
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