Does the Gear Even Matter ???

  • Thread starter Thread starter stephen sawall
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TheGreatGreen said:
I completely agree with this, especially for people who "discover" riffs as they noodle around on their gear, they'll tend to play what sounds best on that gear. For people who write music entirely in their minds and get things fleshed out before even touching the strings, maybe it matters less, but I have to imagine a lot more guitar music gets written the former way than the latter.
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this is why i love gear and switch rigs pretty much daily, most all of my riffs come from noodling and seeing what happens with whatever random gear i choose that day
 
TheGreatGreen said:
I completely agree with this, especially for people who "discover" riffs as they noodle around on their gear, they'll tend to play what sounds best on that gear. For people who write music entirely in their minds and get things fleshed out before even touching the strings, maybe it matters less, but I have to imagine a lot more guitar music gets written the former way than the latter.

Think about the guitar music of the 70's (Fenders and Plexis), 80's (JCM 800's and Mesa Marks) and 90's (JCM 900's and 2000's, and Rectos). There's a reason very few rock guys shredded in the 70's but rather played a lot of hard hitting single note rhythms and complex chords, it's because that's what sounded best on that gear. In the 80's when highly compressed, high gain boosted 800's and Mesa Marks showed up, suddenly everybody and their mom was shredding constantly, because the gear accommodated that style of playing. And then in the 90's you got big heavy but simple wall of sound chords. It wasn't a coincidence that music evolved the way it did. It was guided by the gear available to guitarists.
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Yes exactly. Even as someone who plays mostly metal, when I play my Tele’s occasionally I come up with twangy, country-esque ideas and even some jazzy licks on some hollowbodies and I’m the furthest thing from a jazz guy at all lol
 
JerEvil said:
Now with that out of the way, I’ve seen bands where one guitar later has a full Boogie rig and a Jackson custom shop, but the other guitar player opposite him has a Marshall Valvestate half stack and Epiphone and his tone mopped the floor with the other dudes.
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ive gotten almost laughed out of a couple situations before i even plugged in rolling in with my Crate and VH140c. years ago someone i knew set me up with these dudes i didnt know who had a "metal" project going, i hadnt even heard them but i was told they had a bunch of killer gear and i should check them out.. ok :dunno: i show up, dudes had some nice gear, the guitar player had a dual rec in a sweet case with a rack, a couple nice les pauls, recto 4x12, bass player and drummer had nice shit, none of them would shut the fuck up about how much they spent.. i go out and roll my vh140c in on my crate BV 4x12, and the three of them are laughing their asses off asking me why im using a "bass head" and how thats not gonna work with this band, which i still havent heard a note of yet :ROFLMAO: im like i wasnt aware this was a "try out", but i said why dont you dudes play a song as im setting up and we'll see whats up.. these dudes thought they were Trapt or Papa Roach or some shit, dude didnt have a boost and his flubby recto is getting buried by the bass player, none of them were very good, i start playing and the laughing turned to a confused look of shock as they are running to the back to see what kind of tubes the bass amp had, only to see his recto was getting stomped out by a SS amp and crate cab, they asked if i wanted to hear more songs and i said nah im cool and dipped lol
 
Yes and no.

Can any decent player get a decent sound out of any decent gear?

Yeah. But the difference between a decent sound and a great sound is in the gear as much as it is in the hands.

Most of the time the "gear doesn't matter at all" guys are guys that aren't very creative, in my experience.

If you give someone who's creative and a great player great gear, it's like a force multiplier.

If you want receipts I have them :dunno: Gear accentuates and reinforces techniques, and some is better for some techniques than others. A lot of the "gear doesn't matter" is because it doesn't matter for you.
 
RaceU4her said:
ive gotten almost laughed out of a couple situations before i even plugged in rolling in with my Crate and VH140c. years ago someone i knew set me up with these dudes i didnt know who had a "metal" project going, i hadnt even heard them but i was told they had a bunch of killer gear and i should check them out.. ok :dunno: i show up, dudes had some nice gear, the guitar player had a dual rec in a sweet case with a rack, a couple nice les pauls, recto 4x12, bass player and drummer had nice shit, none of them would shut the fuck up about how much they spent.. i go out and roll my vh140c in on my crate BV 4x12, and the three of them are laughing their asses off asking me why im using a "bass head" and how thats not gonna work with this band, which i still havent heard a note of yet :ROFLMAO: im like i wasnt aware this was a "try out", but i said why dont you dudes play a song as im setting up and we'll see whats up.. these dudes thought they were Trapt or Papa Roach or some shit, dude didnt have a boost and his flubby recto is getting buried by the bass player, none of them were very good, i start playing and the laughing turned to a confused look of shock as they are running to the back to see what kind of tubes the bass amp had, only to see his recto was getting stomped out by a SS amp and crate cab, they asked if i wanted to hear more songs and i said nah im cool and dipped lol
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I went to an amp fest at Mailman Dan’s place around 2010. I took a VH-140c. There were a lot of big money amps there. At the end of the day the only amp that held its own with the Ampeg was a Rivera 7 amp that Dan had. As soon as I plugged in the Ampeg and hit the first chord, I had everyone’s attention.
 
headlessdeadguy said:
I went to an amp fest at Mailman Dan’s place around 2010. I took a VH-140c. There were a lot of big money amps there. At the end of the day the only amp that held its own with the Ampeg was a Rivera 7 amp that Dan had. As soon as I plugged in the Ampeg and hit the first chord, I had everyone’s attention.
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Yeah as long as you run it properly with a stereo cab they will hang with most anything, the spot for metal and hardcore bands in the late 90s/00’s was this shit hole bar with an old dining room on the side where nothing was ever mic’d, I always thought they cut through the best and why I got mine, 9 o’clock on the volume was more than I ever needed with my bands
 
RaceU4her said:
Yeah as long as you run it properly with a stereo cab they will hang with most anything, the spot for metal and hardcore bands in the late 90s/00’s was this shit hole bar with an old dining room on the side where nothing was ever mic’d, I always thought they cut through the best and why I got mine, 9 o’clock on the volume was more than I ever needed with my bands
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I think the VH140C story is more about posers not knowing about gear than gear not mattering lol

Everyone who's balls have dropped know that amp is a beast :ROFLMAO:
 
I don't need or have amazing high priced gear but I spend way too much time playing guitar to have a bunch of junk plus I have a great amp tech so I really can't ever blame my playing on any of the stuff I use.
 
VonBonfire said:
I don't need or have amazing high priced gear but I spend way too much time playing guitar to have a bunch of junk plus I have a great amp tech so I really can't ever blame my playing on any of the stuff I use.
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Now imagine you played the same songs and gigs that you do now (with your fenders) with a boss katana or roland jazz chorus - it would sound wildly different and make you play wildly differently
 
You can look at it two ways.
1. No, the gear is secondary. People tend to dial stuff in till they get what they want. Example- I recorded myself playing a Silver Sky thru the Mesa MK VII, earlier today. When I listen back to the recording you would swear it was a Marshall. All my Trower-style stuff sounds like a Marshall. Why? Some of is in your hands and the way you play.

2. Different gear, be it amps, guitars or pedals, make you play different. I'm all for that as well.
 
VonBonfire said:
If I had to use those amps I would just quit playing guitar. :LOL:
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Exactly. So the gear does matter, it just is a matter of degree

IMO getting the right gear to accentuate your playing is an insane force multiplier that can be the difference between being a "Random guitar player in scene" and "that dude rocks, if our guitar player leaves we're calling THAT guy"

Taking care to get the right gear for what you want to do, and learning it inside and out, is almost as crucial as woodshedding for someone who gigs a lot - it's an instrument unto itself
 
For sure it matters, but I'm still going to sound like me playing it basically no matter what. I still know the difference between what sounds and feels right to me. That totally matters.

What I have learned is that the more I use this stuff for the actual intended purpose, the less stuff I actually need. I play the same 2-3 guitars always, the same 1 or 2 amps, always. A backup gigging amp has to sound as least as good as my main rig, but doesn't necessarily need to be the same thing. Example - I had a JEL20 that served as a 'just in case' backup....small and lightweight, easy to transport. Never had a chance to get it in a full band mix. Had a tube socket that was going wonky in my Wizard and finally just stopped working mid song mid gig. Out came the JEL20. I knew 20 seconds in the JEL wouldn't cut it as a backup to the Wizard. It was for sale the next day.

The difference between great amps / guitars and basic entry level stuff is huge. But if you don't or can't tell the difference it really doesn't matter. Are you having fun with what you got? That's all that matters.
 
Smash said:
I almost said this for you. I knew it was how you feel.

I love little shitty amps sometimes though. I played a little peavey vypyr vip ii and had fun
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I'd still have my trusty Esteban practice amp around the house if it hadn't broke down. :LOL:

Burning tubes up while I practice is like taking a pro stock car to the grocery store so any SS amp is fine for home use. I've actually been looking at one of those Orange Pedal Babys and a preamp pedal as a home practice amp plus backup for gigs. I haven't had a practice amp since the Esteban broke, lol. I saw a local guy around here using one (the Orange) for a jam and got to try his rig. I didn't care for the modeling part but the actual amp itself was great and I generally hate SS gear.

DanTravis62 said:
IMO getting the right gear to accentuate your playing is an insane force multiplier that can be the difference between being a "Random guitar player in scene" and "that dude rocks, if our guitar player leaves we're calling THAT guy"
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Agreed 100 percent. I'm just def not one of those "backline was ONLY a deluxe reverb or Hot Rod I can't use that" type of mentality. Give me a decent amp and enough time and I will find something usable in there. I usually don't even adjust people's rigs at jams because if the rig sounded decent for them I figure ball park is close enough for a jam, just add chops.
 
I stopped chasing tone. When I record the studio has amps or I have buddies that let me borrow shit. I buy shit that's going to last, is easy to tweak on the fly when I play weird ass gigs with bad sound, and is overall no fuss. All guitar tones in heavy music sound the same live to me at this point. I have Eargasms in anyway. Performance is all that 99% of people care about. Plug in, go off, quit obsessing over the tools.

I find I'm way more obsessive over amps and tone during spells when I'm not playing as much live music.
 
VonBonfire said:
I'd still have my trusty Esteban practice amp around the house if it hadn't broke down. :LOL:

Burning tubes up while I practice is like taking a pro stock car to the grocery store so any SS amp is fine for home use. I've actually been looking at one of those Orange Pedal Babys and a preamp pedal as a home practice amp plus backup for gigs. I haven't had a practice amp since the Esteban broke, lol. I saw a local guy around here using one (the Orange) for a jam and got to try his rig. I didn't care for the modeling part but the actual amp itself was great and I generally hate SS gear.


Agreed 100 percent. I'm just def not one of those "backline was ONLY a deluxe reverb or Hot Rod I can't use that" type of mentality. Give me a decent amp and enough time and I will find something usable in there. I usually don't even adjust people's rigs at jams because if the rig sounded decent for them I figure ball park is close enough for a jam, just add chops.
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I use a kemper and a rocktron velocity power amp for most of my home practice as well, I'm with you

Here's the difference though - a fender deluxe or HRD would be fine for you because you play blues, it would be the same as the roland jazz chorus for me because i'm playing high gain stuff, if that makes sense. I've made it work before, but it's nowhere near ideal and doesn't accentuate my playing the way a high gain style amp would
 
DanTravis62 said:
I use a kemper and a rocktron velocity power amp for most of my home practice as well, I'm with you

Here's the difference though - a fender deluxe or HRD would be fine for you because you play blues, it would be the same as the roland jazz chorus for me because i'm playing high gain stuff, if that makes sense. I've made it work before, but it's nowhere near ideal and doesn't accentuate my playing the way a high gain style amp would
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I agree, and would assume average backline for a metal event would be a 5150 or a DSL half stack or something along those lines.
 
VonBonfire said:
I agree, and would assume average backline for a metal event would be a 5150 or a DSL half stack or something along those lines.
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Yes, it's generally something like that - 5150s and JCM2000s are common, as well as newer rectifiers

I can make all of them work, though with the DSLs and Rectos I have to have a boost or it's just too flubby
 
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