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thegummy

ThePrettyDamned said:

People talking about tone in minutia as if it matters more than their ability to play the right notes in the right order at the right time while broadly having a tone that sounds good for the music. 

I'm so with you there, it's possible to get caught up in an obsession over the tiniest differences in sound that really doesn't matter at all.

I lost a bit of good practice time by wasting it focusing on the tone.

I get the impression sometimes that some people (that pedal show puts me in mind of these) just want to get a gear chain set up so they can strum a chord or play a scale and soak in the minute details of the tone like a wine connoisseur.

Maybe that's really what some people like and if it gives them pleasure then all the power to them.

I just think it can be a problem for people who are in to actual music but then get side tracked down that road.

midlifecrisis

my guitar playing has definitely got me to the stage where i am positively over attractive to women, this has become an embarrassing hindrance where i am frequently fighting them off when letting them down gently is not an option. It has gotten so bad i may be tempted to take up the bass.

LastMantra

RobertW said:

Never being completely happy with the gear you've got, paired with the belief you would be happy if only you had the gear you haven't got.

My gear is something I am happy with. Have been for years.

thegummy

TTBZ said:

I'll never really understand the "I like to have some fight in the guitar" thing. If it's a struggle to play then I'd say it's just a poorly set up guitar. I find it distracting and end up thinking more about the flaws rather than just getting on and playing. Suppose we're all different though.

Never really been sure what people mean by that to be honest.

Personally I don't like the strings to be as light as possible, I find it easier to be precise if there is a bit of tension pushing back.

But if they don't mean that and it's actually things that just make things more difficult then I'm not sure I understand that.

I have heard session player Tim Pierce say he sometimes likes using a guitar that's hard to play for specific sessions where the guitar is meant to sound a bit rough and amateurish bit his normal playing is very polished after decades in the industry. So he deliberately wants it to sound slightly worse.

TTBZ

I always thought it was people who think they're Stevie Ray Vaughan putting big strings on for "tone" and that sort of thing. I don't like 9s because I'm a bit heavy handed and bend them out of tune easily, but 11s tend to feel too much like hard work.

Fishboy7

Middle age losers slating an 8 old year girl for nailing Racer X  tune on an Ibanez rg ather than massacring Sultans of Swing on a relic strat and a £300 tubescreamer

Rocker

Fishboy7 said:

Middle age losers slating an 8 old year girl for nailing Racer X  tune on an Ibanez rg ather than massacring Sultans of Swing on a relic strat and a £300 tubescreamer

I am a bit out of the loop so please put me in the picture by explaining your point and posting video link(s) etc.

Whitecat

YouTube guitar culture grinds my gears to no end. With few exceptions I would rather staple my eyes shut and fill my ears with hot lava rather than watch a long form guitar video by some blowhard that is mostly talking.

Fez

Another one for relics I just don't get why anyone would buy a new instrument that is made to look knackered.

liamon

The dots on the neck make no sense. 

usedtobe

TTBZ said:

I'll never really understand the "I like to have some fight in the guitar" thing. If it's a struggle to play then I'd say it's just a poorly set up guitar. I find it distracting and end up thinking more about the flaws rather than just getting on and playing. Suppose we're all different though.

Exactly. Some of us need all the help we can get!

skay

RobertW said:

Never being completely happy with the gear you've got, paired with the belief you would be happy if only you had the gear you haven't got.

Hi @RobertW I find a good way to combat this feeling is to watch gear demos of gear you already own.

There's always someone out there who can get a decent sound out of anything you own, and you'll end up actually wanting what you already own by watching decent demos of the thing being used.

Although this will also mean you'll have to face up to the fact that it's not the fault of the gear not being good enough, it's you :-D

DeeTee

TTBZ said:

I always thought it was people who think they're Stevie Ray Vaughan putting big strings on for "tone" and that sort of thing. I don't like 9s because I'm a bit heavy handed and bend them out of tune easily, but 11s tend to feel too much like hard work.

Oh god, this. "BuT StEViE pLaYeD 13s". Only the high E was from a 13 set, he tuned a half step down, and played like he was attacking the strings with a paving slab. He also had hands like two ham hocks. That's what worked for him, not for everyone else. 

Jimmy Page used 8s for early Led Zep, and I don't hear a lot of complaining about his tone.

Rocker

Another thing that irritates me about guitar playing is the needlessly long guitar solos.  Especially outros.

Examples:

Freebird by Lynyrd Sknyrd.

Sultans of Swing by Dire Stratis [album Alchemy]

Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore

Heard it through the grapevine by Creedence Clearwater Revival Recollection

An appropriate solo, guitar or other instrument, can greatly enhance a song.  What I think is a good example of this is the solo on Folsum Prison Blues by Jonny Cash.  Short and to the point.  The problem is that guitar players (especially) lose the run of themselves and add bits to the existing solo.  To the extent that the solo becomes longer than the song it is supporting.  And egged on by knownothings males, the solos get longer and longer.  And more tiresome and irritating.  As any of the above songs prove.

Note:  I am a fan of Dire Straits and CCR but they lost the run of themselves in those songs.

scrumhalf

I've always thought that Freebird was an over-long dirge until the solos kick in. 

thegummy

One about music in general, not just guitars, when people try to make points about music and give reasons why a piece of music is good or bad as if there's some kind of objectivity to it.

The reality is that it's just down to personal taste, if a person gets something from the piece or not.

Which does indeed mean that I find the whole idea of music journalism a compete farce.

Bidley

thegummy said:

One about music in general, not just guitars, when people try to make points about music and give reasons why a piece of music is good or bad as if there's some kind of objectivity to it.

The reality is that it's just down to personal taste, if a person gets something from the piece or not.

Couldn't agree more - the whole "taste" thing bandied around like it's objective.

Barnezy

Pickup selector position on a Strat. 

Having to practice to get good. 

Teachers that just want to show you how good they are. 

Not being able to play loud whenever I want.

Barnezy

Rocker said:

Fishboy7 said:

Middle age losers slating an 8 old year girl for nailing Racer X  tune on an Ibanez rg ather than massacring Sultans of Swing on a relic strat and a £300 tubescreamer

I am a bit out of the loop so please put me in the picture by explaining your point and posting video link(s) etc.

Is this the one? God that sounds shit! 


Should I use a pick or my thumb for Sultan of Swing? 

Devil#20

The control plate on a Telecaster. The switch in the bridge position is too close to the rotary volume control. The top hats always work loose and disappear into the black hole where all your nicely worn in favourite guitar picks reside.