Mick Taylor (TPS) on You Tube guitar gear demo's

crunchman

EricTheWeary said:

AlexC said:

Sorry for being out of touch, but I clicked on this expecting to see The Rolling Stones guitarist. I forget that there's YT 'personalities'.

Mick was a contributor to and edited guitar magazines for many years as well as playing in various bands ( although none of particular repute that I'm aware of). So, he has - if it's important - a bit more credibility than someone who looks nice on youtube. 

What about someone who doesn't look nice on YouTube?  Chappers comes to mind.

The likes of Pete Honore have had some pretty significant gigs.  There is footage of him playing with Tom Jones, and I'm pretty sure he has played with some other names as well.

Like it or not, people are getting a level of fame on YouTube.  Some of the rubbish gaming channels my daughters watch have over 5 million subscribers.  Joe Sugg parlayed YouTube into a place on Strictly Come Dancing, and exposure on national TV.

Maybe we should all subscribe to Chapper's channel.  We could get him on Strictly Come Dancing and finish the programme off for good.

Winny_Pooh

grappagreen said:

YourArsenal87 said:

LPManic said:

Not to go all Joe Bonamassa but people do need to just go home and learn to play the guitar - in other words learn to use the tone and volume knobs and picking dynamics and just play. Rather than wasting x number of hours per week watching someone playing gear. The only person worth watching is Greg Koch to steal all his best riffs.

Why can't people just be allowed to do whatever they most enjoy doing? Twiddling knobs or not. 

People are free to whatever they want. The 'hobby' of guitars isn't one thing; it's whatever you want it to be. Some people are driven to create music, some want to be a better guitarist, some enjoy messing with gear, some enjoy trying to mimic the tones of their heroes and on we go ad infinitum................

I don't bother with any of this gear stuff crazyness because it's not the thing that appeals to me. I'd much rather be practising to be a better guitarist than 'wasting' time on messing with gear. Other people take the exact opposite view.

The fact is that any approach is equally valid and as long as you're having fun then that's all that matters.

Si

You do have alot of sexy gear though, just sayin'

Pabcrane

meltedbuzzbox said:

crunchman said:

Fifty9 said:

Jimbro66 said:

Sassafras said:

Jimbro66 said:

Sassafras said:

Do you not find Mike Hermans makes everything sound the same?

Not so much as Gregg Hilden does.

Haven't heard him.

German guy. Demos loads of modern and vintage guitars. Somehow manages to make them all sound virtually the same.

If you ever want proof that tone is mostly in the fingers/amp and very little to do with tonewood, nitro, relicing, glue type and wiring harnesses it’s Gregor.

I'm not sure you will hear "proof" of anything on YouTube.  That was the whole point of Mick's video.  If everything he makes sounds the same, it's probably the post processing he uses.

I'm pretty sure that's down to his limited use of the pentatonic scale tbh

Old Mick 2 licks always tends to play the same old thing. 

He does have moments where he starts to play outside himself and he can do it but he always tends to default back to the same pentatonic licks and John mayer stuff

I don't disagree with the substance of your post - but was it really necessary to write stuff that sounds like a bit like a school bully?

Edit: accusatory language

grappagreen

Winny_Pooh said:

grappagreen said:

YourArsenal87 said:

LPManic said:

Not to go all Joe Bonamassa but people do need to just go home and learn to play the guitar - in other words learn to use the tone and volume knobs and picking dynamics and just play. Rather than wasting x number of hours per week watching someone playing gear. The only person worth watching is Greg Koch to steal all his best riffs.

Why can't people just be allowed to do whatever they most enjoy doing? Twiddling knobs or not. 

People are free to whatever they want. The 'hobby' of guitars isn't one thing; it's whatever you want it to be. Some people are driven to create music, some want to be a better guitarist, some enjoy messing with gear, some enjoy trying to mimic the tones of their heroes and on we go ad infinitum................

I don't bother with any of this gear stuff crazyness because it's not the thing that appeals to me. I'd much rather be practising to be a better guitarist than 'wasting' time on messing with gear. Other people take the exact opposite view.

The fact is that any approach is equally valid and as long as you're having fun then that's all that matters.

Si

You do have alot of sexy gear though, just sayin'

I know - the problem is I just don't really use it as I given the choice between messing around with gear or trying to get better I pretty much always choose the latter.. given my level of playing maybe I should focus more on the gear

DrJazzTap

That was an interesting watch , kind of a behind the curtain thing. 
With TPS, sometimes the humour gets a bit much for me.
 I recognise that they have to entertain as well, and simply having a "geography today" monotone presenter would be horrendous.
 They have imparted a huge amount of information for free which is brilliant. I do find it a tad elitist at times (the £800 pedal boards and £1000 switchers for instance). That aspect screams mid life crisis to me, hey ho different folks/ different strokes.
It would be great if they focused on cheaper gear or solutions.
But i do think as others have pointed out that would lead them down a digital road. 

Redlester

I haven’t watched this video. 

I prefer demos that are more of a ‘taster’ for a given product. For that reason I still think the PGS/Andertons type is fine: literally a salesman’s demo with serviceable audio quality posted online. The punter pays his money and takes his choice- or goes to a shop to find out more. 

I don’t watch TPS, though I check fairly often to see what they’ve uploaded. I prefer their more ‘Blue Peter’ presentations on how stuff works e.g uses of an eq pedal. That was the earlier vids though. 

 It’s clear though that their frame of musical and tonal reference is pretty specific, and I’m not their target audience. They are details men when it comes to what they hear as ‘good tone’. 

Andy at Reverb/ PGS is the best demoer for me. 

Nerine

TPS doesn’t get too much wrong. I guess it could be seen as elitist and the sounds that are explored are quite geared towards one genre. But you know this before you watch it. They have some really good content on there and it is always informative regardless of the topic. 

Criticising it is a bit pointless and feels a bit needless because you can watch it (or not, no one is forcing you to) for free on YouTube. 

If you don’t like it, don’t watch. Or find another channel that suits you better. It’s really quite simple. I’d much prefer it to exist, than not. 

As for the video in question. It’s a totally valid point. Guitarists listen with their eyes half the time. In fact most people do. 

RaymondLin

With regards to elitist, you can call this out to practically every genre.

Property shows, who wants to watch Location Location Location on a council flat in a drug-infested area? Is that what people aspire to live in?

Car channels, most of them want to show case expensive and fast cars.  Top Gear almost always showing off the cutting edge stuff.  Now and again people write in and complaint they never review a shopping trolley hatchback, then they do and the statistics will show people don't watch them!

It's the same thing everywhere else, I bet it's the same for pedals.  You might not like how they always show off their expensive boards and expensive pedals but they get more views.  Plus most people will want to strive for better gear which in turn is more expensive.  No one really strives for entry-level gear unless you got none.  Then I think TPS is way too overwhelming as a show anyway.  If you have a handful of TC Electronics or MXR pedals, chances are you know a bit already therefore you want some more pedals, better pedals, more boutique, and as a result, more expensive pedals.

Higher-end stuff get more views, you can't blame them for that, blame the viewers, us.

DrJazzTap

@RaymondLin oh yeah I get that. Everybody wants to see the high end gear, living vicariously through it etc. 

Like Topgear testing a GT40, a wet dry wet rig with say a Matchless, a handwired marshall and a boutique fender amp is out of reach for most people.

I prefer jhs videos tbh when he spotlights bargains etc. I guess I'm an old fart now. I just think of a kid getting  into thousands of pounds of debt, because he or she feels they have to have a Suhr into an expensive pedal board and then into an expensive flavour of the month amp. And again that's nothing to do with TPS, we've all lusted after gear for no apparent reason.

I do like TPS like I've said they've offered up some stonking information for free. I'm on a bit of a zen quest atm, downsizing and looking at what I actually own. Compared to what I actually need.

I sold a strat I wasn't using and even talked myself out of buying another guitar last weekend. I blame the 5watt world videos!

Lewy

RaymondLin said:

With regards to elitist, you can call this out to practically every genre.

Property shows, who wants to watch Location Location Location on a council flat in a drug-infested area? Is that what people aspire to live in?

Car channels, most of them want to show case expensive and fast cars.  Top Gear almost always showing off the cutting edge stuff.  Now and again people write in and complaint they never review a shopping trolley hatchback, then they do and the statistics will show people don't watch them!

It's the same thing everywhere else, I bet it's the same for pedals.  You might not like how they always show off their expensive boards and expensive pedals but they get more views.  Plus most people will want to strive for better gear which in turn is more expensive.  No one really strives for entry-level gear unless you got none.  Then I think TPS is way too overwhelming as a show anyway.  If you have a handful of TC Electronics or MXR pedals, chances are you know a bit already therefore you want some more pedals, better pedals, more boutique, and as a result, more expensive pedals.

Higher-end stuff get more views, you can't blame them for that, blame the viewers, us.

I think at this point, the world of pedals is firmly in the realm of a bona fide sub-culture, with its own language, totems etc. I think that's what TPS is very shrewdly catering for.

Not long ago I was doing a bit of googling because I wanted to buy a Leatherman and didn't know which model to get and that made me aware of the world of Every Day Carry (EDC) which I had no clue even existed....a whole community of people focused on what you leave the house carrying, complete with acronyms, an aesthetic etc. A lot of similarities in that there are people building a community and culture around things which other people might see as more utilitarian.

john_r

After watching that video I don't really agree with Mick, he makes a valid point about how much the sound we hear is affected (or should that be effected!) by amp settings, guitar, post production etc but for me, as long as I can hear the unaffected sound alongside the sound of the pedal within the context of the  demo then I'm happy, I can hear what it does to their tone and I can get a good idea of what it will do to mine, watch a few different demos and that's all the info I need.
Still doesn't mean I will like the pedal after I buy it though, but that's the risk you take if you can't try something in person with your own rig!

Sassafras

Only problem I have with TPS is their vids last too long.
5 or 6 minutes attention span is about my limit.

crunchman

TPS attitude to digital is a bit poor.  Even died in the wool old guys like Doug and Pat did a show on the Kemper, and are now selling Kemper profiles of their Vox amp.

We are at the point where digital is better for most real world situations.  I've been using a Kemper at home for years, and recently I've switched to using an Iridium live.  The sound through the PA is better with the Iridium.  I can get better recorded sounds for much less effort with the Kemper.  The versatility of digital is great as well.  Much as I love my Lazy J, it's fun to load a Friedman profile on the Kemper and get a higher gain sound.

If we do all end up going digital, then sales of gig rig stuff will dry up, and sales of discrete pedals will dry up, and TPS will have no reason to exist, so it may be self interest (especially on Dan's part) to rubbish digital, but in real world situtations digital is better than valves for me these days.  When it reaches the point where people like Mark Knopfler tour with a Kemper, I think that battle is mostly over.  He has the money and resources to take real amps on tour if he wants, but he has been using a Kemper.

RaymondLin

crunchman said:

TPS attitude to digital is a bit poor.  Even died in the wool old guys like Doug and Pat did a show on the Kemper, and are now selling Kemper profiles of their Vox amp.

We are at the point where digital is better for most real world situations.  I've been using a Kemper at home for years, and recently I've switched to using an Iridium live.  The sound through the PA is better with the Iridium.  I can get better recorded sounds for much less effort with the Kemper.  The versatility of digital is great as well.  Much as I love my Lazy J, it's fun to load a Friedman profile on the Kemper and get a higher gain sound.

If we do all end up going digital, then sales of gig rig stuff will dry up, and sales of discrete pedals will dry up, and TPS will have no reason to exist, so it may be self interest (especially on Dan's part) to rubbish digital, but in real world situtations digital is better than valves for me these days.  When it reaches the point where people like Mark Knopfler tour with a Kemper, I think that battle is mostly over.  He has the money and resources to take real amps on tour if he wants, but he has been using a Kemper.

I think that's the wrong angle.

TPS isn't trying to service where the whole effects market is going, TPS is trying to service a niche crowd, the pedals loving crowd.  It would be like there is a genre of people who are into vinyl.  You don't expect them to review a streaming set up because the people watching knows what they are in for.

TPS (as the name implies), one can argue they are catering for the pedals crowd, and there is nothing wrong with that.  If you want to know about Kemper (or about which digital streaming service has the best quality), you watch another channel.

p.s. we all won't go into digital, like we all didn't all embrace digital music, like there will always people who love tea in a tea pot and not brew in a mug or people who swear they will never get an electric car because they like the smell and the sound of a real V8.  There is an audience, the pedals audience, TPS is servicing the pedals audience.

I mean, the guitar world is a backwards looking one, people still want old guitars, they will always be a LARGE section who think pedals are best because of this.  Hell, you can argue it's not a guitar world thing, not a pedals world thing, it's a human thing.

JezWynd

PudWud said:

LPManic said:

Not to go all Joe Bonamassa but people do need to just go home and learn to play the guitar - in other words learn to use the tone and volume knobs and picking dynamics and just play. Rather than wasting x number of hours per week watching someone playing gear. The only person worth watching is Greg Koch to steal all his best riffs.

Agreed with this, especially for myself. Over the last 3/4 years I’ve wasted so much time watching YouTube gear demos and looking into gear rather than playing the guitar. I think I’ve actually regressed as a player. 

I’ve also learnt not to take any gear demo videos as gospel, for the reasons Mick says. But I also don’t trust most of these demo guys as there is always a flavour of the week drive pedal that seems to disappear after 6 months or so to be replaced by the next TS or bluesbreaker pedal.

Only in the last few months have I broken this cycle of gear watching and buying and started to just sit and practice the instrument again. I’m trying to only watch YouTube videos with some sort of value to them (like a lesson). 

Having tried dozens of modulation and delay effects over the years, I finally realised that the effects that I really like and use - reverb and tremolo - are thoughtfully built in to the amplifier by some clever designers. Life suddenly became so much simpler and my playing has improved.

RaymondLin

JezWynd said:

PudWud said:

LPManic said:

Not to go all Joe Bonamassa but people do need to just go home and learn to play the guitar - in other words learn to use the tone and volume knobs and picking dynamics and just play. Rather than wasting x number of hours per week watching someone playing gear. The only person worth watching is Greg Koch to steal all his best riffs.

Agreed with this, especially for myself. Over the last 3/4 years I’ve wasted so much time watching YouTube gear demos and looking into gear rather than playing the guitar. I think I’ve actually regressed as a player. 

I’ve also learnt not to take any gear demo videos as gospel, for the reasons Mick says. But I also don’t trust most of these demo guys as there is always a flavour of the week drive pedal that seems to disappear after 6 months or so to be replaced by the next TS or bluesbreaker pedal.

Only in the last few months have I broken this cycle of gear watching and buying and started to just sit and practice the instrument again. I’m trying to only watch YouTube videos with some sort of value to them (like a lesson). 

Having tried dozens of modulation and delay effects over the years, I finally realised that the effects that I really like and use - reverb and tremolo - are thoughtfully built in to the amplifier by some clever designers. Life suddenly became so much simpler and my playing has improved.

I am not at this level in guitar but I am at this level with photography.

I have my preferred focal length.  Give me a camera, pretty much any modern camera and that single prime lens and I can do most of what I like to shoot.  My own skill can carry the rest, everything becomes much simpler,, lighter and what comes out is more me because the road i am on is much more narrow.

Greatape

Mike Hermans for pedal demos.. excellent musician. I can very clearly hear the differences between, say, the various overdrives he demos. Plus, it's not boring. He exploits the capabilities of each pedal in a musical fashion. 

Least favourite is the Living Room guy. Lousy playing. Does the products no favours. 

Lewy

I think it's worth noting that the sort of youtube "lifting the lid" video is in itself a kind of formulaic bit of content that most successful channels chuck out there from time to time. They're self-deprecating, with a hint of exposé,  bit of artificial scandal i.e. "people in this industry will criticise me for saying this but....".

From music gear to fitness to camping gear they all do it. You're falling behind if you haven't put out a  "this is why all this is bullshit" video.

idiotwindow

crunchman said:

If we do all end up going digital, then sales of gig rig stuff will dry up, and sales of discrete pedals will dry up, and TPS will have no reason to exist, so it may be self interest (especially on Dan's part) to rubbish digital, 

You only have to see all the hype around limited edition pedals like the new Tone Bender – and the amount of money that otherwise rational people are willing to spend buying sort after pedals – to realise that we are miles away from the idea that sales of discrete pedals are going to dry up. I doubt very much that there is any kind of self-interest at play in TPS rubbishing digital (which I don't think they do anyway).

RaymondLin

There is an inherent human trait to have something no one else has, you see this everywhere.

1 off art pieces.  There is nothing inherently valuable about a canvas and some paint, except the name on the corner, the person who made it and that there is only 1 and that a bunch of rich people are willing to spend millions and millions to have the right to own this single piece in existence.

This is the same with pedals, pedals have a price of entry, especially expensive ones, or limited edition ones.  Plus you want to be able to show it off, you can't really show off a Kemper Profile.

It would be great if that's all we are after, the tone, but the truth of the matter is, there is a side of human traits that wants the tangible, the exclusivity, something else no one else has.

p.s. I am guilty - I ordered a Boss Pedal.