Being a muso snob

Bellycaster

Judging by some of the guys I've seen playing in pubs with just an amplified Acoustic Guitar and a Looper Pedal, it's a resounding NO.

I've seen some pretty simple "Electric" set ups too and they all could pull of their gig, regardless of their technical ability, they did the Biz.

Phil_aka_Pip

In my teenage, when I saw a band on in a pub, I learned to associate Marshall amps + guitars with a single cutaway & 3-per-side headstock with a good time, and anything else with boredom. Looking back on it the bands I liked were playing blues/rock, and the others weren't (often it was funk or something similarly meaningless).

Iamnobody

Even with the Boss setup he's still got over £300 quids worth of kit underfoot...

That's not an insignificant amount of gear for a pub band.

And to nick someone else's quote - it doesn't matter once the drummer starts anyway...

In my experience some of the best players are the ones who are the least obsessive about gear.

As a result they might have good but fairly modest gear and still sound better than most other players who spend a fortune on their kit.

digitalscream

Generally speaking, I have a roll of the eyes if I see one (or more) of these things at a gig:

- Two guitarists in the same band playing a Les Paul through a Marshall JCM800 (they inevitably have identical sounds, and thus the whole band sounds like mush)

- Any guitarist playing a Line6 Spider (never heard one sounding good in a mix, even worse when the sound guy tries to fix the mix by making it louder, thus guaranteeing tinnitus for everybody in the audience the next morning)

- Big 80s hair, lots of denim and guitars slung round the knees (there's one band that can pull that off these days, and unless you're Steel Panther it ain't you)

I guess I'm a snob on many levels...the only thing is that I'd love to be proven wrong. I just haven't thus far.

Iamnobody

I'm now starting to wonder how many of you lot on here are that bloke with a Fender/Gibson t-shirt, ill fitting jeans and cheap white trainers that you see watching pub gigs...

The one who knows it all and tells his mate (or anyone who'll listen) how the band are doing it all wrong...

EDIT: said tosser may also be sporting a haircut belonging to another decade...or worst case a skullet.

xmrchi

^ I wish I could give both a lol and a wisdom for that

underdog

Iamnobody;366447" said:

I'm now starting to wonder how many of you lot on here are that bloke with a Fender/Gibson t-shirt', ill fitting jeans and cheap white trainers that you see watching pub gigs...

The one who knows it all and tells his mate (or anyone who'll listen) how the band are doing it all wrong...

brilliant there's a guy like that at every gig in the country

Iamnobody

Who's going to tell Fat Bob he sounds shit?

thisisguitar

I thought it was bad enough having the branded strap, let alone the t-shirt… 

My mate came offstage once, and he is a mega guitarist (he played with an Indian fusion artist, the guy had Vai play on his first album, and he had to learn his parts and played on the next two albums), anyway he overheard a guy at the bar say, "He'd never be able to play like that without all those effects', in a condescending tone. 

Fucking duh! 

Iamnobody

thisisguitar;366472" said:

I thought it was bad enough having the branded strap, let alone the t-shirt… 

My mate came offstage once, and he is a mega guitarist (he played with an Indian fusion artist, the guy had Vai play on his first album, and he had to learn his parts and played on the next two albums), anyway he overheard a guy at the bar say, "He'd never be able to play like that without all those effects', in a condescending tone. 

Fucking duh! 

Straps, t-shirts - not hardcore enough...

I saw a lad on the train at the weekend in a Marshall t-shirt - not the end of the world but as he leaned against the window it revealed a Marshall tattoo on his forearm. It wasn't even in the right font!

Of course he could be called Marshall and very proud of the family name.

thisisguitar

Haha! I just don't get that level of love for a product. The only time I would even consider wearing a branded t-shirt is if I was working on a stall for that manufacturer… or washing my car.

richardhomer

The only time wearing instrument manufacturers' clothing is acceptable is if you are part of a touring band's crew. The same applies to shirts with bands' names on - the rule here being that the band name cannot be that of the band you are touring with. Black jeans must never be black, either - they must always be an uneven charcoal.

Oh and all keys must be attached to a chain, attached to a belt loop on your faded black jeans - and must have s bottle opener on it as well....

imalone

thisisguitar said:

Haha! I just don't get that level of love for a product. The only time I would even consider wearing a branded t-shirt is if I was working on a stall for that manufacturer… or washing my car.

I've got quite a nice vox t-shirt I like because it's got a cool design on it, but wouldn't wear the normal "Your brand here" big letters designs.
Edit: it is however seemingly made of tissue paper (yet somehow hasn't ripped yet).

stickyfiddle

Iamnobody said:

Who's going to tell Fat Bob he sounds shit?

He's got stupid hair too

Jalapeno

I have 2 pedal boards - a monster (in 2 parts - one in front of amp & other in FX loop) for the (rarely gigged these days) covers band.  Most pedals are used for one tune only.  There's a Burford "the Reefer" to go on for the sitar bits in Paint It Black.  This monster is a hobby tbh.

Pedaltrain Nano gets used more often, and half the FX are Mooer.

I've heard some great guitarists with Spider75/Flextone/Vetta.  Listening with your eyes is a mistake.

When Birelli Lagrene played Ronnie Scott's last, he played a plain black Pacifica 611 all night (and was as awesome as usual)

Longtallronnie

I wouldn't expect someone with awesome gear to automatically be a decent guitarist or any other combination of gear quality/level of talent for that matter. 

I consider my own rig to be very good but I consider my playing to be average tbh. I'm sure I could play just as badly on a cheap Chinese copy and crappy ss amp but I chose my gear because it's what I enjoy using. 

Clarky

for me it was the other way around

for quite some time I the 'looked down on'

being a lefty I had very little choice and very little money..

a Weststone Concord.. then later a Westone Spectrum SX..

some guys were like "wtf is that??"

personally I really liked those guitars

and then it'd cheer me up immensely when I'd hear them play their expensive Gibsons and Fenders..

mike_l

I don't really look down on other guitarists kit-of-choice.

Unless they're acting like a complete bellface in which case I'll pull a plug partly out so they have intermittent sound loss.

 

vasselmeyer

@Clarky I had one of those Westone Spectrum guitars (an LX, I think). It had one of the most flexible switching systems ever. I traded it for a Squier Strat when I discovered SRV. I think I'd like it back.

Jalapeno

@clarky Westone made some good gear - the Thunder series are still sought after. (I had a Spectrum for a while, it was great).