The Mature way to play

bertie

I stopped/went off the "must have max gain"  attitude as soon as I started playing in proper (getting paid for it) covers bands  - I was about 19/20 I guess 

"mature playing" for me,   is less notes per second,  more gaps in appropriate places, and sometimes a millisecond early/late  but on time (if that makes sense) and not always in the same place. 

For me guitar playing shouldn't be like rigidly sticking to a recipe, but knowing which ingredients work with others and how the quantity vaires, actively in relation to each other, depending on your taste buds,  that day

Fishboy7

"Mature" playing makes me think of players like Bill Frisell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Julian Lage etc. I'm definitely finding that more appealing these days. 

Wazmeister

Mick Here uses the clean amp approach, so that must mean it’s the best…

Sporky

I'm going to add fuzz to my Helix "youhadme@cello" patch and see if my cello teacher notices.

Fine.

I'm going to add more fuzz to my Helix "youhadme@cello" patch and see if my cello teacher notices.

Stuckfast

I don't think my tastes in guitar sounds have changed much over the years. I never liked high gain back in the day and I still don't.

GoldenEraGuitars

Mature? Lol 

No thanks, I’ll stick to the gain ta!

Kurtis

Most of the guys I like did there best stuff when they were pretty young so I think I prefer the immature way 

Lebarque

gatheredinsong said:

Wazmeister said:

I remember playing the Two Rock live, covering Half A World Away, and I played a clean solo that cut through the mix, and it was SO good I felt slightly overwhelmed by it

"Sorry everyone, I'm gonna need a little mid-set break"

  

Reminds me of that Fast Show sketch: "Ooh sorry, I've just come".

Lebarque

I can relate to this. When I was a young buck, I definitely overplayed. These days, less is more and it's all about serving the song. Obvs depends on the band, but you shouldn't feel awkward not playing anything during the verse for example. Think like the brass section: compliment the song, don't dominate it.

Regarding tone, my levels of gain have definitely reduced over the years. Edge of break up / light overdrive is my home base these days. More dynamic, clearer in the mix and less overbearing. You'd be surprised at the (lack of) gain even many 'heavy' bands use.

 I still love a good fuzzy though, used sparingly.

nero1701

Lebarque said:

I can relate to this. When I was a young buck, I definitely overplayed. These days, less is more and it's all about serving the song. Obvs depends on the band, but you shouldn't feel awkward not playing anything during the verse for example. Think like the brass section: compliment the song, don't dominate it.

Regarding tone, my levels of gain have definitely reduced over the years. Edge of break up / light overdrive is my home base these days. More dynamic, clearer in the mix and less overbearing. You'd be surprised at the (lack of) gain even many 'heavy' bands use.

 I still love a good fuzzy though, used sparingly.

Fuzz is always something I've struggled with, I feel I get lost in the mix, especially when live. 

PolarityMan

Lebarque said:

I can relate to this. When I was a young buck, I definitely overplayed. These days, less is more and it's all about serving the song. Obvs depends on the band, but you shouldn't feel awkward not playing anything during the verse for example. Think like the brass section: compliment the song, don't dominate it.

Regarding tone, my levels of gain have definitely reduced over the years. Edge of break up / light overdrive is my home base these days. More dynamic, clearer in the mix and less overbearing. You'd be surprised at the (lack of) gain even many 'heavy' bands use.

 I still love a good fuzzy though, used sparingly.

The secret I've found with fuzz is you need to be really loud. 

Gassage

I wish Alistair was as dirty as my bloody amps....

BillDL

Gassage said:

I wish Alistair was as dirty as my bloody amps....

Perhaps THIS might work

OilCityPickups

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Mature? Lol 

No thanks, I’ll stick to the gain ta!

I'm with you ... to hell with mature ... I prefer to turn it the hell up and grow old disgracefully. 

Jazzy_Jake

For me, this is as 'mature' as it gets guitar wise - pulling off improvised intros to ballads tastefully with no gain, no reverb and nowhere to hide. For the gear heads, he is playing through about 20K of guitar and amp though, so not an easy rig to emulate!

fastonebaz

menamestom

PolarityMan said:

Bullshit. Clean guitar sounds like ass. If you're not playing a style that needs high gain just do yourself a favour and play an acoustic because clean electric guitar is one of the worst sounds that exists. If you really must then apply liberal amounts of delay and chorus or phaser.

Clean guitar does sound like ass, when you use an amp that does high gain well, generally, in my experience.

Best have an amp that's great primarily for cleans.  Even then it's probably not the clean cleans of a high gain head we are talking about.