Frets99 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 The equation does not compute. The only thing that makes you a better player is practice and striving to learn something you haven't mastered yet. Good gear will facilitate that but good gear can be purchased anywhere from $100 and up anymore. Great gear may inspire you to play more but not necessarily practice or learn new things. There is minimal correlation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I don't know. I suck yet have a lot of gear. If asked point blank, I'd say owning a lot of gear does not equal talent. But... I'm guilty of having purchased a lot of gear chasing tone, style or inspiration to play. The bitter truth is talent simply isn't for sale anywhere and it doesn't come packaged with any gear. A good player will sound great regardless of the setup he plays.I'm getting more playing time now that I only own an acoustic and don't have to plug anything in, just play the damn thing. If I want it to sound different, I just play it differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kid Klash Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Simply stated, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bruto Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 A lifelong friend of mine has over 50 guitars - all nice MIJ and MIA stuff. However, he's a mediocre player. He doesn't care though, and he's not trying to buy his way into a band. He's just obsessed with guitars. On the other hand, most of the really good players I know keep it under 10 and really only play 2 or 3. And of course there is the big exception: J. He an excellent jazz player, and doesn't even know how many guitars he has. I know it's well over 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strung_Out Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 The gear should inspire you to play, but there is no direct correlation between amount of gear and skill. I do agree that the better the gear the better you might sound, but at the end of the day it's your technique that will set you apart from being average. The only way to become a better player is to put in the time and practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 No doubt there have always been folks who've collected lots of guitars, amps and effects for whatever reason. But I feel like it's only been fairly recently that so many beginner and amateur players have really felt the need to collect lots of gear. Maybe it's because we've become more of a consumeristic society, or maybe it's the proliferation of the internet and the accessibility of cheaper, decent quality instruments. But when I was coming up as a musician in my teens and twenties, most of the best players I knew only had a few guitars. Usually a primary, back-up, maybe one for an alternate tuning, and an acoustic. They weren't worried about genres or getting tons of different tones. They just made what they had work for them through hard work and practice. And I'm not talking about ancient history, this was just the 90's. As we've all gotten older, some of those same guys have accumulated collections, but it has nothing to do with them becoming better or worse players. It's typically because their incomes have increased. Also, when you play for a long time, you tend to accumulate stuff, sometimes inadvertently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Well, I've got seven working guitars at the moment, plus a bass, an acoustic and a piano synth. Two are in the building stages. Honestly, I feel my collection as it is encompasses all the styles I want to learn right now, and I'm focusing on doing just that. As for amps, I got a big one and a small one. Big one's for jamming at home, smaller one is for gigs (seems counter-intuitive, but for the kinds of venues I play -mostly house parties as entertainment- it's all I really need) and one multi-effects. I still GAS for stuff, but often don't buy it because I can't justify it. As for my friend/jam-buddy, he generally buys gear dependent on what I have. For instance, I got myself an Ibanez for my 18th birthday. A few weeks later, he bought one. I bought a big amp, he bought a bigger one and so on. Most recent incident is that I've been slowly custom-building a Jackson RR3 copy from GFS, and now he's looking to buy a Jackson RR3. Thanks for all the responses, guys. They have been most intriguing. I feel that I may or already have overcome that flaw in my perception; a flaw that tells me I need a particular guitar to properly learn a particular style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Oh... Perhaps I should state for the record that I started playing in 1997. When my first guitar died in '03, I replaced it. At that point, it was six years before I bought any more guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 You need four guitars for a jam? Do you record? I do, and I'm lucky if three months later if I remember if I used a humbucker or a neck pickup on a rhythm part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 You need four guitars for a jam?Do you record? I do, and I'm lucky if three months later if I remember if I used a humbucker or a neck pickup on a rhythm part. We sometimes record our jams, yeah. Depends entirely on what we're jamming as to what guitar I use. But I probably don't need four. For bluesy or clean stuff, I like to use the CVish Strat. For heavy rhythms, the Washburn or the Ibanez and for soloing, the oddball. I could probably get by on just the Strat and the oddball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 No, all you need is a boost pedal. Try playing the "wrong" guitar. You'll find it to be fun and you'll also find that you still sound fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PigWings_v2.0 Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I've seen some people with the nicest gear imaginable that sounded like absolute crap. Good gear is pointless if you don't know how to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EllenGtrGrl Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Eh, no reason to put that much thought into it. Some people are really inspired by having or acquiring more and better gear - nicer guitars, big amps, a huge effects board - and likely play better as a result. Others, myself included, are just fine practicing 'naked'. How somebody else chooses to play is no skin off my nose - I just do what inspires me. +1 By the same token, use the gear you like - not what's "proper" for the genre. One of my peeves, are mindsets such as: Teles are only good for country, blues, or classic rock Gretsches only sound good for rockabilly Ibanez RGs should only be used for shredding With the above mindsets in mind - then Jimi had no right playing a Strat, since at the time he came on the scene (1966 & 67), Strats were only considered to be good for surf guitar. Ditto for the Jazzmasters and Jaguars that so many indie players play nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 No, all you need is a boost pedal. Try playing the "wrong" guitar. You'll find it to be fun and you'll also find that you still sound fine. A boost pedal being for gain? What it really comes down to is that I don't have any low-output humbuckers. They're all screamers. The Washburn has a coil-tap, but it's still quite high output. My singles are all very low-output, but they can scream if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 +1 By the same token, use the gear you like - not what's "proper" for the genre. One of my peeves, are mindsets such as: Teles are only good for country, blues, or classic rock Gretsches only sound good for rockabilly Ibanez RGs should only be used for shredding With the above mindsets in mind - then Jimi had no right playing a Strat, since at the time he came on the scene (1966 & 67), Strats were only considered to be good for surf guitar. Ditto for the Jazzmasters and Jaguars that so many indie players play nowadays. Personally, I think Strats are good for everything With regard to my own guitars, my RG isn't good for much outside of metal and rock. I keep it downtuned with very hot pups. It's a beast, and for a blistering blues solo it does pretty well. For anything else, the volume has to be rolled back quite a bit and I usually get drowned out by Mr. "my gear is expensive, therefore better", which wouldn't be so bad if he were able to keep good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveAronow Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Funny he keeps "forgetting" to present clips to you. He can't hide his flawed logic on tape no matter how much distortion or reverb he uses. If he plays like a hack,, he will sound like a hack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I put very hot pickups in my bandmate's guitar (ceramic 16.9k bridge, 8.3 neck). We play soft indie pop music, the guitar changes hands between two girls who largely strum large open chords. Sounds absolutely fine through a Vox Pathfinder. Hot pickups clean up very well in my experience, as long as you have a good guitar, amp, and sensible controls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I put very hot pickups in my bandmate's guitar (ceramic 16.9k bridge, 8.3 neck). We play soft indie pop music, the guitar changes hands between two girls who largely strum large open chords. Sounds absolutely fine through a Vox Pathfinder.Hot pickups clean up very well in my experience, as long as you have a good guitar, amp, and sensible controls. I have to admit, I'm not great at reigning in the power of my Ibanez. Like I said, for metal and rock work, it's a real beast. For anything that requires a more gentle touch, I defer to one of the Strats because the singlecoils are far easier for me to manage. For soloing, the oddball with Gibson pups is great because it kicks out the exact tone I'm looking for in lead work. In the bridge position, it sounds more like a Super/Fat Strat. So in that respect, I suppose it could become my all-rounder blues-rock guitar. And played clean in the middle position, it sounds a bit like a Telecaster neck pup. Also, I'm in the market for a backup/travel multi-effects. My dad's currently selling off a Line6 POD which he'll throw my way on the cheap. In your opinion, would I benefit from having one of these to play with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Talent is solely possessed by the player and has nothing to do with gear. What the player does with the gear reveals talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 So why are you so mad at the guy? Do you think he's going around the internet saying he's better than you? My experience is that excellent guitarists usually have decent to awesome gear, whereas hacks can have anything from crap to ridiculously expensive rigs. You can always smell crap, no matter how much gain or chorus is on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sillypeoples Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Funny he keeps "forgetting" to present clips to you.He can't hide his flawed logic on tape no matter how much distortion or reverb he uses.If he plays like a hack,, he will sound like a hack. My first thought runs to this as well '8pm, blues jam, downtown, show me'. Not that there aren't valid points to trying out tons of gear, or having better gear, but mainly because I am so sick and tired of the debate, opinions, self appointed experts, and all the other bull{censored}...so put up or shut up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 So why are you so mad at the guy? Do you think he's going around the internet saying he's better than you? Well... I have caught him passing off a couple of my songs as his... That problem usually solves itself. The dispute lies in why we both have so much gear. With regard to his ability, I consider six guitars, three mid-sized amps and a 4x12 stack for practice at home a little excessive. I have twice as many guitars (though some of them are, admittedly, unnecessary) and two amps (1x10 35W and 2x12 100W). I think the general consensus is practice. Different guitars make me practice different styles. Different guitars make his one style sound different. To get an idea of his ability, just a few weeks ago we had a group lesson. A drummer friend who is interested in guitar, myself and him. The drummer is actually very good, and he's progressed a lot in the time I've been teaching him. He's perfectly capable of picking up on a riff I'm playing and keeping in time with me. Mr. Expensive Gear... Not so much. We both went through the rhythm with him - just some simple power chords. A to C to G to F to G and repeat. Tempo was given at 128bpm, and the chords are just root notes of the lead, which the drummer would duet with me. He couldn't keep time with us, let alone get the right chords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 +1 By the same token, use the gear you like - not what's "proper" for the genre. One of my peeves, are mindsets such as: Teles are only good for country, blues, or classic rock Teles can do just about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xrleroyx Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Gear doesn't equal talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mschafft Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 His reasoning:He believes that the more gear he has and the better the quality of it (i.e. how much it's worth or how much it cost), the better his sound will be. The better the sound, the more he can get away with. For example, speedy, accurate lead work can be sloppy so long as there's enough distortion to hide it. Chord work can be sloppy so long as there's a good amount of reverb (which I don't quite understand), and cleans can be sloppy so long as there's a large use of effects like chorus, flange, delay etc etc. It's generally the other way around : the more expensive the gear the easier it is to hear every note, which makes mistakes more obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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