Contentious Music/Gear Opinions

[Sloan]

this is my new favorite poster. YES HE CAN.

[Will]

How many Sax players do you know? The ones I know bring at least 3 saxes and maybe a clarinet to every gig.

10 strats IS ridiculous, but it's not like strats are some sort of rare commodity. They're fucking EVERYWHERE. I'm glad to see some dad hoard them so I don't have to see them.

[Justin J]

yeah, but check out how much they typically spend on each instrument. and bowed instrument players typically have numerous bows on hand.

Are you telling me that a $1500 guitar isn't of the same caliber as a high-end flute?

pretty much. in the classical world, you have to spend thousands before you leave student instrument territory. when you're dropping $10,000+ on an instrument to perform with, what's the point in bringing two?

[Will]

yeah, but check out how much they typically spend on each instrument. and bowed instrument players typically have numerous bows on hand.

Are you telling me that a $1500 guitar isn't of the same caliber as a high-end flute?

pretty much. in the classical world, you have to spend thousands before you leave student instrument territory. when you're dropping $10,000+ on an instrument to perform with, what's the point in bringing two?

$10,000 would be like an intermediate flute or piccolo. The first 2 chair violinists in the Milwaukee Symphony both have Stradivari; that's like $750k - $1Mil each. A reasonable new concert bass is $50,000.

Getting another $500 Dano doesn't seem crazy in comparison.

[Justin J]

$10,000 is about starting ground for new concert-level instruments.
do the milwaukee violinists own their strativaris? that's becoming increasingly rare. now they're all owned by institutions, banks, and rich people who can't play.

[Billy3000]

Anyone that says it's stupid to bring a backup guitar to a show hasn't had enough experience playing shows. I have gigged without a backup on both my p-bass and my stingray, but I've had problems with that and had to borrow a bass from other bands that we're playing with. The input jack on my stingray went out at a show. And the strap pins pulled out of my p-bass at another show. Took the stingray to a tech to fix the input jack, and I used the toothpick method to fix my p bass, and the same thing happened to both basses at another show. Both of them crapped out within 5 minutes of each other, and I had to borrow a bass from one of the other bands.

It is NEVER a bad idea to have a backup when you are playing a show. If you think that it is, then you only feel that way because you haven't had your instrument stop working halfway through a song and have no idea what to do up on stage.

[Mike]

I used to have a go at people that had "too many" guitars, but now I realise it's up to them. What business is it of anyone else's what you do with your life, or money?

I have my three guitars and I'm very happy with them. I have always sold/given away guitars I don't use, but that's me - everyone is different.

[Will]

$10,000 is about starting ground for new concert-level instruments.
do the milwaukee violinists own their strativaris? that's becoming increasingly rare. now they're all owned by institutions, banks, and rich people who can't play.

I think first chair is his own, second might be a loaner. The top few guys in our symphony make over $150k a year, plus the endowments the symphony gets for buying instruments. It makes owning their own much more possible.

Last concert I went to they had a guest soloist with his own, so there were 4 Stradivari on stage if you count the first cellist.

[Justin J]

$10,000 is about starting ground for new concert-level instruments.
do the milwaukee violinists own their strativaris? that's becoming increasingly rare. now they're all owned by institutions, banks, and rich people who can't play.

I think first chair is his own, second might be a loaner. The top few guys in our symphony make over $150k a year, plus the endowments the symphony gets for buying instruments. It makes owning their own much more possible.

Last concert I went to they had a guest soloist with his own, so there were 4 Stradivari on stage if you count the first cellist.

a friend's dad plays for the la phil. i was surprised to learn that he owns the stradivari he plays. he's played it for me a few times i've been over. it does sound good.

i was watching a documentary on strads on youtube. it said that up until the '80s they were only considered to be particularly good used violins. not priceless works of art like they are today.

[Sloan]

thread was cool until it cuntjob'd

[Fran]

The back up guitar argument is a joke. If you have that mandatory 30-40 minute set and break a string, well, time is of the essence in the first place. You grab your back up, the crowd dont wanna see you sat changing a string stretching it in and your band will hate you for it. You've got a short set to start with.
I recently saw a pro band called 'My Ruin' with Tairrie B on vocals and the guitarist broke a string with no back up guitar, it took 10 minutes out of their set, made them look unprofessional and left the singer in a position to entertain the crowd with banter.
Its happened to me, red faced changing a fiddly B string in poor lighting with a load of faces staring as if to say "wtf?". It just is'nt good form.

[Aeon]

In regards to owning multiple guitars: The same could be said of people that drive SUVs, or wear only designer label clothes, own multiple classic sports cars, or collect thousands upon thousands baseball cards. None of it is really hurting anyone else (well maybe SUVs do), but the issue is still one of excess. You don't -need- more than like three guitars unless you are some sort of professional musician that uses the instrument as a primary source of income.

My main point is that elevating the instrument into some sort of pop-culture icon is dumb, and the focus should be on the notes being played, not the shape or color or name on the headstock.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, just expressing my personal views. Hence the reason these opinions are contentious.

Also I already conceded that it is important to have a backup instrument, just that its excessive to have like 3 or 4 onstage like I sometimes see.

[robroe]

Exactly.

I have three Fender guitars all with single coils. They are all completely different.

Jaguar /= Duo-Sonic II /= Telecaster

did you sell your mustang?


am i in the loop?

[Will]

My main point is that elevating the instrument into some sort of pop-culture icon is dumb, and the focus should be on the notes being played, not the shape or color or name on the headstock.

It's not about the name, shape, or color - it's about the sound and feel. Shape and color can be important, though. I don't care how great a guitar is, if it looks ugly I'm not going to want to play it. If it's pretty, I'll practice and play much more.

[aphasiac]

Whenever I've played gigs, I've always asked the other band(s) if I can borrow one of their guitars if I break a string, and in return they can borrow mine.

No one's ever said no

[jcyphe]

The whole concept of the thread is judgemental.

Who are you to determine what excess is? Where is the limit? Why do you get your rocks off determining who deserves to have stuff?

If it wasn't for hobbyist and collectors a lot of knowledge on any subject would never be preserved.

Like it or not guitars are pop-culture icons. THat's not because people are elevating them, that's because they changed history. If you look at the history of electric guitars you can easily learn about the history of America, you can see the shift in Europe from native styles to Rock and Roll just by looking at an old European guitar that basically looks like it should have been an accordian. Certain instruments are iconic, nobody has to elevate them, they're iconic because of how they were produced, the time they were produced, and the way they changed art forms and in turn world history. You must live under a rock or have a very limited world view, if you think anybody is trying really hard to make instruments iconic.

You're making too many assumptions and judgements. Sure empty consumerism and materialism is shallow, but how do you know that's happening with everybody that has multiple guitars?

Live by example, not buying being a judgemental douche. Also Josh Homme has a bunch of fucking guitars, and always has. From as long as I can remember going back to Kyuss, he's always had unique taste in gear, and it was always a quest of tone and also fashion to have something different than everybody else. So that's a stupid fucking example to bring up.

[Fran]

I never realised people respected Josh Hommes tone, or playing for that matter, sounds substandard to me. "Valve amp with one knob" lolz, which knob might that be? I'd love to know, surely the volume . I'll remember that, and try to capture his magical tone.

[Aeon]

I never realised people respected Josh Hommes tone, or playing for that matter, sounds substandard to me. "Valve amp with one knob" lolz, which knob might that be? I'd love to know, surely the volume . I'll remember that, and try to capture his magical tone.

If all you've ever heard was "No One Knows", then yeah it's pretty easy to dismiss him. But if you've listened to his early stuff with Kyuss or stuff from the Desert Sessions, you'd know he is really quite an impressive player. His stuff with QOTSA is really great too. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's the best modern example of heavy rock music.

He doesn't play a single volume amp, the point he was making was that it's important to learn to work with the basics before you worry about anything more complicated.

And yeah, I would say he has one of the best, most distinctive and unique guitar tones and original playing styles. Nobody quite does syncopated rhythms juxtaposed with complex lead lines like he does.

[aen]

I never realised people respected Josh Hommes tone, or playing for that matter, sounds substandard to me. "Valve amp with one knob" lolz, which knob might that be? I'd love to know, surely the volume . I'll remember that, and try to capture his magical tone.

Here nor there: I did find his magical tone. Big muff with a green LED instead of a pair of regular diodes on the second clipping section. Coming soon from Dwarfcraft.

[ultraviolence]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Homme ... _equipment

Josh homme had/has a fuckload of guitars...