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Gear Doesn’t Matter … Except When It Does


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I spent most of my performing career with either a Randall half stack or full stack, same head. Gibson V, DOD chorus, Noise Gate, Crybaby Way and that was about it. Most of the times in sound achieve through volume levels on my guitar and use of bridge, neck or both pickups.

 

I never had a pedal board or effects rack. It was very basic. I played metal, 70s and 80s hard rock, classic rock, country rock, blues, country and even some guitar oriented top 40, all with the same set up and very little tweaking during the show. I couldn't always make my guitar and tone like the original song when we were playing covers but we always took the cover songs and made them sound like us, for good or bad.

 

A little chorus and a little reverb and I'm good to go on most songs, using the volume on my guitar to get a cleaner sound when needed or switching channels when I need super clean.

 

I knew guys who had massive pedal boards or effects racks. I never needed all that, mostly because I didn't have the money for it. We were on the road for long periods of time and for a number of years, that was my only job.

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I spent years chasing tone and have accumulated so many amps, boards, pedals and guitars that it isn't funny. For me, playing in a cover band, I feel I need the effects and amps to mirror what I am covering. I don't really see a way that I can cover Johnny Cash to Audio Slave without out the multi effect boards. I have whittled down my rig for playing out to a Line 6 DT50 head on a 412 while using a Line 6 HD500X processor. I find I can do most anything with that.

 

I do agree with the article.

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Tom Morello : "My take on gear is that it does not matter at all, ever, in any circumstance,"

Tom Morello : "If we had had this gear that we sound bad on today, we would have written different songs that sound great on this gear."

If Tom Morello doesn't see the contradictions inherent in these two statements then he's stupid.

 

Pip.

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Tom Morello : "My take on gear is that it does not matter at all, ever, in any circumstance,"

Tom Morello : "If we had had this gear that we sound bad on today, we would have written different songs that sound great on this gear."

If Tom Morello doesn't see the contradictions inherent in these two statements then he's stupid.

 

Pip.

 

You tell him Pip.

I'll inform your next of kin. [laugh]

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Tom Morello : "My take on gear is that it does not matter at all, ever, in any circumstance,"

Tom Morello : "If we had had this gear that we sound bad on today, we would have written different songs that sound great on this gear."

If Tom Morello doesn't see the contradictions inherent in these two statements then he's stupid.

 

Pip.

 

Well, from what I've seen and read of Mr. Morello, he's always seemed (to me) to be quite opinionated, and pretty full of himself.

There are those, that follow that KISS it, ideology. BB King, comes to mind. And, Willie Nelson, to name just 2.

 

"Gear" matters, only IF/when it matters to the player! Some love to used different gear, even within the same performance, song to

song...especially guitars, and/or pedals. Do they "need" it? Well, they utilize the possibilities, that allows, and often make a

good showing, doing so.

 

So...??? :rolleyes:[tongue] I (personally) like to keep it as simple as possible, but I'm not opposed to "Gear" (obviously... [biggrin] ), and the possibilities it opens up,

if/when "I" feel it's appropriate. Whatever works, for You! [thumbup]

 

CB

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If gear doesn't matter why does he need 8 pedals?

 

If you think you've found this one great tone and just want to stick with it, that's fine. But I like to hear some variety in a set. If every song sounds the same I get bored listening to it.

 

I will agree that some performers get too caught up in gear and technique and there is no soul or emotion in their playing. A good performance involves more than equipment alone.

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Tom Morello : "My take on gear is that it does not matter at all, ever, in any circumstance,"

Tom Morello : "If we had had this gear that we sound bad on today, we would have written different songs that sound great on this gear."

If Tom Morello doesn't see the contradictions inherent in these two statements then he's stupid.

 

Pip.

 

True, but he just overstated the first quote for effect. Essentially, I think he means that any gear has the potential for making music of some kind.

 

The 2nd quote is much more interesting. He is saying that the gear you use informs what you play. I identify with this 100%.

 

Personally I dont much like Rage Against the Machine, but I see where TM is coming from.

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It matters that you have the stuff that you need to get your "sounds", and it's rare that ONE sound is going to cover all of what we'd need to do as gigging guitars.

 

Just about every player is going to be looking for something different. To say gear doesn't matter as a musician is like telling a painter he can use any old brush...

 

What works for me, may not work at all for someone else. We all know that 10 players, playing the EXACT same rig, is going to yield 10 different sorts of results in how each one sounds. you will sound like you, this is true... we often have to cover very diverse sounds and tones...

 

And, if you're gigging hard, you need backups in case something goes out on you, and this often happens at the worse possible moment.

 

There is of course, always the "Too much", but less is more isn't always how the formulas work.

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True, but he just overstated the first quote for effect.

The 2nd quote is much more interesting. He is saying that the gear you use informs what you play. I identify with this 100%.

Personally I don't much like Rage Against the Machine, but I see where TM is coming from.

My quarrel with the first statement is that from what he said subsequently it's clear he doesn't believe any such thing; not completely. I fully agree that the kit used can influence one's choice of musical expression (and can, therefore, also see where he is coming from) which is why his first quoted sentence makes no sense when taken with the second. He would have been more honest had he said;

 

'My take on the choice of gear used is that it can shape the way we, as musicians, approach our songwriting.'

 

As it happens I don't think gear matters terribly much either. As long as it is all fit for duty whether a player uses a $150 Squier through a SS modelling amp or an original '59 'burst through a Dumble is, in the grand scheme of things, largely irrelevant. To state the bleeding obvious it's the player's ability which, to all intents and purposes, makes the difference between good music and bad less-good music.

 

Pip.

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As it happens I don't think gear matters terribly much either. As long as it is all fit for purpose whether a player uses, say, a $150 Squier through a SS modelling amp or, say, an original '59 'burst through a Dumble is, in the grand scheme of things, largely irrelevant. The player's ability is, to all intents and purposes, what makes the difference between good music and bad less-good music.

 

Pip.

 

Well, that and whether you're 3 beers in or designated driver.

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If Tom Morello ever listened to a record with Tom Morello on it he'd be interested in changing gear pretty quick like.

 

rct

 

Ha! Although I agree with you, I don't think he would. I'm not a fan of him nor his playing. I'm sure he's a fairly good player but I'm not a fan of his style or playing with Rage Against The Machine nor Audioslave. It's not my cup of tea.

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Ha! Although I agree with you, I don't think he would. I'm not a fan of him nor his playing. I'm sure he's a fairly good player but I'm not a fan of his style or playing with Rage Against The Machine nor Audioslave. It's not my cup of tea.

 

 

no to disparage any RAGE fans but, IMHO ... not even listenable... give me a buck, and what ever Morrelo's opinions are, and I still just have a buck.

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20%

 

That's what gear accounts for - 20%.

 

Take away any decent player's favorite gear and he or she still sounds 80% like you'd expect him or her to.

 

- Take away Eddie Van Halen's gear he still sounds 80% like you'd expect him to.

 

- Hand BB King a cheap Strat with a Pignose and he still sounds 80% like you'd expect him to.

 

- Take away Bonnie Raitt's 65(ish) Strat and Dynacomp and she still sounds 80% like you'd expect her to.

 

 

That said, who doesn't want to improve by 20%? I can't think of anything I wouldn't want to be 20% better. I'd sure love to be 20% thinner! Or have a 20% longer........ attention span maybe? :rolleyes:

 

So saying gear is unimportant is ludicrous. Saying it is the most important thing is also ludicrous. I'm saying 20% -that's what it's worth.

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Suggest broadening your lens.

One of my favourite albums ever. A man with a (nylon string I assume) guitar and harmonica, testifying through lyrics long stored.

 

'I'm the call for retribution, from the back o the smoke filled hall...'

Tell it Tom...

 

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ok, I DON'T LIKE THESE GUYS! I think they suck..

 

"Fuçk you I won't do what you tell me!" [biggrin]

 

I think a lot of people who like rock music and don't like rap music have a hard time getting past Rage Against the Machine's vocals. My wife falls into this category.

 

She's like, "They'd be great with an actual singer"

 

"But that's basically Audioslave," I say.

 

Which she points out is inaccurate. And she is correct, because Audioslave songs were totally different since they were written as a band with a different combination of members.

 

This one's kinda interesting though as a hybrid of the two bands...

 

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"Fuçk you I won't do what you tell me!" [biggrin]

 

 

LOL!! I don't care if YOU like them, in fact, they can be your FAVORITE BAND EVER,, and we could still be pals..

 

not my Cup-O-Joe..

 

and yea, Rap and Music are two words which should never be said in the same sentence...

 

:)

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