brannon67 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 How many of you actually play your Gibsons out, gigging? I do occasionally, but some places, I dont want to risk damage, or theft, so I have two good Epis (EJ 160, and AJ 200 VE) that I play out mostly. Anyone else do this, or am I wierd? Ok, dont answer that one, Ha. I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I know what you mean, i went through that same thought, but came to the conclusion that I bought the Gibsons to be played. They are a players guitar and that means they will be played out. Hence I use both my SJ and SWD when playing out. The SWD at big venues like the one below and the SJ in smaller pubs where the mahoganhy b/s tone is better suited. And yes, they both already have a ding or two, but hell, thats mojo in my eyes .. ;-) The only place where I dont take my Gibsons is for outdoor 'BBQ' gigs where I will take my Cort as below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
struma6 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I play them out, all the time. I take GOOD care of my guitars but I DID buy guitars to play. I keep them in their HSC between sets, tucked safely out of harms way. Extreme conditions, no...no beaches etc. I do take them to festivals and play them in the roaming clusters that form. If I was afraid to take them out I wouldn't own them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
struma6 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I play them out, all the time. I take GOOD care of my guitars but I DID buy guitars to play. I keep them in their HSC between sets, tucked safely out of harms way. Extreme conditions, no...no beaches etc. I do take them to festivals and play them in the roaming clusters that form. If I was afraid to take them out I wouldn't own them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I play out with mine. That's what it is built for. As long as you take good care of it and don't get the urge to go El-Kabong with it, you'll be ok. That said, if you're plugging in, I'm of the opinion that 98 percent of the people in the audience don't care what you're playing -- Gibson, Epiphone, Martin, Takamine or even Esteban. Most audiences just aren't that hip to brands. If you're using a microphone, though, then yeah, the quality of the guitar matters because the better the guitar, chances are the better it is going to sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentw Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Gig 'em! You only live once. Good tone rules!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Gig 'em! You only live once. Good tone rules!! Yep! +1 We didn't get the guitars with the pickups just to annoy the family and neighbours, did we? If you don't have a gig, try the local blues jam, open mic. If you get nervous, the nerves are gone after the 1st note! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I do & in my case just don't buy a guitar I wouldn't take to a gig or jam session or whatever. That does mean that many years ago I didn't buy a great '36 Advanced Jumbo when it was at least somewhat within reach. It just didn't make sense for me. Tremendous guitar + my wife encouraging me to get it. I would have loved it surely but somehow made do w/o. I play a 'player' '52 J-45, '53 LG-2 and 2003 Reissue AJ anywhere. Used to gig with a '44 SJ, early '60s Hummingbirds etc. I did sell a Hummingbird once because it was near mint and I figured I'd turn it over while it still looked nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I used to be a little cautious and then had an epiphany moment where I thought 'screw it!' , what is the point in having top notch gear, if I am not going to use it loads? So for about 10 years now, I take my best acoustic guitar everywhere and even teach on it too. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passthej45 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I absolutley use my Gibby to play out, that's what I bought it for. I wouldn't have a guitat that was SO NICE that I couldn't use it for it's intended purpose. That would be like having a suit that was so nice and fancy , that you would only wear it in the safety of your home for fear of it getting messed up. Of course I don't even own a suit , so what the heck do I know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I use my Gibsons for gigs all the time. Yet, there are some places I won't take my "better" guitars. I've got a $59 Rogue for extremes in weather, etc. I think owning nice guitars is more of a personal thing than something that grabs the attention of the audience. So long as you put on a decent show (assuming they're even listening), the customers in a bar/coffeehouse don't care if you are playing a Rogue or a Hummingbird. Sure, we know the difference, but they don't and likely don't care. A few years ago I saw a guy at Winfield sitting in six inches of water on a stool while it was raining buckets and he was playing a Taylor 814. It's great to be "into" the music, but that was dumb. .....Anyway, I play my guitars, but try to be cautious with all of them. I know some folks take their good guitars everywhere and it works for them. For me, some places just make me worry about my guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I think owning nice guitars is more of a personal thing than something that grabs the attention of the audience. Definitely! At a push, nice guitars might also get a nod from other guitarists in the audience, but by and large they are for the guitarist owning and playing them more than anything/anyone else. For all the justifications for having nice kit I've ever seen, I've never seen one hold as true as "it's nice to have nice things". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee M Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 How many of you actually play your Gibsons out, gigging? I do occasionally, but some places, I dont want to risk damage, or theft, so I have two good Epis (EJ 160, and AJ 200 VE) that I play out mostly. Anyone else do this, or am I wierd? Ok, dont answer that one, Ha. I know. I don't gig but I do open mics with my Gibson Gospel. I bought it used and it's got a couple "character marks" on it, so I don't worry much about it. If I had a new, more expensive guitar, I probably would not take it to open mics. You have more control at a gig so that probably wouldn't bother me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmac Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Yep! +1 We didn't get the guitars with the pickups just to annoy the family and neighbours, did we? If you don't have a gig, try the local blues jam, open mic. If you get nervous, the nerves are gone after the 1st note! BluesKing777. Yeah I have to admit I keep saying im gonna play out. But I chicken out. I do the chicken out routine about once a week. I just cant seem to get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Yeah I have to admit I keep saying im gonna play out. But I chicken out. I do the chicken out routine about once a week. I just cant seem to get over it. I assume you are talking about an open mic every week, or a venue owner is not going to be that impressed! Perhaps it's time for some reverse psychology and tell yourself you are never going to that rathole again and getting rid of anything with a Gibson name on it, then see what happens. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 passthej45, what's a suit?........Anyway, regarding my comment about most people don't notice what guitar you have------there ARE some who do. Quite often, when I'm playing one of my Gibbys or my HD28, someone will comment about it being a Gibson or a Martin. Those two names STILL are automatically recognized by the non-playing public as builders of quality instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatback Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I've just recently bought a 3yr old J45. It's immaculate. I spent a week or two in total paranoia, until one day I dug out my 1960's Martin 00-18 which had been a bit case-bound recently. Looking at this gorgeous-sounding beaten-up little box I remembered that up until a few years ago this guitar went to gigs, acoustic sessions in crowded pubs and always just got picked up and played. 20 years ago a Marshall amp fell on it and nearly punched a hole through it. It's scratched, dented and pick-scraped and sounds absolutely wonderful! From that moment on, I was more determined to seriously play-in my virgin J45, and although I look after the physics and the mechanicals, I am no longer worried about the surface finish; I will never sell the Gibson, it's too close to my heart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brannon67 Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Yeah, I will never part with my J45 standard. Its my baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Yeah, I will never part with my J45 standard. Its my baby. I've had my 1948 J-45 since 1966, and will probably be buried with it. On second thought, that would be a waste of a really great guitar. Guess I'll just have to will all my guitars to someone who will appreciate them. "Performance anxiety" is a big deal for me now.(Don't get any smart ideas.) For some reason, that didn't bother me so much at age 22. After all, I only got into performing back then to impress the chicks. What's cooler than a guy (or girl) up on stage alone with a guitar? Oh yeah, it works! That anxiety probably stems from putting the guitar aside for almsot 40 years while life got in the way. When I was doing sound for a group back in the very early 70s, a quiet, lovely girl opened for us one week at Gerdes Folk City in the Village. The house sound system was crap, and she couldn't get it to work with her quiet voice and gentle piano playing in what was an awful venue acoustically. I mic'd her with our own stuff and ran it through our board and speakers to get her voice and piano to project over the bar noise (which included Dave van Ronk holding forth over numerous beers virtually every night). I was overwhelmed by this beautiful, gentle creature who seemed to sing only to herself. Then she sang what was to become her signature song--her sister's haunting "Heart Like a Wheel"--and a young Kate McGarrigle absolutely broke my heart. Solo artist with one instrument= the ultimate turn-on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneS Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 When I was doing sound for a group back in the very early 70s, a quiet, lovely girl opened for us one week at Gerdes Folk City in the Village. The house sound system was crap, and she couldn't get it to work with her quiet voice and gentle piano playing in what was an awful venue acoustically. I mic'd her with our own stuff and ran it through our board and speakers to get her voice and piano to project over the bar noise (which included Dave van Ronk holding forth over numerous beers virtually every night). I was overwhelmed by this beautiful, gentle creature who seemed to sing only to herself. Then she sang what was to become her signature song--her sister's haunting "Heart Like a Wheel"--and a young Kate McGarrigle absolutely broke my heart. Solo artist with one instrument= the ultimate turn-on. Total chills, reading this. I love Kate's music (all of the McGarrigles and Wainwrights, too), and I have been listening to "Go Tell My Sister," which came out a month or so ago. The quiet, perfect "Go, Leave" breaks my heart everytime, and I can almost imagine what it would've been like to hear her under the circumstances you describe. What a loss... Thanks for the great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Agree with someone who said I would not own a guitar I won't gig with. My Gibsons get rung out regulalry but there are times when others get the chance to go instead - just depends on my mood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I don't really gig...but will (and do) take my guitar(s) anywhere/everywhere and will play them at the drop of a hat. However, if the destination is "rough", (i.e. camping, beach, etc.), I only take my Jubilee. If the destination is somewhat contnrolled, (i.e. SANSJAM, or my Sister's house), I'll take the Dove. I NEVER take the Doves In Flight and now the Hummingbird Koa out with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I don't really gig...but will (and do) take my guitar(s) anywhere/everywhere and will play them at the drop of a hat. However, if the destination is "rough", (i.e. camping, beach, etc.), I only take my Jubilee. If the destination is somewhat contnrolled, (i.e. SANSJAM, or my Sister's house), I'll take the Dove. I NEVER take the Doves In Flight and now the Hummingbird Koa out with me. I would not gig (not that I do anymore) with a valuable vintage instrument except in a controlled environment, or at least one where I could safely put it in the case and get off the stage with it after finishing. It's different for a "real" professional, who always needs to perform on a specific instrument. Notice that I said "valuable vintage", not just "expensive". Like most folks here, I have a bunch of expensive, but not irreplaceable guitars. I have "new" guitars that are worth more than my '48 J-45, but they could all be replaced. Speaking of playing rough, I am thinking of getting one of the Composite Acoustics "Cargo" guitars to replace my little Martin Backpacker as a travel guitar, as the only real use the backpacker has is to keep your calluses in shape and your fingers fairly loose. Anyone here with any experience with these little carbon fiber guitars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I gig my Gibson at every opportunity. It's picked up a few dings and scratches but they're mine so that's OK. In a strange way, I'm almost more concerned about the case which has far more wear and tear. I don't own it any longer, but I was paranoid about my 335. I gigged it once or twice but was never comfortable. Probably why I sold it. I miss her but we were never in love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Agree with someone who said I would not own a guitar I won't gig with. My Gibsons get rung out regulalry but there are times when others get the chance to go instead - just depends on my mood. How do you think my '58 Gibson LG0 would handle the stage light heat etc at a blues jam? I hate it if it fell apart (laminated back & sides). I have a Seymour Duncan Woody (single coil mag pickup) I have tried at home on it, plugged into my Fishman Aura Spectrum DI, sounds incredible, ready to plug in a PA.... Usually I take a 15 series Martin (fairly replaceable), but I'm keen to play some slide in G live on my latest aquisition. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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