Eric Clapton must be readying Guitar Forums

[FenderGuy1]

Angus youngs tone comes from my fingers, lol!

[Col F]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTima9QLKj8&feature=relmfu

[CowboyBillyBob1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTima9QLKj8&feature=relmfu

Enough said.

You can't argue with that!

[Riffster]

I think I can

 

Cracks me up that Joe cannot help himself to say "yea of course you need some quality gear" at the 3:00 mark.

 

If he really means this, why did he recently buy two more original bursts after already owning one? (that is after the date of his experience with Clapton) why then does he bring so many Les Pauls on tour in addition to an assortment of Mahogany/Humbucker guitars that are much more "the same" than an LP versus a Strat would be.

 

He also has a 1960 Les Paul that he counts separate from the Bursts! as if the '60 is not a true Burst because it is not a '58 or '59!!!

 

Why then does Joe have a signature Fuzz Face that costs $200 and sounds great? or an expensive signature wah that has very nice features?

 

Wouldn't he sound the same using his hands with all of these guitars? why not just a main guitar and a couple of backups?

 

He states that he bought 7 additional guitars for the Black Country Communion project!!! why Joe? isn't in all in the fingers?

 

This is what I call 100% premium bullsh!t, every time this comes up the guy telling you that gear does not matter happens to have a ton of great gear that is very specific.

 

YES, the most important thing is being able to play the instrument well, find your style and your style will find you, you cannot sound like somebody else and no one else can sound like you.

 

But please stop saying that a fantastic player will sound great through crappy gear because while that is true such player will not play through crappy gear.

 

This "it's all in your fingers" is just as stupid as "the magic pedal/amp/guitar" thing.

 

Like I said before it is always a combination of skill and good gear...just like Joe backhandedly points out at the 3:00 mark.

[CowboyBillyBob1]

I think I can

 

Cracks me up that Joe cannot help himself to say "yea of course you need some quality gear" at the 3:00 mark.

 

If he really means this, why did he recently buy two more original bursts after already owning one? (that is after the date of his experience with Clapton) why then does he bring so many Les Pauls on tour in addition to an assortment of Mahogany/Humbucker guitars that are much more "the same" than an LP versus a Strat would be.

 

He also has a 1960 Les Paul that he counts separate from the Bursts! as if the '60 is not a true Burst because it is not a '58 or '59!!!

 

Why then does Joe have a signature Fuzz Face that costs $200 and sounds great? or an expensive signature wah that has very nice features?

 

Wouldn't he sound the same using his hands with all of these guitars? why not just a main guitar and a couple of backups?

 

 

 

He states that he bought 7 additional guitars for the Black Country Communion project!!! why Joe? isn't in all in the fingers?

 

This is what I call 100% premium bullsh!t, every time this comes up the guy telling you that gear does not matter happens to have a ton of great gear that is very specific.

 

YES, the most important thing is being able to play the instrument well, find your style and your style will find you, you cannot sound like somebody else and no one else can sound like you.

 

But please stop saying that a fantastic player will sound great through crappy gear because while that is true such player will not play through crappy gear.

 

This "it's all in your fingers" is just as stupid as "the magic pedal/amp/guitar" thing.

 

Like I said before it is always a combination of skill and good gear...just like Joe backhandedly points out at the 3:00 mark.

 

90% or more of your tone comes from how you play the instrument. I am not saying that crappy gear is as good as pro quality stuff. You want to be able to get and stay in tune with good intonation and real junk will not do it.Joe has lots of high end gear because he can afford it but I am sure he will sound just as good with a new 2012 LP. An amp has to play with enough headroom and a decent non farting sound but still some old blues guys get some cool signature sounds out of cheap amps. Most of Layla was recorded with a Fender Champ which at the time was a low end student model. Jimmy page recorded Kasmir on a Danelectro, also not considered a high end product.

 

I get your point but I'd rather have low end gear and play like Jeff Beck than expensive stuff and no vision. I think we probably agree more than disagree. This topic will always be debated and most of the players I like, who own great gear, think that your touch and technique is the most important element.

[Riffster]

Oh I am not disagreeing with you specifically, I disagree when the concept of the thread gets oversimplified and when artists that have super-over-the-top expensive gear and lots and lots of it tell you that gear does not matter.

 

I am aware of the amps you mention for recording, they definitely had a place. I wonder what % of cheap amps sounded good. Also wonder what % of the time Page used that specific amp.

 

The problem is that there is always that exact sentence you just wrote where there is a hyperbole where there is a super-talented guy (in your example Jeff Beck) that would use low end (crappy) gear and can get the most out of it because of his talent. The ultimate guitar underdog that in my opinion does not exist, at least I have never seen a tangible example.

 

Truth is if someone is that talented at guitar they will find a way to scratch a little cash for decent gear, that I have seen, plenty of that here in Nashville.

 

I agree with you, I would like to play with say like Ritchie Blackmore and have low end gear... then I would buy something nicer.

 

In the end it is a combination of it all, skill which yes, it is very important of course, experience, ability to write songs and a good sound regardless of how you achieve it.

[badbluesplayer]

I swear, some of you guys would argue with God. Oh, wait a minute. You are arguing with God.

[pippy]

I swear, some of you guys would argue with God. Oh, wait a minute. You are arguing with God.

 

Oh, very good.

 

 

...why did he recently buy two more original bursts after already owning one?...

I was thinking exactly the same thing. The answer, of course, is because he's a guitar enthusiast with the financial ability to satisfy his enthusiasm.

 

On the subject of the importance of picking-hand technique which has arisen a few times; almost three months ago I damaged the tendons in my lower right arm/wrist/hand and haven't been able to play guitar like 'me' ever since (some, of course, would say this is a good thing...lol!).

I no longer have fine control over my thumb/index finger or my grip of the pick and, therefore, my control of 'attack' has been severly reduced.

 

P.

[Achilles Papamoschos]

I think that, it is all in the... mind.

Even if you re a guitar player or a football player... think about it.

[milod]

Yes, it's all in the mind, but without creating muscle memory through practice... it makes little diff, too.

 

The problem is that music performance is a complex combination of mental, physical and emotional skills.

 

I watched this weekend a television program about a famous violin competition. All were exceptional - even incredible - technical players. I sat there wondering how they could even think so quickly, let alone play so quickly.

 

Yet... What were the judges saying?

 

They were looking at the performance qualities - not the playing per se, because all were so technically excellent.

 

I found that quite interesting.

 

And... personally perhaps a bit depressing. I'm not all that bad a picker, but... I think perhaps I'm a rather boring performer.

 

Frankly it really made me wonder what all we are talking about in terms of music and music performance; what does it mean if, let's say, we'll never hear about the world's greatest technical violinist because he/she has agoraphobia?

 

Gadgetry, even performance quality equipment (which doesn't require huge investment up to the current "performing rock band" sort of rig) are things I believe "we" consider important, but they're far less important to the "judges" of our performances than they are to us. "They" are perceiving an entirety of our performance.

 

So... Epi or Gibbie "dot" are less important to an audience than whether the performance is satisfying. Yeah, they're important to "us" as we consider variations such as reliability and the "feel" of a given guitar - but except for others like "us," they're rather irrelevant considerations.

 

I think sometimes that after a certain point of playability, and/or basic "sound quality" in our rigs, our own comfort level with the equipment we use will contribute more to our performance quality than some of the slight variations we all get hung up about.

 

So... yeah, you can make a case a lot is in our minds. Then comes how that physically is converted into comfort with our instrument in performance. Frankly I'd say that fuzzes and such almost make the guitar using it out of the realm of the same instrument as one playing clean. But that's another discussion.

 

Finally then, in the case of both guitarists and violinists, is the step beyond the setup for playability of the instrument into the tiny variations of tone that may make us happier and give more of a performance satisfaction feedback.

 

m

[FirstMeasure]

I think that, it is all in the... mind.

Even if you re a guitar player or a football player... think about it.

Is it? Before I knew how to play the guitar there was music in my head with no way to let it out. I had to learn and internalize the instrument in order to play the music that was in my head. The first year or so is all about building dexterity and muscle strength in order to get the mind's idea out of the fingers.

 

That's muscle and nerve training. Without strong, dexterous fingers all the music stays in the mind. It's not "all" about any one thing. Musical ability (or any artistic ability) is a culmination of physical and mental abilities.

 

Even in sports, I know how to play a mean game of soccer but I don't have the knack and haven't put in the time to be physically capable.

[kaleb]

Joe and Eric can make anything sound great, but they use certain gear because it gives them a sound that they like.

 

Joe has 3 Bursts because he likes them.

 

Eric plays through a modified Tweed Twin because he likes the sound of it.

 

Does that mean I'll like it? No.

 

But in the end, Joe will always sound like Joe, and Eric will always sound like Eric no matter what they use. A guitar player's "sound" is personal; it's like an extention of their personality. I'll have my sound with any guitar, amp, or effect setup. If Eric decided to play an Ibanez RG and a high-gain Bogner head with a wet-dry-wet setup (Including gobs of delay and reverb!), we'd still listen to him. He'd still be awesome. Now, if Steve Vai dumped his Carvin/Axe-Fx rig and his JEMs for a Dr Z, a 335, and a Tube Screamer, we'd still listen to him, and he'd still be great. Sure, he wouldn't be able to do some of the tricks he does, but he'd still be Steve Vai.

 

There's a reason why the players we dig have a tone that works: They like it, and it's the sound they hear in their head (Or heard in their head at the time of the recording). I love Joe's tone, I love AC/DC tone, and I love Alex Lifeson's tone. Three different kinds of tone: A straight-ahead rock tone, a super-wet, wide, big, and spacious tone, and a warm, flutey, singing tone. But it's great because they like their tones and they make them great.