a little venting about a guitarist...

SMILEYSIXX · #1 07-23-2010, 08:13 PM

I'm sorry to post just to vent, but this really got my blood boiling.

There's a guitarist I know, who is just awful. He can't even smoothly play a power chord. Awful. But he thinks he is amazing. He can't even play a single chord without sounding horrible. But, I continue to jam with him occasionally. I was a trumpeteer in my high school band, and I took music theory classes, so I know music theory and understand it. But this guitarist is insanely ignorant about it. He refuses to even acknowledge music theory. He understands tabs but if you put a three chord song on a music staff in front of him, he would stare at you like your insane.

Let me describe how lazy this guy is. When we jam he refuses to tune. He says tuning while practicing songs is just pointless because you're not actually playing professionally. He practices drop B songs in standard and justifies himself by saying that when he actually gigs, he will tune right and it will sound good. This guy is crazy.

Oh wait, I haven't even gotten to the best part. He thinks we're in a band. He thinks that one day, we're going to be a famous band. We don't even have a vocalist or drummer. But wait! Not only does he think we're in a band, but he started a myspace, facebook, gaia, and blogger account for our band.

But wait boys and girls, there is even more! He wants to mix up the instruments and do some songs where HE PLAYS MY BASS. I told him no on at least fifty different occasions, but he insists he can do it. I tried to teach him "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones, and he can't even comprehend a three note song. He thinks he can play bass. He TUNES MY BASS BY EAR and tries to play my bass. He can't even tell me the tuning of a bass, but thinks he can tune it by ear.

Oh yeah, he also EQ'd my amp for me. What a nice guy. This was the EQ he set.

Bass: 2
Low mid: 2
High mid: 4
Treble: 9

Sorry to write so much, but I had to vent about this guy...

SMILEYSIXX · #2 07-23-2010, 08:25 PM

Missed a few things. In reference to "when gigging, he'll properly tune", he doesn't gig. No one wants him in their band because he's so pompous, yet so awful.

And so I showed him the amp I'm saving up for. I play a little 60watt fender rumble series, and wanna get a Gallien Krueger. Between the amp and the head, it'll cost around $1000. He tried to talk me out of it by claiming "when we're famous, we'll get endorsements and get that stuff for free."

That about wraps it up. If I think of anything else, or if anything pops up, I'll post it.

kb9wyz · #3 07-23-2010, 08:30 PM

Vent away, brother. Please! If this happened to me I would have hired a hitman. Maybe two hitmen, just to be certain that the guitarist didn't survive out of sheer, dumb luck.

You are a better man than I, sir.

LarkinLondon · #4 07-23-2010, 08:37 PM

the worlds full of these guys.
I've know some just as bad and ignorant to the fact, but they're kind hearted people you don't tell.
This guy sounds like you need to tell him. and not play with him.

Unrepresented · #5 07-23-2010, 08:42 PM

I'm surprised you're willing to play with him. You're a more tolerant person than me.

SMILEYSIXX · #6 07-23-2010, 09:33 PM

I put up with it because though he's insane he can occasionally be a cool dude. But the thing about him playing my bass really set me off. I haven't talked to him since he said about it.

ggunn · #7 07-24-2010, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

I put up with it because though he's insane he can occasionally be a cool dude. But the thing about him playing my bass really set me off. I haven't talked to him since he said about it.

I'm going to take a wild guess that you guys are both pretty young. Don't be so quick to dismiss him; everybody's got to be bad before they can be good and everybody's got to be ignorant before they can be wise. Misconceptions like the ones he is operating under will not stand up to experience; at least he is out there trying the waters instead of sitting back telling himself "I could never do that."

SMILEYSIXX · #8 07-24-2010, 10:32 AM

Oh, I was optimistic about this guy once too. He will not even try to learn. When he was younger, his dad tried to teach him drums when he was younger. Even today, he is too lazy to try and learn to use a drum set with one snare, one tom, one cymbal and a bass drum. It took him three months to learn what the string tunings were, and even then, he refused to learn it until I made him. There is no hope for this guy. You can't gain wisdom and experience if you refuse it.

snyderz · #9 07-24-2010, 10:46 AM

You dis this guy no end, then say he's a cool dude. Either you want to hang with him, or you don't. Rants don't accomplish a thing.

SMILEYSIXX · #10 07-24-2010, 10:56 AM

He can be cool when it's not about music. When it comes to music, I wanna strangle him. However since his idea of playing bass, I refuse to put up with him anymore.

ggunn · #11 07-24-2010, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

He can be cool when it's not about music. When it comes to music, I wanna strangle him. However since his idea of playing bass, I refuse to put up with him anymore.

How old are you guys?

SMILEYSIXX · #12 07-24-2010, 02:52 PM

While I don't see the exact importance of age, we're both sixteen.

kuys · #13 07-24-2010, 02:57 PM

Ahh, two young guys being douchebags. Give it time, most people grow up.

Not a stab at you in general. It's just a fact that the period between 15-20 all kids become douchebags. Most grow out of it. Some do not.

SMILEYSIXX · #14 07-24-2010, 03:01 PM

I, myself, do not personally see myself as being the douchey bad guy here. I'm pointing out the ignorant actions of a guitarist. I've seen people grow out of this phase that he's in, but when someone is going out of his way to avoid experience, I have no sympathy for that person.

And by the way, no offense to the older guys out there, but remember: your generation seems to forget that it raised mine.

ggunn · #15 07-24-2010, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

I, myself, do not personally see myself as being the douchey bad guy here. I'm pointing out the ignorant actions of a guitarist. I've seen people grow out of this phase that he's in, but when someone is going out of his way to avoid experience, I have no sympathy for that person.

And by the way, no offense to the older guys out there, but remember: your generation seems to forget that it raised mine.

Well, IMO it's a symptom of douchebaggery to go out on a public newsgroup to gripe about what is really a personal problem. What do expect us to say? Either the guy will grow out of it or he won't. If he keeps trying to play music, he probably will.

I don't see what you mean about my generation forgetting that we raised yours. If you grow up to do stupid things it's not necessarily our fault.

SMILEYSIXX · #16 07-24-2010, 03:40 PM

I'm taking care of it as personal problem too. I don't see a difference between me posting this thread and the countless other threads of rants about other musicians, guitarists included. There are many other threads that did the exact same thing as me. There are threads with many posts of rants about stuff like this. So am I the only douchebag, or are there hundreds of them on TB?

And as for your generation raising mine, we didn't raise ourselves. It was the older generations teaching us. Are you saying your parents generation taught you nothing and you learned everything yourself? I'm not saying we can blame everything on older generations, but we learn from it from somewhere.

TheBear · #17 07-24-2010, 03:58 PM

Smiley, this type of person doesn't want to be in a band to play music but to get famous. I wouldn't be surprised if he lists his guitar on Craigslist in the next year after you drop him from your "band" that he's so enthusiastically a part of. I think that the idea of changing instruments could be fun occasionally, but is more likely something that you could do after rehearsing or writing your music. I agree with you, though; nobody touches my basses without my permission!

Why does he have to be involved with you on a musical level? I have some really great friends and I don't play music with any of them because we don't connect on that level. Well, I take that back, we did have a joke band in college, but it was just an excuse to go to house parties and play offensive songs on our acoustics while getting drunk...needless to say, it didn't pan out! That joke band was just to be silly, not actually try to make it with songs like "We Want Hot Babes (And We Won't Go 'Til We Get Them)"...

ggunn · #18 07-24-2010, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

And as for your generation raising mine, we didn't raise ourselves. It was the older generations teaching us. Are you saying your parents generation taught you nothing and you learned everything yourself? I'm not saying we can blame everything on older generations, but we learn from it from somewhere.

That's what members of m-m-m-my generation call a "cop out". We are all ultimately ourselves responsible for our own behavior.

As to the douchebag vector, try not to take yourself so seriously. If everyone else is being a douchebag, it doesn't make you any less of one when you do what they do.

SMILEYSIXX · #19 07-25-2010, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBear

nobody touches my basses without my permission!

That was really the thing that set me over the top... it may be a little petty, but it makes me crazy when someone picks up one of my instruments.

spaz21387 · #20 07-25-2010, 12:43 AM

well The way i look at it is if your not playing it right why even bother playing it at all... meaning tune to the right tunings for songs or better yet come up with your own stuff. and offer to tune for him so if hes too lazy to do it atleast it will be in tune. if he refuses find another guitarist. everyone plays guitar so it wont be hard. good bass players and drummers are way harder to find.