Guitarists do the darndest things

[Stylee Mousse]

Same with my wife.

No theory all, all ear. Luckily she has a really good ones and writes interesting and odd bass lines that I never would think of.

She’s the reason I switched to guitar for 20 years!

She grew up in a bluegrass/fiddle tunes/gospel singing family. As a baby They used to put her under the piano at barn dances they played.

Not technical. Loved this gowdawful peavey 115 that weighed 99 pounds that I had to schlep for her all over the place….

 

[FullumMusic]

I invited my younger brother into my band. He's absolutely clueless about audio and gear and also about music theory, but is a great player, with good ideas and feel, and is also a great hang. Comunication is a bit harder due to the lack of any technical language, and he mostly plays whatever gear I provide him with; but that means he only gets a 10 w amp and generally uses it however I tell him because "I'm the one who knows that stuff". Great deal if you ask me.

Simultaneously confused by his lack of knowledge and jealous of your control of the situation.

 

[fdeck]

I invited my younger brother into my band. He's absolutely clueless about audio and gear and also about music theory, but is a great player, with good ideas and feel, and is also a great hang. Comunication is a bit harder due to the lack of any technical language, and he mostly plays whatever gear I provide him with; but that means he only gets a 10 w amp and generally uses it however I tell him because "I'm the one who knows that stuff". Great deal if you ask me.

Do him a favor and teach him. There may come a day when he's in a band where he's expected to be self sufficient with his gear. This can happen right away. My first music lesson was about taking care of my gear.

People aren't expected to be techies, but if you play an amplified instrument, then knowing how to sound good with the gear you have, at an appropriate volume level for the situation, is part of knowing how to play.

Also, having to teach something is a great way to find out if you understand it yourself.

 

[Michedelic]

I didn't have a gain knob until the 21 century.

I had a gain knob as far back as 1983.

 

[Michedelic]

Presence. What is presence?

You would have had to have played through a ‘63 Bassman to find out…

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

I didn't have a gain knob until the 21 century.

Up until then, you had nothing to gain.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Hahaha, you messed up now!

I would open it up and gaffa tape a limiter inside the cab and solder it to the FX loop somehow

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

This dates back a few years, and I've posted it before but what the heck!

I played bass in a contemporary rock cover band, and the guitarist had an immensely loud on-stage volume. He'd be sandwiched between his amp (which apparently went to 11) and his monitor and the volume was so loud I couldn't even hear the drums while standing directly next to them.

So at one gig, I finally had enough and said: "Would you mind turning it down a notch, you're very loud." To which he replied: "Yeah but it needs to be this loud cos I'm wearing ear plugs. Can't hear myself otherwise."

My suggestion that he maybe not wear ear plugs ... Wait for it ... Fell on deaf ears The drummer quit one gig later, and that was the end of yet another band of mine.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Do him a favor and teach him. There may come a day when he's in a band where he's expected to be self sufficient with his gear. This can happen right away. My first music lesson was about taking care of my gear.

People aren't expected to be techies, but if you play an amplified instrument, then knowing how to sound good with the gear you have, at an appropriate volume level for the situation, is part of knowing how to play.

Also, having to teach something is a great way to find out if you understand it yourself.

And ruin his GAS-free state? Why would I do that to him?

 

[BassGuyFL]

I know one that believes the aliens on Mars want to hear their guitar. It's a shame that I don't think anyone on Earth wants to hear their guitar and in order to get sound to Mars...

The drummer equivalent is the guy that hits all rim shots all the time. Because he's somehow worried that no one's gonna hear the snare drum. Which is almost always the loudest thing on the stage as it is…

 

[dougjwray]

The drummer equivalent is the guy that hits all rim shots all the time. Because he's somehow worried that no one's gonna hear the snare drum. Which is almost always the loudest thing on the stage as it is…

I literally lost some hearing after one rehearsal with a drummer like that. I was so alarmed that the next day, I made an appointment to get custom earplugs.
I felt pain in my ears with every backseat.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

I literally lost some hearing after one rehearsal with a drummer like that. I was so alarmed that the next day, I made an appointment to get custom earplugs.
I felt pain in my ears with every backseat.

Better to sit up in front then.

 

[dougjwray]

"BackBEAT!!" Stoopid cellphone autocorrect...

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

We were once clueless too

^

(to be completely fair, I had a clue... just didn't know what it meant)

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Funny, I had a Peavey TNT combo in 1990 that didn't even have the word "volume" on the controls: just pre & post gain. Something like this:
View attachment 7399141

They still do this. Even has "high gain" and "low gain" inputs. One of my shop customers recently gave me a Peavey Studio Pro 112, sure enough, years later same terminology. I'd never buy one of these, but a free amp is a free amp... and the thing is louder than dammit. It sounds okay.

 

[Major Seven]

One of the guys I play with had a capo on the headstock of his guitar with the capo slightly squeezing the strings between the nut and tuning keys. He tuned the guitar that way then took the capo off and put it on the neck. Couldn’t understand why the guitar was out of tune. I tried to explain it but I’m not sure he understood although I haven’t seen him do that again so may

Somewhere on TB I saw a tech who was asked to install knobs on a guitar that went up to 11.

He did so and weeks later the guy came back to switch back to the old (0-10) knobs because when set at 9 his guitar didn't sound like it did before.

 

[Major Seven]

Toneking?

Experts;