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Is it really your gear that's holding you back?

#123
retslock said:
I live in a small seaside village that has a periodic collection of waste items that won’t go in the weekly garbage collection (known colloquially as the council chuck-out). Stuff like furniture and appliances, old bicycles etc. You’d be amazed at how many exercise bikes and gym equipment get thrown out every time. People think that this new gadget will get them sorted out and then they discover that it won’t because the gadget doesn’t give you the motivation to get fit. You have to supply that yourself. It’s the same with musical instruments. That nice new bass or amp will sound better and feel good but in the meantime you’re still you. What you play will sound better but you won’t play better unless you’re motivated to work at what it takes to get better.
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Yup :)
Instead of working on getting new, better, louder, whatever gear. It would be better to work on ourselves :) If not, it could just end up in the council chuck-out with bears pawing over it, and we're not the better for it! :)
 
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#124
Element Zero said:
Yeah :( After about a year of trying to convince myself that I loved it, I caved and was honest with myself. I didn’t love it. I didn’t like the way it played, how it sat, or the tone. I sold it and bought a Fodera. MUCH happier all around. Fits better, plays better, and is tonally more “me”.
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Yeah, it's not like you traded off the Pedulla for a Squier :)
Even though that would have been kick ass :)
Whoever works! :)
 
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#125
retslock said:
I live in a small seaside village that has a periodic collection of waste items that won’t go in the weekly garbage collection (known colloquially as the council chuck-out). Stuff like furniture and appliances, old bicycles etc. You’d be amazed at how many exercise bikes and gym equipment get thrown out every time. People think that this new gadget will get them sorted out and then they discover that it won’t because the gadget doesn’t give you the motivation to get fit. You have to supply that yourself. It’s the same with musical instruments. That nice new bass or amp will sound better and feel good but in the meantime you’re still you. What you play will sound better but you won’t play better unless you’re motivated to work at what it takes to get better.
Click to expand...

DJ Bebop said:
Yup :)
Instead of working on getting new, better, louder, whatever gear. It would be better to work on ourselves :) If not, it could just end up in the council chuck-out with bears pawing over it, and we're not the better for it! :)
Click to expand...
Oops, I did see you're on the west island,
no bears there :)

I was thinking the other end off the planet, around Alaska and a tribal council chuck-out :)
 
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#132
Depends.

I could have kept my basic starting gear, and a younger me (I started on bass in my 30s and just turned 40) likely would have just crushed it on all of that.

But as a busy working adult, I've needed extra motivation to want to sit down and do the woodshed work instead of the myriad other things beckoning. And I've started having some money to throw at that motivation heh. Had I stuck with my first bass, no new amps, pedals, etc, I'll admit I may have grown less interested. But I invested money in the possibilities (a 5-string, new instrument brands, a sweet vertical cab stack, pedalllssslslsss, and on), and it's turned me into, finally, a well-balanced, obsessively studying player.

I'm pretty sure my gear helps me sound less terrible, and it definitely isn't what holds me back. Leave THAT to overly comparing myself to other players!
 
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#133
After playing bass for 47 years, I've earned the right to buy gear that doesn't hold me back in any way. Or rather, I should say, it optimizes my playing because nothing has ever held me back gear-related. I'll make any old piece of crap work if I have to as long as it works. I often have. But the gear I buy for myself totally spoils me because it's the stuff that I feel presents me in my best light, regardless of price.
 
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#136
One reason you see great players with ordinary gear is drugs. Least it used to be. HST, that ordinary gear is usually we'll set up and doesn't hold them back in any way. And there's the bit where, once you spend crazy money on a custom build, you obviously will want to get your money's worth out of it. There's not much motivation to trade down, major life changes not withstanding. I don't know the answer, but I wonder how many people had to sell 2 Foderas and an Alembic actually replace them when they get back on their feet. And how many just keep using the Squier they've made their own.
 
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#137
factory presets said:
One reason you see great players with ordinary gear is drugs. Least it used to be. HST, that ordinary gear is usually we'll set up and doesn't hold them back in any way. And there's the bit where, once you spend crazy money on a custom build, you obviously will want to get your money's worth out of it. There's not much motivation to trade down, major life changes not withstanding. I don't know the answer, but I wonder how many people had to sell 2 Foderas and an Alembic actually replace them when they get back on their feet. And how many just keep using the Squier they've made their own.
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Replaceability and serviceability while one the road is what I suspect. Most major brands have vendors in every state, custom builder not so.
 
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#138
Esteban Garcia said:
I love seeing pro-level players on student-level gear. I also love pro-level gear and understand the benefits of not fighting your instrument.:thumbsup:
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I once went to a Tommy Emmanuel show (acoustic guitar virtuoso) and Tommy told a story about an old guitar that was given to him by a dear friend on his deathbed. The guitar was a Gibson "Kalamazoo" from the 30s, which was a low cost beginner or student grade instrument and his friend wanted him to have it for sentimental reasons.

He usually plays custom made Matin guitars, but to honor his friend, Tommy made a point to play a song on the Kakamazoo during every show on that tour. I turned to my buddy sitting next to me and commented that it might be a moving tribute, but Tommy wasn't going to be be impressing anyone on that cheap guitar with his usual complex and lightning fast fingerstyle playing with all the harmonics and percussive techniques he's known for.

I could not have been more wrong.
 
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