People who don't care about gear?!

[Bensen]

...mexi strats.

What about Mexi Teles?

[Borderline Productions]

Some people just don't have the money to get better gear. Some people have the money to buy the gear but their talent level doesn't justify it. There comes a time when you are getting proficient at your craft when the tools you have are holding you back.

What I find interesting is that a good guitarist can make a crappy guitar sound much better than a crappy guitarist. There are some great players (my son on bass fits this description) who a killer players who pay not attention to gear or tone. So maybe the guy you see with talent and crappy gear either needs some cash flow or some guidance.

Ddjembe Mutombo: Your songs and tone more than make up for your perceived lack of guitar skills. Any new tunes?

[Ddjembe Mutombo]

What about Mexi Teles?

No hate on the MIM fenders. They are a good bang for the buck. I just used the MIM strat as an example because people usually stop upgrading there because they got the guitar with the Fender name on the headstock.

OT: Is that a chow/husky mix in your sig?

Some people just don't have the money to get better gear. Some people have the money to buy the gear but their talent level doesn't justify it. There comes a time when you are getting proficient at your craft when the tools you have are holding you back.

What I find interesting is that a good guitarist can make a crappy guitar sound much better than a crappy guitarist. There are some great players (my son on bass fits this description) who a killer players who pay not attention to gear or tone. So maybe the guy you see with talent and crappy gear either needs some cash flow or some guidance.

Ddjembe Mutombo: Your songs and tone more than make up for your perceived lack of guitar skills. Any new tunes?

The good guitar players I knew were stuck with the lower end gear for two reasons.
1) they constantly spend their money on something else (nothing wrong with that)
2) they stop upgrading once they get the name brand image they desire. A lot want a fender into a marshall stack (you know... Hendrix style). So they will stop after they get a MIM fender running into a Marshall MG half-stack.

Maybe we would be better guitar players if we spent less time GASing. haha.

No new songs yet. I'm remixing two older Branson songs "Light a Match" and "Hit & Run". I left Syracuse about a year ago so the band disbanded. I am currently working on new songs with a new group. These first few are probably going to be rough, because we are still trying to find our sound. The current material is sort of like Branson, but more punky.

[Randy Bass]

...mexi strats.

What about Mexi Teles?

I don't think it's fair to blame the MIM Telecaster for that !

[Dave666]

I don't get it either, but it's good for them and their wallet, I think.
I narrowed all my gear down to 2 guitars and 4 amps right now.
I have a rock guitar and a metal axe, 2 marshall amps and 2 Orange amps...
Actually, I sold all my crap to buy new good crap!!
I'm still searching for a good 412 or 212 to match my Rocker30 and my VintageModern.

[jason41224]

honestly i think some people are too busy practicing their butts off and trying to be better players than even considering the gear they use. i know a ton of people like that. if they thought about it, they'd think that they could use an upgrade. but they just don't think about it.

[Dave666]

honestly i think some people are too busy practicing their butts off and trying to be better players than even considering the gear they use. i know a ton of people like that. if they thought about it, they'd think that they could use an upgrade. but they just don't think about it.

That's true!!!
The leadguitarplayer in one of my bands used the very first guitar he bought (a cheap Jackson) for over 12years, he didn't even concidering a pick-up upgrade.
Untill a Gibson V popped on the web for a very cool price. It took me 2 weeks to convince him to buy that guitar. he bought it eventually, and he plays and sounds even better now!!!

[ironlung40]

I don't get it either, but it's good for them and their wallet, I think.
I narrowed all my gear down to 2 guitars and 4 amps right now.
I have a rock guitar and a metal axe, 2 marshall amps and 2 Orange amps...
Actually, I sold all my crap to buy new good crap!!
I'm still searching for a good 412 or 212 to match my Rocker30 and my VintageModern.

What other specific amps and guitars do you have?

I've got a rocker 30 and a vintage modern as well. I've got a sg 61 reissue and a modified jaguar. I'd love to get an explorer for more metalish tones, although the SG will handle that pretty well.

[TESLA_EL34]

Well, there are different ways to win.
I'm not the best player but i can write good songs and i know how to groove,
so in the end the audience likes me more as the guitar gods.
And yes i use good gear and i care a lot about my tone/sounds!

[Dave666]

I don't get it either, but it's good for them and their wallet, I think.
I narrowed all my gear down to 2 guitars and 4 amps right now.
I have a rock guitar and a metal axe, 2 marshall amps and 2 Orange amps...
Actually, I sold all my crap to buy new good crap!!
I'm still searching for a good 412 or 212 to match my Rocker30 and my VintageModern.

What other specific amps and guitars do you have?

I've got a rocker 30 and a vintage modern as well. I've got a sg 61 reissue and a modified jaguar. I'd love to get an explorer for more metalish tones, although the SG will handle that pretty well.

What speakers do you use with those 2 amps?
My other amps are a Tiny Terror and a Marshall JCM800 2210 (this one has been modified for more low-end and is my go-to metal amp!!!) As for cabs I have a Orange PPC412 and a Peavey XXX cab.
As for guitars I have a Gibson V and an Ibanez RG (with Dimarzio PU's). I'm going to buy a SG again one day, but first I need a dirty rock 'n roll cab.

[tony_clifton]

Regarding talent/skills/whatever, think of this; you guys over here are probably the kind of people that would buy a Honda/Repsol Fireblade to race at 200 mph, while some people rather buy a Harley and go out on a sunny day to cruise around at 40 mph. Do you need a Harley to go 40 mph? Hell, even lawn mowers can do that so to speak.

Guitars, same thing. I've been playing for more than five years. Last year I bought a PRRI and a custom shop LP, although I don't have time to play it very often, and if I do it's basically play along and rhythm guitar. But it's my hobby, I saved up for it and I enjoy playing that guitar/amp. So what if I don't play anything spectacular.

[savage8190]

Well I agree that good gear can make a good player sound great...its like the perfect storm . And while it wont make a bad player sound good...it might help a little.
Admittedly I havent been at this all that long, and Im somewhere in the middle, but I know that nothing motivates me like a new piece of gear (except maybe my instructor), and I like to sound as good as I can.

Its also like the only thing I do, and I make good money, so I dont mind spending good money. Ever since I had kids I pretty much have no life, so outside of my family guitar is my life.

[ironlung40]

I don't get it either, but it's good for them and their wallet, I think.
I narrowed all my gear down to 2 guitars and 4 amps right now.
I have a rock guitar and a metal axe, 2 marshall amps and 2 Orange amps...
Actually, I sold all my crap to buy new good crap!!
I'm still searching for a good 412 or 212 to match my Rocker30 and my VintageModern.

What other specific amps and guitars do you have?

I've got a rocker 30 and a vintage modern as well. I've got a sg 61 reissue and a modified jaguar. I'd love to get an explorer for more metalish tones, although the SG will handle that pretty well.

What speakers do you use with those 2 amps?
My other amps are a Tiny Terror and a Marshall JCM800 2210 (this one has been modified for more low-end and is my go-to metal amp!!!) As for cabs I have a Orange PPC412 and a Peavey XXX cab.
As for guitars I have a Gibson V and an Ibanez RG (with Dimarzio PU's). I'm going to buy a SG again one day, but first I need a dirty rock 'n roll cab.

I use a PPC412 with V30's with the orange. with the vintage modern I prefer the celestion GT65's......they sound better to my ears with any marshall, but they really round out the tone with the VM, the V30's sound kinda harsh by comparison, but they are still really good as well. I used to have a 2x12 with the 65's, but I removed the 65's, and sold the 2x12, at the moment my 65's are on a shelf, and I'm just using the ppc412. I plan to pick up another 2x12 with better construction than my last, and put the 65's in that.

I also have a marshall 2203, 6100, and a 2210. the 2210 is an excellent metal amp, I put an eq in the loop to do approximately what your mod does, and it slays. I use low output pickups all the time, though...the highest gain pickup I have is a SD superdistortion in my jag, my 61 has the 57 classics, and they'll still do metal quite well.....(by metal, I'm into the older school metal tones).

[doomedfuzz]

I don't get it at all. They'll just play whatever and don't care. Makes me play like crap to use crappy amps, crappy drums, crappy whatever. Also good gear makes a decent band sound great. I make up for my lack of talent with good gear. ha.

You know, good gear does make a world of difference. There is that pride that comes with playing nice stuff and I think that shows in a live performance. And when a world famous musician (that most of you would know - he is friends with our drummer and we don't try to leverage the relationship and mention his name out of respect or to sound like we are bragging) came up to us after a show a few months ago and said - you guys don't need to change a thing, your tone and sound is just awesome, that made all of the years of buying, selling, and trading to get to this point worth while. I feel more professional and more talented than I am with good stuff lol..

But I will give props to the very few amazing musicians who can make crap sound amazing. I was in a band about 10 years ago with a guy who was a college student from overseas here in the states. He had a cheap starter Epi strat he picked up in Singapore, a Marshall MG head, a low end Crate 4x12, and a Korg multi-effects pedal. All pretty much bottom of the line, starter stuff. But he was poor and that was all he could afford. Let me tell you, he spent hour upon hour upon hour dialing that rig in. We did upgrade the pups to Duncan Hot Rails which made a lot of difference, but still, he made that thing sound WAY better than my more expensive gear. He had that crunchy Iron Maiden, Aces High tone down perfect with that rig and he could play like Dave Murray (his hero) to boot. I played through it, it sounded like me playing through low end gear, but he had some kind of mojo that made that rig sing.

But I see bands every show we play where they are playing on Guitar Center off the shelf stuff and frankly, a lot of them sound horrible. I admit to being a gear snob though. Even some better quality stuff, I just don't like the tone of - for instance the Mesa Rectifier series amps. I used to love em, but man I can't really stand the sound of a Mesa Triple Rec anymore. Love their cabs, not the head. But Mesa Mark series amps, yeah, I like those. It is distinct sure but not pleasant to my ears. I love British amps - Orange, Marshall, Matamp, those are the best sounding to me. And I have an affinity for Sunn amps also, they just have that sound I like.

[Tango]

Guitars, same thing. I've been playing for more than five years. Last year I bought a PRRI and a custom shop LP, although I don't have time to play it very often, and if I do it's basically play along and rhythm guitar. But it's my hobby, I saved up for it and I enjoy playing that guitar/amp. So what if I don't play anything spectacular.

I concur.

My guitar is a better guitar than I am guitarist, but its mine and it has no choice but to put up with me