Quote:
Originally posted by Bob Olhsson
Heavy guitar strings and somebody with great touch can make almost any amp and mike sing provided there isn't too much BS plugged in between the guitar and the amp.
There's lots of guys out there with unlimited gear budgets and no tone at all while plenty of poor kids playing in churches have got tone for days using a 200 buck guitar and amp. |
Well, I have heavy as hell strings, and a great touch, if not an all-time-great touch, and I can make some pretty healthy sounds in the room, if not the kind of sounds I could make with a guitar better than my '80 Les Paul and a completely tricked out dialed-in amp better than my Gibson Goldtone, old Ampeg V-4, etc., and I have been so frustrated trying to record the damn thing that I just gave up.
When I hear really nice guitar tones, like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, or anybody else who has obviously put in umpteen million hours and umpteen thousand dollars into the gear end of things, on top of having a great touch, it only confirms my decision to put aside an instrument that was my first and best for many years.
It just ain't that easy as far as I can tell. Analog tape helps a whole lot- I've just about lost it trying to track electric guitar to a Radar S-Nyquist. But it's a lot harder to get something really nice to tape than finding a guy with a great touch and having him play whatever is handy, IMVHSHO! I only wish...
So these days I just play acoustic guitar- got my Collings with fat strings and jacked up action, and it sounds gorgeous every time and records nicely. My mate and musical partner in crime thinks it's a major shame that I don't play electric anymore, but it's too hard on the earbones to do especially if I can't do it really right sonically- it just represents a world of frustration to me, despite the hundreds of live gigs I've done on that instrument, or maybe because of!
On the other hand, I think I can get somewhere with getting healthy tones out of steel guitar and getting them to tape, so I believe I will dust my broom in that regard.