General Music Chat

The worst part of it all was when he expected us to all stop everything so he could show off his ears as he tuned up. NOTHING irritates me much more than that.

A word to the wise - ALWAYS USE A FRIKKEN TUNER. It's fast, & it doesn't bug the sh*t outta ppl! It took this moron way too long, while we were stuck listening to his twanging & tweaking before he was done, & frankly, by then, I was so over him it no longer mattered how good he was.

I could even have forgiven the fact that he was unprepared, if he was a better player, & could pick stuff up well, but he wasn't & he couldn't.

Of course the lousy use of effects would have turned me off just as much. What is wrong with ppl when it comes to this sh*t? We each of us hinted to him to cut it back, but he was simply clueless. How can anyone think that mushy muddy echoing sound is good? This is the 2nd guy I've tried out in a row that has this problem. I think these idjits just sit around in their bedrooms & make noises with their damned toys until they convince themselves that they are guitar gods or something. I guess it works in their bedrooms, but when they meet up with ppl like me they definitely hear a different opinion on that crap.

I seem to only be connecting with complete amateurs when I use the web & other advertising. I suppose I'll have to make some $ so I can go out to meet up with some working musicians, cuz these losers I've been meeting are just too frustrating to deal with.

I know it's frustrating for you. But ya know, we all have to start somewhere.
Being a newbe myself, I can sympathise with the guy to some extent.
This site has been very beneficial. Was not till I began to compare my muddy noise to the other cleaner tones I was hearing on here that I became dissatisfied with what I was doing.
That also led me into the world of tube amps and Les Paul guitars.
While it's true that one should listen and adjust to the experience of more experienced players. It's also true that without amateurs there will never be pros.

Of course the lousy use of effects would have turned me off just as much. What is wrong with ppl when it comes to this sh*t? We each of us hinted to him to cut it back, but he was simply clueless. How can anyone think that mushy muddy echoing sound is good? This is the 2nd guy I've tried out in a row that has this problem. I think these idjits just sit around in their bedrooms & make noises with their damned toys until they convince themselves that they are guitar gods or something. I guess it works in their bedrooms, but when they meet up with ppl like me they definitely hear a different opinion on that crap.

To be fair, getting effects (and even basic amp settings) correct is a tough job. A guitar player has to balance what he is trying to achieve for tone and what is necessary for the band, and it's not an easy task. There's a whole host of factors that contribute to the sound quality that a guitar player pushes out.

I'm running into the same problem right now with my new 4x12 cab. I have two 1x12 cabs that I have used previously for practice and rehearsals. Two 1x12 cabs obviously sound a lot different from the 4x12 and affect the overall guitar sound quite a bit.

Volume levels make a huge difference. I typically practice at a volume level that is reasonable to my ears without earplugs; but I'm practicing with an iPod stereo and not a live drummer. At lower volume settings an amp needs more gain/overdrive to sound full, and more effects to sound good. If you are playing with low gain at lower volume levels, your amp sounds like a cheap-ass crate, or something from the 1950's before they figured out how to make distortion sound full.

Now, you take those same high-gain, full-mix effects settings at band practice level, when you are trying to be heard along with the drummer and bass, and it creates a completely muddy and indistinguishable sound. I wear earplugs at rehearsals because everyone else is so loud and I want to preserve my ears long-term. When my amp is cranked up like that, the gain & overdrive are too much and the effects become overbearing and obvious.

But it's hard to change those settings because of trust. I've been practicing for so long at 'bedroom" levels and I've tweaked my amp and effects to perfection for that situation. I trust those settings. It becomes hard to trust even yourself, as a guitar player who knows his own equipment, that you need to change the settings. I mean, I'm even aware that I need to tweak stuff and it's still hard to convince myself that yes, I do need to scale back the gain and drop the effects mix at least half of what it is for the smaller cabs.

As to delay specifically - I know most guitar players use it for leads. I know I do. In a live setting against a full band you want the lead tone to jump out a bit. You can try chorus effects, but ultimately they make the guitar sound thin and fake. That's why most guitar players go with a delay and a reverb for their leads. Now, too much delay and you get an actual "delay" effect that sounds like multiple leads (think Edge from U2). But done right, with a low mix and shorter delay period, a delay is superior to a chorus for lead tones.

However, if the guy is using that for rhythm playing then he's doing it wrong. A delay on a rhythm passage is only effective if you are going to use it for a specific song, like a U2 song or something.

If you can't play WITH the rest of the band, you have NO business playing with a band at all.

Try a piano bar if you want to be a soloist, bub.

I dunno, guys. You give me just about any amp, & in 5-10 minutes I'll have a tone that's workable enough to practice with without ruining everything.

The last 2 guys I checked out, their sound was truly indecipherable, when any other instrument was added. At times, I couldn't tell if they were in tune or not, it was so bad.

Add the 3/4 of a second delay on top of that horrid sound, & try to keep a beat when you're stuck next to them in a room. I can do it, but it ain't worth the effort involved. It's like trying to play with a band when there's a radio blasting an entirely different song in your ears.

I've worked with ppl who needed a little help with their tones before, but never to this extent. These guys, although they were middle-aged, had no clue about sound at all. They were like 12 year old kids with their 1st amp, & yet they still had that know-it-all attitude that what they were doing was right & proper.

Hell, the drunk I worked with for 3-4 years had those issues, too. I took to setting up his amp at a few gigs. He just didn't think anything was important other than his speed-riffing & looking cool, & yeah, if he was a little off in his tuning, well, that was okay with him, too. (Hell, there were times that he didn't even notice that he was playing in the wrong flooking KEY!!!!)

I suppose I'm starting to sound like a control freak or something. It really isn't that. If you heard these ppl, you'd know what I'm talking about. It's been a long string of bad luck that's got me frustrated to the brink of going postal or something.

I know what your talking about Philby. Give me any amp and guitar/bass etc. I can get a workable sound in a couple of minutes. Too much effects drive me CRAZY. Especially Delay.

Philby, there are people with better ears so to speak.

Being a good player doesn't necessarily mean they know how and what to use, when.

I like what I like, effects-wise but I defer to what the group says.

If the majority say less reverb/delay/?, so be it. etc.

Often when I play with the regular bunch of thieves and cut throats, the bassist is a little better at adjusting effects for maximum good sound, so I don't make even the slightest peep we starts twords me. I keep playing whatever we were playing for a few more bars and let him adjust whatever he likes. If he can't adjust it, he'll tell me what's irking him and I'll either just turn off the whole effect or modify it until he and secondarily the rest agree that either the sound is correct or that the issue they were having is now gone.

9 times out of 10, it isn't anything to trip over..

I like the way you can just tell somebody about his problems. If hes screwing something up , let him know! I know a lot of people cant say anything and hope the other will learn, but if they have no clue tell them. If they dont get it , screw em. You only hurt yourself if you dont.

And its another day in Paradise !!!!