Tried out for a band today and the guitarist was playing.....

[VBCheeseGrater]

....an older crate solid state head, running a multi-effects floor unit. This was like hard rock, touch of punk and splash of metal outfit. Dude was a solid player, nothing amazing, but he knew his stuff. I was playing bass. We friggin rocked their set and it sounded damn good. I mentioned the amp sounded surprisingly good to him, and he says "Yup, solid state, had it for ten years" and we continued to rock some more......no one had issues with "cutting through the mix"

It just goes to show how important chops, playing, vibe, groove, etc are and how little "Tube vs Solid State","Those pickups suck" and all that means. Granted, gear is a fun hobby all in itself, but when it comes time to start playing, what matters most is you and your playing. Gear definitely makes a difference, but we sure can overdwell on it.

This site is always reasonable so i'm preaching to the choir a bit here (elsewhere this would be flame-bait), but this really hit me tonight.

Anyway, end of rant, thanks for listening, because my g/f sure as hell doesnt care about this stuff.......and i got the gig

 

[Bekanor]

I don't think anyone here really believes in gear making the difference so much as knowing how to use gear to get the best results.

 

[JamesM]

Great story man, and congrats!

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Good for you. I'm glad that you've found a band with a guitarist who isn't an elitist douche.

EQ and technique, it does wonders.

 

[Empryrean]

Good for you. I'm glad that you've found a band with a guitarist who isn't an elitist douche.

EQ and technique, it does wonders.

Mike never runs out of it

 

[Hollowway]

Yup. When I played live I had a good guitar, an old piece of crap Peavey combo bass amp and a cheapo digital effects unit. It was always mic'd up through the house PA anyway, and we did just fine. Now that I'm just a bedroom player I have loads of boutique crap and I spend hours sweating details that even I can't hear.

 

[Explorer]

I don't think anyone here really believes in gear making the difference so much as knowing how to use gear to get the best results.

I've read enough posts on here about how someone doesn't believe one can use a particular piece of gear for a particular purpose.

Actually, they don't say it's their belief. They state it as a fact.

Anyway, I'm always glad when someone takes the time to note the opposite, that one can get great results without following the "common wisdom"....

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

How to cut through in a band context in one step:






CRANK DEM FUCKIN MIDS BOI

 

[JStraitiff]

^ Except when your bassist insists on 100% mids tone lmao.

I use a marshall MG100HFX head through a MG412 cab and when im sitting at home im like "fuck i hate this thing" But then i go to practice and start playing and im shocked to realize im cutting through really well and my tone sounds 50x better than the other guitarist. Sometimes not having as much gain to use is a blessing.

 

[Bekanor]

I've read enough posts on here about how someone doesn't believe one can use a particular piece of gear for a particular purpose.

Actually, they don't say it's their belief. They state it as a fact.

Anyway, I'm always glad when someone takes the time to note the opposite, that one can get great results without following the "common wisdom"....

I don't really read the gear and equipment section that often so I guess I'm uninformed.

 

[Church2224]

I think John Suhr once said "Practice cures most tone issues"

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

^ Except when your bassist insists on 100% mids tone lmao.

word, good point! i was actually cranked up pretty loud yesterday so i could hear exactly what i was playing, since every song was new to me. I cut down the mids on my EQ (brought my guitar pedal board) and my bass fit right in to the mix nicely

 

[Riffer]

I really need to make a small video of the amp I use at work. It's a Fender Frontman 15 watt combo that I made into a head. When you hook it up to a 4X12 the thing fucking sounds crunchy as a mother fucker and sooooo good.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

^^^^ shiiiiiiiit just having the phrases "Amp is use" and "at work" together sounds cool to me! What do you do?

Edit: nevermind, just read your sig, nice!