Guitar Gear

…that makes you sound good. It helps to have great gear, but it’s the player that counts. Don’t believe me? Check this out…

I saw this street musician playing in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago playing a crappy Fender Squire Telecaster, and a beat up amp that also doubled as his vocal PA. Guess what? He sounded amazing! The tiny amp was really tinny sounding, and his voice wasn’t always on key, but his guitar technique was nothing short of incredible. How could I tell this? Not just by watching, but by listening to how he squeezed out every bit of sustain from each note he played; how he transferred his passion from his heart into his guitar. The raw emotion in his playing was almost palpable. That got me thinking about my own playing…

Several months ago, I wrote an article called, “I’ve got GAS and I’ve got it bad!” At the time, I was on a buying binge, getting a new guitar, some effect pedals… just gearing up in general. Then a couple of months ago, I just up and stopped using more than half the pedals I bought. I attributed a lot of this to my Hot Rod Deluxe finally breaking in, but when I saw that guy playing on the street, it got me to thinking that it might’ve been something more; something inside of me that stopped me from buying more gear, and hooking up a bunch of pedals to my rig.

Now, I think that what happened was that I returned to a place that I forgot about: My heart. When I first made the move from primarily acoustic to primarily electric guitar, I was a bit uncomfortable playing. There was a lot more to think about in shaping my tone than before, and I was admittedly self-conscious about my technique. But I eventually reached a level of comfort. That’s when the seas parted, the skies opened, and a voice from Heaven burst forth proclaiming, “Now go forth and PLAY your guitar!”

There’s a big difference between just playing chords and notes, and playing with your heart. It’s not just how you approach your instrument, it’s how you FEEL your instrument and adjust to the subtle nuances within a song. It’s the difference between simply being musically mechanical and being truly musical. I forgot that, or rather, I was distracted from that for awhile, and the thing is, to be truly musical, you don’t need effects or great gear. Yes, that stuff provides added enhancement, but no one or no thing can give you musicality. That comes from you.

I’ve returned to that place where I can really feel what I’m playing, and I’m really loving what I’m hearing – and a bit surprised that I’m actually pleased with how I’m sounding now. And though I’ll most probably buy more gear in the future, it will be with the intent of enhancing my music. I’ll take a much more utilitarian approach and not get trapped into having a piece of equipment because it’s considered by others to be top-of-the-line. I fell into that trap once. I won’t do it again.

So you don’t have to spend a lot of money to sound good. Just look at that guy on the street. He knocked my socks off. But to bring even more legitimacy to this argument, let’s look at some great players who took average or less than average gear and did incredible things with them:

There are two guys I think about immediately: Willie Nelson and Eric Clapton. Willie played this old classical guitar that had an “extra hole” in it that his “Daddy bought me.” Clapton bought three second-hand Strats for $100 each, mixed and matched necks and bodies and produced “Blackie,” his signature guitar that sold for over $1 Million at auction. In each case, these guys took marginal equipment and built careers on them. So tell me it’s not the player… 🙂

I’d love to hear your thoughts…