THE PERILS OF SOLITUDE

[Deacon Blues]

TRUE OR FALSE:

Solitude breeds ... GAS!

This could probably stir the hornet's nest, so to speak, but here goes anyway ...

Would you agree that one of the main reasons why a lot of guitarists end up with a severe case of 'gas' is because they spend too much time playing 'by themselves'  - as opposed to playing with other guitarists, or playing with a band

In the confines of their bedrooms, subjectivity rears its ugly head, and makes them prone to all sort of delusions ...

"Maybe I should try the Antiquities, or the Fralin Blues ..."

"My OD sounds thin. Maybe I should do the Keeley mod on it ..."

"My playing doesn't sound bluesy enough. Maybe I should light some weed and take a shot of whiskey ...    "

"My playing sucks ... maybe I should get an expensive amp? "

And the list goes on and on ...

Point #1:

Have you ever seen a regular, gigging guitarist constantly fretting about his tone? I haven't. Most of the really good ones can sound pretty consistent (here's the caveat) NO MATTER WHAT GEAR THEY USE

Point #2:

Guitarist A gets new set of boutique pickups. Asks guitar tech to install em. A goes home, plugs in his amp and ... gets disappointed coz they sound [gooey brown stuff]'. Guitar tech says the magic words: 'play in band'. A gigs with the guitar and, voila! the pickups do their magic ..

Now, I'm not saying that gear doesn't matter because I believe it does. There's nothing more satisfying than knowing that you sound better with an upgrade, especially when that change is validated by the opinions of felloww gearheads whose ears you fully trust.

But even then, even when you've armed yourself to the teeth and declare yourself ready for war and raring for the big kill ... what do you do?

In the words of the great Frank Zappa ... "Shut up and play yer guitar ..."

[lykenhowl]

I totally agree...but still in this forum I know a lot of awesome players that gigs and a gear slut at the sametime

[sonnyrayvaughn]

You raised a lot of good points in there... very well thought of

actually, mas masahol yung GAS ko nung nag gigig ako 3 years ago, because of the "PRINGLES-effect"(refer to skunky's pringles topic in this forum)..everytime i hear another guitar player's gear sounding really good, i tend to find out what his/her secret formula is, then GAS attacks hehe.

[fingertapper1]

i'm not sure i agree. but you have a point there. pag magisa ka lang sa room mo playing you will wonder a lot about tone and stuff so bibili ka ng mga gear (pedals, amp etC...) para subukan.

but if you're a gigging musician you'll be exposed to a lot of sounds, tone, set-up and knowledge about hardware, guitars in general etc... which in turn would feed your gas more hehehe. and when GAS would hit you you would be acquiring better gear than when u were just at home playing by yourself.

pero i think gas comes from our love for guitars. why? syempre coz guitars are a lot of fun. sarap mag tweak ng amp settings or setting sa multieffects. masaya din bumili ng kung anu-anong pedals and pickups, mag set-up ng gitara, pa restore ng gitara etc... the list goes on. minsan nga pag may nakilala kang gitarista e paguusapan nyo nalang tungkol sa mga gitara ayus na e. hehe parang ang tagal niyo nang magkakilala.

i think it's just a passion. pati alam natin na pwede naman natin ibenta in the future yung mga gear.