"Gear gets in the way if it becomes your focus" - Derek Trucks

[firemodel55]

This is what Derek Trucks said:
"Gear gets in the way if it becomes your focus. Some of the greatest guitarists find a guitar they are so comfortable with it becomes an extension of them as players. You see pictures of Duane with a Les Paul and later on with an SG and it looks so right.

Once you find the right combination of guitar and amp, on a great night you’re not thinking about gear. With my own band when I’m playing my SG through an early ’60s Super-Reverb it’s such a comfortable sound for me that I’m not conscious of the amp and guitar. If you play long enough and are natural enough, that’s just gonna happen."

So there is no mention about song composition or technique.  On the contrary, he highlights the importance of equipment and FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION.  Take note that he is using a vintage SG -- albeit chosen among many -- and his 60s Super Reverb does not have stock speakers.  I think he uses a discontinued line of speakers which are not Jensens.

Let me quote a much respected publication on tone:

"So perhaps you too can imagine our surprise when we traveled to the historic Beacon Theatre in New York for a night with the Allman Brothers Band featuring Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes filling in for Duane and Dickey.  yes, the crowd was predictably up for this, the next to last night of a two week run, especially given an appearance by Eric Clapton in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary... The band kicked it off and within a minute or two we were trading frowns as the Beacon crowd lustily cheered.  No exchange was necessary we were both frowning because the guitars sounded curiously lame -- not just a little lame, or not quite as good as they could have... No, they sounded absolutely lame -- with thin, trebly and way too distorted weenie tones completely void of the robust mids, sweet presence, bold musical clarity and vocal character that you would expect a crew like this to have dialed in -- especially after having played the same venue for over two weeks straight, and nearly 200 times since 1989... The bewildering irony of this tale is that Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes are both uncommonly gifted and experienced guitarists.  But on this night, such inspiring tones were no where to be found until Claption happily strode onto the stage three quarters through the night.  He provided a much-needed and welcome boost through the last seven songs...Still, we left the Beacon that night dumbfounded by how two guitarists whom we knew to be so much better could slip into the painfully cliched tone too often typified by humbucking pickups, high gain amps and mediocre production -- a dismal substitute for the melodic guitar tones first created by Duane and Dickey... The original Allman Brothers Band excelled as a potent ensemble whose magnificient sound was expressed so uniquely thorugh the eloquently vocal tone of Duane and Dickey's guitars, which were never obscured or compromised behind a gritty veil of distortion.  The 'modern' version of the band we experienced doulbe be compared to listening to an MP3 on an IPOD through ear buds versus an LP played on tube hi-fi."

[changedmynametojimi]

This is what Derek Trucks said:
"Gear gets in the way if it becomes your focus. Some of the greatest guitarists find a guitar they are so comfortable with it becomes an extension of them as players. You see pictures of Duane with a Les Paul and later on with an SG and it looks so right.

Once you find the right combination of guitar and amp, on a great night you’re not thinking about gear. With my own band when I’m playing my SG through an early ’60s Super-Reverb it’s such a comfortable sound for me that I’m not conscious of the amp and guitar. If you play long enough and are natural enough, that’s just gonna happen."

So there is no mention about song composition or technique.  On the contrary, he highlights the importance of equipment and FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION.  Take note that he is using a vintage SG -- albeit chosen among many -- and his 60s Super Reverb does not have stock speakers.  I think he uses a discontinued line of speakers which are not Jensens.

Let me quote a much respected publication on tone:

"So perhaps you too can imagine our surprise when we traveled to the historic Beacon Theatre in New York for a night with the Allman Brothers Band featuring Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes filling in for Duane and Dickey.  yes, the crowd was predictably up for this, the next to last night of a two week run, especially given an appearance by Eric Clapton in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary... The band kicked it off and within a minute or two we were trading frowns as the Beacon crowd lustily cheered.  No exchange was necessary we were both frowning because the guitars sounded curiously lame -- not just a little lame, or not quite as good as they could have... No, they sounded absolutely lame -- with thin, trebly and way too distorted weenie tones completely void of the robust mids, sweet presence, bold musical clarity and vocal character that you would expect a crew like this to have dialed in -- especially after having played the same venue for over two weeks straight, and nearly 200 times since 1989... The bewildering irony of this tale is that Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes are both uncommonly gifted and experienced guitarists.  But on this night, such inspiring tones were no where to be found until Claption happily strode onto the stage three quarters through the night.  He provided a much-needed and welcome boost through the last seven songs...Still, we left the Beacon that night dumbfounded by how two guitarists whom we knew to be so much better could slip into the painfully cliched tone too often typified by humbucking pickups, high gain amps and mediocre production -- a dismal substitute for the melodic guitar tones first created by Duane and Dickey... The original Allman Brothers Band excelled as a potent ensemble whose magnificient sound was expressed so uniquely thorugh the eloquently vocal tone of Duane and Dickey's guitars, which were never obscured or compromised behind a gritty veil of distortion.  The 'modern' version of the band we experienced doulbe be compared to listening to an MP3 on an IPOD through ear buds versus an LP played on tube hi-fi."

may i know what publication could this be?

i haven't gone to a live derek trucks concert but i bet the writer was fortunate to have seen old allman and derek trucks

[deltaslim]

This is what Derek Trucks said:
"Gear gets in the way if it becomes your focus. Some of the greatest guitarists find a guitar they are so comfortable with it becomes an extension of them as players. You see pictures of Duane with a Les Paul and later on with an SG and it looks so right.

Once you find the right combination of guitar and amp, on a great night you’re not thinking about gear. With my own band when I’m playing my SG through an early ’60s Super-Reverb it’s such a comfortable sound for me that I’m not conscious of the amp and guitar. If you play long enough and are natural enough, that’s just gonna happen."

So there is no mention about song composition or technique.  On the contrary, he highlights the importance of equipment and FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION.  Take note that he is using a vintage SG -- albeit chosen among many -- and his 60s Super Reverb does not have stock speakers.  I think he uses a discontinued line of speakers which are not Jensens.

Indeed. Find the right combination and then move on!

His classic tone involved vintage Super Reverbs with Pyle car stereo speakers. Talk about finding the right combination. It was unintended though. He blew the orig speakers at a gig and had to make do with what was available.  He's experimenting w/ Webers now too but still seems to get generally the same tone.

Btw, he is also using reissue Gibson SGs.

Let me quote a much respected publication on tone:

"So perhaps you too can imagine our surprise when we traveled to the historic Beacon Theatre in New York for a night with the Allman Brothers Band featuring Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes filling in for Duane and Dickey.  yes, the crowd was predictably up for this, the next to last night of a two week run, especially given an appearance by Eric Clapton in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary... The band kicked it off and within a minute or two we were trading frowns as the Beacon crowd lustily cheered.  No exchange was necessary we were both frowning because the guitars sounded curiously lame -- not just a little lame, or not quite as good as they could have... No, they sounded absolutely lame -- with thin, trebly and way too distorted weenie tones completely void of the robust mids, sweet presence, bold musical clarity and vocal character that you would expect a crew like this to have dialed in -- especially after having played the same venue for over two weeks straight, and nearly 200 times since 1989... The bewildering irony of this tale is that Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes are both uncommonly gifted and experienced guitarists.  But on this night, such inspiring tones were no where to be found until Claption happily strode onto the stage three quarters through the night.  He provided a much-needed and welcome boost through the last seven songs...Still, we left the Beacon that night dumbfounded by how two guitarists whom we knew to be so much better could slip into the painfully cliched tone too often typified by humbucking pickups, high gain amps and mediocre production -- a dismal substitute for the melodic guitar tones first created by Duane and Dickey... The original Allman Brothers Band excelled as a potent ensemble whose magnificient sound was expressed so uniquely thorugh the eloquently vocal tone of Duane and Dickey's guitars, which were never obscured or compromised behind a gritty veil of distortion.  The 'modern' version of the band we experienced doulbe be compared to listening to an MP3 on an IPOD through ear buds versus an LP played on tube hi-fi."

Too bad for those 2 guys but it's still only an opinion from 2 people, no matter which magazine it comes from. I've heard several dozens of DT concert recordings. Even as bootlegs, he almost always sounded the same although some nights he sounded better than others. A friend of mine even called me from HK to let me hear DT in action and it sounded pretty good even thru a mobile phone.

There's lots of reasons 2 people can hear bad tone at a gig. It's pointless to guess based on hearsay but if I had to my best guess is a problem with the sound reinforcement/PA or it not working well w/ DT's setup, and when Eric came up either his gear agreed better w/ the sound system, they got it right just by then, or another engineer could have taken over. But this validates Derek's other point: the only other time that gear becomes an issue is in sound reinforcement, and he recognizes that sound engineers have an important job to do.  That's why they need to get the best engineers so that the performers can just focus on making music.

[IncX]

i swear, gearheads and musicians are two different creatures and will never agree ...

i mean, one is concerned that an A chord sounds right... while the other figures out the perfect place to put that A chord in.

-*-

as for me, i dont wanna be either.

i wanna be a rockstar.

[guitbox]

i swear, gearheads and musicians are two different creatures and will never agree ...

i mean, one is concerned that an A chord sounds right... while the other figures out the perfect place to put that A chord in.

-*-

as for me, i dont wanna be either.

i wanna be a rockstar.

i think i like this comment.  short and straight to the point.

[rennaov]

i take the "get what i need or close to the sound i aim for and move on" approach.  i just feel a priority to spend my time and energy improving my playing than spending too much of it on gear.  nothing wrong w/ getting more or spending more time w/ gear if you have the money and time to spend and if it really excites you then go.  just make sure you dont suck on stage coz your gear won't be able to save you.

[arkeetar]

give time to adjust on your new gear...
yung iba ang ginagawa buy and sell...
buy tapos sell agad... after ilang days or after a week...

time may kasamang ng practice at adjustments... kung sa tingin talaga na hindi trip, saka pakawalan yung certain gear na yun

[firemodel55]

Indeed. Find the right combination and then move on!

His classic tone involved vintage Super Reverbs with Pyle car stereo speakers. Talk about finding the right combination. It was unintended though. He blew the orig speakers at a gig and had to make do with what was available.  He's experimenting w/ Webers now too but still seems to get generally the same tone.

Btw, he is also using reissue Gibson SGs.


Too bad for those 2 guys but it's still only an opinion from 2 people, no matter which magazine it comes from. I've heard several dozens of DT concert recordings. Even as bootlegs, he almost always sounded the same although some nights he sounded better than others. A friend of mine even called me from HK to let me hear DT in action and it sounded pretty good even thru a mobile phone.

There's lots of reasons 2 people can hear bad tone at a gig. It's pointless to guess based on hearsay but if I had to my best guess is a problem with the sound reinforcement/PA or it not working well w/ DT's setup, and when Eric came up either his gear agreed better w/ the sound system, they got it right just by then, or another engineer could have taken over. But this validates Derek's other point: the only other time that gear becomes an issue is in sound reinforcement, and he recognizes that sound engineers have an important job to do.  That's why they need to get the best engineers so that the performers can just focus on making music.

But what makes you think that your opinion more valid than theirs?  Have  you attended both Allman concerts?  And do you happen to be the editor of Tonequest report?  I doubt that you are in the same league as TQR Advisory Board.  So, nothing personally against you but you have to be more cautious when you put people down.  Likewise, I agree with you but I don't think these two people are worth your statement.

[nathanmanansala]

maybe they didn't like it kasi they were expecting to hear allman and betts tones because they were watching "THE ABB". trucks and haynes both play with a bit more dirt/drive in their tones than allman and betts.

when you go to watch the ABB these days, you should probably go in expecting to see a good ABB cover band with some of the original ABB members, not the ABB that was recorded at fillmore east.

maybe they'd feel better about the tones if the band stopped calling itself The Allman Brothers Band?

[psychic_sushi]

maybe they didn't like it kasi they were expecting to hear allman and betts tones because they were watching "THE ABB". trucks and haynes both play with a bit more dirt/drive in their tones than allman and betts.

when you go to watch the ABB these days, you should probably go in expecting to see a good ABB cover band with some of the original ABB members, not the ABB that was recorded at fillmore east.

maybe they feel better about the tones if the band stopped calling itself The Allman Brothers Band?

Based on the direct comparison of the tones of the Haynes/Trucks tandem vs. Allman/Betts, I'm betting (no pun intended) that the two commentators were sorta "nostalgic"... could be the house PA and room influence too. ABB is a huge-ass band with plenty of things going on, and a sucky sound system and/or sucky sound engineering would equate to mud.

[firemodel55]

Based on the direct comparison of the tones of the Haynes/Trucks tandem vs. Allman/Betts, I'm betting (no pun intended) that the two commentators were sorta "nostalgic"... could be the house PA and room influence too. ABB is a huge-ass band with plenty of things going on, and a sucky sound system and/or sucky sound engineering would equate to mud.

So instead of focusing on gear, should we focus on the sucky sound system and/or sucky engineering instead?

[psychic_sushi]

So instead of focusing on gear, should we focus on the sucky sound system and/or sucky engineering instead?

Fantastic question!!!

Focus-wise, methinks its a holistic thing...  

Additionally, that question bears enough weight to merit an entire new thread in itself, with all honestly.

[firemodel55]

Fantastic question!

Focus-wise, methinks its a holistic thing...   

So in the end, Derek should have focused on the sound guy the way clapton did?  This gets more funny.

[psychic_sushi]

So in the end, Derek should have focused on the sound guy the way clapton did?  This gets more funny.

Not funny, it's bordering on ridiculous if we base it on the two commentators perspective.

I recall someone here mentioning in the past that he was present at the Crossroads Festival (plus other fractured accounts I read elsewhere) that Hubert Sumlin had the best tone onstage among the other heavy-hitters that shared it with him, but the odds were tipped in favor of Clapton with regard to the PA aspect coz the sound guys were on God's side    

Must be a Papal thing: all cardinals must dress in black around the gleaming white pontiff... gulp...

[psychic_sushi]

on second thought, to provide comic relief... some blasphemy for everybody 

feature=related

[boogsy]

on second thought, to provide comic relief... some blasphemy for everybody 

feature=related

hahaha.. I've seen a lot of those 'shred' videos and I actually find them really funny. What's funnier are the people who say "this is so fake!!!" hahaha..

[boogsy]

Not funny, it's bordering on ridiculous if we base it on the two commentators perspective.

I recall someone here mentioning in the past that he was present at the Crossroads Festival (plus other fractured accounts I read elsewhere) that Hubert Sumlin had the best tone onstage among the other heavy-hitters that shared it with him, but the odds were tipped in favor of Clapton with regard to the PA aspect coz the sound guys were on God's side    

Must be a Papal thing: all cardinals must dress in black around the gleaming white pontiff... gulp...

I read a similar story about a local band fronting an international band. and sounding like crap. nice analogy

[psychic_sushi]

hahaha.. I've seen a lot of those 'shred' videos and I actually find them really funny. What's funnier are the people who say "this is so fake!!!" hahaha..

but what makes it funnier is that its REAL... so very REAL... <queue: twilight zone music>

[firemodel55]

Not funny, it's bordering on ridiculous if we base it on the two commentators perspective.

I recall someone here mentioning in the past that he was present at the Crossroads Festival (plus other fractured accounts I read elsewhere) that Hubert Sumlin had the best tone onstage among the other heavy-hitters that shared it with him, but the odds were tipped in favor of Clapton with regard to the PA aspect coz the sound guys were on God's side    

Must be a Papal thing: all cardinals must dress in black around the gleaming white pontiff... gulp...

The two commentators are TQR Editor in Chief David Wilson & Editorial Board Member Riverhorse.  I would NOT take them so lightly.  Remember that they are one the same editorial board as Analogman, Tom Anderson (Anderson Guitars), Mark Baier (Victoria), Jeff Bakos, Joe Bonamassa, [sausage] Boak (Martin & Co.), Steve Carr (Carr Amplifiers), Mitch Colby (KORG/Marshall/VOX USA), Jol Dantzig (Hamer Guitars), Ronnie Earl, Dan Erlewine, Bill Finnegan (Klon Centaur), Lindy Fralin (Fralin Pickups), Peter Frampton, Greg Germino (Germino Amplification), BILLY F. GIBBONS (ZZ Top), Joe Glaser (Glaser Instruments), John Harrison (Tone Tubby), Johnny Hilland, Phil Jones (Gruhn Guitars), K&M Analog Designs (Two Rock), Robert Keeley (Keeley Electronics), Gordon Kennedy, Ernest King (Gibson Custom Shop), Chris Kinman (Kinman Pickups), Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Adrian Legg, Rene Martinez, James Pennebaker, Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble), Todd Sharp (Nashville Amp Service), Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow Band), and others.

If I did post what you guys just said on TGP, there would be a lot of flame.  These guys know their stuff.

[firemodel55]

Why do you think its so important for Derek to experiment with Webers in his Super Reverb?  And why do you think he chooses Gibson Reissue SGs instead of the normal SGs or for that matter a Orville by Gibson SG from Japan?  I mean they are both SGs and are suppose to get out of the way if you think about it.

[Chito]

This 'discussion' on tone and all is exactly what DT was talking about. Did these guys even mention anything about his playing? The music that they have created? Or is it all about how the guitar sounds? Instead of them discussing the merits of the band's performance, it's about how their tone sounded like. I don't know about you, I go to concerts to watch and listen to music not to see if the freaking tone of the guitar player is good or not.

If I get another chance to see DT again when we do the cruise in 2011, I'll make it a point to ask him personally what he thinks of these 2 guys from Tonequest bashing his "tone".

[rednas]

DT can't please everybody, and probably a bad night for his tone.  .  But yeah - nice comment there by Chito.  I'm happy that I'm not at the point where I go to gigs to see if the tone is sucky or not...

[nathanmanansala]

Why do you think its so important for Derek to experiment with Webers in his Super Reverb?  And why do you think he chooses Gibson Reissue SGs instead of the normal SGs or for that matter a Orville by Gibson SG from Japan?  I mean they are both SGs and are suppose to get out of the way if you think about it.

IIRC yung reissue SG was a gift from his wife (he doesnt experiment with pickups, he cant even remember what he has in there right now and says "they might be duncans"). at one point he was playing the Washburn WI series too.

As for the speakers, if i had car speakers in my amp, I guess I would experiment with proper guitar speakers too at some point. Lalo na if make money off it anyway. He's obviously not after the "collector's value" if he threw in car speakers in there.

He really does come across as the type who'd play one instrument (and setup) for a very long time kasi its what he's comfortable with. Ian Mackaye is the same way. He's not interested in experimenting with gear. He's into finding out how deep his relationship with just one particular instrument can go.

Now Brad Paisley, THATS a gear hound.

If I get another chance to see DT again when we do the cruise in 2011, I'll make it a point to ask him personally what he thinks of these 2 guys from Tonequest bashing his "tone".

"who? tone what?"

[changedmynametojimi]

i swear, gearheads and musicians are two different creatures and will never agree ...

i mean, one is concerned that an A chord sounds right... while the other figures out the perfect place to put that A chord in.

-*-

as for me, i dont wanna be either.

i wanna be a rockstar.

this i like, i concur, best statement in this thread.....

peace sign!

[Letour]

But what makes you think that your opinion more valid than theirs?  Have  you attended both Allman concerts?  And do you happen to be the editor of Tonequest report?  I doubt that you are in the same league as TQR Advisory Board.  So, nothing personally against you but you have to be more cautious when you put people down.  Likewise, I agree with you but I don't think these two people are worth your statement.

Nothing personal? By those questions:
1) You are asking Joric to prove that his opinion is more valid
2) Stating his not worthy to speak because he didn't attend both Allman concerts
3) Joric can't speak up because he is not an editor of Tonequest.

And the kicker - you have to be more cautious when you put people down

It never ends. I will not go into the logic of your arguments. I will not comment at all. Awatin nyo ako.... Hold me back......

Oh... I didn't say anything ha... I just rephrased your questions.