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Gear vs Playing


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How many Dingwalls do you have? :) [quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1370566' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:32 PM']nonsense...

Every song, scale, arpeggio I play with my gear is constant practice make perfect to me, gear or no gear, be it a £25 bass or a £4000 one (not that I have one that cost that much)[/quote]

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[quote name='chris_b' post='1370580' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:38 PM']"It's all in here, in the heart."

JJ's comment is as relevant today as it was when Bach and Mozart were gigging. It's always the person that makes the difference.[/quote]

You can't disagree with the rest of my post though, I doubt? Which makes JJ's comment on the gear side of things irrelevant in today's world, as for heart, judge that as you will.

And as for heart in classical music, I'd say it's fairly irrelevant there when the writer can't control the heart of anyone of the orchestra members who are playing their piece, nor the conductor who then styles it after his own ideas anyway...

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[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1370612' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:55 PM']Wholeheartedly agree - all the gear, practice and technique and even musical style to a certain extent means very little to me if you can't get out there and make some people happy.[/quote]

Except in my case it's about making [i]me[/i] happy as I write, record and play for myself first and foremost ... :)

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I do get the sense that there is an undercurrent here of "I'm good enough a player to have nice gear, but I've noticed there are players who are not quite as good who also have nice gear, and somehow that's not fair" :) For the life of me I don't see what the issue is... People enjoy well engineered and designed things for simply that fact, some are into bass bling, but it's not many in my experience...

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[quote name='dc2009' post='1370556' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:27 PM']IMO that was relevant when the bass track you laid down was recorded through a tin can, copied onto a terrible music format and played through a crap hi-fi. These days, where everyone has access to some seriously high quality audio, and many like myself invest hundreds of pounds in precision engineered devices to listen to it through, if the bassist was playing on a rusty stringed piece of crap through a cardboard box amp, with all of the 'feel' in the world, it'd sound like crap and you'd laugh at the record, let alone ever buy it. Therefore I think that statement is completely irrelevant to today's world.[/quote]
I couldn't disagree with you more if I tried :)
The 60s recordings I love touch my soul more than anything 'these days'.
Music is about so much more than audio quality and I don't find any significant improvements in the past 50 years anyway - in fact I can't listen to a lot of modern recordings.

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[quote name='Paul S' post='1370531' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:10 PM']I find all the subtle variations in the instruments interesting. So I guess all the ancillary stuff has gained a life of it's own - possibly beyond even the life of my playing, I don't know.[/quote]

Oh, so true.... :)

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1370618' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:58 PM']I find the sound coming out my gear influences what I'm playing. Bass right into amp, and cheesy disco comes out and I wish a drummer was about. Pedals and multiple amps, Doom comes out.[/quote]

Where were you the multiple times I have been completely hounded on here for saying the same thing?

:)

I once had the cheek to say that my set up was sounding a bit too rock and hence I found myself playing too "rock" in response.

All I got was page after page of "it's all in the fingers." And every single person who said it had gear worth many thousands of earth pounds!

:)

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[quote name='icastle' post='1370546' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:22 PM']I think the oddest thing I've seen on here are a few bedroom players who insist on dismantling everything in sight to perform upgrades that are either impractical, doomed to failure or pointless at this point in their life as a player because, at least for now, nobody ever hears what they actually do.[/quote]

Ah, but I don't think that actually matters. If it interests them to do so I understand it completely. As I stated above, although it's nice for people to hear my songs I write & record them to satisfy something in myself, not to entertain others.

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[quote name='paul h' post='1370629' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:03 PM']Where were you the multiple times I have been completely hounded on here for saying the same thing?

:)

I once had the cheek to say that my set up was sounding a bit too rock and hence I found myself playing too "rock" in response.

All I got was page after page of "it's all in the fingers." And every single person who said it had gear worth many thousands of earth pounds!

:)[/quote]

Funny how that happens isn't it? :)

Personally I think anyone who insists on using that eternally hideous quote (IMO) should have said digits removed...with pliers. :o

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[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1370624' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:00 PM']Having a sh*t-hot camera doesn't necessarily make you a better photographer. Although it helps. :)[/quote]


There you go!

At the end of the day, as long as your gear helps you to be you, it shouldn't matter. If you have amazing gear it can still sound sh**e, and I know people with crappy gear who sound incredible.

I think that G.A.S is sometimes brought on by a desire to improve and change, but it seems increasingly rare that people look to their own playing, feel and knowledge to achieve that change. And the focus is put on the gear instead. I think if there's funds to do that then why not? But it will be short lived, as once you've played all your chops on the new gear, you'll be bored of it not long after! I love gear, and am a total geek for it. It's amazing to find wicked kit that works for your sound. It's also amazing to find new ways in music and playing through learning and practice - this is where the real sound is for me..

Whadd'ya reckon/ Bit of a rant or common sense :) ?

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I traded in my expensive Overwater for 2 much 'cheaper' instruments (both around £600). Since then, i've found i'm happier with the diversity and focus more on my playing than wishing it was something else. So for me, having the wrong gear doesn't stop you being good but having the right gear can make you more focused on it.

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[quote name='paul h' post='1370587' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:39 PM']It would be nice hear from someone who has played a £50 P copy for the last thirty years though.[/quote]

It cost me £30, and it's only been 20 years, but theory applies. Gets used more than anything else, probably cos I'm used to it. And being cleverly disguised as a 70s fender, people often tell me how great it is as well, ho ho ho.
:) :) :)

(and I play it through the cheapest rig I could get my hands on as well, GK backline through a pair of old Laney PA cabs, also sounds lovely thanks)

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[quote name='redstriper' post='1370623' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:00 PM']I couldn't disagree with you more if I tried :)
The 60s recordings I love touch my soul more than anything 'these days'.
Music is about so much more than audio quality and I don't find any significant improvements in the past 50 years anyway - in fact I can't listen to a lot of modern recordings.[/quote]

Meh I spent many of my recent years listening to a lot of metal, and if that has poor sound quality it usually sounds like sh1te, hence I like my music to be well recorded and produced, and ideally listened through something with Bose written on it.

I think audio quality is what helps a crap band like Coldplay sell millions of records and an awesome band like _______ who sell none because their CD sounds like crap, even though the songs are amazing. It has significantly improved in 50 years and I can't listen to a lot of crappy old recordings, partly because I think the music sucks but largely because I find the sound unlistenable.

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[quote name='Dave Vader' post='1370643' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:14 PM']It cost me £30, and it's only been 20 years, but theory applies. Gets used more than anything else, probably cos I'm used to it. And being cleverly disguised as a 70s fender, people often tell me how great it is as well, ho ho ho.
:) :) :)

(and I play it through the cheapest rig I could get my hands on as well, GK backline through a pair of old Laney PA cabs, also sounds lovely thanks)[/quote]

One simple post carrying more weight than all the Dingwall and Celinder owners in the world! You sir, are a legend.

:o

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Is this your website? [url="http://www.plasticsquirrel.co.uk/"]Gear[/url] :o The one with the "Gear" tab?


[quote name='Dave Vader' post='1370643' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:14 PM']It cost me £30, and it's only been 20 years, but theory applies. Gets used more than anything else, probably cos I'm used to it. And being cleverly disguised as a 70s fender, people often tell me how great it is as well, ho ho ho.
:) :) :)

(and I play it through the cheapest rig I could get my hands on as well, GK backline through a pair of old Laney PA cabs, also sounds lovely thanks)[/quote]

Edited by markstuk
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[quote name='markstuk' post='1370651' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:18 PM']Is this your website? [url="http://www.plasticsquirrel.co.uk/"]Gear[/url] :) The one with the "Gear" tab?[/quote]

yes it is, I am a whore for guitars. :) Have a look at the crap on that there gear tab sir.
(I do own 4 basses, need backups, 2 fretted, 2 fretless)

EDIT: Oh my that page is old... but there's that P copy there, got rid of the one other bass I owned at the time, cos I only needed the P copy.

Edited by Dave Vader
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