Gaps between songs during gigs. Guitarist fiddling with Effects pedals/amp to get "the perfect tone"!

[TimR]

"You know the bass part doesn't go like that."

 

"It does when I play it mate."

[paul_5]

Advice gleaned from this thread:

Turn up, tune up, shut up.

[Stub Mandrel]

Guitarists eh?

 

 

[Ray]

On 13/09/2021 at 12:40, Pirellithecat said:

It's more to do with him wanting to sound like different guitarists on each song

 

I would suggest that he could try to find his own sound and sound like himself. I think this will also help the band maintain its own vibe and make it sound better as a whole.

[Ray]

On 13/09/2021 at 12:40, Pirellithecat said:

It's more to do with him wanting to sound like different guitarists on each song

 

I would suggest that he could try to find his own sound and sound like himself. I think this will also help the band maintain its own vibe and make it sound better as a whole.

[Ray]

On 13/09/2021 at 12:40, Pirellithecat said:

It's more to do with him wanting to sound like different guitarists on each song

 

I would suggest that he could try to find his own sound and sound like himself. I think this will also help the band maintain its own vibe and make it sound better as a whole.

[Ray]

On 13/09/2021 at 12:40, Pirellithecat said:

It's more to do with him wanting to sound like different guitarists on each song

 

I would suggest that he could try to find his own sound and sound like himself. I think this will also help the band maintain its own vibe and make it sound better as a whole.

[Ray]

Speaking of amateurs, apologies for the multiple posts! 😂🙄

[Judo Chop]

22 minutes ago, Ray said:

Speaking of amateurs, apologies for the multiple posts! 😂🙄

Would you suggest he try to find his own sound perhaps?

[Woodinblack]

Our guitarist mostly has to tune between each song. Which I wouldn't necessarily mind if it wasn't so slow.

 

[Geek99]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Our guitarist mostly has to tune between each song. Which I wouldn't necessarily mind if it wasn't so slow.

 

Why ? How hard is he hitting those strings ? What kind of PoS guitar don’t hold tune for four minutes of playing 

[Woodinblack]

7 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Why ? How hard is he hitting those strings ? What kind of PoS guitar don’t hold tune for four minutes of playing 

 

A Gibson 58 reissue, a 335 and a fender american strat.

 

I know.

[robscott]

On 13/09/2021 at 14:08, rushbo said:

You can divide most audiences into two categories:

A. People who nod appreciatively when a guitarist changes from his/her "Bridge of Signs" tone to his/her "Texas Flood" tone

B. People who get quickly bored/agitated when a guitarist prods hopefully at pedals and spins every knob on their instrument and amp in the vain hope of getting some subtly nuanced noise that in all honestly, only that particular guitarist can discern.

 

The ratio of these groups is currently 500/1 in favour of group B.

(Please note, this ratio is doubled in the case of bassists*)

 

I worked with a guitarist who used the oldest Korg MultiFX thing in the world. It was huge and clunky, but he'd studied it, knew it backwards, forwards and possibly even in braille and could get any noise most people would want or care about. He always asked for a setlist a day or two in advance, so he knew where he was with his settings, but that was a small price to pay for a seamless performance.

 

The day your punters notice you're fiddling about between songs is the day you need to have a word with the fiddler and make some pertinent "suggestions."

 

 

* citation needed

Actually the categories are i) people who don't care and ii) some more people who also don't care (sorry to be pedantic)

[robscott]

On 13/09/2021 at 14:07, Jakester said:

Our lot aren't this bad, but what REALLY gets my goat is checking that the patches are properly loaded by playing the riff to the next song - just before we play it. 

 

Now, I'm sure that our audience couldn't really give a hoot about what's coming next but having listened to some of the gig videos, it sounds like we're completely uncoordinated as the guitars start, then stop, and then the band starts. 

 

Widdling the riff inbetween tunes should be punishable by death IMHO.  

Our keyboard player does that, usually in the wrong key. I don't think my nerves can stand it much longer

[rushbo]

8 hours ago, robscott said:

Actually the categories are i) people who don't care and ii) some more people who also don't care (sorry to be pedantic)

Harsh.

 

 

But fair.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Rubbersoul]

IMHO, you need 2 core sounds: one dirty and one clean. Add more dirt or modulation with preset pedals. That's it.

[oldslapper]

I often wonder about priorities.
 

Would a healthier order of priority be:

 

Right notes

Right timing

Right feel

Right bass

Right tone 

 

I’ve played with people who obsessed about the last bit above all. It’s a mystery to me. 
If you can’t play the song well without plugging in, then you can’t play the song well plugged in. 
But then again I don’t have any pedals so I’ve never fallen down that rabbit hole, probably due to the type of music I’ve always played. 

It must feel good when you find a pedal setting you like though. 😎
 

[Nail Soup]

8 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Right notes

Right timing

Right feel

Right bass

Right tone 

 

I’ve played with people who obsessed about the last bit above all. It’s a mystery to me. 

I think it's different for a guitarist.

They often need to at least switch between clean and distorted , and some songs may need a particular effect. But that should take no time - just kicking in a pre-set pedal or something.

In my now defunct punk covers band we have the distortion pedal on by default but switch off for Dr Feeelgood, Ian Dury, Talking Heads and Violent Femmes. But no tweaking!

 

[Woodinblack]

17 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Would a healthier order of priority be:

 

Right notes

Right timing

 

 

Right timing, right notes.

 

If nothing else, don't break the timing. Ideally aim for the right notes!

[oldslapper]

I agree that for many guitarists, an effect/tone/clean/od is very important. I just wonder if sometimes it’s more of a priority than other (less exciting) aspects of playing? 
I appreciate that accessing a new or exciting effect or tone can be very inspiring. 

[phil.c60]

On 14/09/2021 at 18:37, TimR said:

"You know the bass part doesn't go like that."

 

"It does when I play it mate."

I was once told "That's not how (insert name of famous bass player) plays it" to which my response was"I'm not him, but by all means give him a call".

[Muzz]

Our geetard has had a bunch of different multi-effects (including a Helix), he now has one that'll do harmony vocals, too, and he needs a good selection of guitar tones (Nile Rodgers to Johnny Marr to Matt Bellamy to Luther Perkins to the usual slew of distorted rock tones), plus his acoustic presets, but they're all worked out beforehand, and he has them stored by song, so it just isn't an issue...I'm not sure why it would be to anyone with an eye to a professional approach...

[Stub Mandrel]

17 hours ago, oldslapper said:

I often wonder about priorities.
 

Would a healthier order of priority be:

 

Right notes

Right timing

Right feel

Right bass

Right tone 

 

I’ve played with people who obsessed about the last bit above all. It’s a mystery to me. 
If you can’t play the song well without plugging in, then you can’t play the song well plugged in. 
But then again I don’t have any pedals so I’ve never fallen down that rabbit hole, probably due to the type of music I’ve always played. 

It must feel good when you find a pedal setting you like though. 😎
 

 

Right key might be the best place to start...

[TimR]

In tune.

Not too drunk.

 

Anything else is a bonus.