Anecdotal evidence of how useless tone OCD is

[Mr. Bertha]

I've recently been contemplating how little one's gear matters provided it's baseline good gear and you take a moment to adjust it for the situation. In furtherance of this theory I did an experiment. I dragged a 100W 4xel34 Marshall to a gig. Typically with this band I use a 20-ish Watt Fender Deluxe reverb style amp. These are completely different beasts. Everyone else in the band brought their usual gear and I set myself up accordingly. At first the sound guy did that typical petulant sound guy thing -- rolling his eyes and puffing in exasperation about the firepower on stage... standard issue Simpsons 'Comic Book Guy' attitude delivered through a bad goatee, a spaghetti stained t-shirt stretched over a spaghetti filled fat gut and cargo pants. I ignored him. I set my volume responsibly, staying mindful of the other instruments in my band and we played our set. The world did not, so far as I can tell, implode. Nobody ran away shrieking in pain. Nobody bled from the eyes. Nobody held their nose is disdain or fainted. On the contrary, people crowded up front and seemed to dig it. Even the sound guy was considerably more friendly after the set -- asking about our gear, giving us his card and asking us where else we'll be playing in the coming months. Even from my end of things, I was undisturbed by the relative cleanliness of a 100W amp vs a 20ish watter, or the mid-forwardness of a Marshall vs a Fender style amp. I had fun playing, like I always do.

I only mention this because it illustrates how much of the 'useability' of an amp is determined by the user and how uptight they are/aren't about what works for their set. This wasn't a big club, maybe 250 capacity, yet 100W Marshall wasn't too much. Other times I've played there with the same band, 22W Fender wasn't too little. Even the sound guy seemed initially to buy into certain notions of what should and shouldn't be used in a club that size, but was cool with it by the end. So many threads around here get so wound up about what a sound guy will presumably do with any combination of his foot and your arse if you bring too much firepower to a club.

I'm not saying don't use gear you like. I'm not saying don't buy boutique. I'm not saying you should install a 1/4" jack into your clock-radio and gig with that. I'm just saying that lots of gear works even across the huge chasm of 20w vs 100w, and british voice vs american voiced amps. Continue to discuss gear by all means. I love this forum and I love gear discussions. Just remember to relax and enjoy your gigs even if your gear is only 99.99999999999% of the way to almost perfect.

[Deadduck]

Good post!

[Plague Dog]

The last band I gigged with, I usually brought 50 watt marshall head, 4x10 cabinet and pedal board. The guitarist on the other side played a 30 watt Budda 2x12 combo. Every time we played I was told they couldn't hear me, but to me on stage I was blaringly loud... My choices were to turn up, making a band that already played too loud and drove out customers even louder, ask the other guitar player to turn down, which I always did, with no success, or put up with it, which I didn't.

Funny thing is we did classic rock covers, the likes of Tom Petty and other lame crap from the 60's and seventies.

[0din]

Exactly. I'm both a gigging musician and a paid sound engineer for a local venue (typical shows from 200-100 people, depending on the act). I've played everything from small dive bars to outdoor festival stages. I use a Dr Z Maz 38 and Maz 18 and if I can't hear it on stage (never happens) I can always ask for some guitar in the monitor (never happens).

I work with guitarists every week using a variety of amps, some too big IMO because I wouldn't want to carry it, but amp size rarely relates to volume in my experience. Some guys play too loud no matter what. 2 of the guys with the best stage volume play a JCM800 and 4x12 (facing backwards) and a Bogner Ecstast 101b and 2x12. The loudest guys are almost always playing a Fender Hot Rod series amp.

[GenoBluzGtr]

Dead on! I have seen Deluxe Reverbs that were far too loud and RedKnob Twins that didn't 'keep up' with the rest of the band. It ain't the gear.

[Plague Dog]

I hate deluxes and it's not because of their sound.

[somedude]

Originally Posted by 0din

I work with guitarists every week using a variety of amps, some too big IMO because I wouldn't want to carry it, but amp size rarely relates to volume in my experience. Some guys play too loud no matter what. 2 of the guys with the best stage volume play a JCM800 and 4x12 (facing backwards) and a Bogner Ecstast 101b and 2x12. The loudest guys are almost always playing a Fender Hot Rod series amp.

Nothing sounds worse than a small combo that's cranked to death because the owner is trying to get it to sound like a decently powered half stack.

[0din]

Originally Posted by somedude

Nothing sounds worse than a small combo that's cranked to death because the owner is trying to get it to sound like a decently powered half stack.

Especially on a stage that doesn't need a decently powered half stack.

[studiodunn]

Originally Posted by 0din

The loudest guys are almost always playing a Fender Hot Rod series amp.

HAHAHAHA!

Truth rules.

[reo73]

Everytime I gig with my 100W amp I turn up the master about 1/3 the way. Everytime I gig with my 30W amp I turn up the master about 1/3 the way. It all sounds the same to me.

[sinasl1]

it's really true, it ain't about the gear. I'll relate this- I just got to jam with The Mule, on new years. Warren runs his SLO with the master on 6- Jorgen plays through 2(!) svt heads and cabs at the same time. But Matt is no basher- he plays pretty light. And I ran a Super Reverb on 3 a/b'd with an SLO on 5. I'll tell ya, you can hear everyone on that stage, with total clarity. And it's not too loud, standing right in front of the stage. And, the sound guy tries to maintain around 98-100db in the house. It all works- because the band is awesome and so is the crew. Play dynamically, and mix monitors and FOH accordingly, and wow like magic everyone has fun

[0din]

Originally Posted by sinasl1

it's really true, it ain't about the gear. I'll relate this- I just got to jam with The Mule, on new years. Warren runs his SLO with the master on 6- Jorgen plays through 2(!) svt heads and cabs at the same time. But Matt is no basher- he plays pretty light. And I ran a Super Reverb on 3 a/b'd with an SLO on 5. I'll tell ya, you can hear everyone on that stage, with total clarity. And it's not too loud, standing right in front of the stage. And, the sound guy tries to maintain around 98-100db in the house. It all works- because the band is awesome and so is the crew. Play dynamically, and mix monitors and FOH accordingly, and wow like magic everyone has fun

And there you have it. Very few musicians can do this.

[Plague Dog]

It takes a certain amount of musical maturity to not have to play all the time. If you have two or more guitarists on stage at the same time and they're all playing balls to the wall constantly the only thing coming off stage is noise.
If you have musicians who know how to let the music breath you have a beautiful thing.

[StompBoxBlues]

Good point. I think also that if one goes into a situation (someone elses backline, or even your favorite amp) thinking "I'm going to have to tweak to get some great tones", then ....you will end up tweaking and focusing too much on that and never be satisfied.

I mean it is great to be aware of the tone (and one must be aware of volume) and make adjustments to underway, but the obsessing gets in the way. One CAN obsess at home, that can be fun (or get in the way too) but when going to play out, get a tone that is good and get into the mood and just play....if you notice ice-pickiness, dullness in the sound adjust...

[splatt]

of course,
there do indeed exist many, many
regions between unhealthy obsession &
diligent attention to detail,
the latter of which music seems to require
of those committed to it.
just sayin'.
dt / spltrcl