Stop Obsessing and Play Some Music
That’s what it says right there on the circuit board of a Blackstone Mosfet Overdrive guitar pedal. There are a couple of trimpots on there to fine tune things and I was adjusting them while playing. When I got done, I was putting the rear cover on when I noticed the writing on the circuit board.
There it is:
I laughed right out loud at how neatly Jon Blackstone had skewered me. And I thank him for it.
What’s harder; writing a great song or getting a great guitar sound?
When I got my first custom guitar, (a Kubicki) back in the early 1980’s I started a long search for great tone. The Kubicki guitar was terrific, but the early Barden pickups in the thing were lousy, despite the fact that they were expensive. I met Tom Anderson a few years later and he showed me his pickups. They were so much better than the Bardens I changed them out immediately. Oh, and they were 1/4 the price.
Sound familiar?
I had a Mesa Boogie Mk IIb back then, with an EV EVM-12L speaker in a Thiele vented box. Nice rig, but the sound I was looking for was more open and less midrangey, so over the next few years, I got a Matchless, several Tim Pinnel/Top Gear customs, a 1969 Hiwatt, a THD Univalve and more. All of them terrific amps.
Sound familiar?
If not, if you wish you could go out and get all these great guitars, amps, and pedals, take my advice and don’t.
Why not?
Because many of us, myself among them, use dialing in our tone to avoid the really hard work of writing great songs. Can I get a witness?
It’s hard to get great sound out of an electric guitar. Don’t believe me? Ok, take a good direct box (to get your impedances matched up) and go into a clean mic pre and then into some good studio monitors? Like it? Me neither. As a matter of fact, it sounds quite lousy doesn’t it? Even a ten thousand dollar guitar sounds like garbage on its own. It depends on the rising shelf EQ curve of guitar amps, and their distortion (whether clean or overdriven, guitar amps have enormous amounts of distortion, try playing a CD through one if you doubt me!) and the inherent color and distortion of guitar speakers to sound like anything good to us. This sound can, of course, be emulated by Pod’s and the like, but it is the same sort of tonal change.
In truth, you can spend a lifetime looking for great guitar sound. Oh, and I haven’t mentioned pedals yet. There are fabulous-sounding pedals out there today to enhance your tone. Some of them are so good, you can leave them on all the time, like the Barber Tone Press. And pickups? Forget about it! The best pickups ever made are being made right now.
So, now I have all custom guitars to fit my hands correctly, I have discovered amazing tricks like chambering the body, intonating the nut (more to come on that) using titanium in the bridge, avoiding wang bars, using stainless steel frets, and much more.
And you know what? Not one bit of it helped me write a great new song. As a matter of fact, usually it got in the way. I have written and recorded great tunes only by ignoring the tone, forgetting that another amp would work better, and concentrating on reaching people with my song.
Can a new sound help you write a new song? Absolutely. My new National Tricone sure has. But there is a fine line there. You have to be aware when you are working on your tone so that you do not have to the hard work of writing lyrics or working on the melody or coming up with a better chorus.
Now, when I want to work on music, I refuse to play with the gear until the work I need to do is done. Also, remember to record your ideas and work on your lyrics and melodies without playing an instrument. This frees up your mind to wear a different hat. That new hat has “songwriter” or “arranger” or “lyricist” on it, and won’t you be stoked (California-speak for thrilled) when you write something really good?
Finding that you actually deserve to wear those other hats is a beautiful thing to accomplish, so quit tweaking the darn gear and make some music!
Thanks Jon
DC
There it is:
I laughed right out loud at how neatly Jon Blackstone had skewered me. And I thank him for it.
What’s harder; writing a great song or getting a great guitar sound?
When I got my first custom guitar, (a Kubicki) back in the early 1980’s I started a long search for great tone. The Kubicki guitar was terrific, but the early Barden pickups in the thing were lousy, despite the fact that they were expensive. I met Tom Anderson a few years later and he showed me his pickups. They were so much better than the Bardens I changed them out immediately. Oh, and they were 1/4 the price.
Sound familiar?
I had a Mesa Boogie Mk IIb back then, with an EV EVM-12L speaker in a Thiele vented box. Nice rig, but the sound I was looking for was more open and less midrangey, so over the next few years, I got a Matchless, several Tim Pinnel/Top Gear customs, a 1969 Hiwatt, a THD Univalve and more. All of them terrific amps.
Sound familiar?
If not, if you wish you could go out and get all these great guitars, amps, and pedals, take my advice and don’t.
Why not?
Because many of us, myself among them, use dialing in our tone to avoid the really hard work of writing great songs. Can I get a witness?
It’s hard to get great sound out of an electric guitar. Don’t believe me? Ok, take a good direct box (to get your impedances matched up) and go into a clean mic pre and then into some good studio monitors? Like it? Me neither. As a matter of fact, it sounds quite lousy doesn’t it? Even a ten thousand dollar guitar sounds like garbage on its own. It depends on the rising shelf EQ curve of guitar amps, and their distortion (whether clean or overdriven, guitar amps have enormous amounts of distortion, try playing a CD through one if you doubt me!) and the inherent color and distortion of guitar speakers to sound like anything good to us. This sound can, of course, be emulated by Pod’s and the like, but it is the same sort of tonal change.
In truth, you can spend a lifetime looking for great guitar sound. Oh, and I haven’t mentioned pedals yet. There are fabulous-sounding pedals out there today to enhance your tone. Some of them are so good, you can leave them on all the time, like the Barber Tone Press. And pickups? Forget about it! The best pickups ever made are being made right now.
So, now I have all custom guitars to fit my hands correctly, I have discovered amazing tricks like chambering the body, intonating the nut (more to come on that) using titanium in the bridge, avoiding wang bars, using stainless steel frets, and much more.
And you know what? Not one bit of it helped me write a great new song. As a matter of fact, usually it got in the way. I have written and recorded great tunes only by ignoring the tone, forgetting that another amp would work better, and concentrating on reaching people with my song.
Can a new sound help you write a new song? Absolutely. My new National Tricone sure has. But there is a fine line there. You have to be aware when you are working on your tone so that you do not have to the hard work of writing lyrics or working on the melody or coming up with a better chorus.
Now, when I want to work on music, I refuse to play with the gear until the work I need to do is done. Also, remember to record your ideas and work on your lyrics and melodies without playing an instrument. This frees up your mind to wear a different hat. That new hat has “songwriter” or “arranger” or “lyricist” on it, and won’t you be stoked (California-speak for thrilled) when you write something really good?
Finding that you actually deserve to wear those other hats is a beautiful thing to accomplish, so quit tweaking the darn gear and make some music!
Thanks Jon
DC
posted by DC at 1:04 PM
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