Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Slowy »

Molly wrote:Jamming along with some Alvin Lee on the 335 .......
Now I'm really scared of you.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Molly »

Slowy wrote:
Molly wrote:Jamming along with some Alvin Lee on the 335 .......
Now I'm really scared of you.
Wait until I start jamming with the other two Chipmunks.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Molly »

jeremyb wrote:I still remember how awesome that little Orange (micro terror?) that Molly had at a gearfest into a splawn 4x12??? man that sounded epic!
That was funny, eh? A little, single valve amp that'd fit in your pocket cranked into a 4x12. Nobody could believe how great this 'novelty' amp sounded. If you don't know the amp, this might give you some idea:


sidewinder wrote:... He also had some no name Jazzmaster that he'd picked up somewhere, body on that thing was crazy resonant ...

Pretty hard not to buy into the consumerist side of things, even though I strongly believe you CAN buy quality. Gotta check myself before I wreck myself every goddamn day. Just keep reminding myself that Fender, Gibson, PRS, etc are really at the end of the day, companies, with private or public shareholders, and thats probably the hippiest thing I'll say all week.
I've an AllParts Tele here that is the loudest, most resonant Tele I think I've ever owned. Pickups don't suit it but that's an easy fix. Fundamentally though, it's a great guitar.

We've all considered the law of diminished returns with the high-end gear but it doesn't stop me chasing it. Better is better and the likes of PRS really are very well made guitars. It's hard to imagine how a guitar could be better put together. Whether or not you like them is another matter but there's nothing hit-and-miss. You know it'll be a top quality guitar.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Zaulkin »

null_pointer wrote:I suspect part of it is when you're doing things like playing covers (my originals band I'm the bass player...), there is a tendency (if you have the means) to have all the sounds on tap - the U2 jangle, the Stones crunch, the 80s rock, etc etc. Which makes it hard to consolidate on a particular sound/tone. When I was playing originals (as the guitarist), I did have a tone I was after for the band as a whole, and that probably made life simpler.
I can totally relate to this. I guess it depends how authentic you want to be. I prefer to have one or two versatile guitars that do 'my' sound and a close version of everything else, so I end up with a country or U2 'inspired' tone etc rather than copying it exactly. At one point I probably had roughly the right gear for the 'exact' tones you speak of, but I would always prefer to play the most comfortable guitar.

Still GAS for other stuff but have learnt I will get bored as soon as the honeymoon period is over. That's the nature of it I suppose. At my last rehearsal I used one guitar with one patch, and manipulated everything with volume/tone controls. Sounded good too, and I further realised how pointless the search is. But I still wouldn't mind another... :)

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Reg18 »

sidewinder wrote:
Reg18 wrote:Find the best sounding cab with the right speakers and even a Squire and a SS practice amp can sound good!
A month ago I took my current project guitar (Squier SE) to my friends house and plugged it into his project amp (MojoTone Princeton clone).

We both said "wow" at the exact same time. Full cost of both well under $1k. He also had some no name Jazzmaster that he'd picked up somewhere, body on that thing was crazy resonant and it sounded creamy and thick.

Having owned an American Standard and a Squier, I think I'd be happy with a MIM Standard tbh. I love not having to be dear about my gear at all. I don't think I could feel that way with anything over a grand used.

Pretty hard not to buy into the consumerist side of things, even though I strongly believe you CAN buy quality. Gotta check myself before I wreck myself every goddamn day. Just keep reminding myself that Fender, Gibson, PRS, etc are really at the end of the day, companies, with private or public shareholders, and thats probably the hippiest thing I'll say all week.
Yeah I agree, although if I did have such a thing as disposable income I'd be totally buying a Gibson or Duesenberg and some sort of Boutique amp! In full knowledge that their probably only 5% better than most guitars/amps under $1500.
For now I can't afford them and I'm actually really happy with my tone right, this is perhaps just my mind convincing me as I know there's no hope of me getting anything better anytime soon!

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Dano_NZ »

I get that feeling if I'm playing through a modelling amp or multi-effects pedal. I spend hours scrolling through various sounds, playing what I think represents that tone (poorly I might add). What cures it for me is learning a new song, new riff, trying to sing the song or trying to write something myself.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Slowy »

null_pointer wrote:Pulled out the Jackson Ampworks Scarlett 30 yesterday, plugged it into the EVH 1x12 with the Fane AXA12 speaker. Played for 10 mins, couldn't land a tone I was happy with using my Tele.
Swapped the head over to the Dr Z 2x12, things improved a bit, however in the meantime I'd chucked the Matchless Nighthawk on top of the Fane, and that sounded pretty good.
Swapped to the Virage, everything sounded pretty decent, including the Mojado I had beside it.
Plugged in my main pedal board, switching through the amps and swapping in the Caribou as well as the Suhr.

2 hours later, I hadn't landed anywhere I stayed for more than 2-3 mins. Too many variables, too many options.
Selection Anxiety; that's what you're talking about. It's a secondary infection of GAS and in its wider form, one of the core causes of chronic discontent.

The solution is a major purge of gear. Problem is many, myself included, consider the cure far worse than the affliction.

Best treatment is a storage locker in the next town. Everything's safe, but so inconvenient to access you get to miss it.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by sidewinder »

Molly wrote:I've an AllParts Tele here that is the loudest, most resonant Tele I think I've ever owned. Pickups don't suit it but that's an easy fix. Fundamentally though, it's a great guitar.

We've all considered the law of diminished returns with the high-end gear but it doesn't stop me chasing it. Better is better and the likes of PRS really are very well made guitars. It's hard to imagine how a guitar could be better put together. Whether or not you like them is another matter but there's nothing hit-and-miss. You know it'll be a top quality guitar.
Absolutely, and I have experienced that first hand. Just try to remind myself that we all fall into that trap of thinking that "this one is the one".

Personally I'm just glad I've reached the stage where if I drop some coin on something nice, I know it is going to be better, but isn't going to be the transcendental experience that I always talk it up to myself in my head, and that having too many options is a bad thing. Wish I'd learnt that lesson sooner for sure.

And fuck yeah, that Micro Terror sounds like a beast.

What is great, and something I didn't realise when younger is that if you buy for a good price and sell for a good price, you can work your way through a lot of gear, or even work your way up if you pay the goddamn difference in TradeMe fees, and you'll get to try out a lot of great gear along the way. Seems to be what most people here do.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by chur »

Delayman wrote:I know what you mean - I saw a couple of cover bands in the last week where the guys seem to have a set-and-forget approach and they nailed all sorts of songs. Didn't see any tap dancing and both played a single guitar all night with great results. I'm still trying to find a good clean/crunch/lead combo that works after all these years - and those guys seem to have an amp tone that did the lot. And both completely different set ups. Admirable.
What were they using btw? always curious.

Last few practices I just used one guitar, Jet City 22h watter with a 4x12, a wah and boost. Sounded good enough for pub punters to me.
I have a few Marshalls at home and pedal board full of other stuff and extra gats, but keeping it simple seems to make playing more enjoyable, at least to me.

Other guitarist in the band has some Line 6 multi effects unit, seems to be forever dickin with it and swearing.. not to mention holding up kickoff. Seems stressed enough I dont ask whats wrong for fear of wearing it... :shock:
No one ever died of hard work.. but why take the risk..

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Delayman »

chur wrote:
Delayman wrote:I know what you mean - I saw a couple of cover bands in the last week where the guys seem to have a set-and-forget approach and they nailed all sorts of songs. Didn't see any tap dancing and both played a single guitar all night with great results. I'm still trying to find a good clean/crunch/lead combo that works after all these years - and those guys seem to have an amp tone that did the lot. And both completely different set ups. Admirable.
What were they using btw? always curious.

Last few practices I just used one guitar, Jet City 22h watter with a 4x12, a wah and boost. Sounded good enough for pub punters to me.
I have a few Marshalls at home and pedal board full of other stuff and extra gats, but keeping it simple seems to make playing more enjoyable, at least to me.

Other guitarist in the band has some Line 6 multi effects unit, seems to be forever dickin with it and swearing.. not to mention holding up kickoff. Seems stressed enough I dont ask whats wrong for fear of wearing it... :shock:
I didn't go and do the proper gander, but Jason Kerrison's guitarist Joel Shadbolt played an SG in to a Fender (something twinish I think). I didn't really look too hard but didn't seem to muck around with different tones. Second cover band the next night the guy was playing a strat into a mesa boogie.
They keep telling me tone is in the fingers, but I have yet to see a "look at my fingers" thread.
Lawrence wrote: Every orchestra that comes thru here is a covers band as are most of the jazz bands...

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Slowy »

The powering of my Trio+ with a big, full range amp has highlighted something for me:
Electric guitar tones do not fare well in isolation. For example, classic Marshall sounds harsh and raspy to my ears until you add bass and drums; then it's a different story.

Now that I can reproduce a rhythm section at real world volumes, none of my tones are bad at all. Certainly some are preferable to others but I may never have another Bad Tone Day.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by willow13 »

Slowy wrote:The powering of my Trio+ with a big, full range amp has highlighted something for me:
Electric guitar tones do not fare well in isolation. For example, classic Marshall sounds harsh and raspy to my ears until you add bass and drums; then it's a different story.

Now that I can reproduce a rhythm section at real world volumes, none of my tones are bad at all. Certainly some are preferable to others but I may never have another Bad Tone Day.
yeah I can relate in a way.....all my recording is done using podfarm (quiet and all that) and in isolation the guitar tone I use is really meh, but once all the other instruments are wrapped around it, it works. I was writing on Sunday and I was just listening to my guitar through my monitors and I just couldn't come up with anything after I had the main riff, tried for about an hour then stopped. Came back and tried again for 10 minutes and unplugged, turned on my real amp and bam within 2 minutes had the rest of the song.

Sometimes you really do just need your guitar tone that sounds great by itself to light the fire
If Less is More Then Just Think How Much More More would be

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by Molly »

sidewinder wrote:
Absolutely, and I have experienced that first hand. Just try to remind myself that we all fall into that trap of thinking that "this one is the one".

Personally I'm just glad I've reached the stage where if I drop some coin on something nice, I know it is going to be better, but isn't going to be the transcendental experience that I always talk it up to myself in my head, and that having too many options is a bad thing. Wish I'd learnt that lesson sooner for sure.

And fuck yeah, that Micro Terror sounds like a beast.

What is great, and something I didn't realise when younger is that if you buy for a good price and sell for a good price, you can work your way through a lot of gear, or even work your way up if you pay the goddamn difference in TradeMe fees, and you'll get to try out a lot of great gear along the way. Seems to be what most people here do.
True. All of that. And if you're careful you don't need to be out of pocket at all. :thumbup:

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by olegmcnoleg »

Slowy wrote:
Best treatment is a storage locker in the next town. Everything's safe, but so inconvenient to access you get to miss it.
Coincidentally, I can offer such a storage locker service and I'm conveniently placed in the next town from Null Pointer. Rates are reasonable too!

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Re: Anyone had that 'too much is too much' funk?

Post by kwhelan »

[quote="Slowy"]The powering of my Trio+ with a big, full range amp has highlighted something for me:
Electric guitar tones do not fare well in isolation. For example, classic Marshall sounds harsh and raspy to my ears until you add bass and drums; then it's a different story.

and that explains why the covers band sounds good, your in a room with reverb because the sound is up loud, there's is background noise not silence and you are listening thru beer ears, which usually normalize any bad sound to acceptable a few songs in and you have the good mood factor influencing your judgement. Ask any non guitarist and they usually rave about the great guitar sound so why are we so unsatisfied in our garages.
I bet theres some major arguments between what the sound guy mikes up and feeds to the desk with what the player in the studio actually hears in his head over some of our favourite bands albums. How many of his preferred pedals actually got in the final mix or did they even use his go to amp at all. Aren't we judging these famous tones in our head off a finished product that some engineer has eq'd compressed double tracked and mixed to fit in with a record.

Ive gone to a band practise with a whole lot of pedal presets, then played the whole night with one tone out of simplicity and it sounded good so why not. all those reverbs and delays couldnt be heard anyway over everyone else jamming.

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