Guitars and Gear

[Drumbler]

I've never paid much attention to the gear sections on this board.

It amazes me that on a jazz guitar forum there are so many posts about gear.

After all playing jazz is what it's all about, right? Some gear posts are fine of course.

I noticed that few of the members who post in the gear threads post in the playing sections.

I recall another guitar forum where one poster had something like 40 guitars but never played. Never. Had no interest.

He just liked collecting guitars, which is okay I guess, but also a bit odd to never play.

There are probably people who collect barbells but never lift them. They just go and stare at them a lot.

How about people who collect tools but never use them? They just like to admire their hammers and saws.

I had a friend years ago who owned a late 70s Pontiac Trans Am. He wouldn't drive it. Too afraid of something happening to it.

Lost touch with him but I wonder if he still has that car in his garage?

Collecting guitars is easy. Playing jazz is hard.

[Alder Statesman]

With my current financial condition, collecting guitars is real hard.

[citizenk74]

I've got a room full of guitars, amps, and gizmos bought with money made from playing music for people to listen to, or dance to, or ignore, if they wish. You could fill another room with guitars and amps I provided to (usually younger) aspiring (or accomplished) musicians to facilitate their art. A surprising amount of that music was jazz. If I feel like discussing these tools of the trade with like-minded individuals, that's our right. It's yours, as well. These are tangible things- concrete, visible. The finer points of theory are abstract, ethereal even; and their consideration is edifying. The history and lore of the art is fascinating, if not always uplifting. These areas have their own sub-fora.
There is plenty of space here at JGO for everyone to speak. We've all got guitars, or want one. We're not all Berklee grads or what ever. G, A, & G are what we have in common. That is something to celebrate, as we do with NGDs and NADs and so forth. We are fortunate that some of our members have the means and desire to support some of the fine luthiers who make the wonderful instruments we sometimes see here. You can't hammer a real nail with an abstract hammer. You need something you can swing with.

PS - I've enjoyed your posts for many years, Drumbler. Your point of view is always interesting. Thank you!

[Spook410]

......snip....

Collecting guitars is easy. Playing jazz is hard.

So Drumbler... there are several pro players on here that have amazing jazz skills *and* have a collections of wonderful, very, very, expensive guitars. They even like talking about them. Go figure.


If I've learned one thing around here, it's to not worry about what other people enjoy or how they go about enjoying it. If someone likes to play jazz and is into gear, great. If they feel anything beyond a MIM Tele and Fender Champ is superfluous distraction.. that's fine to. Nobody is any more special because of what keeps their interest in playing music. Even if they just stack guitars in their garage and talk about them online. In a forum format it's easy to find the things you want to talk about and things you don't care about.

[cosmic gumbo]

I had a friend years ago who owned a late 70s Pontiac Trans Am. He wouldn't drive it. Too afraid

I can relate, I found a late 70's Snickers candy bar, but I wouldn't eat it. Too afraid....

[Drumbler]

Thanks for being sporting gents.

[Jabberwocky]

Playing jazz is not hard. But you can make it hard if you want to.

More people talk about gear than playing because there really isn't much in playing jazz to talk about. But I guess some people like to talk about playing jazz because they want to make playing jazz sound hard.

Jazz is a broad church. Make it as hard as you want it to be. Speaking for myself, I don't enjoy hard as I have a day job. So, I make it simple for meself. My personal touchstone today is Bireli Lagrene. I try to steal his licks. I am a thief. I steal licks and cop changes off records. There is nothing much to talk about when I steal. My mânouche playing guitarist friends seem to have a really good time. They don't like to talk. They play. You can't talk about duende.

But some people get hard talking about hard jazz. That's cool too, but I won't be sharing a beer with them. Insufferable bores. I prefer talking about gear because that is easy. I find other people who like to talk about gear. There are simply more of them.

[Patlotch]

this forum reflects the reality of the current concerns around the jazz guitar, there is no one to be offended

given the large number of members and visitors, it is rather an excellent object of "field studies" or "field survey", as sociologists and psychologists say, provided that we avoid analytical biases that can distort this reality, and observe it in its purity, which is just as social and commercial as well as musical

[Jabberwocky]

Branford Marsalis Redux: Branford Marsalis: The Problem With Jazz | Seattle Weekly

All in good fun, Drumbler. I leave my Jazz Theory tome in the toilet as reading material. I use the material sometimes; it is missing a few pages.

[Spook410]

Branford Marsalis Redux: Branford Marsalis: The Problem With Jazz | Seattle Weekly

". . . what are the things that normal people like about music and can we incorporate those things?"

Liked the article. Thanks.

[Doctor Jeff]

I've never paid much attention to the gear sections on this board.

It amazes me that on a jazz guitar forum there are so many posts about gear.

After all playing jazz is what it's all about, right? Some gear posts are fine of course.

I noticed that few of the members who post in the gear threads post in the playing sections.

I recall another guitar forum where one poster had something like 40 guitars but never played. Never. Had no interest.

He just liked collecting guitars, which is okay I guess, but also a bit odd to never play.

There are probably people who collect barbells but never lift them. They just go and stare at them a lot.

How about people who collect tools but never use them? They just like to admire their hammers and saws.

Actually my other hobby is woodworking and I am a bit of a tool hoarder. But once I came across an auction for items from a guy who bought literally every item out of the Lee Valley catalogue, and almost all of the items were NIB. He passed away and of course found out he couldn't take it with him. Sometimes people just like to have THINGS for the sake of having them. Personally, if I have a tool--a guitar or a handplane--I like to put it to the use it was meant for.

I can relate, I found a late 70's Snickers candy bar, but I wouldn't eat it. Too afraid....

I should tell you my story about bringing home 300 bottles of wine (most from the French Bourgogne region) when I moved back to the States from Germany in 1998. I decided I would only drink a bottle for special occasions. You can guess the rest...the special occasions were few and far between, and when I got around to drinking them most of the bottles were BAD (because they were shipped and stored in suboptimal conditions). However, I drank the last bottle I had just a few months ago--a German Auslese--and it not only didn't suck, it was surprisingly good for a 20-year-old wine that was nothing special.

[takefive]

I have eight guitars, but I only play three of them. I also have around 50 effects pedals of all sorts and I use three of them regularly.

[Patlotch]

I have eight guitars, but I only play three of them. I also have around 50 effects pedals of all sorts and I use three of them regularly.

so why is it written Take five?

[neatomic]

I have eight guitars, but I only play three of them.

hence take five

8-3= 5..for the taking?..haha


cheers

[rpjazzguitar]

People get into gear.

I fly fish. It's just as bad. All kinds of gadgets. Equipment at every price level. Reviews and magazines touting all kinds of fantastic stuff. Fishermen drooling over fancy gear. Instructional videos. Clubs. Camps. Guides. Elite outfitters. Fly-ins to remote corners of the planet. Star fishermen. Same thing as guitar.

And, you can catch plenty of fish with very inexpensive gear. In many, maybe most, fishing situations the expensive gear barely helps. And, a skilled fisherman will be able to get great performance out of inexpensive equipment. It's all human nature.

[neatomic]

People get into gear.

I fly fish. It's just as bad. All kinds of gadgets. Equipment at every price level. Reviews and magazines touting all kinds of fantastic stuff. Fishermen drooling over fancy gear. Instructional videos. Clubs. Camps. Guides. Elite outfitters. Fly-ins to remote corners of the planet. Star fishermen. Same thing as guitar.

And, you can catch plenty of fish with very inexpensive gear. In many, maybe most, fishing situations the expensive gear barely helps. And, a skilled fisherman will be able to get great performance out of inexpensive equipment. It's all human nature.

so funny...one of my meditative/art spots is among practicing fly fishermen..and always am amazed when i hear their banter about wood (rods) and string (line)...i have told a few, it reminds me of guitar love!!

wood and strings..and all the little details

funny, you made same association!

cheers

[Spook410]

People get into gear.

I fly fish. It's just as bad..

I'm lucky to have retired in a house situated on a very fish-able part of the Rogue River in Oregon. Before I was in Texas and I have a lot of 6-8wt gear for the coast. For the brutal saltwater environment, not to mention Redfish, top quality gear made sense. So can I use it here? Not really. A 5wt in the riffles and Spey set ups to reach across the river. Sigh.

[Patlotch]

the only common thing I know about fishing and guitars is that nylon fishing wire was used for very fine strings, for example tuned in A above E (like the 8 strings guitar Renaissance or Lenny Breau)

or when I was a little boy, I made my "guitars" with a cardboard box and fishing wire

[Alter]

Gear is fun, it's what we use to make music. And especially with jazz guitars, they are pricey and not that common, so it's not that easy to check out and play many of them for most of us. Or vintage ones. Same with good amps more or less.

Knowing gear is one part of sounding great. The players that had the opportunity to check out and use many different kinds of instruments, amps, speakers, pickups etc, or have really great gear.. I've benefited greatly from taking advice from people like that. And it's not so much about money as it is about experience and knowledge.

It will make the difference between sounding good on gigs and between having musicians come up and tell you the guitar sounds perfect, or exactly as it's supposed to sound etc.. I'm probably never going to play much of the great stuff out there, so I'm very interested in hearing opinions from people that do.

[cosmic gumbo]

Lots of good gear is really cheap for past decade or two. Over time, it's easy to accumulate quite a collection of decent stuff without intending to, because it was so inexpensive. I don't need fancy gear to sound good or validate my status.

[Zina]

Hey, leave those fish alone. Imagine a Super 400 is hanging over your garden, and you run to grab it; next thing you know there's a hook through your hands and some alien in his UFO (with outboard motor and a box of beer) is showing you to his friends. Bonus humiliation: "Ah Zbeebooh, throw that runt back". But you'll still have holes in your hands.

[Doctor Jeff]

so funny...one of my meditative/art spots is among practicing fly fishermen..and always am amazed when i hear their banter about wood (rods) and string (line)...i have told a few, it reminds me of guitar love!!

wood and strings..and all the little details

funny, you made same association!

cheers

Hehe I fly fish too. And cycle. The only reason I don’t obsess about these hobbies is because I’ve got limited funds and other hobbies that occupy my time—guitar and woodworking.

Come to think of it, my GF gave me a decent tie-flying kit a couple of years ago “for something to do in the winter” and I haven’t tied a single fly with it. Yet.

[neatomic]

[QUOTE=Zina;1007997]Hey, leave those fish alone. Imagine a Super 400 is hanging over your garden, and you run to grab it; next thing you know there's a hook through your hands and some alien in his UFO (with outboard motor and a box of beer) is showing you to his friends. Bonus humiliation: "Ah Zbeebooh, throw that runt back". But you'll still have holes in your hands.[/QUOTE

great!! haha

very sci-fi!! rod serling would be proud-twilight zone!

agree!..

funny!

cheers

[DMgolf66]

I fish, fly fish, tie flies. Worked one day a week in a fly shop. Yes, a love affair with equipment is worse with fisherman. At least from what I've seen so far in the guitar world.

I was a golf pro for 10 years and the love of equipment may be the strongest of the 3. The major golf forum "GolfWrx" makes this site look Kindergarteners discussing Crayons. The amount of minutiae discussed on "GolfWrx" is something else.

[Gabor]

Supposing there are collectors (who are not interested in playing) they are still doing good thing by collecting and caring about guitars. Those guitars will be saved with better chance for future, maybe future musicians will glad to have them and future listeners will enjoy their music.