Pet Peeves -- What's yours?

**zcostilla** · 07-26-2020, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by JPG

+1 on lots of the above.

...that trend of going overboard playing drums on acoustic guitars.

Notable exception for this guy!

I love it in flamenco playing (where it belongs as part of the style) but it can go away in everything else.

**zcostilla** · 07-26-2020, 09:09 AM

- Gear snobs. A 5th Avenue was what I could afford. Plus it fits my hands really well. I tried a vintage L5... sounded good but didn’t fit me well enough to plunk down an extra six grand, even if I had it.

- People who can’t use their own equipment, or house equipment where they regularly sing/play. This is mostly at church, where the same four or five people who are otherwise pretty talented refuse to stop singing with the dynamic mic 2 feet away from their mouth, off-axis. Practice with the mic and sing off-axis close up or on-axis a little further back, whichever suits you. Same for a musician who doesn’t take the time to get there early and be part of the sound check, and then cannot mesh with the rest of the people playing.

- People who don’t take practice/sound check seriously.

sorry I sound cranky, but I guess my issues are all people related rather than gear related.

**benrosow** · 07-26-2020, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

Six saddle bridge. Done. The three saddle bridge was just not a good idea.

And people are obsessed with those friggin 3 piece bridges. They design all sorts of goofy junk to make them intimate: preset levels (partially work), tilting saddles (really? Adjust tilt, then adjust length), etc. Sand they charge a fortune (Callahan).

**benrosow** · 07-26-2020, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar

I've got a couple more.

I start dropping the volume to add some drama - through quietness - to my solo. The drummer is oblivious. I signal to him, palm down, descending hand, and he gets a tiny bit quieter, but he isn't really paying any attention to the volume I'm playing out and drowns out what I'm doing. Not only drummers, but, most often, drummers.

Charts which contain random numbers of bars per line, even when the tune has oddball phrase lengths. Then, on page 2, half of it is blank. Use of hashmarks with multiple bars (to indicate playing the same thing as before) with complicated lines, odd phrase lengths and random numbers of bars per line.

In fact, generally, charts that aren't really wrong, but are the opposite of user friendly.

Players who simply don't know about dynamics are an utter chore to play with. They have two levels: on and off. The song starts cranked, and eventually ends. Nothing happens in the middle. What do the need ME for?

A chart should be like a good part drawing: easy to read. Similarly, many production drawings are technically correct, but a nightmare to read. Well laid out drawings result in fewer mistakes...same with a clear band chart. Think of the poor schmuck who has to read it. If it's clear, then the player can focus on making music rather than hanging on until the tune is over.

**BBGuitar** · 07-26-2020, 10:49 AM

The bass player ( now deceased ) in the big band I'm in was a great player and a great guy, bit he liked to play acoustically. The sax section would complain they couldn't hear him, he would respond then your playing too loud.

What ticked me off was the leader at the time asked, if they got a pickup for the bass could he plug in to my LoudBox Mini. I said no, the leader got upset and couldn't understand why. After all it was an amplifier.

I liked the bass player he was in his late 80's and was not going to buy an amplifier after playing for 70 years.

I bought a cheap stick on pickup for his bass and brought along my Sidekick 65 bass amp for the gigs. He left the band a couple years later because he just couldn't do it anymore. I have good memories of Don and was happy to help.

**Bezoeker** · 07-26-2020, 12:25 PM

Players/Owners who present guitars for tech-luthio work caked with a zoological mix of dead and (worse yet) living crud.

I mean on some you could chisel out the years of gray/brown who-knows-what on each side of each fret. Then scrape down the more recent layer of ooze everywhere else.

**jonh** · 07-26-2020, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by bohemian46

Audiences who clap and have no clue as to timing and rhythm. It is disrespectful to all.

I'm going to respectfully take issue with this one, Bohemian.

Audiences who clap without timing or rhythm drive me nuts, too, but remember: Many times audiences don't have a lot of musicians. They're not clapping in tempo because they don't know better (and crowds tend to rush tempo due to human nature anyway, humans can't help themselves). If they're clapping, they're enjoying your music, embrace it. I don't think it's a sign of disrespect, it's the opposite.

**christianm77** · 07-26-2020, 01:11 PM

Guitarists who when comping for me play extensions on the B and E strings.

NO

**christianm77** · 07-26-2020, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by BBGuitar

The bass player ( now deceased ) in the big band I'm in was a great player and a great guy, bit he liked to play acoustically. The sax section would complain they couldn't hear him, he would respond then your playing too loud.

What ticked me off was the leader at the time asked, if they got a pickup for the bass could he plug in to my LoudBox Mini. I said no, the leader got upset and couldn't understand why. After all it was an amplifier.

I liked the bass player he was in his late 80's and was not going to buy an amplifier after playing for 70 years.

I bought a cheap stick on pickup for his bass and brought along my Sidekick 65 bass amp for the gigs. He left the band a couple years later because he just couldn't do it anymore. I have good memories of Don and was happy to help.

I’m not surprised. The bass player was right, but what are you gonna do? Modern big bands play too loud.

**Gitterbug** · 07-26-2020, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

I’m not surprised. The bass player was right, but what are you gonna do? Modern big bands play too loud.

Yup. I think it starts with the drums. The proverbial loud drummer is ubiquitous. I don't know when and how it happened, but I believe drums are a lot louder than 40-50 years ago. Many big band horn players are seniorish, with impaired hearing. This contributes to the arms race. I'm often told (in a quintet with just one cornet/flugelhorn) to increase my volume. Everyone else has a hearing aid...

**archtopeddy** · 07-26-2020, 01:53 PM

Two more:

1) Musicians (usually other guitarists) who don't tune up before the gig begins causing everyone to "wait a moment" before the first set starts.

2) Musicians (often other guitarists) who noodle around on their instrument while sitting on stage in between sets or before the first set starts.

Neither should be tolerated (and I don't), but I shouldn't have to be the one to tell them. This is pretty basic stuff that working musicians should already know.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 07-26-2020, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by bohemian46

NNS.. Narrow Nut Syndrome..
Anything less than 1 3/4 " is, for me, unplayable and a deterrent to purchase.

I can make do, but I prefer wider nuts, too. I don't see the advantage to a narrow nut if the bridge is going to be a standard width, anyway.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 07-26-2020, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by benrosow

And people are obsessed with those friggin 3 piece bridges. They design all sorts of goofy junk to make them intimate: preset levels (partially work), tilting saddles (really? Adjust tilt, then adjust length), etc. Sand they charge a fortune (Callahan).

Reminds me of a quote I read on the Tele forum. A guitar player was being recorded in the studio and he asked the recording engineer if the intonation was acceptable. The engineer said, "it sounds like a Tele".

EDIT: I would say the preference on the Tele forum is for three-saddle bridges, however.

**pcjazz** · 07-26-2020, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Gitterbug

I believe drums are a lot louder than 40-50 years ago....

Plastic heads and oversized cymbals.

**Cunamara** · 07-26-2020, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by benrosow

And people are obsessed with those friggin 3 piece bridges. They design all sorts of goofy junk to make them intimate: preset levels (partially work), tilting saddles (really? Adjust tilt, then adjust length), etc. Sand they charge a fortune (Callahan).

"Leo got it right the first time" is the mantra of some. Except for the "mud switch," the intonation, the neck pickup, the cutting edges on the bridge plate... although that said, I really like my Tele (which is an Affinity with six saddle bridge, no edges on the bridge plate, a 4 way switch, Bill Lawrence and Dimarzo noiseless pickups...).

**christianm77** · 07-26-2020, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by Gitterbug

Yup. I think it starts with the drums. The proverbial loud drummer is ubiquitous. I don't know when and how it happened, but I believe drums are a lot louder than 40-50 years ago. Many big band horn players are seniorish, with impaired hearing. This contributes to the arms race. I'm often told (in a quintet with just one cornet/flugelhorn) to increase my volume. Everyone else has a hearing aid...

Argh. Yes, I play in a good big band (mostly young - middle age), but sometimes I do feel like shouting 'Guys! You know what makes things sound loud? Dynamics!!!'

But they all work shows, and that's a classic one for making everyone play loud apparently.

Drum technology changed... louder heads (synthetic) for instance - but then that's no excuse not to play with dynamics. We can have a little amplified lift on the guitar and bass to compensate (and it's fine not to hear the bass and guitar so much in the loud bits), but it gets silly.

**christianm77** · 07-26-2020, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

Reminds me of a quote I read on the Tele forum. A guitar player was being recorded in the studio and he asked the recording engineer if the intonation was acceptable. The engineer said, "it sounds like a Tele".

EDIT: I would say the preference on the Tele forum is for three-saddle bridges, however.

They probably like those stupid jack plugs too. There are a lot of tele fundamentalists.

**Jabberwocky** · 07-26-2020, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

Women who would rather date bass players and drummers.

Guitar players have this "short appendage" bodily dysmorphic problem, you know, "my fingers are too short"...amongst other issues. Talking about a friend...

**pcjazz** · 07-26-2020, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

Guitar players have this "short appendage" bodily dysmorphic problem, you know, "my fingers are too short"...amongst other issues. Talking about a friend...

“‘T’ain’t the meat, it’s the motion ... “

**rpjazzguitar** · 07-26-2020, 05:19 PM

Here's another.

I start twisting the time a little bit in my solo. Hemiolas, displacing sequences, something.

Bass player decides that's the signal for him to start a new career playing trombone lines in outer space.

Quiet space in my solo? By all means, everybody, fill it in with your own noodling.

And, if everybody is taking three choruses and I get quiet at the end of my first chorus and I don't look up, it may not be your turn to solo yet.

Another one:

Drum solo. Drummer twists the time. When he's absolutely certain nobody knows where One is anymore, the solo is a success.

**archtopeddy** · 07-26-2020, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar

Another one:

Drum solo. Drummer twists the time. When he's absolutely certain nobody knows where One is anymore, the solo is a success.

Ha ha. That's funny! I just let someone else start and I follow 'em.

**Litterick** · 07-27-2020, 12:13 AM

Drum solos.

**entresz** · 07-27-2020, 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by BBGuitar

The bass player ( now deceased ) in the big band I'm in was a great player and a great guy, bit he liked to play acoustically. The sax section would complain they couldn't hear him, he would respond then your playing too loud.

What ticked me off was the leader at the time asked, if they got a pickup for the bass could he plug in to my LoudBox Mini. I said no, the leader got upset and couldn't understand why. After all it was an amplifier.

I liked the bass player he was in his late 80's and was not going to buy an amplifier after playing for 70 years.

I bought a cheap stick on pickup for his bass and brought along my Sidekick 65 bass amp for the gigs. He left the band a couple years later because he just couldn't do it anymore. I have good memories of Don and was happy to help.

This is probably my biggest pet peeve as far as my gigs go.

I work in a really nice 18 piece big band. Most of the time I'm playing four to the bar. I would absolutely love to play in a big band that used "authentic" instrumentation for want of a better term. Drums that aren't super loud, amplified piano, bass and guitar. The dynamic range of the band would be so much greater. I end up having to play with an amp... which as many on the forum would know completely changes the feel for playing authentic big band rhythm guitar.

Most of the horn players in the band blast away and don't put nearly enough focus on dynamics. The fact the rhythm section is over-amplified doesn't help.

Even if I had something like a 19" Stromberg there's no way I'd have a hope of being heard with how loud the drums, piano and bass are.