The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #76

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    Yes. And, for many, they believe a "better" guitar will make them play better. For me, sound is the most important consideration-- then followed by ease of playability. Craftsmanship is a given. Many "players" make excuses for their playing blaming it on the instrument rather than their lack of skills/time spent in serious study. This IS the status quo with many guitarists. I never saw this as a horn player.
    Marinero

    P.S. Classical guitarists are also afflicted with this disease and for the same reasons.
    M
    I agree. Some guitars just feel so good to me that they make me play better. Feel and sound are the most important things in my humble opinion.

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  3. #77

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    Yes. And, for many, they believe a "better" guitar will make them play better. For me, sound is the most important consideration-- then followed by ease of playability. Craftsmanship is a given. Many "players" make excuses for their playing blaming it on the instrument rather than their lack of skills/time spent in serious study. This IS the status quo with many guitarists. I never saw this as a horn player.
    Marinero

    P.S. Classical guitarists are also afflicted with this disease and for the same reasons.
    M
    I have certainly seen and experienced that. I do believe that it typically happens at a certain level of development. As a beginner to advanced beginner, typically a person is focused on learning.

    When a person is in the intermediate stage, they start to focus on playing music. In other words, bringing expression and meaning to the sounds they are creating. That is when there has to be a focus on gear. I want to do x, what works best for x. There is an externalization of the process. If I hold my pick like this I can do x. If I set my amp like this I can get it to do x. At that point when things go wrong it feels like the gear is letting you down. Thoughts like, “Just yesterday it was doing what I wanted it to, What is going on now”. There is also the phenomenon of judging outcome based on the best possible environment. It is like making a judgement about how long it takes to drive somewhere by the best time that has been achieved.

    When a person moves into a more advanced level, the thoughts change. “I have to make music happen no matter what else is taking place. That is what I am getting paid for”. The realization that looking right is often more important then even playing really good. There is also the realization that even if I am playing at my worst I will sound good. At that level, a person starts to realize that no matter what guitar they are given, they can make is sound good. There is enough experience to adjust their playing based on the instrument. There is enough experience to make quick changes on the instrument or amp, that will help facilitate the needed outcome. There is an ability to deal with when things are making it difficult. I am sure most of is have ended up in situations where we could barely (or not at all) hear ourselves. There is an ability to look at what is happening, and get the most out of it.

    My thought has always been, “prepare for the worst, hope for the best”. In other words, part of my practice time has been spent, thinking about what will happen that will make my life difficult, and how do I practice getting the most out of that situation. I am not sure about you, but my guitar tech, never goes anywhere with me.

  4. #78

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    "here is also the realization that even if I am playing at my worst I will sound good. At that level, a person starts to realize that no matter what guitar they are given, they can make is sound good. " st. bede

    Hi, S,
    This is the difference between a musician's ear and, generally, those in the audience. Over the years, on multiple instruments, I've had some very good performances and those I believed, at the time, were mediocre. And, it's very strange that it seems I always had the most praise from the mediocre performances. . . many of which were played on my old gigging guitar in the 90's--- a very dead, sacrificial, Yamaha Spruce Classical guitar which I still, strangely, own and has now been delegated the official "boat guitar." So, I believe what really changes for us is our ears and if you have a quality instrument and understand its personality and intricacies over years of playing, it is all you ever need. Here's my list and length of ownership:
    Yamaha Spruce Classical--1994
    R.E.Brune 30C-- 1996
    Agostino LoPrinzi Spanish Grand Concert Cedar--1997
    Esteve-1GR08 Cedar(gigging guitar) 2000
    Gibson ES125TC--1966
    Gibson ES125TDC-2021(inheritance)
    I cannot imagine ever having the "need" to buy another guitar and each, excluding the Yamaha and TDC, is rotated every ten hours of playtime.
    Marinero

  5. #79

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    Learn from the audiophiles - their main thing is nitpicking. There it works. That means no vintage stuff - measurably useless. But that is justified.

    With guitar gear, some go "that specific guitar built 70 years ago is the best". Or amp. Or something else.

    But back then - 10 years into developing the perfect guitars, they made them happen.
    No nitpicking there - they needed those products fast. Was it divine intervention? A miracle?

    Nah.

  6. #80

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    I think we spend too much time nitpicking about our nitpicking.

  7. #81

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    Wait - no vintage stuff?

    “Learn from the audiophiles - their main thing is nitpicking. There it works. That means no vintage stuff - measurably useless. But that is justified.”

    Ever heard of Marantz? Scott?
    Sure there are audio types liking the new stuff. But dont they value good old over speced iron like we do?

  8. #82

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    Gear is not a miracle.
    The specs have to be pleasing for most people so the product can be sold with profit.
    The hype happens and gets abused for fun and very often for more profit.

    edit: about audiophiles, of course some products stand out. But the upgrade is always a welcome.
    edit2: but with the guitars, amps and what not we have here - somehow those quickly developed stuff is the base for comparison.

    Just one more thought - No one is ever gonna nitpick on "why didn't he play this or that there". Never. Because whatever gets used is just that, it's so perfect. Because that gear happened to be what they got at the moment.
    Last edited by emanresu; 08-07-2022 at 09:08 PM.

  9. #83

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    Gibson's PR agency recently issued a media release about Gibson's successful legal action against Dean. The final sentence is telling:

    Gibson can now focus attention on continuing to leverage its iconic past, and invest in future innovation, with confidence.

    Leveraging the past means making guitars for nitpickers, those who will fret about the relative merits of a Custom Shop R8 against an R0.

  10. #84

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    if you use the word nitpicker(s), you gotta live in a world full of them.

    there are no nitpickers in my world, just good people interested in gear.

    thank you.

  11. #85

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    Obviously, we are talking about different sorts of people.

  12. #86

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    When it comes to nit picking you guys are all amateurs

    Last edited by John A.; 08-08-2022 at 01:29 PM.

  13. #87

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    As long as your grinnin' while you're pickin'

    It's all good.




  14. #88

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    Gibson can now focus attention on continuing to leverage its iconic past, and invest in future innovation, with confidence.”

    YAY! More “Gibson Modern” SGs, LPs, and Explorers!

    Thanks Litterick, my day is complete

    jk



  15. #89

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    Look at the post and thread count on each subforum on this site. This gear category dwarfs the activity of all the others which are the topics tat actually matter.

    yes we nit pick

  16. #90

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluedawg
    As long as your grinnin' while you're pickin'

    It's all good.

    Reminds me how much I hated Hee Haw back in the day. It was always on at my Grandma’s on Sunday nights.

    Observations: A) Roy Clark sure can play anything with strings. B) Jerry Reed is a funny guy with great timing! And C) The jokes are funnier to me the older I get…

  17. #91

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
    Reminds me how much I hated Hee Haw back in the day. It was always on at my Grandma’s on Sunday nights.

    Observations: A) Roy Clark sure can play anything with strings. B) Jerry Reed is a funny guy with great timing! And C) The jokes are funnier to me the older I get…

    LOL ... Yup .. I came to appreciate "Hee Haw" and all things "Country" more as I grew older ... but then I grew up in Tennessee ... so that's also my roots ... I also grew up in Memphis, so the Elvis and Stax records stuff runs deep as well ... YMMV

    Hee Haw was Saturday night at my house IIRC ... then "Emergency" ... the TV series ..

    My dad was a career fire fighter and paramedic. Watching "Emergency" was a mandatory formation at our house.


  18. #92

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluedawg
    LOL ... Yup .. I came to appreciate "Hee Haw" and all things "Country" more as I grew older ... but then I grew up in Tennessee ... so that's also my roots ... I also grew up in Memphis, so the Elvis and Stax records stuff runs deep as well ... YMMV

    Hee Haw was Saturday night at my house IIRC ... then "Emergency" ... the TV series ..

    My dad was a career fire fighter and paramedic. Watching "Emergency" was a mandatory formation at our house.

    Maybe it was Saturday. Sunday was Disney and Lawrence Welk as I recall. (Loved Disney, couldn’t stand Lawrence Welk, though a distant cousin was one of the female backup singers.)

    In my memory Hee Haw seems to have been on everytime I was over at Grandma’s! And we had fried chicken and biscuits for every meal—yum!

  19. #93

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    UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT:

    Of course we nitpick too much. If we are so-so players (and let's [almost] ALL be honest), it won't matter what gear we use.

    I always love the comments to pro players like, "what strings do you use?" It doesn't MATTER!!! Work on your playing; fix your timing and fix your touch/feel/swing. I argue Gilad will sound 100 times better on a $100 guitar than most of us would sound with a $10,000 guitar.

    My favorite comment under a Pasquale Grasso video was, "MAHHHHH, I need a [$10,000] Trenier so I can play like Pasquale!!!!!!"

  20. #94

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    I do adjust. Especially when a guitar or amp has qualities, tonality and feel, that makes adjustment worthwhile. The biggest difference between now and my early days of playing is that I'm much more experienced at assessing instruments, and at knowing what works best for me. That bypasses a certain amount of adjustment right there.

    And no, we don't spend too much time nitpicking. It's all part of the game. Discussing gear - learning through the experience of others and sharing ones own - that's as much fun as playing.

  21. #95

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    Quote Originally Posted by eh6794-2.0
    UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT:

    Of course we nitpick too much. If we are so-so players (and let's [almost] ALL be honest), it won't matter what gear we use.

    I always love the comments to pro players like, "what strings do you use?" It doesn't MATTER!!! Work on your playing; fix your timing and fix your touch/feel/swing. I argue Gilad will sound 100 times better on a $100 guitar than most of us would sound with a $10,000 guitar.

    My favorite comment under a Pasquale Grasso video was, "MAHHHHH, I need a [$10,000] Trenier so I can play like Pasquale!!!!!!"
    Sad to report that I’ve played Pasquale’s guitar and I didn’t sound like Pasquale :-(

  22. #96

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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    Sad to report that I’ve played Pasquale’s guitar and I didn’t sound like Pasquale :-(
    How was the action setup?

  23. #97

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    Quote Originally Posted by eh6794-2.0
    UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT:

    Of course we nitpick too much. If we are so-so players (and let's [almost] ALL be honest), it won't matter what gear we use.

    I always love the comments to pro players like, "what strings do you use?" It doesn't MATTER!!! Work on your playing; fix your timing and fix your touch/feel/swing. I argue Gilad will sound 100 times better on a $100 guitar than most of us would sound with a $10,000 guitar.

    My favorite comment under a Pasquale Grasso video was, "MAHHHHH, I need a [$10,000] Trenier so I can play like Pasquale!!!!!!"
    Quote Originally Posted by mad dog
    I do adjust. Especially when a guitar or amp has qualities, tonality and feel, that makes adjustment worthwhile. The biggest difference between now and my early days of playing is that I'm much more experienced at assessing instruments, and at knowing what works best for me. That bypasses a certain amount of adjustment right there.

    And no, we don't spend too much time nitpicking. It's all part of the game. Discussing gear - learning through the experience of others and sharing ones own - that's as much fun as playing.
    I agree with both of you LOL...

    I guess my thought at the beginning of the post was that I was a little annoyed by people who say "I can only play a 1 11/16" nut guitar," or "has to be 25 1/4" scale," or "only TI strings individually purchased," etc. Because like Mad Dog (I had a frat brother whose nickname was Mad Dog--you're not from NJ, are you?) we can adjust.

    Having said that, I do think we gravitate toward certain preferences, which for me generally tend toward an ES-175 configuration. I have a Tele and a classical, but they're not my go-to guitars for picking and grinning. Actually, I play a flattop quite a bit too, because I don't have to plug in or even have a power source, and there's no need to fiddle around to get the right sound. It's all in the fingers.

  24. #98

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alter
    How was the action setup?
    A medium/lowish action with what felt like gauge .13 ti strings. Not super slinky, a mainstream jazz guitar set up I would say, how I’d have it.

  25. #99

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    After I saw the other day a quite active thread about the stiffness of the back of guitar strap my answer to the OP question is: way too much.

    Envoyé de mon SM-G930F en utilisant Tapatalk

  26. #100

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    Or the new one on the effect on tone of plastic vs metal tuners? I dont even recall that ever being obsessed about on the Les Paul forums.
    And them some obsessive folks!

    So how many Angels can dance on the head of a pin, St Thomas?
    (gratuitous nitpicking for us Catlics)))