Lets get real in 2011 people

Hi guys and gals. Pondering tone over countless hours as I have I believe I've had an epiphany when it comes to searching for and finding great tone. Let me give you a quick preface as to what led me to this moment. I spent a week in LA recently with my family, it was the longest I have been away from a guitar or an amp in a decade. On the last day we stopped into Guitar Center on Sunset just to check it out as you do. And if you haven't you really should, its amazing. Anyway, there I am, in holiday mode, completely relaxed, no stress, happy days. Now i begin to recognize the guitar tones flying around me, some good, some ok, some buzzy like bees in a bottle, but I realize i haven't even looked at what gear they're using or what they're playing through. I'm just at peace, barely listening but still taking it all in.
When I eventually looked at the stuff they were using, I was genuinely surprised.

Why did you need to know this? because tone is my life, and that life has a pressure, stress and deadlines built into it. The knowledge this life has given me has also led to a certain amount of presumption and its so clear to me now that when you're searching for that tone and you add this all together, it's the wrong head space to be in when searching for tone or trying out potential tone toys.
Anyone who's ever bought stuff because of people's rave reviews, then persevered and struggled with it, purely because if everyone is raving about it believing that it must be great if everyone is raving about it so it must be me who is using it wrong. Does this sound familiar? It certainly does for me, so why do we persist?
Because we are conditioned to believe that if its 1. Really expensive, 2. used by someone famous, 3. really pretty or 4. raved about by users on an online forum, then it must be amazing.

so I've come up with a new process for trying gear. Maybe you can add to it but so far its working really well.

1 - Ignorance is Bliss
Once you have decided to try out a new piece of gear STOP SEARCHING for info about it. All that matters is the tone, no ifs, ands or butts, this is everything. Don't ask how much it costs, (this is not always possible so go to step 2), don't ask who uses it, don't ask what's in it, just leave all that alone till you've played through the thing. You don't want any of that info influencing your decision on weather or not to buy it.

2 - I don't want your money honey, I want your love
OK, now this may sound strange but trust me, there's a reason for this. You're plugged into what ever you're going to listen to, before you start, imagine that the pedal is £20 Beringer, or the amp is a Digitech practice amp, what ever is the uncoolest thing you can imagine. It must be so uncool that you would never ever mention you own it on TheGearPage.
Take the 'cool factor' out of the picture.

3 - Relax, this won't hurt a bit
Get into a calm peaceful space, clear your head and just let the tone do its thing. Don't listen as such, just be aware, play and see what happens. How does it feel? How do you want to play with it? If you sit down and try to analyze it, rather than just experience it, it once again puts you in that strange headspace which is not conducive to making music. ' the truth is there is no spoon'

Here's the thing, rock stars who have all the money and endorsement deals in the world can basically buy and play anything they want. They don't have this 'gee my amp is cool because its so expensive' attitude because to allot of them its not. If you've ever seen a rock star audition a new piece of gear you'll know that they don't give a toss about how it looks or how much it costs, all they care about is how they connect with it and what comes out in the air. Most are not impressed by the 'boutique' signature, they just want it to sound right... period. I've seen an artist plug into what all around him would class as an amazing amp and he dismissed it as crap in 10 seconds. Same guy plugs into something off the shelf costing 1/3 the price and just wailed, didn't care who made it, or how much it cost. Just wanted the tone that worked for him.

So the next time you're trying a new piece of gear, or even the stuff you have now, get out of that pre-judging mind set. Remember we are all different, and this stuff makes NO SOUND, it only amplifies and colours what we put into it.

This approach can save you years of heartache, but even if it only saves you one disappointing gig, then my job is done.

peace

Daniel Steinhardt

http://www.thegigrig.com/

pedal boards of the stars - Paul Turner - Jamiroquai

One for the bass players!
Paul Turner recently asked me to tidy up his pedal board before his latest Jamiroquai tour so I whipped out the video camera and documented the process. Really interesting for bass players or for anyone putting together a pedal board and wants to do it properly.

TheGigRig in Doug Dopplers 'Get Killer Tone' DVD

This week our good friend Doug Doppler took delivery of the pedal that I put together for the Guitar Player review.
Doug has started work on one of the coolest projects we know about, a video series on 'How To get Killer Tone'.
Doug tracked us down at NAMM this year and we organized to get him sent this pedal board for him to put through its paces.
Doug is yet another guitarist totally committed to squeezing every last drop of tone available from his gear, he's a great guitar player and we're proud to
have him rocking out on our gear
You can see his YouTube channel here

The board we put together has some really tasty pedals on it including a vintage 70's EH Small Stone phaser, Keeley modded CE-2, original Ibanez AD-80, Analog Man Beano boost, Tone Freak Severe and the new AC+ booster from Xotic.

Guitar Nation - the aftermath

Firstly i want to say a massive thank you to everyone who came down to Olympia in London on the weekend. It was a really great weekend and great to see so many tone obsessed guitarists.

Tone Hungry Crowd Gathers

From the minute the doors opened on Saturday the crowd around TheGigRig stand was constant. It's where the tone was at doncha know. We were there with my mate Jesse and his band of merry men from Lazy J amps (ooh.. so very tasty..the amps, not the merry men)


It was full steam ahead from start to finish.

My good friend and guitar/producer legend Paul Stacey
dropped by to say hi and proceeded to have schwang (which is a technical term for playing guitar with passion and gusto!)
on my rig. Man, the guy is just amazing!

I have started a petition to get Paul and Jeremy back to the 606 club asap for another of their rock gigs. If it happens you owe it to yourself as a musician to get down to the 6 and hear these guys play. It'll put hairs on your chest, guaranteed. In all seriousness Paul is one of the most amazing guitarists I've ever seen. Just the amount of music that comes out of the guy is incredible.

Rock legend Phil Hilborne stopped by before his gig on the main stage to say hi. Phil has been using TheGigRig Pro-14 for a few years now and his tone is fantastic. He's just returned from a sell out 'Monsters of Rock' tour in the US where night after night he's been playing to packed stadiums. That big grin on his face is not forced!!

The guy is a legend and lives, eats and breathes guitar.


Jamiroquais' Rob Harris is another Pro-14 user and is on the road again with JayK. The new album sounds great and the Pro-14 was used extensively as well as a MIDI-8 courtesy of Jamiroquai's bass player Paul Turner. Rob's rig is fantastic and with him behind it sounds truly incredible.


New British blues sensation
Stephen Dale Petit uses a MIDI-8 at the heart of his rather amazing sounding rig. His new album'The Crave' is out now to well deserved rave reviews. I'll be going to a gig at the 100 club that he's putting on on with special guests Ronnie Wood and Mick Taylor. That's going to be massive!!!!




Fresh from a tour down under with Bonnie Tyler, Matt Prior was at the show. Along with yours truly, Matt is going to be doing clinics as a member of the British Guitar Academy alongside Marilion's Steve Rothery and Mr So and So's Dave Foster. It's going to be really great so watch this space.

There were a few amazing things about the weekend which were really cool and I'll never forget, including a name drop by Mr Steve Vai at his Master Class, but one image will stick in my head forever. We were lucky enough to have Mr Phil Harris with us who just happened to bring along his original 57 gold top Les Paul, yes folks, its a real one. You don't play this guitar, it plays you! All I can say is anyone who doubts the argument for vintage guitars hasn't heard this thing. So I was talking to some guy at the stand and I hear some Led Zep being pummelled by this 11 year old kid... on this guitar! Firstly, all 11 year olds should be made to learn Zep tunes as part of their curriculum at school, so major kudos points for that one, but apart from it sounding so good I was left wondering if and when this kid would ever realize the significance of him playing those songs on this guitar. Truly amazing. So thanks Phil, and thanks to every for coming down.

See you at the show!

Finaly, a proper guitar show returns to London!!

Guitar Nation is happening this weekend 13th and 14th of November in London at Olympia in Hammersmith.
You can find out all about it here... http://www.guitarnation2010.com/index.htm

We're at stand 316 so come down and say hi. It should be a really great weekend

TheGigRig does the Albert Hall

I'll never forget the first time I saw TheGigRig at the Albert Hall, of course I won't, and either would you. If something you'd worked so hard on for so long was going to be onstage with one of your favourite artists at one of the worlds most prestigious venues, you'd be there too right? So this was a very important moment for me. Paul Stacey was playing guitar for the Finn Brothers at the time , I'd spent endless hours putting together the pedal board for Paul for that tour and so excited at the prospect of seeing it onstage at the Royal Albert Hall, on top of all that I was also getting to meet one of my all time heroes Neil Finn at the same time. However my excitement was soon turned to deep sadness as it was that day the world found out that Paul Hester, the Crowded House drummer had taken his own life. The gig was later confirmed as going ahead so i went along to the sound check where the band played the most astounding rendition of Don't dream its over. I'd heard this song a million times, played it a million times, seen Neil perform half a million times, but the version at sound check stopped everyone in their tracks. From the sound guy to cleaners, everyone in there just stopped and their eyes were transfixed on the stage.It was a moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life. So I got to meet Neil Finn, i had all these thoughts on what i was going to say, how i would offer to sort out a really tidy little pedal board for him etc, but those thoughts were such a long way away now. I just said hi, and how i was so sorry to hear about Paul. What else could i say? He was gracious and personable, we chatted for a few moments, and that was that.
The gig was emotionally charged, but none the less, and incredible performance all round.


(in this shot you can see Paul Stacey's white Pro-14 in the lower left hand corner)

Since then we've had numerous artists play at the big dome, each one being special. This image was sent to me by Donny Little, who plays for Paolo Nutini, the MIDI 8 on stage at the Albert Hall only a few weeks ago.



I feel a little glow every time someone tells me who much they love using the gear we make, I'm grateful and proud that the artists have chosen us to carry their tone. For me this is what being passionate about what you do is all about. I see this MIDI 8 on stage at the Albert Hall, and all these rich memories come back, none of which would have happened if my business partner Dave Mapleston hadn't answered a letter I wrote to him that i scrawled out on a kitchen table 7 years ago.. but that's a story for another day

more pedals, more joy

where will it end? You know what, i don't think it will, in all honesty. I just bagged this old MXR phase 45 that sounds lush and glorious, just a touch understated than the 90 and works wonderfully. I'll give it its first night out at the Tin Spirits gig tonight, but i', also rediscovering a bunch of pedals I have int used for a while. I pulled our my old Hot Cake the other day, bugger me, its just fantastic. Into the DC30 it really does sing. I love the way pedals catch your imagination, you conjure soundscapes in your mind as to what the end result might be, maybe this is the one! Yes, they are only a part of a long chain and totaly reliant on what goes in, and where they go out to, but when you get that combination right, well its a glorious thing.