In the true spirit of Christmas, help someone else this year. When you are presented with the lame in tone, tell them about TheGigRig.com, when the poor in sonic wealth are begging before you, lament not for we at The Gig Rig shall give of our abundance in toneful remedies. Because no matter where you are, there always someone omnipresent listening closely to every note, every nuance. You know who you are...
Happy Holidays everyone. Love, Joy and peace to you all my friends. Thanks for the best year ever.
All the very best to all of you from all of us here at www.TheGigRig.com
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Thursday, 6 November 2008
It's time for change - Vote for better tone!
We've never had it soooo good. Guitarists searching for the ultimate tone are absolutely spoilt for choice like never before. From cutting edge technology to vintage tonality the modern guitarist has an endless choice of toys and noise makers. Thanks to the Internet we also know more than ever before. I was at a guitar show recently when I was asked by a 13 year old guitarist if my tele used alnico magnets and nitro-cellulose lacquer.
So where has all this choice and knowledge got us? Are we enlightened as musicians? Or are we just more confused? I believe the answer lies in there somewhere. I've heard young players who trawl for hours on YouTube listening to mind blowing amounts of great music who are amazing players. Truly the future is theirs, but I also know of players who seem overloaded. So much choice that they forget why the started playing guitar in the first place... which is as we all know - to woo the ladies!
So how do we cut through the myriad of distraction and actually choose the instruments that are to become our voice? The gear that is to express us.
There are 3 very important steps when it comes to choosing gear.
I believe that if you make these central to every purchase it's difficult to go wrong. The first is A/B'ing.
If you're going to a shop to try a pedal, take a pedal with you that you know so you have something to compare it to. Same with a guitar, even amps. If you're going to spend that much on an amp, haul an amp in with you that you know and sit there and listen. Your ears are absolutely amazing at comparing tones, but they have no memory. Without comparison you left groping in the dark. Find a spot and sit there and play and listen, unplug, re-plug, play and listen, and again, and again.
This brings me to the next step, train yourself to listen.
As musicians we are passionate, we get emotional, we sometimes feel the need to apply make-up and cross dress. (scratch the last one, maybe). This is why it so bloody easy to sell us stuff. With every faculty we have we get so caught up in the process.
When it comes to your tone though, you need to find a place that is free from this stuff. Free from hype and emotion. Free from preconception and expectation.
Dispassionately you need to ask yourself, do I really like this? Sometimes the answer will surprise you. Be completely honest with yourself. I have a really large collection of vintage pedals and amps and you know who cares? No one but me. But the stuff I have I love. I get some sounds that really inspire me to play. I don't care who makes them, what year they're made or what they cost which brings me neatly to my last point
You need to be honest with yourself. Can I afford it?
I got in debt pretty much the day I turned 18 and didn't get out of debt again till I was 24 all because of gear I had to have. I am a recovering gear'a'holic and I know first hand how much damage the 'must have it now' attitude can do. The answer is a simple numbers numbers game, you either can afford it or you can't at the moment. If you can't then save for it. I swear you play better when you're not in debt. Now I love the gear I have but I don't love having gear if you get what I mean. It's an important difference.
Here endeth the lesson
So where has all this choice and knowledge got us? Are we enlightened as musicians? Or are we just more confused? I believe the answer lies in there somewhere. I've heard young players who trawl for hours on YouTube listening to mind blowing amounts of great music who are amazing players. Truly the future is theirs, but I also know of players who seem overloaded. So much choice that they forget why the started playing guitar in the first place... which is as we all know - to woo the ladies!
So how do we cut through the myriad of distraction and actually choose the instruments that are to become our voice? The gear that is to express us.
There are 3 very important steps when it comes to choosing gear.
I believe that if you make these central to every purchase it's difficult to go wrong. The first is A/B'ing.
If you're going to a shop to try a pedal, take a pedal with you that you know so you have something to compare it to. Same with a guitar, even amps. If you're going to spend that much on an amp, haul an amp in with you that you know and sit there and listen. Your ears are absolutely amazing at comparing tones, but they have no memory. Without comparison you left groping in the dark. Find a spot and sit there and play and listen, unplug, re-plug, play and listen, and again, and again.
This brings me to the next step, train yourself to listen.
As musicians we are passionate, we get emotional, we sometimes feel the need to apply make-up and cross dress. (scratch the last one, maybe). This is why it so bloody easy to sell us stuff. With every faculty we have we get so caught up in the process.
When it comes to your tone though, you need to find a place that is free from this stuff. Free from hype and emotion. Free from preconception and expectation.
Dispassionately you need to ask yourself, do I really like this? Sometimes the answer will surprise you. Be completely honest with yourself. I have a really large collection of vintage pedals and amps and you know who cares? No one but me. But the stuff I have I love. I get some sounds that really inspire me to play. I don't care who makes them, what year they're made or what they cost which brings me neatly to my last point
You need to be honest with yourself. Can I afford it?
I got in debt pretty much the day I turned 18 and didn't get out of debt again till I was 24 all because of gear I had to have. I am a recovering gear'a'holic and I know first hand how much damage the 'must have it now' attitude can do. The answer is a simple numbers numbers game, you either can afford it or you can't at the moment. If you can't then save for it. I swear you play better when you're not in debt. Now I love the gear I have but I don't love having gear if you get what I mean. It's an important difference.
Here endeth the lesson
Friday, 31 October 2008
Tribute to Bob Sweet
Tribute to Bob Sweet
Bob Sweet, the man behind Sweet Sound Electronics who gave us the Mojo Vibe and Ultra Vibe pedals which are my favourite vibe pedals ever, passed away last Friday 24th October after a battle with bone cancer. He was a great guy who made some of the best gear out there. Like many of us he was incredibly passionate about great guitar sound and dedicated a large part of his life to getting the most out of it he could.
Farewell Bob, you will be missed...
Bob Sweet, the man behind Sweet Sound Electronics who gave us the Mojo Vibe and Ultra Vibe pedals which are my favourite vibe pedals ever, passed away last Friday 24th October after a battle with bone cancer. He was a great guy who made some of the best gear out there. Like many of us he was incredibly passionate about great guitar sound and dedicated a large part of his life to getting the most out of it he could.
Farewell Bob, you will be missed...
Monday, 20 October 2008
Stay ahead of the credit crunch - sound better than the other guy!
I have a dirty little 3 piece band that gets out and plays gigs most weekends. It's loads of fun, and as a professional musician it's something that I can't see myself ever not doing, I mean if it's in you, that's what you do, you get out there and play.
Now there are loads of gigs out there, but there are also loads of bands, loads of guitarists wanting their shot at the title. So how do you go about making sure that you give yourself the best chance of getting that gig? Over the years during feast and famine I have found 3 key things to making sure you're ahead of the game.
1. Sound better than the other guy
This isn't rocket science but make sure you're sounding as good as you can. It's not about buying stuff, it's about getting the most out of what you've got. How are your valves? Are your strings dead? Is your pedal chain sucking tone from your signal path? This is basic stuff but don't neglect it.
2. Learn to sing
Fact is if two guitarists audition for a band and one guy can sing, guess who they're gonna pic? I'm not the greatest guitarist in the world by my sound is Ben Hur and I can sing so I'm always a good option for someone that wants a fat sounding guitar and extra vocals in the line-up.
3. Don't be a twat!
No matter how good you are you need to get along with people. I've met some of the greatest guitarists in the world and almost without exception, they're all beautiful people. If you're going to be in a band with people you need to be someone that the other guys and gals look forward to hooking up with rehearsals and long old drives to the back and beyond. Fact is in a band you spend less than 10% of your time playing, and the rest is just hanging out. So getting along with people is extremely important.
Unless of course you're this guy!
Now there are loads of gigs out there, but there are also loads of bands, loads of guitarists wanting their shot at the title. So how do you go about making sure that you give yourself the best chance of getting that gig? Over the years during feast and famine I have found 3 key things to making sure you're ahead of the game.
1. Sound better than the other guy
This isn't rocket science but make sure you're sounding as good as you can. It's not about buying stuff, it's about getting the most out of what you've got. How are your valves? Are your strings dead? Is your pedal chain sucking tone from your signal path? This is basic stuff but don't neglect it.
2. Learn to sing
Fact is if two guitarists audition for a band and one guy can sing, guess who they're gonna pic? I'm not the greatest guitarist in the world by my sound is Ben Hur and I can sing so I'm always a good option for someone that wants a fat sounding guitar and extra vocals in the line-up.
3. Don't be a twat!
No matter how good you are you need to get along with people. I've met some of the greatest guitarists in the world and almost without exception, they're all beautiful people. If you're going to be in a band with people you need to be someone that the other guys and gals look forward to hooking up with rehearsals and long old drives to the back and beyond. Fact is in a band you spend less than 10% of your time playing, and the rest is just hanging out. So getting along with people is extremely important.
Unless of course you're this guy!
Saturday, 4 October 2008
The shootout results are in!
Hi everyone
Thanks so much for checking out the amp shootout. We've had such fun getting it together for you. Every amp really has its own thing going on. I twisted Phil at Matchless's arm and I now own the very first C30 head with Reverb ever made. I use this with the Two-Rock Jet for one of the best guitar sounds ever. (well, I think so, but it's hard to go wrong with either of these amps) The Pro-Reverb ticked alot of boxes for alot of people as well, and the Vox, and the Chieftain, and the 65Amps London, oh man......
Thanks so much for checking out the amp shootout. We've had such fun getting it together for you. Every amp really has its own thing going on. I twisted Phil at Matchless's arm and I now own the very first C30 head with Reverb ever made. I use this with the Two-Rock Jet for one of the best guitar sounds ever. (well, I think so, but it's hard to go wrong with either of these amps) The Pro-Reverb ticked alot of boxes for alot of people as well, and the Vox, and the Chieftain, and the 65Amps London, oh man......
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Is your tone really that important?
I once again caught myself thinking (as I do ) about my tone. I realized that I've spent a large part of my professional career focused on achieving great tone. I obsess over it, I lie awake thinking about it, indeed many of the products you'll see in our catalogue have been inspired during periods of insomnia. So is it really that important? I could've just said ' Of course it is, don't be stupid you plonka...get on with it', but It's been ingrained in me that there is no knowledge gained without thorough analysis. So i grabbed all of my favourite CD's and started doing some investigation. I went through all the guys that really push my buttons musically. Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan), Stevie Ray, Dave Gregory(XTC), Andy Summers (Police), Niel Finn (Crowded House), Jeff Beck, Robben Ford, Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Wes Montgomery, BB King and Derek Trucks. (There's loads more but these are the guys from the CD's I had at hand.) I went through each track trying to work out what it was that connected with me. Each of these guys has a unique voice, there's no confusing them, and without fail, every single one of them sound fantastic. So i do an experiment. I set up a rig and on purpose I make it sound ordinary. I hook up a bunch of inline buffers (6 in total) from a bunch of pedals into an amp that's desperate for some new valves. So I know that by the time my signal hits the amp, it's already not all it can be, and the amp's not really singing. So how did it sound? Well, it sounded OK, I set up a rhythm loop, hit play and recorded the session to see what I come up with. Listening back, it was fine, nothing amazing but it was OK.
Next step was to re-valve my old Vox, set-up my pedal board and try again. I now know that my signal is clean and the amp is sounding really great. I hit record again to see what I come up with this time. It did feel different but listening back I was stunned to hear the way I played. I just seemed so much more connected with what I was doing. The richer harmonics in the sound led me to play different things. It was fascinating. The tone that you use is the vehicle through which your voice is heard. Suddenly my tonal obsessive compulsive disorder doesn't seem so crazy. And the thing is, all these guys knew it as well. Think of the lengths that these guys go to to get their gear sounding right. Even guys like Derek Trucks who plug straight in still experiment loads with speakers and components to make sure that they're squeezing every last drop of tone from the amp. Yes, it's in the fingers and the way that you play, of course it is, but we're not talking acoustic guitars here people. If the tone isn't right, your fingers are going to struggle.
My life has been validated. What a relief.
Next step was to re-valve my old Vox, set-up my pedal board and try again. I now know that my signal is clean and the amp is sounding really great. I hit record again to see what I come up with this time. It did feel different but listening back I was stunned to hear the way I played. I just seemed so much more connected with what I was doing. The richer harmonics in the sound led me to play different things. It was fascinating. The tone that you use is the vehicle through which your voice is heard. Suddenly my tonal obsessive compulsive disorder doesn't seem so crazy. And the thing is, all these guys knew it as well. Think of the lengths that these guys go to to get their gear sounding right. Even guys like Derek Trucks who plug straight in still experiment loads with speakers and components to make sure that they're squeezing every last drop of tone from the amp. Yes, it's in the fingers and the way that you play, of course it is, but we're not talking acoustic guitars here people. If the tone isn't right, your fingers are going to struggle.
My life has been validated. What a relief.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Amp Shootout On The Way!!!!
Hey there guys and gals
At the end of this month we're doing a massive amp shootout. We're going to have a bunch of vintage and high end boutique amps in the studio so you can hear how they sound with a band.
These will include
65 Amps London
62 Vox AC30 (EF86 input)
Matchless DC30
76 Marshall JMP50
Matchless Cheiftan
76 Blackfaced Pro-Reverb
Two-Rock Jet
I wanted to get a couple examples of 6L6, EL34 and EL84 amps in there so you can hear the differences and to compare the vintage with the modern boutique.
As soon as it's done you'll be able to see clips of all these amps in action right here on the website.
It's going to be a great day so stay tuned for the results!!!
At the end of this month we're doing a massive amp shootout. We're going to have a bunch of vintage and high end boutique amps in the studio so you can hear how they sound with a band.
These will include
65 Amps London
62 Vox AC30 (EF86 input)
Matchless DC30
76 Marshall JMP50
Matchless Cheiftan
76 Blackfaced Pro-Reverb
Two-Rock Jet
I wanted to get a couple examples of 6L6, EL34 and EL84 amps in there so you can hear the differences and to compare the vintage with the modern boutique.
As soon as it's done you'll be able to see clips of all these amps in action right here on the website.
It's going to be a great day so stay tuned for the results!!!
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