I think I thought I'd like it more than I do. It's perfectly playable but it's tonally a little finicky. To get all of the acoustic tonal variations, you have to keep the volume knob on the guitar less than 3/4, otherwise it sends a little too much drive signal to the amp and ends up sounding like an electric guitar with an acoustic simulator pedal or something. I also think it could do with a 3rd knob dedicated to tone (the second knob is strictly a blend knob for the different acoustic sounds, so you have to adjust treble / bass on the amp). IDK, maybe I need to play around with it more, but to my tin ears it sounds best on an acoustic amp run as absolutely clean as possible with the volume knob on the guitar around 50%.
It's 100% mandatory for me. I love turning even my big amps up when I get the chance but I can't do it for long periods of time or when anyone else is home, so it's rare that I get the opportunity. My Traynor and Plexi clone have no problem tickling 118-120db in my basement and that's just with a 1x12.
100% Plexi you gotta crank to get the full sound of it too. A lot of amps sound different at different volume levels. Want to say I saw that those original 100w Plexis were actually closer to 200w
I think you are right about that, putting out well over 100 by the time the glorious overdrive kicks in. There are plenty of newer designs that get more of their sound from the preamp and have master volumes that work well and can get in the ballpark, Friedman and whatnot. I think those amps are cool, too. But to really bang on nail the sound to my ears, the power section has to be working hard. Even JCMs which have a MV and more preamp distortion I've always thought sounded cooler when they were loud. But, I'm obviously a weirdo. 98% of people should just get a modeler and be done with it. That new Fender unit looks sweet.
My band is gonna play at an open mic Monday. Bandmates were like they're gonna have everything on stage, all you need to bring is your guitar. I'm like I'm bringing my amp. They're like why, they will have one? I've been dialing these settings in for months!
Yeah I saw a bunch of reviews of the Fender modeler and most said it was a step behind the pre-existing ones in the market.
Interesting. I'm not actually going to buy one, but I'd be willing to give up a little in a cutting edge features/sound for UI and ease of use. But I'm dumb and also don't own an amp made after 1975.
It takes some adjusting to sound wise because it's not the sound of an amp, it's what a mic'd amp sounds like but the interfaces are easy to use if you can use a smart phone
I really want to love Eric Johnson but his music does not move me. He's technically a genius but his music doesn't do it for me.
I don’t hold him near in the same vein as a Satriani or Via as far as enjoyability for me, but i loved me some Ah Via Musicom back in the day. Cliffs of Dover (obv), Trademark, Righteous...
through 1:40 of this video, and i stopped listening, he hadn't played one note that had any real feeling to it. SRV could bend the shit out of a note and make you feel it. Johnson has techinically great tone and can play very fast scales. That doesn't really count for a ton in my book. He's definitely very good and accomplished. But it doesn't make me feel anything.
i tried a bit more on my own and decided to outsource it. going to have a professional restring it with 12-60s and set it up with drop A in mind
I haven't yet. The closest group does it once a month and I've been busy every Saturday they meet. I'm hoping next time they meet I'll get up there
I've long held a thesis that music, and especially rock and roll, has been dead since, at the latest, the early early 90's but started dying precipitously in the 80's and was pulseless by the early 2000s. A lot of people have told me that this is pessimistic and that rock and roll and good music is alive and well. They will cite to the jam band scene, etc. I do not hear any jam bands or modern music that is remotely as proficient groundbreaking and competent as what was coming out in the mid to late 60's ,70s, 80's, and early 90's. When Jimi Hendrix released his first album, competent music critics of the time said it was like an alien had come in from out of space. That is how different and ahead of its time his guitar playing and music was. When I listen to what Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin were doing in the late 60s or what Jeff Beck was doing with progressive fusion in his guitar playing on Beck-Ola and Blow by Blow in the early 70's and the compare that to what we get today, I'm utterly convinced that the chasm between what we had then and now is as deep as the core of this Earth. I spent thousands of hours listening to Phish. The reason I bring this up is I have friends that will site Phish or maybe another jam band as evidence that music is still alive. I like Phish and I think that they are musically proficient, for sure, but the singing is garbage. The songwriting is not on the same level in terms of tightness, etc. In other words, Phish has never written a 5 minute or less song that belongs in the same galaxy as anything the Beatles ever did. There have been blips on the radar here and there during the period when I think music died. For example, John Mayer is a great songwriter and a great musician and throwback to what we used to have. I think Derek Trucks is an excellent musician but he's never been in a band that writes memorable songs with good singing. Susan Tedeschi is okay but the Earth music that they put out with her singing and songwriting is not even in the same galaxy as The Allman Brothers. It's just not that moving. So someone correct me if I'm wrong and cite me to music that is being made that is comparable in terms of songwriting, instrumental proficiency, impactfulness and just generally, being as good as the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, so on and so forth.
Got a multiprong thing going on and this is my general theory for why guitar rock has died. I'm sure there are other factors but these are few off the top of my head. I've actually put a lot of thought into what happened to music in general lol - One of my own theories is there's other things to take up your time now whether it's smart phones or whatever. In the 50s-early 90s, there was nothing else to do so people would learn musical instruments and play them for hours - Music industry (or what's left of it) want to hear the money printer go brrrrr. Not interested in development or investment in developing anyone so you get music that gives the highest rate of return that isn't concerned with anything else - It's hard to be in a band and tour and basically live off of nothing for years until you make it, that's even if there are even any ears out there anymore trying to discover bands - Tons of folks are eliminated by birth because money is too tight to buy expensive guitars or lessons for children - While having a mono culture created barriers to entry, it at least would filter some of the crap out and tell you what you should be paying attention to. Now there's paralysis by infinite options
You're onto something with your first theory. Jimmy Page would sit around at his house as a kid listening to blues music and emulating it over and over. SRV would listen to blues music and play it over and over . They just sat around for hours listening and trying to replicate this stuff. No one does that any more. Does the downfall have something to do with blues basically being extinct? The common thread for most of the great rock groups and guitar players is a love for the blues. Kids these days don't give a shit about the blues and they certainly aren't going to blues clubs
those sounds didn’t die, they evolved and you just don’t like the evolution guitar-based music (and technical proficiency) is still alive and well
Influence are just a tube refeeding itself. Whatever is out in the 60s inspires the music of the 70s and 80s. The 70s inspired music of the 80s and 90s. Nothing has been feeding today's artists and I don't know that there's anything to do about it. People aren't really different now than they were 50 years ago. I think it's 100% societal factors.
There's been a huge absence of guitar based music in the mainstream and I'm sure that's what he means.
Plenty of good rock bands around today from where I’m sitting but also I like sad indie rock, shoegaze and drone metal so I could be wrong
honest question, why does that matter? maybe you can’t hear it on terrestrial radio anymore but the internet makes that irrelevant
It makes it exponentially harder to get exposure. And what's on the radio influences artists of tomorrow. And part of his question is why did guitar based music completely disappear from the mainstream, as I read it at least.
eh, people have been saying that forever. And not just about bands like Phish (the charm with Phish has never really been about the songs - but rather about the improvisation and ability of the band to create and build tension and release that tension in a heady way -- live) -- you could say the same thing about Jazz. John Coltrane wrote some incredible music (Giant Steps and such) but his ability to take a Rogers and Hammerstein song and improvise sheets of notes over it for 50 minutes is what him maybe the single greatest western musician of the 20th century. Seems like your tastes in music rely heavily on musicians whose best work is(was) from the late 60s early 70s -- nothing wrong with that, of course (I listen to and try to play much of the same stuff) -- but maybe force yourself to listen to some different shit for a few weeks. Force your brain to listen to music that has different tonal centers, different structures and rhythms, etc. than what you're used to.
give me some examples of stuff that has been coming out lately that you'd put on par with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Led Zeppelin or in the same ballpark?
I've listened to a ton of stuff outside of that 60s and 70s era. I'd like some examples of stuff that has come out more recently that you think is on par with the stuff I mentioned from either a instrumental proficiency perspective, song writing, etc . Maybe I've just missed it. Would be happy to listen to some stuff if you have examples
The three acts you just named haven’t put out a classic album in 50 years. Maybe guitar based rock as an important cultural art form was a short lived fad.
In all seriousness, though, if Phish is what is keeping rock and roll alive for anybody, I think that's great. I haven't studied enough philosophy or medicine to have a well reasoned opinion about this issue. But I will say this. It has never been easier to play guitar - instruments and information are the most accessible they've ever been. However, it's also harder to make a living as a rock musician than it has ever been. Support your local scene. Go to shows. Buy merch, buy records. Play guitar. It's alive if its alive to you. Nothing else matters. Also, would like to add, I don't agree with holding up the AOR era as the paragon of rock significance and culture. I like a lot of that stuff, too, but I can't abide the abusive, exclusive, capitalistic, male dominated culture that dominated the scene at that time. That's the opposite of what rock and roll means to me.
This isn't really responsive to the discussion at hand, but it's never been easier to find music that fits your specific niche interests and it's fucking rad. 2 dudes in the forests of northern England have become my favorite band over the last 5ish years and they've never even played live.
I think you see the lack of investment or resources or whatever you want to call it in things like production. The producers who were the innovators and best in the field were largely rock producers 30-50 years ago. Now all of the producers are your Max Martins and they're largely doing pop music. Maybe there's nothing left to innovate wrt production or guitar in general. Idk. I consider EVH the greatest guitarist ever although it's closer for me with Hendrix. Maybe they did all there is to do.
I've been thinking about RJF-GUMP 's post and I disagree but I haven't quite decided how to refute yet. You're just another old guy stuck in your generation though if you think all the good stuff is in the past.
I'm 38 but I've been thinking this since college -2003-2007 back when I was 18-22. The proof that I'm correct is that no one has even attempted to put up a modern band that they would put on the same footing as those that I cited. But in an effort to deescalate it because I don't want it to turn into a pissing contest, I'd love to here of some modern music that anyone thinks has great instrument playing, good singing, good overall sound, and good song writing.
Agreed. I like them a lot. I don't think they are like transcendent but I really like them for a modern band. I think their song writing and arrangement isn't that dynamic , it's pretty linear . But I do like them. This is going to sound crazy but another modern musician that I really liked in the last like 10 years was Sturgil Simpson. He had a few albums I thought were great. Another random example of a dynamic modern musician: Jamie Collum.
I watch Rick Beato's channel and he'll frequently go through the top 10 on Spotify. There's rarely even a guitar in any of the songs. I think that's the crux of where I'm coming from. The instrument has vanished from popular music.
I was super late to the Jason Isbell party but have really enjoyed his songwriting and tones lately. Simple but well done. Maybe not everyone’s preferred style (he and Lucero are as close to “country” as I get)
I want to buy his signature telecaster. I'm not even a telecaster type player but I still want it because I have a problem.