Are they Listening?

What's the difference?


I've been thinking a lot lately about how obsessive we as guitarists can be about our tone, sound and overall audible presentation. All of my guitar friends use pedals of some sort or the other to change the sound of their axe. We all seek out amps to give us the sound we hear in our minds. We buy guitars and pickups based on internet reviews, compressed video internet feeds and opinions. Then you've got the cats buying up the $2K plus road worn style instruments that are put together from new stock, stressed to show 40 years of wear and tear and then sold for a very pretty penny. It's like the new designer thing in guitars.If memory serves me right it all started back when Gibson made good instruments with a guy named Tom Murphy. He distressed by hand lots of Les Pauls and created a niche market for these prized axes. Now builders like Nash, Glendale, and Senn are making built to order "relic'd" guitars in addition to the big two having their main and import lines representing the market, too.
That brings me to my original reason for this rant. The money we sink into gear. At the end of your next show count on your hands how many folks come up to you and say- "man, I love the use of the (insert fave pedal in here) on that bridge section" or "that beat up looking guitar sounded rad" etc. You get the idea. Yes, these are tools I use myself. I have a populated pedalboard replete with two overdrives, a wah, two octave pedals, delay, tremolo, and reverb. I have a 20 year old Strat I take out that earned it's road worn status with every nick, paint chip, and busted tone knob intact. Sure, it's great to hear from attendees the show rocked but I can't recall the last time someone made a point to ask or see what made "that" sound. Something to think about the next time G.A.S.(gear acquisition syndrome) sets in. We all love the sound our gear gives us but I highly doubt anyone in fandom really cares.