Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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Supreme Pancake
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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by Supreme Pancake » Sun Oct 30, 2022 2:12 am

BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
Khruangbin :-*

Part of what inspired me to downside was this video. Even his tube amps are reissues, his guitar isn't vintage or American made and most of his pedals are nothing flash.

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sal paradise
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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by sal paradise » Sun Oct 30, 2022 2:14 am

Supreme Pancake wrote:
Sun Oct 30, 2022 2:12 am
BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
Khruangbin :-*

Part of what inspired me to downside was this video. Even his tube amps are reissues, his guitar isn't vintage or American made and most of his pedals are nothing flash.
I think he could safely be called an outlier in the world of guitarists.
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by welshywelsh » Sun Oct 30, 2022 3:32 am

Supreme Pancake wrote:
Sun Oct 30, 2022 2:12 am
BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
Khruangbin :-*

Part of what inspired me to downside was this video. Even his tube amps are reissues, his guitar isn't vintage or American made and most of his pedals are nothing flash.
Completely missed this post the first time around. Really good watch!

Even at the bottom rung of gigging as I am, I always have two guitars with me as I'm paranoid a string will break (and we do have a song in different tuning). Mad he only has one guitar and one set of strings the whole tour.

The SRV comment was brilliant too ;D

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by barrycreed » Tue Nov 01, 2022 6:04 am

Really enjoyed that video, and does make me want to reconsider downsizing. His pedalboard doesn't have much on it either, and he is still able to generate interesting sounds. I guess the Strymon El Cap with the expression pedal is the most expensive thing there!

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by MechaBulletBill » Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:07 pm

BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
i'm not going to bat for SRV or anything but i do not really understand his comment there. does he just not like the in-between pickup settings through a fendery amp with up-there treble? that's not especially an SRV sound imo, though it is possibly associated with some of that gauche shreddy post-80s blues sound i guess?

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by Mondaysoutar » Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:37 am

MechaBulletBill wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:07 pm
BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
i'm not going to bat for SRV or anything but i do not really understand his comment there. does he just not like the in-between pickup settings through a fendery amp with up-there treble? that's not especially an SRV sound imo, though it is possibly associated with some of that gauche shreddy post-80s blues sound i guess?
I mean, I don’t know the boy or anything, but he’s probably just not into Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’m not either.

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by MechaBulletBill » Wed Nov 02, 2022 7:24 am

i dunno, seems a bit like dialling in a shred tone and saying "i hate setzer"

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by BigRiver » Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:29 am

MechaBulletBill wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:07 pm
BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
i'm not going to bat for SRV or anything but i do not really understand his comment there. does he just not like the in-between pickup settings through a fendery amp with up-there treble? that's not especially an SRV sound imo, though it is possibly associated with some of that gauche shreddy post-80s blues sound i guess?
I don't think it's meant to be that serious or anything personal against srv. I thought it was mostly a joke and it made me chuckle.

More like- "listen to this.. my guitar can make this sound and I'm never going to use it".

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by BigRiver » Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:31 am

BigRiver wrote:
Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:29 am
MechaBulletBill wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:07 pm
BigRiver wrote:
Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:41 am
Watching this rig rundown made me really rethink the importance of gear and minimalism.

Mark's playing one guitar and it's been the same one for ages with many refrets. No backup. Uses one pick that's totally worn down. He's got a couple amps, just because you need to with tubes. Laura's in pretty much a similar situation.

Best quote @ 3:25 - "There's your Stevie Ray Vaugh tone, which I F'ing hate. I can't stand that stuff"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7ScpVj1QY
i'm not going to bat for SRV or anything but i do not really understand his comment there. does he just not like the in-between pickup settings through a fendery amp with up-there treble? that's not especially an SRV sound imo, though it is possibly associated with some of that gauche shreddy post-80s blues sound i guess?
I don't think it's meant to be that serious or anything personal against srv. He didn't say "i hate srv", he said he hates that tone. I thought it was mostly a joke and it made me chuckle.

More like- "listen to this.. my guitar can make this sound and I'm never going to use it".

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by mackerelmint » Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:21 pm

Well, I'll happily go on record stating that I hate SRV and his playing and his sound and all those "quacky" in between sounds on a strat. There's a story about him nearly falling into hot grease at a restaurant job and it making him choose music. If only he'd fallen in, we'd have been spared an incalculable amount of musical misery.

Those in between positions can actually be nice for jazz, but once you start bending the string it's like a bug trying to fly into your ear, over and over again.
This is an excellent rectangle

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by Sauerkraut » Mon Nov 07, 2022 11:44 pm

mackerelmint wrote:
Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:21 pm
Those in between positions can actually be nice for jazz, but once you start bending the string it's like a bug trying to fly into your ear, over and over again.
That really is a stunningly accurate description.

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by welshywelsh » Tue Nov 08, 2022 3:36 am

The bridge and middle pickups on together (position 4?) on a Strat is the absolute worst tone.

Once played on the same bill as a band whose guitarist stayed in that position for the whole 30 minutes and made me want to give up gigging forever.

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by sal paradise » Tue Nov 08, 2022 4:00 am

I guess you have to be Mark Knopfler to make position 2 work on a strat. That tells me everything I need to know about middle positions.
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by Nevets » Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:53 am

Richard Thompson makes the middle positions on his strat sound pretty good.

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Re: Gear minimalism as a thought process...

Post by Chippertheripper » Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:15 am

The middle positions are the sounds of so much 80’s music I love. However…you’ll not ever catch me neck strumming with one of them strat things in my hands.
I’ve tried, I can’t stand tge way they force you to play.

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