Any one else feel their gear are too much for their talents & skills ?

[Sascha Franck]

I think that these days, pretty much everybody's equipment exceeds their abilities in one way or the other (even if there might as well be some areas when no gear on earth is on par with what I could defenitely make good use of, but that's a rather different story...).
But for me, the "danger zone" only starts once I care more about my equipment than about my playing (which fortunately isn't the case). But then, that might be completely different for others. And I can as well at least somewhat perfectly understand people owing stuff they never bring to good use.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

My car's potential far exceeds any speed limits I'll ever see; my wardrobe far exceeds the amount of clothing I need given I have a washer and dryer in the house; my kid's video game options far exceed their needs; hell, my children own two pairs of snow pants so they can keep one pair at school and leave the other at home...

Talent:gear ratio is the wrong metric. financial situation:gear and fun:gear are the relevant ratios that you should be aiming to keep high.

 

[TJontheRoad]

I'm always willing to step up to the gear challenge.

 

[the swede]

Yes. I put myself down so hard that i can’t keep gear for more than a half year… except the guitar… and I can’t move past owning more than one guitar because I honestly think I suck so much that I can’t possibly need another guitar… true

 

[Bruce]

So what. I worked for it and earned it. So if I want it, I buy it. It doesn’t have to be practical. There’s such a thing as growing into stuff, too. I’d be Steve Vai and Chris Lord Alge rolled into one if I had to live up to this standard.

 

[Bruce]

My car's potential far exceeds any speed limits I'll ever see; my wardrobe far exceeds the amount of clothing I need given I have a washer and dryer in the house; my kid's video game options far exceed their needs; hell, my children own two pairs of snow pants so they can keep one pair at school and leave the other at home...

Talent:gear ratio is the wrong metric. financial situation:gear and fun:gear are the relevant ratios that you should be aiming to keep high.

my waistline far exceeds my wardrobe. So what. I live in sweats now. If I want to buy another size 32 jeans Im just going to do it. They'll fit again at some point.

 

[Toffo]

Yeah I do feel my gear exceeds my skill level but I’m fine with it for 3 reasons:

• I can afford it
• I like and enjoy owning it
• I’ve built it up gradually over the course of 22 years.

There’s nothing wrong with having nice gear, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. Nice gear lets you get the most out of whatever skills you do have.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Nice gear lets you get the most out of whatever skills you do have.

This could turn into an almost philosophical debate, but I don't exactly agree. I mean, sure, I do agree in general and it's quite nice nobody has to go through the stuff I had to use - but otoh, I likely never learned more than in those days.

 

[DrewJD82]

I think my thoughts on this often go back to when I was 15 and I got my JEM; I had only been playing for 4 years and while I was already showing signs of being capable, I was 15 in the late 90’s getting a guitar that many adults would have to save and scrimp for, decades after they started.

There were two things that came along with that inside my head;

1- The guitar didn’t magically make me start playing like Vai and this was my first lesson in gear not giving you any abilities you you don’t already have.

2-It fired me the f*ck up to practice a hell of a lot more and really get serious. It was a quick realization that IT wasn’t going to make me play like Vai, but the fact that Vai does what he does with those guitars gave me the mentality of “Ok, you finally got it, now step up, no more excuses that your MIM Strat can’t do something”

I really felt like I had to step up quickly to even show myself with that guitar, partly because when I did bring that thing somewhere I’d get the Vai comments, “Gonna do some shredding man?”, “Oh sh*t, you got the Vai guitar! Dude I can’t wait to hear you play!” It wasn’t just my own perception doing it to me, but outside ones as well. I didn’t stop caring about those comments until I was 21 or so and had stopped caring about being a virtuoso-kinda player.

So those first few years with it, my mentality was “I can do anything on this guitar, there are no excuses, if I can’t do it, it’s because I’m not working hard enough for it” and that became my mentality towards everything I approached in life. I really can’t overstate how important that was to my development as a human, never mind as just a musician. For that, I’ll always be in favor of growing into something rather than putting a limit on anything due to a perception I’m not ready for it yet. Hell, I don’t think I was ready for any achievement I’ve made in my life, it’s been a series of stepping up and pushing myself into them when the opportunity has arisen, whether it was music, relationships or jobs.

 

[Toffo]

This could turn into an almost philosophical debate, but I don't exactly agree. I mean, sure, I do agree in general and it's quite nice nobody has to go through the stuff I had to use - but otoh, I likely never learned more than in those days.

Right. So I’m not saying that learning on good gear will make you better any faster.

What I am saying is that at a whatever level of skill you’re at, the good gear will get more (better tone, nicer sound, easier playability therefore you can play more difficult things etc.) out of the skills you have than what crap gear would.

 

[Sascha Franck]

What I am saying is that at a whatever level of skill you’re at, the good gear will get more (better tone, nicer sound, easier playability therefore you can play more difficult things etc.) out of the skills you have than what crap gear would.

IMO yes and no. Very blunt example: when you play, say, on a crappy steelstring with brutal string action, the very moment you grab a decent guitar, it'll just feel as smooth as it gets. And to this day, I try to start my daily playing on an old nylon string, probably the toughest to play axe in my arsenal. Switching to any of my electrics after just a few minutes feels like heaven.
Now, you're absolutely right, you will very likely sound better through decent equipment, but trying to make less than decent equipment work will perhaps have you improve quicker.
Fwiw, I'm in no way saying that everybody should now start practising on crap equipment, but sometimes it defenitely helps to step outside the comfort zone.
Another example: I tend to add some spatial FX on pretty much all leads. Usually makes a lot of sense in a mix, but it's also masking some things. And because of the latter, I try to keep those delays and reverbs off when playing at home. Comes with an additional benefit, too: if you manage to make things great without those FX, having your stuff sit well in a mix will be a lot easier.

 

[Toffo]

IMO yes and no. Very blunt example: when you play, say, on a crappy steelstring with brutal string action, the very moment you grab a decent guitar, it'll just feel as smooth as it gets. And to this day, I try to start my daily playing on an old nylon string, probably the toughest to play axe in my arsenal. Switching to any of my electrics after just a few minutes feels like heaven.
Now, you're absolutely right, you will very likely sound better through decent equipment, but trying to make less than decent equipment work will perhaps have you improve quicker.
Fwiw, I'm in no way saying that everybody should now start practising on crap equipment, but sometimes it defenitely helps to step outside the comfort zone.
Another example: I tend to add some spatial FX on pretty much all leads. Usually makes a lot of sense in a mix, but it's also masking some things. And because of the latter, I try to keep those delays and reverbs off when playing at home. Comes with an additional benefit, too: if you manage to make things great without those FX, having your stuff sit well in a mix will be a lot easier.

For some reason it reads as though you’re disagreeing with me when we’re saying the same thing lol

To make it really simple:
1. Good gear sounds better than crap gear.
2. Learning on crap gear may or may not make you learn quicker.
3. Good gear feels especially easy to play if you switch to it after playing crap gear.

 

[jellodog]

IMO yes and no. Very blunt example: when you play, say, on a crappy steelstring with brutal string action, the very moment you grab a decent guitar, it'll just feel as smooth as it gets.

That's true.

But because I did start on a crappy steelstring, I developed a powerful grip that caused me to squeeze chords sharp when I moved to a better electric - I was way too heavy handed. Perhaps if I'd started on something better I would have had a lighter touch from the start. There has to be a happy medium for beginners.

 

[Bruce]

That's true.

But because I did start on a crappy steelstring, I developed a powerful grip that caused me to squeeze chords sharp when I moved to a better electric - I was way too heavy handed. Perhaps if I'd started on something better I would have had a lighter touch from the start. There has to be a happy medium for beginners.

A beginner should have a reliable, fair serviceable instrument. No doubt. That being said, every musician is responsible for their own intonation. Pick up a Malmsteen strat, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. With a scalloped fretboard, you have to listen quite carefully you aren’t pulling notes sharp. Many musicians need to be able to do this because of the nature of their instruments, such as a violin. They have to nail that note in tune by ear based on a hand/finger position every time. No frets. A horn player can be nearly a half step off depending on how they play the note. A poorly intonated guitar you may have to find a different position altogether to play the notes/intervals/chords in because no matter what you do its off. Or you may find you need that heavier touch in a certain position.

 

[megametal7]

Nope, I only get something if I feel I deserve it after improving my playing.

 

[Snags]

It's not that the gear is too much for my (or "one's") skills, so much as the gear is capable of considerably more than I do with it, or get out of it. That might be because of deficiencies in me (lack of skill, which usually means lack of practice; lack of knowledge; lack of depth of experience to broaden my creative thinking; lack of motivation to address any of those things) or it might just be because the I'm not interested in doing some of the stuff the gear can, but I can make the gear do what I want it to for my purposes, and that's fine.

And even where they are "lacks" in me, they're not moral failings; they're mostly things that I could address if I wanted/needed to. And some are simply situational.

It's like motorbikes. For quite a few years when I was skint I rode bikes where (probably) I was more capable than the bike, or at least 'appropriately capable', by and large. And then when I had some money and started riding more modern weaponry, it was rapidly clear that the bike was capable of vastly more than I'd ever get out of it. The difference being that if I'd tried to use the bike to the full extent of what it could do, I'd probably have killed myself (which, to be fair, is how I thought I probably would die when I was younger).

 

[SKU]

As much as this will offend people, the barrier between a musician and someone who plays guitar - which is the common type found on the internet - is absolute. Most gear is targeted at people who play guitar so it just makes sense that they have lots of gear that most of the times is redundant is too much for their needs by definition.

 

[Aelred]

I may have sussed out how to use a Boss SD-1… then I swap amps and/or guitars…

The intricacies of tone available in a Wampler Pantheon or Spaceman Polaris or AmpTweaker Tight Drive Pro are wonderful and mysterious (to me).

I also have Meris Hedra, Polymoon and Mercury 7. One of these days I may figure out how to use them.

So naturally I bought a Strymon Timeline. I have it on the most basic digital setting.

Has anyone figured out a Fuzz Factory or Data Corrupter (or why I bought them)?

Oh, and of course I need this to make my 3 chords and 5 licks sound barley tolerable. A recent spending spree/upgrade on guitars (Ultra Luxe Strat and ESP LTD, plus a Bad Cat Black Cat) either inspired me to play better or the better pickups, necks, frets and such made the new guitars easier to play and therefore sound better in my amateur hands.

Can I really use all my gear to the fullest? No.

Do I enjoy my gear and hobby? Hell yes!!!

 

[621]

No amount of gear is too much for any level of talent.
Acquiring nice gear doesn't require talent or skill, you just need money , So if you feel the need for that gear and can afford it, it's perfect. No justification needed.

 

[Zodiac]

As Sheryl Crow once said " If It Makes You Happy"!