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I first heard Eric Johnson say this phrase and I was so stoked because it finally verbalized something I'd been trying to say in discussion for years. It was brought up in his interview on Dipped In Tone and, well he can explain it better-
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tl;dw - A racecar driver has to learn the nuances of a car and how the tires handle at certain speed at certain turns, an artist has to see the viscosity of the paint and know how much or how little to apply or how many hairs in the paintbrush will give the desired effect, a baker has to know when the dough is ready to go in the oven, etc. Gear is no different in that regard and sometimes there's a lot more negotiating required when it's something specific we want and there aren't a lot of ways to get there.
Sometimes when I read an opinion about the same piece of gear and hear a total opposite opinion of mine, like say what it feels like to play through a non-boosted Dual Rec, or maybe when someone says they did not find an amp to be "forgiving" and it's really "stiff", I'm always curious how much time was put into negitating the medium in those situations.
Had I not adapted my playing to the Plexi50, I'd absolutely find it stiff, lifeless and sterile. You can't really bitchpick through that amp and expect it's going to sound like Hendrix or Eddie. Same thing when I started playing Dual Rec but in reverse; I had to loosen up my picking hand quite a bit and lay into the mush factor to get it to 'perform' how I needed it to, it's a total different attack than a 5150.
I'm curious in which ways any of you have negotiated to get what you were going for? I think ultimately it's great to have a collection of these negotiations because it really allows for some versatility in your playing, tones and willingness to stretch in directions you wouldn't normally go in for the pursuit of a tone that strikes your fancy.
(timestamped)
tl;dw - A racecar driver has to learn the nuances of a car and how the tires handle at certain speed at certain turns, an artist has to see the viscosity of the paint and know how much or how little to apply or how many hairs in the paintbrush will give the desired effect, a baker has to know when the dough is ready to go in the oven, etc. Gear is no different in that regard and sometimes there's a lot more negotiating required when it's something specific we want and there aren't a lot of ways to get there.
Sometimes when I read an opinion about the same piece of gear and hear a total opposite opinion of mine, like say what it feels like to play through a non-boosted Dual Rec, or maybe when someone says they did not find an amp to be "forgiving" and it's really "stiff", I'm always curious how much time was put into negitating the medium in those situations.
Had I not adapted my playing to the Plexi50, I'd absolutely find it stiff, lifeless and sterile. You can't really bitchpick through that amp and expect it's going to sound like Hendrix or Eddie. Same thing when I started playing Dual Rec but in reverse; I had to loosen up my picking hand quite a bit and lay into the mush factor to get it to 'perform' how I needed it to, it's a total different attack than a 5150.
I'm curious in which ways any of you have negotiated to get what you were going for? I think ultimately it's great to have a collection of these negotiations because it really allows for some versatility in your playing, tones and willingness to stretch in directions you wouldn't normally go in for the pursuit of a tone that strikes your fancy.
