Music Gear: Where to Spend Your Money?
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- Опубліковано 25 січ 2020
- Music Gear: Where should you spend your money? 35% Discount Code for The Beato Book and anything in my store RB350
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Rick doesn't have to buy vintage gear because he has it from when it came out🤣🎸🎸
I wish I kept all my pedals from the 80s.
@@TheAgentAssassin line 6 was poppin when I started in 2000. Nothing to regret for me. 🤣
@@frenchiesfrankieandhenry Does Line 6 actually sound good to you? I never could get a sound I liked out of the few things I tried.
@ Harry
The Helix platform is awesome. I have a stomp and run it into my clean amp channel. I dont use IR.. but its 60-80 pedals and preamp tones in a box... used this way I love it
@@chadbouterse8617 I've heard some good things about the Helix. Now that I think of it, one of my friends uses a Helix and I recall him sounding pretty good live.
You are right, I should buy another guitar. Thanks rick!
Expectation: i'll buy an acoustic, a pedalboard, an effect processor, a soundcard and a new amp
Reality: i bought four stratocasters.
One can never have too many strats.
Money well spent!
That’s why I sold a bunch of pedals and amps. You don’t realize that u spent $2500 on other stuff...I’d rather have more guitars...so I bought 2 new ones!
lucky you to be able to afford 4 strats
rod morris well none of them cost me that much. 1 Japanese 1 squier 1 mexican and 1 highway 1.
Hi Rick! Let me take this chance to send a message, even if that's out of topic. I'm now 42, I spent a fortune in gear through the years. If I could send me a message, the me 20 years old, I would tell me: spend (invest) your money on lessons, concerts and travels. That's my biggest regret. I write that in tears.
Few even make to a stage where more/better gear makes any difference at all. Live life first.
W7 I liked the strat acoustic. But no way at 2k
As Robin Williams once said in a movie, "The only people with no regrets are idiots and psychopaths." It's ok to regret. For it helps you appreciate what ya have now.
@@pemamusic7 Invest in knowledge and coaching. IOW, invest in yourself. ;)
At 43, I have a show next month, where I play in 3 bands on the bill, 1 on bass, 2 on guitar. 1 of which I write, play guitar and sing lead in a 3 piece. I refuse to let go.
Flat out refuse.
👊🏼
I’ve found that the pick thickness is one of the biggest tone changers!!!
Budget guitars with high actions put off more beginner guitarists than any other reason. Spend a few hundred dollars more and get a guitar that wants to be picked up.
Even a cheap guitar can play well if you let someone who knows what they're doing work on it for an hour or two. The problem is you're unlikely to find that someone at the typical Guitar Center.
Or just adjust the neck relief/action yourself.... 10 minutes work, and save yourself a few hundred
Good point. You want to buy the best (acoustic) guitar you can afford, but most often that affordable guitar aint gonna have good playability. Add to that that the new player knows next to nothing, and it's tough for the beginner.
@Noise Injection I agree up to a point. Once go above, say the $1500 mark, everything doable should be done unless you have a special mod that you want to make. Of course. All guitars need a little work eventually.
Or learn how to do a set up.
I have nine guitars; made by six different manufacturers, and I’m building a 10th from a kit. The only essential part of my rig is my fingers.
Rick is right. Good guitar, good amp, and practice.
Rick, thank you for the awesome insight here. I do believe that often times we get too caught up in the ‘right/best’ gear when we should focus more on our actual craft of writing and playing music.
I saw you at NAMM wanted to say hi but I did not want to interrupt you conversation you were having. First time I was there. It was a bit too crowded and loud for me but it was nice to finally see it. I have had my 1973 SunburstLes Paul Deluxe since 1976 along with my Fender Deluxe Reverb and I have had my red American Strat for 20 years and I have a Spanish classical guitar for 30 years. All wonderful gear that was built well. My favorite guitar is my Strat because I enjoy playing old surf music.
i always used .009's in my youth. As I got older I went to .010's and .011's thinking that SRV had to be right. But after your string demo I did my own test playing the low end riff of Her Strut with a variety of gauges and much to my surprise .009-.042's sounded better. So I'm back to the wisdom of my youth.
@@officialWWM After Rick's video this this weekend (and Rhett's follow-up), I put a set of 8s on my Reverend Rocco (Fender scale) and played China Grove the way we used to in high school (but better!). The sound really took me back to the '70s. I don't think I was imagining it.
@@officialWWM believe it or not he uses SEVENS!!
Me too Frank!!!! I just wish I had of known about proper setups and being relaxed. More money don’t necessarily mean good setup although it should- not always though. PROPER SETUP !!!!!!!
As a barely intermediate level guitar player, I am am spending money on learning to play. I've found a really great lesson site (that works for me) and one on music theory, so I bought plans. Gear will not make me a player. A long time friend is a pro musician and a superb guitarist. He could play the cheapest guitar (as long as it was in tune) through the crappiest amp and make it sound good.
You're not supposed to say such stuff because without the constant BS that the industry *is* then gullible fools will stop parting with money. Did you notice how the Helix was quickly dismissed? We're supposed to believe that individual little boxes made by some guy somewhere will always sound "better".
This stuff is right up there with miracle diets, age reversing potions and get-rich-quick schemes. 👍😁
Hell yeah dude
the video is not about whether buying gear is better than anything else, but when you do, what should you do
and paying lessons won't make you better either, but practicing
No question about it! A great musician can make good music on a poor instrument, and a poor musician can't make much on anything. AFTER that, this is a great guide on biggest bang for the buck when spending a limited budget on GEAR. Instruments first, speakers second IMHO. Audio interfaces last, because the difference between the best and the "decent inexpensive" units is smaller there than anything else (mics, mic preamps, software, etc.) But even with instruments, there are some really great inexpensive ones especially in electric guitars. For everyone and everything, there's a point of diminishing returns, and that level gets higher the better you are (more experienced and discriminating.)
Dude, online there is a site called Simianmoon . Com and it has a science section and a guitar section that is completely free and goes through beginner, intermediate and expert. It is an incredible resource for learning. I've been playing 15 years and I'm 25 and even today it has taught me so much. Not saying stop paying to learn, just suggesting you add this to your arsenal.
I just love how you explain complex situations between the guitar, amplifier, and your ears , its all about the instruments!!
Rick you're always on my A list of things to watch...so I wanted to tell you after watching this video went to my local store to hang out, and came home with a used divided by 13 1x12 cab. Great for gigging and recording, to me great value at $400(I'm in SFBayarea). A great speaker cab is something you never knew you needed, until you hear your fave amp thru it - now I can play out and record with my little ac10 and get awesome tone. Man I love this channel
You keep coming up w/ great/important topics Rick. Thanks ! Good seeing you at NAMM !
All of your content has been so helpful in so many ways. My fav channel of all
Love your tone man, (as is, your voice and your character). Can't believe that you haven't tried a pedal you bought yesterday though! As soon as I get home, and anything new is out of the box and plugged in!
I am amazed how many people are buying so many ill-advised additions chasing tone when they have not learned to create something worth listening to. Every day someone asks me about mic preamps that cost as much a used car...Forget it. Interconnets(name for woo woo very expensive cables) that make Zero difference except make your wallet sound hollow. Or people want my opinion on a $2000 mic and I say no, every mic sounds different in different acoustic space but in the studio, we has HUNDREDS of mics from $25k/pair to old radio shack PZM, electric $1 electret mics and everything in between because everyone only of those on something, was the most appropriate sound character for the acoustic space, singer, material etc. Unless someone tests dozens of price range mics to see is anything fits their material and space better, they might find a used SM-58 from a pawnshop beats out the mic locker classic $5k tube mics.
You are right, instrument, lessons, arranger, strings, placement of a cab, placement of mics around the cab, drum mic placement, all these things have more impact than the inherent quality or spec of any one component like cables or preamps, or converters. When comparing the great studio sounds and records it was assumed by the beginners that the old equipment made the difference but it wasn't, a lot of the old priceless gear was not that good, but the attention and craftsmanship of the engineer, producer, arranger made sows ears into silk purses. All the home recordist hobby gear is better technically than what we had in big studios 40 years ago and the only reason home recording sounds like crap is who is doing the work and their ability of capitalize on defects and turn them into unique recordings. It as never easy to record a song that made you want to buy it.
The lesson is learn how to create the sound signature your music would be most enhanced by and learn how to listen in the session and experiment. Moving mics a few inches makes a big difference. But most of all, write material that is compelling in its own right and then whatever voicing you use will be the only everyone will be chasing and not know how you did it. Stop spending on things because they are a fad and start experimenting with sound character, even with cheap mics, in some positions they will sound much better. What sounds better is subjective in producing music, what sounds better in RE-producing music is more objective.
Rick, I love your videos. Always learning sooo much. Thank you!
Your string test really opened my eyes...thinking back I always used .009’s and switched to .010’s when I started using different tunings especially Eb I found the .010’s worked best for me. I recently realized when ever I try a guitar (most seem to be strung with .009’s ) in stores, I play better and I am able to be more expressive and it’s comfortable...who knew? Lol! Switching back to .009’s on everything electric. Thank you for the wake up call and all your efforts. Keep it going!
4:33 yup... guitarists always overlook their speakers and cabs. When I first started using IR's it really showed me how much I was missing with the cabs I was using before. I've always loved Friedman's approach to speaker choices. Mixing greenbacks with V30's to get the mix of modern and old school Celestion tones.
Pup's, cabs & speakers and mics. Many people do not understand the basics and they essentially constitute the wave shapes, What's more many comprise "like" basic components ... convert a wave to current - often via a coil around a magnet - toss some character on the current between and spit it back out (convert it back out) as a wave - again via a coil around a magnet. So yes output (Speakers) and input (pup or mic) are the basic physical determination of eq.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us Rick. I appreciated the string gauge video.
Really great video Rick, thank you! I am really with you on microphones>mic preamps.. To be honest I have always been underwhelmed when buying preamps. I record a lot of breakbeat style drums to tape, with a single microphone the majority of the time. Switching the mic on the same drum setup makes the world of difference, have never noticed a drastic difference with different preamps. Another thing that has helped me massively with my drum sound has been a Tunebot. Thanks again for the wisdom.
On a roll for 2020, man. Love the content.
I agree, good guitar that you enjoy playing. I have found the pickups also make big a difference in tones as well. It all makes a difference, some more than others. It's all fun.
Brilliant video! Love the passion of the subject matter.
Finally i got your Book , im so happy , thanks
Rick, I LOVE what you're doing here on UA-cam. I know it's a challenge continuing to find new subjects, but with all due respect, we're spinning our wheels if we're looking for one-size-fits-all solutions as far as equipment and strings. In my 57 years as a guitarist, I've come to realize that every single song, every single instrument, every single musical environment, every single performance, every single section of every song and, especially, every single player is different at all times. That's why the real magic is so rare and even the best performers can't always duplicate it!
With my three dozen or so fretted and fretless instruments, electric and acoustic, well-known and rare or el cheapo, various amps of different sizes and manufacturers, tweeked eq and effects, I have learned how to get almost all of them to sound like familiar and different instruments, even though they're radically different and played through various amps or recording systems and that even includes using various, mics, styles and sizes of strings.
The best anyone can do is figure out what it takes to get the sound they want for each performance of each section of each song through experience and using their ears. It takes experience, experimentation and, most importantly, good ears. Where there's a will, there's a way to get their sound.
Keep up the great work!
Sam Cooper preach brother!
You are awesome Rick, thanks for another interesting and informative video
100% agreed , the tone in the cabinet!
Love this!!! Great video& looking fwd to many more.
Thanks for this video...Really explanatory...I've been following this channel and now inspired to create a channel to start appraising music gearz. Great content
always thanks for posting!!!!
Rick - that AT&T 3G microcell back there under the light is officially vintage technology at this point. They are retiring the 3G network in 2021. Love your work. So proud that you are from ATL.
LOL I noticed that too.
Actually hes from New York, but he lives in Atlanta now
Big thank you for mentioning, with regards to the whole string discussion, that whole purpose of the exercise was solving the low end issue with a cranked marshall into a 4x12. For reference, I run a Gretsch strung up with pure nickel 12's through the top boost channel of an AC30. 0 issues with low end. If you don't take the whole rig into account, you're not getting the whole picture.
Thank you for the lesson, for prioritizing what's really important, is very meaningfull to hear it here!
One of the stand out assets of the Beato channel is his choice to not have sponsorship deals. With so many great all encompassing music channels, I'm avoiding the sponsored channels, not because they might offer less, it's more I find it exhausting and distracting from core content of the channel creator and does little to aide my own research regarding pro audio and guitar related gear I'm deciding whether I need or not. This channel has no veneers no gimmicks with only the occasional parlour trick. 😉
I'm grateful to the creators team for making the effort to authentically translate this man's genuineness and honesty. ✌️
Hi RICK! Thank you very much for the details. Loved the video)
I think the thing that made the biggest difference to me was an electronic tuner.
If you actually rate it by cost, it was an astronomical return on investment.
Hi Rick
Just printed your book.
Thanks for what you do.I have a guitar teacher but you are also a part of my music education...
There was so much low-end resonance in the old jazz guitar set (archtop and .13 string gauge) that many guitar players used a special device to tame the vibration of the bass strings.
Great as always Rick. I agree with your general concept here which I think we can sum up as "Buy that which makes the biggest difference in sound." I've always bought middle-of-the-road when it comes to most gear, but for my cymbals I go top shelf. All of the cymbal manufacturers - whether Meinl, Sabian, Zildjian, Paiste, whatever - all offer budget sheet/stamped ranges that always pale in comparison to their quality cast and hand-hammered cymbals. I've got decent guitars and basses (not top-of-the-line) but I've modded them to be extremely reliable and versatile (lots of coil splitting options on all of them) with after-market parts from all the big brands. I would love to have some really nice high-end guitars, but I don't know if they will really do anything mine can't do other than have that mystique of being fancy and expensive. My next gear goals are to be able to record live drums so that means multiple recording channels plus more mics and stands. Then after that the goal is to buy a few real amps and moving away from modelers and plugins for tone.
, cudos for your work man. You are one of the best channels I follow.
Rick I'm loving all these useful video topics
I love your videos! You are amazing in everything! ♥️♥️♥️ Thank you!!
this is my personal experience: eight or seven years ago I bought my first amp, a Mesa Boogie MarkIV RevB (needless to say it was terrific!). Than in 2016 I changed it because the amount of features and possibilities given by that amplifire in the end overwhelmed me. (Having said that I must say that I will buy another one asap!) About the cabinet: when I bought the mesa I took some time to understand what cabinet I needed. For sure a 1x12 or 2x12, but which speakers? Very soon my choise fell on Celestion G12M Greenback an Vintage30s. I asked my teacher, who owned and still own a recording studio and he told me "it's like asking if you love mom or dad more, they are both good". In a certain way he was right: depends on the musical genre. I wasn't playing in any band at that time so any choice was equal. I chose a V30s loaded cabinet. In 2017 I started playing in a band, making covers of the Eagles. For three years I've been trying to tweek my sound and finally this year I changed the cabinet with a Greenback loaded one: It changed everything! I agree: if the guitar and amp are right, the cabinet/speaker is the MOST important thing! (and then the Microphone if it needs to be amplified)
Love your posts, man!! yeah Rick Beato for President!
I didn't had the time to watch a lot of your videos over the last weeks but it is always so inspiring to see and hear you talking about all those different topics...and by the way I'm a drummer ;) Go on Rick! Best regars from Berlin/Germany!
Hey everyone. I have an easy way to recall what has the biggest impact on your audio… just follow the path of the audio signal, starting with your hands. The order that the audio flows gives you the ranking of what has the greatest impact on your sound. As Rick stated in the video, the instrument has the biggest impact. I would argue to count the player and his or her hands as #1 and list the instrument as #2. In the case of a guitarist, the guitar is obviously the instrument and is the first item in the audio chain. Keep in mind that there are many things to change on an instrument to modify or enhance the tone. Guitar pickups, pickup location, strings, type guitar wood, type of neck wood, etch to name a few.
The order of impact, at least in my mind, follows the order of the audio signal when recording/tracking: The player/person > the Instrument > Amp + speaker + cab > Microphone > Mic placement > Preamp > EQ > Compressor.
I will tell you a little about myself so you can judge whether to ignore my text or consider it. I am a scientist / engineer from North Carolina. I have a degree in biochemistry and one in chemistry. I took a bunch of music courses when in college (Music theory I, II, III, Ear Training, Class Piano, etc.) even though I was always a science or engineering major. I finished my PhD in Nanoscience (essentially, the science of small things) a little more than a year ago. My area of focus within Nanoscience is Semiconductor process technology, Photolithography, and Device Fabrication. This is the technology used to make microchips, microprocessors, etc. This technology is now being widely in audio products. For example, Fishman Fluence pickups are now using some of these techniques as opposed to the ancient method of winding a Copper wire around a bobbin. As far as my music career, I have played music professionally and/or toured with the following bands: Waiting for Wednesday, Goldstar, Viewpoint, and Swift. We (Swift) played a lot of shows with Florida tased band, School For Heroes, who I think Rick recorded a few times back in the early 2000's. I have also went through the recording engineering program at Guilford Technical in Greensboro, NC. I would be honored to “nerd out” and talk gear, music, audio, chemistry, science, or engineering with anyone who has similar interest.
I would add ‘room’ before any of the above criteria.
Hi @Rick Beato , I haven't had the pleasure to catch one of your live streams yet, but I am an ardent follower of your channel and appreciate all the information and advice you put out there. I cannot confirm this, but it is rumored that Billy Gibbons plays or has played .007 gauge strings at some point. The advantage of this aside from being extremely easy to play is that you also get an unwound D string! I have yet to try this, but I plan on it next time I purchase a set of strings. I have been using SRVs philosophy of thicker strings, and have used .013 - .056 strings for decades until just a few years ago. my age demanded that I use lighter strings so now I use .010-.042 string. I have been doing so for at least 5 years now. Your video the other day was enlightening and so will be switching to a set of .009s the next time I purchase strings. A very long time ago I kept having problems with my G string being consistently out of tune, so a fellow musician friend of mine said it was because of the gauge and to try a larger gauge string, so I did and the problem was solved. so now when I buy that set of .009s I will also get a thicker G string I guess. Advice on that G string tuning issue would be welcomed! Thanks, Rick.
Santana uses 9.5 GHS on his PRS. He has used stone and glass picks. He is constantly playing with the guitar volume and tone knobs to get that velvet smooth OD tone. I found rolling the tone down to about 8 is pretty sweet. Love G12H and EVM12L speakers in a larger cab. It gives me the deeper jazz tones I like.
I started with 008s in the 70s and later moved up to 009s and got better control for the right hand. Five years ago, I moved up to 010s (regular tuning) and improved the right-hand technique again. I use a Hi-pass filter early in the chain for most of my guitars.
After watching your string gauge video I’m putting lighter strings on nearly all my electric guitars because I know it makes them easier to play by having less tension making bending easier and being able to use a lighter touch.
That said I will NOT be doing this to my acoustic guitar because I believe that you need a heavier gauge string to get the top moving.
Great content in the last couple of videos 👍
Thank you Rick, really interesting infos here for me👍
Great info Rick. Thank you for your insight. I love my Ernie Ball .009 - .042 with alnico V pickups for FAAAAAAT tone through a line 6 helix and cab with IR's. As a hobbyist and student its the best i can do and I love my tone. Maybe I'm just ignorant to Cadillac tone but, I love the helix a lot more than any of my half stack tube amplifiers. I am very happy recording direct too.
Great video man ! lots of great points especially about the speaker and cabinets.
another example of someone who uses light gauge strings is Tony Iommi, he has a massive sound and often tunes down whilst using very thin strings
I couldn't agree more Rick, the most important purchase is your instrument! I just slapped down $2,300 for a Paul Reed Smith silver sky and it just incuredges you to play. Great sound great feel! I can get soooooo many tones out of these pick ups its amazing!
Now save up for a matchless amp. It will bring out the touch and dynamics in your geetar
I just watched the video Tube Screamers yesterday and I look forward to your review of the Bonsai pedal.
I love a HSH Supertrat with a bar through my pedalboard to a Peavy Renown solid state that emulates a tube into a 1962 Marshal 4x12. Its 400 watt and use jazz 3 pick and 9s for strings. Thats what I learned and got comfortable with a big band playing hundreds of shows and recording etc
I'm pretty sure you will have problems tuning a guitar down to C if its a 24" scale. That's not a string problem tho. The thicker strings just make it more comfortable to play for some people because they don't like playing with strings that are too loose.
I have an extended range (7-string) guitar and I do notice the muddy low end that I'm not a fan of. I use 9s on this guitar with standard tuning btw. The muddiness, I'm pretty sure, mostly comes from the high output passive pickups that have alot of windings. I might try going to 8s and see how they feel. The feel of the guitar strings is more important to me than the tone they produce. So far, I've been using OD pedals with bass cuts and EQ pedals to boost my high end to tighten up the tone. Maybe I'll need less of that with 8s and it will feel good. TBH, the 9s are just what the guitar came with.
Great video. I couldn't agree more. source is most important, then be aware of how different speakers, mics, and other pieces of gear filter (EQ) and use them accordingly. when learning guitar i played for a while without an amp, so i loved really heavy strings. they sounded great acoustically, even on an electric. when i started recording hi gain guitar parts, i gradually started getting lighter gauges. but i still like a slightly heavy gauge using 10-52's for drop c tuning, and 09-46's for standard. but that has more to do with how i play specifically, and my heavy use of chord inversions with the meat of my chords being voiced on the lower strings. I count on my low strings overpowering my mids in my chord structures. it makes mixing a bit more challenging, but it would gut the way i play and write riffs to go super light. i actuallly count on those complexities being so light in the background, their more implied to the listeners ear than shouting at them. Which reminds me, i gotta start practicing mixing more. haha.
The strings make sense, I’ve been a heavy bottom skinny top, player for decades. I’ll be buying a 8 set soon.
Loud and clear Rick.
I guess to each his own. 😉
I still like heavy gauge strings better. I’d still change a driver or cabinet before using light gauge strings for filtering.
I TOTALLY agree with you on buying a quality instrument first!
It can come down to feel with strings. Yep.
Your are The Dude. Greetings from Switzerland
Great vid. Im on a budget. Need to pick n choose what good stuff to get n where i can save.
Yes I can hear you!
Hey Rick! Great video! Have been saying for years about how big a change in tone can be had by changing the speaker cone in a combo/cab.! Cheers, Sammy - Cambridge, UK
Hi Rick thank you for your great videos and your friends that help you. I had been without any music gear for over two years and just before last Christmas I got myself a Gibson G45 studio acoustic guitar then I got a Focusrite 2i2 3rd Generation audio interface and a two Rode M5 matched stereo pair microphones. After I got all this I watched you video on recording acoustic guitar and you said get the best instrument you can then the best mics and audio interface, this I had done and am very happy. I can not stop playing my Gibson G45 studio guitar and with the Canon SL2/200D camera I now have I will be putting my Music videos and short films on the internet.
Thank you! ive been screaming this to anyone who will listen for decades... noone listened
Hi Rick! Thanks for all the información that you share with all the musucians like me around the world. I really learn a lot and i can apply all of this things un nuevo own work!
I agree, the cabinet is very important. Yet, seems like it's the most overlooked part of the chain. It is interesting when you talk about string gauge. I, personally, have never chosen a specific string gauge for the tone, it has always been about getting the tension that feels good to me.
Rick thanks again for all the edgumacation. I'm not a pro musician and I don't make money playing guitar (except when people want me to STOP playing.) Practice! Good instrument, quality amp, a couple of pedals and LOTS OF PRACTICE. ENJOYMENT is the key.
Ya, for loudspeakers designers the speaker cabinet itself is also a filter, in this case it is an "acoustic filter" which work in cohesion with its internal cross over filter to achieved a specific design goals.
New to this. I really like your theory vids.
I use Ernie Ball strings... Hybrid Slinkys, 10s on the E, A, and B, 9s on the G, B and E. It handles standard, Drop D, Eb Drop D and recently I've found Db with the low E tuned down another whole step. Brilliant.
I think the situation changes when you playing in a cover band and you need all types of sounds. I think the most important thing is a versatile amp or pedals and not so much the guitar, if you bought a Squier Classic Vibe Strat and loaded it with good pickups like HSSS setup that would make the guitar very versatile and not have to spend a lot of money but I think the money should be spent on the amp for the effects to get you the sound that you’re trying to cop, for instance if you had an amplifier that could do a couple nice clean sounds, a couple nice middle distortion sounds and a couple nice heavier metal type of sounds... that’s what you need. When you’re playing songs from Tom Petty, The Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Zep, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Bob Seger and list just goes on and on. You have to cover all those sounds for everything and it doesn’t have to be 100% correct but if you can get the sound close like 85-90% of the sound that you’re trying to cop, I think it’s good enough and you could use the same guitar all night long...but it’s the amps or pedals sounds that are going to make that difference.
String joy has great life changing strings
It's all about what you like to feel under your fingers. If 8s feel good and you play better use 8s, if it's 10s use 10s. At the end of the day what makes each individual play at their best is what gauge should be used. I personally did not like the feel of 8s . I was lighting up the touch used them for about a week and wasn't for me I like 10s to 46 on my rg and 9 to 56 on my 7 string esp. Thanks for everything you do Rick love your insight and material keep bringing the music, much respect
Really enjoyed the string comparison video. Just one point: Billy Gibbons I believe uses 7’s. They take some time to get accustomed to but they are nice to play. Thanks for all the great videos.
Yep !
Love the channel. Great topic. I would say you need to have several guitars bases amps and speaker cabinets. This is how your sound is created. If you're doing live drums you need a couple of different snare drums a couple of different Tom to interchange with. One or two bass drums would be nice if you are doing different styles of music. If you are sticking to 1 John R I think a really good bass drum and a really good snare that fit the genre are important. You should purchase symbols that match your needs. The symbols that you use in a live context are not the same as the ones you use in the studio most of the time. I would get some standardized microphones like sm57 a large diaphragm microphone that you can afford and even a couple of lipstick style Mike for overheads and other instrument making. Purchase good cables. I don't see any point in purchasing a different d a w every time one comes out. I am still using Cubase 8 artist. It suits my needs. I would purchase a few necessary plugins like a mix bus compressor maybe an SSL style plugin for channel mixing and a multi-band compressor. Some of this stuff already comes with the interface you purchase. So if you find yourself wanting more textures or colors you will have to purchase one from waves or one of the other guys. Once you have all of this you need to make sure that you have positioned yourself in your room and the proper mixing position. Try to stay away from walls and try to stay Square left to right. You want more room behind you than in front of you. You want to do the same thing in the recording rooms. Walk around hitting on a drum or clapping until you find the best sounding spot in the room. This doesn't cost anything. If you have any mechanical or hobby ability I would build sound dampening pieces myself. Do not spend tons of money on them. They are very easy to make with items that you can get sent to your home with purchases made online. I can't wait to see where you go with this one Rick. I'm going to finish watching the video now. Cheers.
Sir you are a welth of knowledge thank you for all you do do much appreciated.
I tried the string joys for acoustic and electric and they are awesome, great tone and last 3 times as long
Hi there Rick, great points and well made - I've found the best bang for the gear-buck on instrument, setup, strings, cables, amplifier, speakers. BUT I'd also add one to that list: listening hours. These aren't free - you can't do something else while you're listening to something closely! But the more time you give to listening hours, the more likely you are to spend those gear-bucks wisely.
Also, even simple set-ups have loads of variables that can impact tone. In some ways, the fewer moving parts in the system, the more critical each part is.
Anyway, love your work. I literally exploded when you spent a whole vid on Swervedriver.
Any chance of a WMTSG on 'Milquetoast' by Helmet?
The harmonic elements in the closing minutes of the song are begging for your analysis!
Cheers - Lance
I bought Morgan 2x creambacks to an Astorian Marschal (red). Perfect!
I put Gibson Brite Wires 9s on my Les Paul. Love those strings. Both sound and price.
I'd like to see a video where you combine these EQing techniques (in the broad sense; uses of different string gauges, picks, speaker cabs, filters, etc.) in a way where you would try to counteract or compare one with another to see which are most effective when compared to get a more precise sense of which of these techniques should be focused on depending on your budget or time investment constraints. I know the differences are subtle and can be very specific, but for some uses and players it would be interesting to see how using different strings or a different pick compares to expensive mics and speakers/cabinets and that kind of thing. Basically, it would be cool to see a video dealing with what you discussed here fleshed out in a set of rigorous, controlled comparisons dealing with a variety of applications like the dissonant chord example you mentioned with high pass filtering, high gain, low gain, etc. I think this kind of thing is at the heart of what a lot of people are experimenting with investing in gear and could really be helpful. Thanks, nice video.
It just made more sense for you to use one brand of strings when juxtaposing how they sound. I love DR strings because they are smoother and last longer than Ernie Ball.
That's the beautiful thing about music it's all about subjective preferences. And is what creates a persons sound
Brilliant. Essential informations.
Great advice, I just bought a Gibson Les Paul Studio with a Blues Junior and a Boss Distortion pedal. Should be good for a while.
I was near 30 years in the hi-fi business and for years it was about transducers - the two ends that change vibration into electricity and electricity back into vibrations - so the cartridge and the speakers in a record playing set-up. Suddenly one day (or so it seemed) it all became about cables. I realised after obsessing for ages about this and that, that if I was happy everything sounded better than if I was glum. I don't record stuff other than in the simplest way for youtube but what I think I'm saying is that all the important stuff - the stuff that makes you want to listen to BB King - come from the inside so I guess what I'm saying in the 'where to spend your money' debate is: spend it on whatever is going to make you jolliest for longest :-)
And the truth of it is that realising it automatically raised my level of contentment by losing the fretting, if you'll pardon the pun :-)
Good to meet you.
"Everything sounded better when I was happy and worse when I was glum". That is a fantastic observation and the only thing that makes a difference when buying "hi-fi" cables.
I went through a Hi-Fi phase, spending thousands - it's such a money pit - so much snake oil, some of the marketing is laughable in retrospect. I remember being on the Naim forum where some poor bloke had spent about 30k on cables. Like you, the only time i started to actually enjoy my setup was when i managed to to let go of the obsession with equipment and actually just listen to my music for the right reasons.
My old hi-fi guru used to swear by 30 amp solid-core cooker cable for speakers. Cheap as chips and as good as anything.
Yeah! the Linn/Naim thing got way out of hand in a big way and then at the other end you had magazines bigging up the good looking but ordinary NAD stuff. I used to work with the guy who brought NAD into the UK and I can only imagine the debauchery he must have treated some of those writers to to get reviews like that...Hahahahahahahahahaha
Playing rock and roll with heavy gauge strings is like playing pro football: the injury rate is 100%. Acoustic instruments really benefit from having heavier or harder tension strings -- electric instruments can be equalized and or set up differently. When you learn classical, so much emphasis is placed on "correct" technique -- this is as much or more about injury prevention than it is tone production -- to play to a high classical standard, you have to play for long hours, which is hard on your whole body, so the technique has evolved to allow for that, while minimizing injury. Rock technique will get you each and every time -- take Jimmy Pages advice: use the lightest strings you can stand. I also don't disagree that spending on an instrument is the most worthwhile piece - but consider buying used, and getting a skilled, honest luthier (maybe even one with access to a PLEK machine) to put in 5-10 skilled hours on getting your guitar really dialed in, with the most comfortable action, and best intonation possible -- don't overlook the time and skill getting an instrument really playing right: yes to spending on an instrument, but spend on someone to get it together (or learn yourself by trial and error). The difference between many instruments is just the amount of time skilled human hands have been on them -- G&L is a good value proposition in that regard -- but you can get about anything costing around $400-$600 used, and spend as much on a luthier, and you'll have something that plays as well as a $3000 instrument -- just worth considering, IMO.
@@sapinva injury from heavy string is very real, i am a skinny little dude i admit and having really heavy strings( heavier than 10 to 52 on a 24.75 scale or 9 to 46 on a 25.5 scale) can really mess with my elbow muscle/wristi am active and wouldn't consider my lifestyle as unhealthy just am small in size by genetics and that's my limit
@@sapinva Playing guitar involves to totality of your being, and playing it well is a highly athletic endeavor. If you don't play, you haven't built the muscles or tendons up properly to handle it for long periods, you will get injured -- I'm dead serious. You can be in shape in every other way, and injure your fingers, shoulder, back, etc. playing guitar -- proper technique helps minimize the risk, but even then overuse (repetitive stress) injuries are very common. Every beginner is "out of shape" for playing guitar -- even if they are pro athletes in some other area, with good metabolic numbers, etc. There's also a huge difference between classical techniques and rock techniques -- rock techniques are usually more injurious.
@@sapinva This is a dodge of your original question: selecting individual gauges has nothing to do with it -- you can injure yourself using 7's -- but it takes longer -- and that's really the point.
@@sapinva the low slung thing is about weight distribution -- to help distribute the weight of a heavy Les Paul across your back -- not sure that it works. Most rock technique is "bad" technique in the eyes of a classical purist: classical players don't bend notes, and pretty much never mute strings with their left hand since the technique is to ensure each finger joint has at least some bend in it -- when you look at Paul Gilbert and others, their pinkies are almost totally collapsed. Classical players don't have to fight a high-gain amp, with each string eager to scream out. I've been playing for about 35 years, and injury prevention was a discussion that happened pretty early -- I'm shocked that after 50 years you've never heard of it, or heard of people getting injured from over use -- injury isn't exclusive to guitar -- even flute or banjo players can get injured - every instrumentalist, and even vocalists. So you've played 50 years -- let me ask you: have you 50 years of experience playing, or one year, repeated 50 times? Three months? Have you ever played 9 hours or more at a stretch for a week or more straight?
@@sapinva right -- amp compression -- but to suggest Steve Howe never throws his thumb over the neck, bend strings -- we know that's just not the case. How about nine hours in a day, versus in one stretch? The likes of Verdine White and others will tell you that in the beginning, playing a lot is the way to go -- I can say anecdotally, it works for me, so long as my callouses, muscles, and tendons have acclimated to playing -- it's like when someone trains for a marathon -- they don't go from no running at all to forcing themselves through one: they build up to it, and do a couple of shorter long runs first -- maybe do several half-marathons. I remember in the way back preparing Villa Lobos Etude #2 for masterclass at Towson University (not Juliard or anything) -- I'd worked on that piece for several years -- but before masterclass, I stayed up all night running through that piece - by the time I hit, I delivered a performance that was one of the best in my life -- my peers talked about it positively for weeks -- but I was much younger then -- it was a little easier to do, and it was the only responsibility I had at the time.
I Like the Ernie Ball Slinky 9s in the pink pack But I am going to try the 8s on a Strat Thanks for the Video and Info Rick 🎸🎸👽
You are so correct!!!
You make some really good points
taking about picks . I used to use a plastic bread tie, only when i couldn't find my pick and it sounded great . I used them several times.
Instrument first - could not agree more. The amp speakers themselves seem for me to be great investments. No getting around cheap speakers!
I use to use .010 to .046 strings across the board. Then in 2014 I had a left shoulder injury with nerve events. Long story short I switched to .009- .046 and it's been so much easier to play and yes playing clean had been so much easier and crisper. The mids with distortion are awesome. It took me years to get my playing game back.
If you are into recording, the most important thing is decent studio monitors because at the end of the day, all your other gear whether cheap or expensive can create interesting sounds but if you can’t hear that you are working with a big disadvantage.
AMEN! I’ve been telling my friends this for years. I learned this years ago by using a Mesa cab that I’d traded for and it seamed I went through a period of time when I hated every amp I had till I realized I actually hated the speakers in the cab. it was at the time the only cab I had. I did a deep dive into speakers and it’s not just cone shape or wattage it’s how the amp pulls the signal through the speakers people forget that the signal goes out and returns to the amp the speakers become part of the circuit this is the heart of “impulse response”.
Bryan Saunders AMEN!!!!