new/different live rig after 21 years....

[jgcable]

update...

the other player didn't work out. the tampa area is still very much a death metal region, and while this guy said all the right things in the interview and delivered what we wanted the first few rehearsals, he flipped on us. originally he came in with a twin reverb, a RAT pedal, and a strat. perfect for what we wanted. well, last rehearsal he showed up with a triple rec half stack and a dean ML. the sound wasn't terrible, but the attitude and visual was wrong. he was adding in a lot of squeals and dive bomb stuff, ala dimebag. it fucked up the WHOLE dynamic.

an argument ensued. he basically said that dimebag did some cool stuff and that we sounded like we needed a "metal" edge. i laughed and said we were stepping away from that edge since we aren't a metal band. i told him that for 6 years we were getting lumped on bills that we didn't match - that we have been called the "pink platypus band" by some of the heavier bands because of our poppier leanings.

i told the dude it sounded PERFECT with his twin rig, but if he wanted to use his rectifier, then let's try the vintage setting and bring back the strat or another guitar that wasn't the ML. he said that i have a lot of nerve telling him gear to use. i reminded him that he joined a pretty successful, established band, NOT an upstart group with no experience.

finally the bass player stepped in and told the dude we aren't pantera and that the ML looks stupid playing our songs. after a couple more go-arounds, lana told the guy he was out. he looked at me, and i said, "yep. this isn't gonna work after all." the guy told us we suck, packed his stuff, and left.

now i remember why i never play with another guitarist.

so we are looking for another guitarist.

regarding the rig....i miss my rivera!!!!! the fender is getting the job done, but some of the songs don't sound as powerful. especially the dropped D stuff. so i added a big muff to the pedal board. the sucky part? it just added back the frequencies that i am trying to eliminate while losing the focus and clarity of the rivera. thank God we have time to sort everything out before we do an electric show. i am thinking about trying an egnater tweaker 40 in place of the tremolux....we'll see though.

the acoustic thing is picking up. we have several more bookings after the feb. 2nd show. based on ticket sales for the 2nd, it looks like we might hit 50 people. not too bad!! i guess lana and i were right. too many of our friends are scared of loud music. they are coming out of the woodwork for the "unplugged" show....

man, getting old sucks!!!!! hahaha.....

Larz - anytime i have had a tele, it quickly becomes one of my favorite guitars. the joe strummer is KILLER. it plays like an old friend....

Rupe - i know what you mean. i believe in what i am doing with AP, so making the change is something i am willing to do to benefit the music. i am not totally enjoying it, but 90% of the songs sound better - and that was the goal...

Hey Mark, you have to pick your songs according to the rig you are using. My band plays every weekend and we pick songs that work for our band. That includes vocals, visuals and guitar rigs. Its also hard to get over on a crowd when you are doing a mix of songs that are to diverse. We try to stay in the STP, AIC realm of tone and will stray as far as Cat Scratch Fever or The Black Crowes and some Ozzy tunes but we would never attempt Beatles or Dokken or most of the 80's metal or drop D stuff although we do play Slither and Evenflow which are both Drop D. Also, if we can't absolutely nail it vocally we don't even attempt it.

[jgcable]

oh, i'd much prefer a keyboardist!!! around here they all want to get paid doing the beach bar/luxury resort scene. i am trying to snag one right now, but she lacks confidence.

my LP has mini-buckers.

thanks. simplicity is good, but now that i am using stomp boxes, i find creating tones more difficult so i am going to be buying a programmable pedal looper and a bigger board to have the pedals do what my rack used to do...


it's always something!!!

Yea, the romance of having a keyboard player in the band sounds great and once they join the band all you want to do is punch them in the face. My band is a 5 piece. 2 guitars, bass, drums and a lead singer. The other guitar player is strictly and I mean strictly a rhythm player. He fills up the room nice which allows me to do almost anything I want as the other guitar player which is awesome.

[markD]

john, we are all original and only have fifteen or so songs (that don't suck). one of our best, the one sony records liked the most, is in dropped D. i would hate to drop it from the set since it usually elicits the biggest response. it is one of those bizarre situations where a lot of the music was written around the guitar sound - change the sound and something is "missing".

being all original keeps us with sets between 20 and 60 minutes, depending on the gig.

[roodyrocker]

oh, i'd much prefer a keyboardist!!! around here they all want to get paid doing the beach bar/luxury resort scene. i am trying to snag one right now, but she lacks confidence.

my LP has mini-buckers.

thanks. simplicity is good, but now that i am using stomp boxes, i find creating tones more difficult so i am going to be buying a programmable pedal looper and a bigger board to have the pedals do what my rack used to do...


it's always something!!!

Your idea for a programable looper for your pedals is a good one. I went that route a few years ago and have put together a few different pedalboard setups using The GigRig stuff as well as Carl Martin Octaswitch. They work out great and do away with all the tap dancing to turn groups of pedals on/off. Which one were you thinking of using?

[AdRock]

john, we are all original and only have fifteen or so songs (that don't suck). one of our best, the one sony records liked the most, is in dropped D. i would hate to drop it from the set since it usually elicits the biggest response. it is one of those bizarre situations where a lot of the music was written around the guitar sound - change the sound and something is "missing".

being all original keeps us with sets between 20 and 60 minutes, depending on the gig.

The question I would ask is "What does it sound like to the crowd now?" The song doesn't sound right to you because you are used to it sounding a certain way, which completely fought with the vocals. You'll get used to it and probably be much happier with it after you do. Imagine being a person coming to see you guys, it might sound a tad less beefy, but it will sound cleaner and as a result, better. The good thing is that you figured this out.

As a soundman I've worked with a ton of people who try to jam all everything into the same spot in the eq spectrum and then wonder why nothing stands out. Or the metal guitarists that scoop all the mids out and then wonder why they can never hear themselves when actually playing with people. So they crank the amp and put out mud and fizz, making everything sound like shit.

[markD]

Your idea for a programable looper for your pedals is a good one. I went that route a few years ago and have put together a few different pedalboard setups using The GigRig stuff as well as Carl Martin Octaswitch. They work out great and do away with all the tap dancing to turn groups of pedals on/off. Which one were you thinking of using?

hahahaha, certainly not those!! they are way out of my price range. i am thinking of one of the chinese ones - the wave-x or the vitroos....maybe the moen gec9.

[markD]

The question I would ask is "What does it sound like to the crowd now?" The song doesn't sound right to you because you are used to it sounding a certain way, which completely fought with the vocals. You'll get used to it and probably be much happier with it after you do. Imagine being a person coming to see you guys, it might sound a tad less beefy, but it will sound cleaner and as a result, better. The good thing is that you figured this out.

As a soundman I've worked with a ton of people who try to jam all everything into the same spot in the eq spectrum and then wonder why nothing stands out. Or the metal guitarists that scoop all the mids out and then wonder why they can never hear themselves when actually playing with people. So they crank the amp and put out mud and fizz, making everything sound like shit.

well, we aren't booking any electric shows until june so i am not too sure what it sounds like to the crowd. you make a good point about the clarity aspect.