Guitars and Basses Of Your Bandmembers............Do You Check Them..........???!!!

timmerman

timmerman

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Funny question to ask?
Do not know but then I guess we all must have had experiences like: You play through a couple of songs and all of a sudden you can swear that one of the guitars around you is out of tune............................
Everyone is checking but noone can spot the problem as anyone's tuner had a fresh battery and works still very well................ :D
Then when you sneak into their guitarcases when all bandmembers have left the rehearsalroom and then you discover what is wrong:.....................
~Guitars where the intonation is well out
~Guitars where the tremolobar does not work properly [Wrong bar used for different bridge with the result that the bar will never be snug, and therefor you never will be able to use the trem very precisely!!---Heh Mr. Fender, how many different bridges did you design for your instruments? I thought your idea was that all instruments should be universal and not cause to much trouble in case of replacement for missing parts???----]
~Guitars where the tremolobar has collapsed and it causes busses on the low E string [ Oh no you cannot hear these things when people play at higher volumes surrounded by other instruments, but I can hear it when I strum this guitar unamplified, and I can hear it well and it annoys me as it is an instrument which does not respond very well in all postions on the fretboard..............]
So what do you do after you have discovered some of this?
Is it a problem for the music and progression of the band or is it lack of experience on one of the other bandmembers?
After my discovery I told the guy what I had noticed about his guitar, [of course I was very careful about me sneaking into his guitarcase while he was not there........................]
Think he did not mind me telling him as he seemed to agree, but then why did he not solve some of these issues himself??
Oh I know, we all play with a different feel, and have different tastes, but very often I feel that people just do not know what a "good" guitartone is, what a great set-up should feel like, what their instruments should be capable of and they seem to be gratefull when you point out some of those mishaps on their instruments.
Best thing is..............very often these instruments are fairly new or have just been aquired second hand from a shop where the shopowner did not even bother to set the guitar up properly or even check on some very basic issues like intonation, fretbuzzes and working tremolo-units....................
 
Sorry that some of you seem to miss some of my questions for you:

Does it bother you that you know that the guitar of some of your fellowbandmembers is not working right?

I may seem to forget that most of you are signed artists here, and as we all know, these guys have guitartechs available to them, so problems like the ones I mentioned before will be sorted out by any of the techs before any bandmember will start to notice that that is something wrong with the tuning.................

But for all you guys who are not so fortunate yet to have that guitartech. available I would still like to hear your take on this issue.

Cheers :)
 
I can't tell you how much it pisses me off when someone I'm playing with is out of tune!
In my last band, people had a tendency to drink a lot (I'm the only non-drinker), and they'd be so out of tune it's not funny. But, being drunk, they wouldn't notice and would argue with me about it. Then they'd try to tune and make it worse.
It led to me supplying all the instruments, so I could make sure everything is set. Even though it was sort of expensive and I now have too many guitars and basses, it was worth it, cos I controlled the sound. It seems most musicians I work with have poor poor pitch detection, so I always take up responsibility for that

I've found that intonation problems usually aren't bad enough to warrant complaints, as long as the guitar is in tune. For live stuff, most people don't notice anyways.
 
just think about how many times youv'e played a gig where it really sucked and everone who was there still comes up to you and tells you how good it really was. There is a lot of people in the world who have no clue. And alot of times they end up in your band. I feel your pain. The best way to make it right is to just take the thing away from them let them use one of yours, prove the problem , grab a strobe tuner and fix it for them and make them see the light. Or else fire them
 
I do all the guitar setups etc for every band I'm in because I got so fed up of them sounding like shit that I learned how to sort them all out!!!

It turns out that none of the players I know are able to do simple things like use a tuner or set the pickup heights for a balanced sound. :mad:
 
I've always been lucky with my bandmates and their instruments and tuning abilities. However, there would definitely be a problem if I came in and caught one of them sneaking around in my guitar cases. Not cool...
 
Make everyone get a pedal tuner and insert it into their effects chain. Pretty hard to screw up tuning to one of those. Then when things sound off, after the song you can yell "group tune!" and everyone can take a minute to retune using the pedal. It won't fix some of the other issues, but it should really help with that one.

As for the other issues, people can't learn about intonation, pickup adjustments, etc., unless someone teaches them. If you know and they don't, well, maybe you guys can have a sit-down before practice one day and do a group instrument adjustment. Teach them in a fun and non-condescending way. I wish someone had done that for me when I was young.
 
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shouldnt everyone have some idea what's going on with their instrument? doesnt take a wizard to realise something's up surely?
 
episg said:
shouldnt everyone have some idea what's going on with their instrument? doesnt take a wizard to realise something's up surely?
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It depends on the experience level. It took me many years before I started understanding the science of the technicalities of the instrument itself beyond string changes, tuning and polishing. Nobody taught me that stuff so I didn't know any better. Even the guitar magazines are typically deficient in providing that kind of information. Took me a while before I started getting wise to that, and what I know I had to teach myself.

I wish I had been playing with someone like timmerman when I was younger who coulda sat down with me and my guitar and shown me the guitar tech ropes. He should do his bandmates a favor and try to find a way to teach them - at the beginning of the session before they get drunk and defensive.
 
You guys are fascists!



I gotta tell you that my bass player has had some gear issues at gigs and it bugged the shit out of me. But I love him like a brother, so I held my tongue and didn't say anything. He eventually got it sorted out. He has some kind of weird ibanez 5 string active abomination. the jack was loose or something and every once in a while it would go NGGGGGGGGGZZZZZ! Gotta take the good with the bad. He has a pedal tuner so that's not so much of an issue.

I know that I'll regret using "love him" and "my tongue" in the same sentence.
 
gbdweller said:
I've always been lucky with my bandmates and their instruments and tuning abilities. However, there would definitely be a problem if I came in and caught one of them sneaking around in my guitar cases. Not cool...
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You beat me to it. My bandmates keep their hands off my guitars and I theirs. If there is an issue we talk about it, but if I caught one of them mucking about with my equipment behind my back, then there would be serious words exchanged.
 
ggunn said:
You beat me to it. My bandmates keep their hands off my guitars and I theirs. If there is an issue we talk about it, but if I caught one of them mucking about with my equipment behind my back, then there would be serious words exchanged.
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I totally agree, and I find it sneaky as well, but I was just curious, wanted to check my thoughts about his intonation, and yep..............................my ears are still working :D

As I check guitar I also tried his amp, as I did not hear him all the usual soundsuspects which we love so much from a Strat. [the owner is used to Gibson SG's.............another issue here---someone who gets new guitar but does not yet know how to get the best sound out of it combined with his amp---]

Now his Strat is great, lovely instrument, an 80s model which does have the toneknob with that boost part, you know when you open it up all the way things become superbright, you turn them down and the knob has a kind of setting where things become less bright, you can even feel it as the knob has a kind of click where it falls into another position[ sorry do not know thech. term for that kind of tone knob, on some early 80s model you will find this feature] anyway...............and his amp is modern Marshall MG type. Not great amp but good enough to get some happening tones.

Well I guess it took me two seconds to find out what I loved about that guitar soundwise, but then I do play around a lot with boxes and toys and I know the owner of the guitar does not do much of that, but he is learing...............................................

Took his instrument away today to change strings, yes they were completely gone.....................so at least for the gig coming Sat. he will have a fresh bright set of sparks.

Yes some others have mentioned it before, the whole issue around set-ups, tuning and the whole thing with the insturment itself such a pick-ups, trembars, is partly interest and education. I do have to say that the guy who owns this guitar is a young guy, but he is keen and a very fast learner, and he does know about digging in into his strings and tone etc.

Partly some of the issues with the guitar and him not sorting it out are due to his passiveness when it comes to these matters, he may sort it out. Asked him today again, and mentioned that his guitar is still under guarantee, so the set-up would be for free...............still he did not sound like: "Yeah I will get this done as soon as I can" and I guess that is also one of the differences in our character. He is just a little less percise about such matters and I just need to accept that really.

The acceptance is the main part.

Like the post from the guy who went as far as buying all the equipment for the rest of the band. I can see his point but also have to ask then: How do these guys play your songs? Oh well they may not play your songs eh? But in case they do, do you feel they play all the notes as you would play them yourself? Really whenever I play with a bassplayer and I listen to their tone and see what they do with their fingers, they make me feel like: "Hmmm bass can have such a nice tone, dig in in that string man [ or girl in some cases] but then on the modern basses when you dig in we all know what happens. That is why I still like the older Fender basses. So really I feel like nonone else can do that job better than I myself, but with such an approach you cannot really play with others so..............................I end up telling people about tone, let them try my bass, and yes, they usually find it plays harder then their own modern versions [Higher action, better tone, especially when you slap................ :eek: Oh Oh I have sinned now to admitance that I do like this technique............... :D ]

So we are back at the teaching thing again. Have to say, most of what I have learned about tone and equipment was through reading and reading interviews with players, and playing and listening to yourself and having an interest in what is going on.

Did someone ever mention that making music is a lifetime affair, and it can be a dangerous one as well???

Time to relax now :)
 
Messing around with someone else's instrument is not cool, and can even be hazardous to your health. I can't speak for anyone else but as for me, "If I don't hand it to you, don't touch my guitar, any of them!" Most of the other guitar players I know feel pretty much the same way about it. If something dosen't sound quite right then discuss it with the other guitarist, if he (she) wants your help he (she) will ask for it. If not, keep your hands off or you will run the risk of loosing a friend and maybe a finger or two.
Guitars are a lot like wives and children...don't touch someone else's!!!
 
Been playing with the same bunch of guys for seven years now (and two of them for eleven).

I know I can trust them, and their instruments :)
 
In my band both of us guitarists do set ups and I taught one bass player (we use two, depending who is on what shift) how to set up his bass and the other already knew how.
But I have heard bands where they were obviously out of tune and seemed oblivious to it.
 
Dani Pace said:
Messing around with someone else's instrument is not cool, and can even be hazardous to your health. I can't speak for anyone else but as for me, "If I don't hand it to you, don't touch my guitar, any of them!" Most of the other guitar players I know feel pretty much the same way about it. If something dosen't sound quite right then discuss it with the other guitarist, if he (she) wants your help he (she) will ask for it. If not, keep your hands off or you will run the risk of loosing a friend and maybe a finger or two.
Guitars are a lot like wives and children...don't touch someone else's!!!
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You must be fun to play with!!! :D :eek:
 
Codmate said:
Been playing with the same bunch of guys for seven years now (and two of them for eleven).

I know I can trust them, and their instruments :)
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This is more how I like to see it.

when there is a problem you discuss, and the fact that you did an instrument out of a case to see for yourself what is wrong is not really an issue, since you all know each other and you are just trying to help.

I guess the previous guy may have been talking about doing sessions and working with unknown people all the time and not like playing in an original band where each member knows each other quite well.
 
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