Why do people do this?!

[_tom_]

Another friend of mine is getting a Gibson soon after xmas (one of the cheap £650 studios or something). However he will be running it (stock!) through a Boss ME50 and a Marshall Valvestate halfstack!

I was telling him to consider getting a better amp first so he will appreciate the sound of the new guitar more but he says "I dont want a valve amp, theres no point, I can get a better sound through my setup as I have hundreds of different effects to emulate a better amp. The only way I will be able to enhance my sound is by getting a Gibson" I dont understand!!

I was then saying that replacing the stock Epi pickups in his guitar with BKPs would probably sound better than stock Gibson pickups of course he says "No, they are on a Gibson, how can they possibly be cr@p, why do you think Gibson are the best guitars?!" I then explained why Bareknuckles sound better (due to handwinding, better materials and all that kinda stuff) and he just ends with "You really do talk out of your arse sometimes". Ignorance? I dont know, but its bloody annoying!

Not sure whether this should've gone in Time Out or not but it is about Guitars, Amps and Effects!

Rant type thing over  :lol:

[Ratrod]

Some people just want to be fooled.

I'm sure he'll get very frustrated when he can't match the tone of your Epi with his Gibson. :twisted:

[_tom_]

Some people just want to be fooled.

I'm sure he'll get very frustrated when he can't match the tone of your Epi with his Gibson. :twisted:

Hehe we'll see, I mean afterall it IS A GIBSON  :roll: :lol: It'll probably have better wood than my Epi though I guess but shush!

Oh yeah, heres another one! "Why would I want to get a new amp, I have a Marshall halfstack, you cant really get better than that!"  :lol:  :lol:

[Davey]

i hit people like that in the face with a spiked club. they deserve nothing else

[indysmith]

well as long as he's happy with his tone nevermind. you need to take him out to a good music shop and show him what he's missing

[_tom_]

well as long as he's happy with his tone nevermind. you need to take him out to a good music shop and show him what he's missing

Yeah I know what you're saying and agree, but I cant help but think how much happier he will be if he gets a decent valve amp and uses that for overdrive instead of Boss ME50 overdrives! Not to mention getting Bareknuckles!

[HJM]

Hah - another one...he will learn - it's his money, somebody has to keep the musical instrument business going!!

I was the same - but that was back when valve amps were  pretty expensive and they were JCM900s!! I remember playing a Peavey Classic 50 amp and thinking this is a good tone, then going out and buying a multi effect thinking I needed all those effects and sounds.

Now I've got a Marshall valve amp thats all I need... :lol:

With a Fender for clean and a few pedals!!

[_tom_]

Yeah, my first year into playing I got some cr@ppy amp, and a Korg AX100G or something. I realised I didnt need any of the sounds about a month or two after I got it, and hated its overdrives/distortions. I read the HC forums alot though and realised what I needed was a valve amp! Havent looked back since I discovered the feel and sound of a real valve amp. I have the Fender which works for most stuff, but high gain on it isnt nice, so of course I need an Engl  :lol:

[Skybone]

I went through a few multi FX's too. It's more down to their "feature packed, compact design" than sound, why have a few, select pedals when you can have 'em all in one box? It's economical sense.

It's just a shame that the cheap-mid range one's don't sound that good. IMO o' course. ;)

Had a ZOOM GFX707 and a BOSS ME-30, and it was when I got into recording that I realised they sounded awful. The POD v2.0 was a bit of a revelation, it actually sounded alright, and the PODxt sounds a whole lot better. Good for quiet practicing and recording. Only experience of these things can tell you that a simple guitar & amp setup sounds much better than any multiFX/modeller.

Admittedly, I thought the same when I bought my LP Studio years back. How can the pickups be that bad, they're Gibson pickups on a Gibson guitar, surely they MUST be pretty good. Again, experience and using your ears makes you wake up to the fact that the stock pickups are not that great, for me, it was buying another set of 490/498's and installing them in another LP type guitar that made me realise they were sh1te.

I think you need to convince your mate to get some recording done with his set up and yours and then both sit & listen to the outcome.

[_tom_]

Yeah he has done some recordings of his Boss straight into the soundcard, they sound awful and he just blames it on the PC. I know that will affect it a bit, as stock soundcards arent always that amazing, but when he plays it through his amp it doesnt sound a whole lot better..

I know that multi fx may be good from a money point of view. But sound and ease of use is more important to me, which multi fx dont have imho.

[Johnny Mac]

I thought like that once too! I suppose we get brainwashed by the adverts and hype. Your mates going to look  :oops:  when he hears your Epi with the Mules and your Fender amp!

I bought a multi effects unit, a Yamaha Magicstomp. I never use it now. Most of the sounds are shitee. There's a few nice ones but i don't want to hear them messing with my tone. After hearing about Ben's and HJM's comments on the pedals they use, Homebrew and Keeley I'd go for those brands if I need any other pedals rather than get seduced by a Ad' or write up that had a nice backhander.

[tewboss]

I think your friend has simply bought into the hype that Gibson and Marshall still put out. I can't really comment on Gibson as I've never had one, but as somebody who has a Valvestate I can say that they suck. The fact is that Marshall's glory years have gone and the accountants took over, although I understand many of the talented technicians still work for them in the research departments etc. I'm pretty sure the Valvestates are made in China not Bletchley. If they were still putting out good new designs then they wouldn't have put out their reissue and hand-wired series of amps which go back to the early 80's and beyond. I stood my old JCM800 head against my friends MG head and it was obvious mine sounded better.  The fact is that modelling amps cannot properly recreate the sine waves of valve amps - some might get close, but at high volume they don't sound the same. Modelling amps are designed for be sound engineer friendly ie. they control the volume.

[Ratrod]

I have to say Gibsons are better than Epi's. They do have a vibe going but still, I was bored with my Gibson within a year.

And where's the fun in a stock Gibson and leaving it stock? It's much more fun and satisfying to buy, let's say, an Epi and pimping it up to your personal specs.

[_tom_]

I have to say Gibsons are better than Epi's. They do have a vibe going but still, I was bored with my Gibson within a year.

And where's the fun in a stock Gibson and leaving it stock? It's much more fun and satisfying to buy, let's say, an Epi and pimping it up to your personal specs.

Yeah I'm sure they are better on paper but my Epi played pretty much the same as the Gibsons I played, and yeah, its more fun to pimp out a cheaper guitar, I'm in the process of getting new stuff for my Epi still (next up is the pots etc, then bridge saddles).

I love being able to talk guitars with people who know what they are talking about, probably why I post on here too much :P

[indysmith]

I love being able to talk guitars with people who know what they are talking about, probably why I post on here too much :P

Indeed!!! the people on this forum seem like the only people in the world that know their shite.
I'd rather pimp an epi than a gibson - cuz i'd try and take care of a gibson, i'd play an epi to death with no second thoughts  :twisted: