Guitarists can't live with em, can't live...

throw_this_away · Post by **throw_this_away** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:37 pm

Hey,

So this is more of a drunken rant... but we had a gig sat night that was packed for our set... people were really into it, dancing and rocking out and whatnot. But our guitarist insisted on using his 70's gibson 325 the entire set and had to retune for basically every song (done live, by ear through the PA... even though he had a boss chromatic tuning pedal right there). Might I add that he is both slow and usually off when he retunes.

Anyway... a lot of people seemed to love our set (alt rock originals) but I can't help but wonder how much better things would have gone if the guitarist had used two guitars (each in different tuning... he had a second guitar right there...).

A friend said not to worry about it, only musician types would notice... but musician types decide if they will book you again... and our guitarist made us look amature in a hurry (I swear half our set was spent killing time while our guitarist tuned... we could have played 40% more songs).

Anyway... I bring two rics to the show Just so that I will never have to retune. Some people don't realize!!!

I blasted our guitarist in an email (the rest of the band is too soft to really say anything... thus this terrible practice has gone on far too long). We were a unknown band that basically came out of nowhere and did a great show (4 bands total)... but we could have made a killer impression had we come off as more professional.

drunken rant over. Edited for curse words. Someone other than me (a venue owner, really needs to talk to this guy, because he does not listen)

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:22 am

John, you are right to be upset. Surely you guitar player can afford a second guitar.

I remember seeing the Grateful Dead in the 80's, where they would retune after every song (taking about 2 min.). Even then I thought...."one the biggest grossing tour acts cann't afford a second set of guitars and basses, pre-tuned by their roadies"? Go figure..

hieronymous · Post by **hieronymous** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:49 am

The Dead would only do that first set, though - second set was usually a seamless whole. It even earned its own term, "dead air."

Anybody else though (except Jimi Hendrix perhaps, with his "we're tuning up because we care for your ears" type comments), and it's inexcusable. At the very least, the guy needs an A/B box so he can tune silently...

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:34 am

Needing different tunings has given me great excuses to add more Rics.....

I'd certainly force him to adjust the way he does things. Nothing is more annoying than listening to someone retune in between songs and it is certainly a momentum killer at a show. Switching guitars or using a tuner (with the output muted to relieve the annoyance factor) only takes a few seconds that could easily be filled by banter from the frontman.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:44 am

A lot of good guitarist are not so good just because there, I do what I want, attitudes,you have right to be mad tell him to get his s--- together!!!!

blaire · Post by **blaire** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 3:21 am

...once again proving my point ...guitarists who needs them?...giggle

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 3:30 am

The guitarist in my band is the same way! Although he does tune up silently, he can take forever, plus he spends too much time fiddling with his pod, to get his sounds, you know. I could go on about other things but I'm sure you've all been there...

I am SO glad I play bass.

edski · Post by **edski** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 4:05 am

One of the guitarists in my band has a tuner in line; I never notice him tuning. The other uses a little portable, and tunes up before and after each set...

Seems to be enough.

I bring 2 basses, tune them both up at the start of the show. I rarely need to tweak it further. The second bass is there in case I break a string, basically - it's usually my fretless J in reserve, although someday I'll work it in for a couple of tunes. Lately we've been playing in places with limited stage space, so using 2 basses is a bit of a problem...

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 4:34 am

We have a guy with the Pedal Board from Hell. Every pedal known to mankind is on the board. The board itself is a humongous piece of lumber that rivals living room furniture quality. And then he runs a stereo rig on top of that for chorus and delay! While this is all well and good (I used to be a guitarist), he hasn't balanced out his output levels yet.

So here we were at last weekend's gig and he hit one of his distortion pedals with the gain set way up. It almost blew the place apart. Then he stopped the song to adjust his output. I was ready to toss the entire board out the window.

As for myself, I don't use any effects. Who needs 'em when you have an SVT?

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:11 am

i'm glad i play these RIC basses. i rarely have to tune them. i've never seen anything like it.

throw_this_away · Post by **throw_this_away** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:25 am

Wow... sounds like our guitarist. Because bitching is theraputic... he also did coke before one show earlier in the summer and broke 5 strings on 5 different guitars (only two were his). He thought it was our best show by far (trust me it was not... but at that time we had 2 guitarists so it was somewhat covered up). At least he no longer has any more than a drink or two now (one bad habit gone).

The killer for me last night was that we try and make up our setlist so that all songs in one tuning are played first... then we finish with all songs in the second tuning. Should only be tuning once eh? NO, lets make a setlist that maximizes retuning, and lets ignore a perfectly good tele that is on stage. I am still amazed at how much time he can waste tuning.

The funniest part is that after all this wasted time tuning the guitarist dumps on our vocalist for not being able to fill time...

green_us90 · Post by **green_us90** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:32 am

Right.

The only effect I use is a Dynacomp compressor.

Occasionally I will use an Overdrive plus but not in the middle of a song

throw_this_away · Post by **throw_this_away** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:33 am

Oh, plus this guy breaks around two strings EVERY show (last night was a miracle that he broke only one that he doesn't really use)... and is always borrowing/stealing other people's gear. Last night he was tryign to find his bag of pedals/cords 5 minutes before we were going on stage to a full house.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:49 am

As I see it there's no excuse for having to kill time for something like that. Bring 2 guitars! I take 3 basses every gig (2 Ricks & a 5 string) so I never have more than 30 seconds down time MAX if I break a string, & then ONLY at the end of the song.

Wasting time like that is unprofessional & actually insulting to the people who pay good money to go see a band. They don't pay to watch, or worse, listen to you tune. EVER!

Technical problems are always a possibility any time you venture out of the practice room, but there's really no excuse for behaving like that.
And as far as messing with effects & amp settings, THAT is why there's a sound check.

I've known guys like that who are always short one or two cables & need to borrow yours, then you have to get the cords back immediately at the end of the night or they'll disappear forever.
If the guy won't listen, then maybe it's time to find a new guitar player.
You're quite right to be ****** at this guy.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:10 am

I switch between fretted and fretless basses and I have been trying in vain to get a setlist organized to minimize my changes, but without fail we never end up sticking to the setlist. Sometimes I find myself changing basses every song!