Expensive Amps are Pointless | Honest UnFiltered Opinions #28

[@flybynight1929]

As a guitar player, the only one who cares if you're amp sounds like a Dumble or any other high end amp are you and maybe another guitar player. I've played way too many gigs where the sound guy just destroyed the sound of my amps, and the crowd still went crazy because they are just looking to hear the songs they know.

[@nuthinbutlove]

No truer words have been spoken!

[@MartinMCade]

I've played through Tech 21 pedals straight into a PA (Played both bass and guitar in one gig, and I took a pedalboard with no amp.) Nobody cared and it sounded fine. Would I use those in a studio? Maybe, maybe not. But no matter what it's whatever skill I have at playing the right notes in time that is more important than having a fancy guitar or amp.

[@MashaT22]

I agree . . . but pretty sure John Master’s sound guy won’t be screwing his sound up.

[@davedecker1725]

Same for guitars "Nobody can hear the NAME on the headstock of your guitar" Either you can play the damn thing or you can't

[@nuthinbutlove]

@@MashaT22 unfortunately his is not a typical situation. There's a huge difference when you're an artist who has the advantage of a specific sound person traveling/touring with you as opposed to being a guitarist in a band playing gigs, one-offs, concerts, or touring with a different engineer on every gig.

[@manilatoaster6731]

I broke up a band because of how furiously I defended my Line 6 Spider 2 Custom. I didn’t have the money to buy a new amp, so I felt really attacked by the other guitarists complaining about my “tone”. I finally bought an Orange Terror and then, then I understood what tone was. Always remember, when in doubt, bump up the mids.

[@BITESIZEJONES]

Now you'll probably experience them saying your sound is too dirty with the orange amp lol.

[@qua7771]

I had a similar experience starting with a Peavey Vypyr. When with other guitarist playing through real tube amps I hated how thin I sounded in comparison. I started with an Egnator, then got a Marshall clone. That solved the problem for me.

[@Blitterbug]

Honest question: What about the recording process where many engineers like to take the feed direct into their effects chain & mixing desk / DAW? Is the amp type so critical if you're not live or would you all prefer miking up your amps when cutting a track (which I guess would need isolation booths)?

[@AmericanNationalist852]

I'm just a bedroom guitar player, like 85% of the rest of you out there, and I've found that going digital and having NO amps is the way now. I use TH-U and I can get WAY more tones than I could with physical gear because of monetary constraints, plus it's just so easy to plug in and throw on a set of headphones at night while the kids are sleeping to jam/practice for a bit in front of my computer.

[@halofour01]

I was just commenting and guessed our numbers at 90%. lol I have a PodGo that I play through all the time, but I also have a room with a bunch of tube amps and 4x12 cabs that I have collected over a lifetime. I like both. If I have a half hour to play, I'll use the Line6. If I'm playing for a longer time, I'll fire up a "real" amp. I have thought about selling many of the amps I don't use much, but I just enjoy owning them.

[@Citizen_JQP]

100% agree. It's come a long way.

[@JewettMusic]

I know exactly how you feel, I play without an amp mostly, and I wouldn't want to have to use one. Drummer here

[@dennisneo1608]

It's not the same as hearing the guitar through an amp.

[@AmericanNationalist852]

@@dennisneo1608 no one said it was. You CAN get extremely close to an "amp feel" from modelers and sims, you just have to run them through a power amp and a guitar cab, but not blowing out my ears to get a great tone has been heavenly, ESPECIALLY after moving on from TH-U to a Fractal Audio FM9 and using a powered stage monitor for non-headphone playing. To each their own, but I'm never going back; it's just too good and too versatile.

[@pillmuncher67]

The most important thing in music is authenticity. If you can fake authenticity, you've got it made.

[@flamethegame1]

I think, when comparing the two amps, you need to keep in mind that the biggest difference that you hear comes from the speaker. So if you ran the line6 spider amplification section through the same cab you would use with the boutique amp, 99% of people would not be able to hear a difference in a blind test

[@jamesbarrick3403]

This guy knows what is up. Same goes for home hifi... focus on the speakers when it comes to your budget and focus far less on the source path. Its all important, but like a rock band is only as good as its drummer... audio production is the same with the speakers.

[@timothymartin2137]

STOP WITH THIS BULLSHIT LINE, GLENN!!!!!

[@MashaT22]

SammyG needs to create his own new music genre: Canadiana. I’d totally be down with that sort of vibe. Canada has some interesting cultural vibes. My personal fave is the Scottish immigrants in Nova Scotia. I’ve done road trips through most of eastern Canada (and have been on road trips through nearly every state in the continental US minus like 5 of them). For real, SammyG needs to get on this new genre - I’ll take a free tee for the idea and maybe an album liner credit. 🤓 🎸 👍🏻

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

“WERE GONNA NAME A SONG AFTER YOU. CALLIT CANADAAAA

[@Xirrious]

My fav part about Canadian culture is the compelled speech laws and not being allowed to defend yourself legally. Or and make sure you don't protest or they'll shut your bank account down too, that little bit of culture is tops. Just kidding. I'm just ripping on Trudy. I'm sure Canada has real culture too that's not just totalitarianism.

[@nikashpersaud353]

"Canadiana" does exist! In a looser sense there's a large group of bands that are collectively known by pretty much every Canadian.

[@YukonDemon]

Ever heard of The Tragically Hip?

[@davisbrothersband9990]

Colter Wall is legit af!

[@Ghost19_]

My experience with Spotify as a listener (and I love listening to under-the-radar artists) is that it always had been good at recommending the same genre or style of music. So there is likely a chance that your song might get heard of as long as those people are inline with your kind of genre too.

[@seandaniel23]

MY GUY! Sammy G is the only entourage i need!

[@macsarcule]

Sammy G, no matter the topic, I always leave your videos feeling better, even on some pretty dark days. You’re a good person, a positive person, and you make the world a better place just being here. I enjoy your content for the info & the fun too, but I thought you should know you being you is a help to a lot of us. Thanks for sharing yourself and your work. Much peace to you. ✌️😌🎸

[@jaredcoleman4569]

Hi Sammy G! Long time viewer, first time commenter. My band has seen a bit of success with that technique you talked about with the spotify algorithm, it definitely works! We released our first video that garnered a decent amount of views, with streaming release of that song coming about a week after. People were very excited to listen to it outside of youtube, so a large surge of people listened to it on spotify when it came out. Garned a few thousand streams in the first few days. All within 2ish years later, spotify shoved that song in it's algorithm and now it's on track to 700k in the next couple days or so, and that also provided a huge boost for our other songs we've released since!

[@nedim_guitar]

The Studio Rats did a video recently (actually two videos) where they did a shootout between some amps: a Marshall head, a Matchless and a Boss Katana Artist head. The Katana was actually the loudest amp. And in a blind test, the way the amps were set up, it was difficult to tell which amp was which. They weren't identical, but they're very close.

[@-jank-willson]

What matters the most with "amps" is actually the speakers. Amps actually have very little to do with changing the sound much. All the different sound qualities you hear between, say, marshalls, voxs, fenders, etc. is actually from the SPEAKERS, _not_ the circuitry...

[@DrPepperZZZ]

​@@-jank-willson My EVH sounds totally different than my marshall through the exact same cab. Also the EVH sounds great through it's matching cab but sounds like garbage through a home-made cab with the same speakers. It's obvious that amp, cab, and speakers all play a significant part in a rig's sound.

[@stratolestele7611]

​@@-jank-willson a year later and I'm still laughing at this comment! 😂😂😂

[@DeathMetalDerf]

I'm a fairly skill-less guitar player, and have been having a blast learning new stuff and coming up with my own punk rock/thrashy riffs. I'd never play for another person to hear, because even though I've been playing guitar since I was about 12 or 13, I still consider myself hot garbage.

[@reNINTENDO]

If you're learning new stuff and making up your own stuff, there's a decent chance you're not actually skill-less or hot garbage. At the very least you didn't stick with just hammering nails into a stump.

[@trentonwheatley6776]

You’re the man Sammy G i’m a blind guitarist and I was wondering if your courses would work for me

[@LysanderLH]

I’m so relieved to find so many other guitarists repeating what i’ve thought for so long. Less gear, more playing.

[@evanduffy1015]

+1 on the Spotify stuff, if you send out a Spotify link to all your friends they’re a lot more likely to actually listen to it more than just one time than if you sent out a link to sound cloud. I feel like most non musicians never use SoundCloud or anything other than Spotify/Apple Music

[@stuartmellor-3463]

I gigged a line6 flex tone for years, eventually I took the badge off and told anyone who asked that it was 64 Marshall Bluesbreaker. They all said it sounded great !

[@stuartmellor-3463]

@Mr_SamuraiGuitarist.. Hi there, that sounds interesting.

[@andytheguitarist472]

I do have some info on the Spotify thing, but it's a bit tricky to explain. Basically we're back to the "record deal yes/no" debate. Basically, record labels, mangers or the like, have contacts to different parts of Spotify offices around the world. Example, here I know a guy who's primary job is to pitch things to Spotify. So if you have a deal with him, he'd send it to Spotify in Sweden, they'll listen to it and push it through the algorithm, put it on playlist etc. This is all before it's uploaded anywhere. And it can make a huge difference. So basically, make sure to send your stuff to places or people like that, mingle with people at every chance you get cause there is still a lot of value in making the right people promote your music and not just upload yourself, though that is of course always also a good way.

[@dochert]

Sammy, despite me being a bassist, I have a relatively unknown combo by Roland - ST-50r. It is an amazing-sounding combo with two channels and a spring reverb. I have the feeling that the amp was made by a company akin to Peavey

[@thenamelessavenger]

The country music for farmers line was resonant. Well put.

[@DonChurch]

Hot take: I have nice amps. I do 90% of my stuff with my Helix. Yeah, I'm sure Kemper is better, etc., but the point is that by the time you add in an effects chain and other instruments, I can get something independently indistinguishable from any amp I want. Could you hear _a_ difference if you listened for it back-to-back with the real thing? Sure, if you're good, but you're not listening to the music at that point. So... I'll take my studio storage space back instead of my old collection of boutique amps.

[@krissv3ctor512]

For live and studio stuff I totally agree with you but I think when you’re in the room there’s something about having a real amp (or at least a real cab). It doesn’t matter if it’s solid state or tube, 1x8 or 4x12, it’s a whole different experience from using headphones or monitors.

[@fallenshallrise]

I love gear but really we're fooling ourselves most of the time when it comes to thinking that money = tone, or that the details of your tone even matters to the listener compared to composition and performance when your in one of the basic forms, clean Fender, crunchy Vox, saturated JCM800. Same goes for guitar shred skills. A great skill to have is to hear a melody in your head and be able to pick that out on your instrument without blotting it out with linear scale shapes and box patterns.

[@Jimbob-hp6ud]

Shredding is dog shit, I can barely listen to it, good melody every time

[@lovefan7694]

For the question on 11:10, I think they mean if it's okay to not actively seek to improve anymore if your playing for fun. My answer to that is that it's okay, BUT: first you have to reach a level where you can play most of the stuff you would like to play, and keep learning new songs with a similar skill level. I'm saying this as a completely intermediate drummer with a full time schedule that rarely gets time to play. Anyways, example: if you really wanna play Metallica and you do reach that level, it's okay to plateau at that level. If you get bored you can turn to Megadeth, Iron Maiden, etc., you won't run out of things to play.

[@MaggaraMarine]

Exactly. It's difficult to have fun if you are struggling with technique all the time. So, even if you are just "doing it for fun", how much fun can you really have before you reach the skill level that you are at least somewhat satisfied with? But once you reach that level, then improving your technique doesn't really affect your ability to have fun that much any more. When your technique no longer holds you back, then learning technique is no longer necessary if you are only interested in having fun. But if your technique seriously limits your creativity, then it's quite obvious that learning more technique would make it easier to have fun (because I think one part of having fun is a certain kind of effortlessness - if you have to think about your technique all the time, it takes away from the enjoyment of making music).

[@Bacopa68]

Speaking of hip hop, Young MC wrote both of Tone Loc's hits. Young MC later became a one hit wonder with "Bust a Move" which was boosted by Flea on the bass.

[@noi5emaker]

I think the difference between hearing amps on recordings can be minimal. You're not tasting it, like you would a piece of beef. You're not even playing the amp. So I think Mayer could be right, that the recorded version of an amp can be very similar. PLAYING it, on the other hand, is completely different and brings out different things from the player.

[@zhieson]

I love your Tom Delonge example. He's one of my favorite musicians, but like you said, its more he does a lot with a smaller skillset. Gives the less talented hope too :)

[@whatthedrum]

On John Mayers comment and what you said: I don't think a single person (even gear snobs) would notice in a live setting if a guitarist had an expensive amp on stage with a hidden cheap one providing the real sound. Our brains are incredibly powerful at filling in gaps of information and just the sight of a nice amp will make the audience truly believe the sound is of higher quality regardless of musical experience. Lots of people like to think they would be able to tell the difference but when you aren't hearing isolated guitar and don't already know there is a second amp providing sound it is impossible to tell.

[@WithCarePlz]

A grammy award deserves respect, I’ll say that much. Anyone trying to play guitar (for any reason at all) is gonna find out pretty quickly that you’re gonna have to learn *music* stuff. You’re not gonna play a 5 minute improvised solo without learning some music. The more you learn music the more you realize how simple of a formula that it is. That being said- hit music is catchy. There’s no denying it. Therefore a Grammy earns respect from me. Do I watch the show, or know all the winners? No. But when somebody’s a grammy award winner as a musician it still commands some respect from me as a musician. I have a great example: Afroman. Dude is a Grammy award winner. You could scoff at afroman, but dammit he did a thing- and he has a natural gift for melody and made all his own music. He did the thing. You have to respect that even if you’re bourgeoisie and elitist about your music being superior to other peoples opinions. Music is social. It’s in our DNA. You want to play music for other people, don’t you? Don’t you want other people to like it? Well, even if they’re engineered by somebody a grammy winner did the thing, and I respect it on some level. As a musician you have to respect a Grammy on some level for anyone. To play music for anyone besides yourself is a social attempt. Don’t hate on people’s success ya’ll. Respect it and keep working.

[@turboturtle01]

I've been using the Line 6 Spider4 75W at home for a long time. The "green metal" channel sounds really good to me, especially at low volumes. I tried different amps at the store but never felt the need to upgrade.

[@halofour01]

Being satisfied with what you have is great!!

[@KaaiHawaiianDeathMetal]

I have a Spider 3 150w with a b52 cab. It sounds pretty damn good when I’m playing at home. I went in to buy a combo amp. Bought that half stack for $200. They only people that care about your gear are people that think they know shit

[@michaelharris2101]

Yes, the thing about skill sets is it's critical to not compare your skill set to others obsessively, particularly early in your progress (unless it's inspiring you to try harder). It's OK to make music with a limited skill set; what matters is honing that over time to get better with what you are good at. Lots of great great music made by musicians with limited technical skill sets, but they could extract an enormous amount from what they had. Your Tom DeLonge example applies with force to the Beatles.

[@peppik]

Once I saw a Hendrix-Cover Trio playing in a club. The guitarist had a wall of two 100W Plexi-Marshall stacks and the drummer trouble fitting his drums on stage. The bassist got squeezed in the corner, although he was also the singer and therefore should have been regarded as the frontman of the band. But no, the frontman was the guitarist, who dressed up like Hendrix with that famous feather-hat and an expensive White-Custom-Hendrix-Reissue-Strat. After a while I thought the sound of the Marshalls was kind of strange and then I realized, that both of them were on standby-mode. So I went beside the stage and guess what I saw: Hidden behind the Marshalls was a Mesa Boogie MKIII happily running! But the funniest thing: A couple of days before, I went to a Jeff Beck Concert, where I spotted the Hendrix-Impressario in the audience. At that night in the club, he fancied the same moves and gestures Jeff Beck did in his Concert! Now This must have been nearly 30 years ago but I still remember it clearly as it was yesterday. One of the most bizarre events I ever witnessed besides the fact, that the guitarist couldn't even play. He had a Cry Baby Wah off course, which at some point he forgot to turn off. To this day I ask myself, who lugged the Marshalls in and out of the club? My guess: The drummer and bass player.

[@alexreaves8921]

samuraiguitarist omg you nailed the point about TikTok and how a 2hr long movie seems daunting even though you love movies. I've been experiencing this lately. It's gotten to the point where I can't put my phone down while a movie is going on. I used to never have this problem.

[@stephen3164]

There’s a video out there of Satriani playing some kid’s beginner guitar/amp. You can tell the tone isn’t “up to par”, but it still sounds like Satch. I don’t mean it sounds like his music, but rather it sounds like Satriani is playing (which he is). Basically, that kid will never get his rig to sound that good with his own fingers. The Line6 stuff... well, they’re built to a price point. If they sold a $99 Spider amp that sounded as good as their $1,500 Helix setup, well, they’d never sell another Helix! Everyone would just buy the cheap Spider! So you can’t fault a cheap amp for sounding cheap. A company would be shooting themselves in the foot if they made it too good. The Vox Pathfinder 15R is a good example. These were $100-120 new, and they sounded great. You could run it through a larger cabinet and use it in bands. I did - people IN THE BAND thought I was using a Vox tube amp and complimented me on my tone. They were shocked to learn how cheap the amp was!

[@Jimbob-hp6ud]

I have the vox pathfinder, into a Gretsch It's fantastic, I live in a small space but for recording and small gigs it really is the business man, great amp, I love it.

[@mattlau]

It's a great time to be a guitarist. The amount of good gear that is affordable is limitless. I remember starting out on guitar 20 years ago and the Squier guitars were quite bad. Sure, you can find a diamond in the rough, but the majority were not gig-worthy. Nowadays? Wow, Squier is making some gig-worthy guitars and many musicians don't need to get a Custom Shop from Fender (even though you should still get it if you can haha). But technology has really made cheap guitar amps and modeling so good. The BOSS Katana and the Line 6 stuff is actually very good these days. I used to be the guy who wants to keep all my guitar pedals. Nowadays, I just use a $650 CAD Headrush MX5 and that is my WHOLE PEDAL BOARD, and it does 99% of the job!

[@kellykent131]

Sammy G, I really liked this video. On the Nashville thing, I totally agree about Bro country. It sucks eggs. That being said, female country artist are still putting out good solid country music. Austin City Limits features them from time to time. Prince wrote lots of songs for female artist and was very successful as you know. Just food for thought. Keep up the great work.

[@kanelang798]

We need to get this man a Grammy immediately 🤣

[@withershin]

1MM subs... we could actually pull this off for the record. I've got free time. Wanna try?

[@nicholasaragon4126]

I have tube amps, solid state amps, little practice amps that are battery powered, modeling amps, I use modeling software all the time. I've never touched an amp that I couldn't get a usable sound out of eventually. Most of them have these things protruding from them called knobs, you turn them and it changes the sound. Then you listen and tweak until your ears are happy. I think a looper pedal is a must-have though, it significantly cuts down the time it takes to dial it in.

[@halofour01]

Being able to tailor your playing to suit the sound that's available is a big part of it.

[@edbalabon2221]

Dude I'm telling you, I practice through a original metal zone in a blue tooth speaker,it sounds killer,and I'm old school have a old Beringer Vampire head,my buddy has a studio,and a lot of players love it.

[@Theweeze100]

You’re right. Nobody care’s much about the fact that I put so much thought, sweat, blood, and cash into my Bass, Electric, and Acoustic Guitar tones. Other musicians are somewhat impressed (because they know I’m giving it my best shot), and I really enjoy using it…but most folks I play for, don’t really notice much of a difference between “just ok” and “Great” equipment. I’ve thought about selling all of my Mesa Boogie, etc stuff and buying cheaper equipment. I enjoy using it, and my kids will probably have to sell it at the estate sale, when I pass😉

[@Xplosive59]

The whole amp thing does depend on the genre, a big part of why I love Boris and Melvins are that super huge amp tone you can't really emulate through digital amps. For like most modern rock and metal the difference is negligible.

[@halofour01]

I'm 53 and I've been playing since I was 15. 90% of the guitar players I've known don't play out or record. We might jam on occasion, but for the most part, we just play for fun. Owning amps for a HUGE segment of the population of guitar players is just part of the hobby. To ask if amps are pointless is such a stupid question to me. (so offense SG, love the channel!) It's like asking if old cars are pointless or if having an old house is pointless. You own what you enjoy, what gets the job done, and what you can afford. I honestly think this analysis of digital vs. "real" amps that everyone keeps doing is pointless. If you gig, lighter stuff is great. If your gear hasn't moved in a decade, glowing glass is cool. Whatever.

[@Zamollius_the_Holy]

My Favorite amps are Roland Cubes! I have tube amps but they are too loud still love them for what they are!

[@aaronwilson9261]

I like the idea of the subscription to a website. I am getting really sick of KZbin. Edit: I mean youtube as a company and media platform. Good ol' Sammy G is always good to see.

[@shitmandood]

I pretty much avoid shorts and shit-crok for the same reasons. It's mindless and it's only there to suck people into that awful form of thinking.

[@corner8773]

ITS SO COOL FINDING ANOTHER STEVE EARLE FAN!!! he’s such an underrated artist with an incredible style and he deserves a lot more recognition I saw him in concert a while ago and he is incredible on stage

[@okiwatashi2349]

I was his guitar tech for a few years in the late 90s!

[@ericfellner2689]

I thought he was a really renowned guy. Weird to hear him called underrated.

[@replicated]

Free Pentantonic Mastery? Best ad ever. Signed up, because I still can't do anything but run up and down with it. I suck, I know.

[@Krullmatic]

The only social media I have is here on KZbin, and I rarely watch the Shorts, because I'm not entertained by a 30 second to 1 minute video. I love the long form videos. Especially, if it's a channel I really like. The longer the better. But, I am from a different generation, plus China gathers info on people on TikTok, so there's that as well.

[@Gynra]

I'm the same. I usually can't be bothered with the shorts, and what particularly irks me is the vertical format. I never watch YT on my phone, and I don't have TikTok, and never will.

[@schoontube]

“Like hammering crooked nails into a stump.” ❤ May I steal this for a lyric?

[@toastangler]

Unpopular Opinion: I don't rely on amps for my tone, whatsoever. Any clean powerful amplifier will work, because I already have the signal processed the way I want it to sound. If it doesn't sound right through a new amplification source for whatever reason; a few eq tweaks later, then it does. To each thier own though😀

[@sonotdown998]

As a guy who has worked in the “biz,” has been nominated for a Grammy, and was a voting member of the Recording Academy, the Grammys are, yes, in some ways, a “popularity contest.” More often than not, people end up voting for themselves, their friends, their coworkers and contacts, their friends’ friends, their label, etc. There was a lot of “Who are you voting for?” “Who should I vote for in this category?” around the office at Grammy voting time. That said, in my experience, most everything that makes it through the nomination process is worthy of the award itself-especially in the “smaller” categories. Also, in the “smaller” categories (the type I was nominated in) the nomination process is much more open to independent labels, artists, producers, engineers and the like than the “major” categories are. The “major” categories (which I usually couldn’t give a sh!t about) are “major” business-pun intended. (Edit: I forgot that the original question stipulated “at this point.” I’m describing my experience from 25 years ago. I have no reason to doubt that it still is-and has always been-this way.)

[@craigstiles5186]

My spider IV served me well. all the sounds I needed to play covers. Didn't have to worry about it getting destroyed. I had one for back up too. $125 each. Better than taking my 5150, blue voodoo, or fender. Drunk people don't notice what amp you are playing through.

[@LongLiveTheBeat]

11:05 I seriously couldn’t agree more man. I am no fan of country music, with the exception of a country gospel touch of Randy Travis “Are you washed in the Blood?” but presently I ABHOR the sensationalism of pop country music that can almost be classified as, “Music, but has no taste with the literal music itself because it decided to party on farmer dad’s money.” An original analogy of mine to describe the relationship between new and old country music.

[@PostColorGear]

I love your answer to the first question. And it's so true. I don't think he was being entirely sarcastic. Sure, yes, there's more headroom and all that jazz on a Dumble, but depending on how things are recorded, mixed, etc. etc. etc., as John said, people can be fooled. I play in my cover band with a Fender Champion 100. Would I rather use another amp? Sure. Did I save money on it and no one can tell it was cheaper? Yup lol

[@sirseth1087]

I totally agree with you everything you said about TikTok and short form content. It makes perfect sense. It actually decreases your brain’s dopamine and ability to have self awareness. It’s so toxic, addictive and depressing.

[@rhysduncan8676]

I'd like to see a source for that, because it seems completely pulled out of your ass

[@dirtydan1337]

7:19 I feel you so hard on this one Sammy

[@bmint]

The cheap amp will sound cheap in any setting.. a crowded busy loud bar is going to sound worse with a cheap amp.. a good amp adds something to the air that makes it acceptable and any volume level.. however, a great guitarist through a clean amp, at reasonable coffee shop levels, will not notice the difference at all

[@bmint]

I have no studio and the few I’ve been in were no better than my person practice rig.. practice, practice, practice!

[@bmint]

There is no substitute for hard work

[@virtualnuke-bl5ym]

I think part of the fun of playing guitar as a beginner is learning and getting better. Maybe it's boring to us advanced players to play a 6 note riff, but I remember when I first started, the first thing I learned was the intro riff to "Fade To Black" and simple as it is to me now, I must've spent over 40 hours just playing that riff over and over and had an absolute blast doing it. Then as a beginner you hear a pinch harmonic or some new technique for the first time and you're like "wow what is that?!" And it gets you genuinely excited that you're discovering something completely crazy. You play a high note without actually playing a high note! Wow! That's something I miss about being a beginner. I've learned all the techniques, well all of them that I care to learn (I'm not going to even attempt flamenco.) Now I just have to improve the basics slowly and painfully, seeing hardly any progress until I notice like a 20% overall improvement in my playing after like 5 years lol.

[@morristgh]

I won't tell anyone what to do, but picking up a classical guitar and attempting to learn flamenco techniques has been the single thing that has made me progress more than I ever have in the past year. I no longer need to rely on a pick for (decent) strumming and my overall guitar playing and "feel" has just improved so much.

[@MrDirtydaves]

I feel like a lot of the modelers(both low and high end) require the personality that likes to fiddle with settings to sound good. Personally, that’s my least favorite part of playing guitar so I like to stick with basic “meat and potatoes” amps. Gimme a tube amp with three knobs and I’ll be happy.

[@mixodorians12]

Satriani used a plugin all over his last album, so expensive amps in the studios days are numbered too. Fact is going Dumble is a status symbol, a lifestyle choice, an investment. In practical terms any watch can tell the time, like any amp or piece of modelling gear or plug in, can do a sound. But you will always have people who insist Rolex is superior, because it is Swiss made and because of its heritage etc.

[@ivan_osorio]

I went to a show at a night club recently and the band played a 2h set; the guitarist was out of tune for 3/4 of the entire show... Asked some people around (and some of my friends who were there) if they noticed and nobody picked it up. To think that any "non-musician" can spot the difference between a X or Y amount of dollar equipment is absurd... Most non-musicians (and a not insignificant amount of actual musicians) can't tell the difference between two notes. Period. A distinction that has actual musical implications... Let alone if they are coming from a Line 6 or a Dumble. The things people listening to music in a live setting notice are: 1) It's too loud / not loud enough, and 2) the guy / girl playing that (instrument) looks hot.

[@bastianmcg]

Why pay for that Dumble when you can download the kemper profile 🗿

[@jare114]

My opinion is that Chester Bennington is one of the most powerful, talented, and dominant frontman of all time, if not the best.

[@Optiman5000]

Was

[@mrseaweed88]

​@@Optiman5000 he still is even in death. RIP

[@jare114]

@Optiman5000 As long as his legacy lives, his music lives, and he still lives though it,

[@adamricard9410]

I think John was just saying that not many people know exactly what they’re hearing. Five watt world just did a video having people vote on which was which, as McLerin was playing an FM3 and a Two Rock. Which was which. The votes were pretty 50/50 and the funny part was his FM3 was a JTM45. So not even the same rig and people thought it was a Two Rock Studio Pro which is a clean fender/Dumble style against a Marshall legend. That’s what John Mayer was saying. Not literally that a line 6 spider could fool him.

[@Jimbob-hp6ud]

I use an Oceans 11, Canyon, Mod 11 and Big muff, see the pattern? All EHX, one brand. I chose them all at the same time so I didn't need to buy pedals for the rest of my life but would work together to provide 90% of what any given musical scenario would ask for, it works totally, remember the audience doesn't know or care if you're using analog or digital or even just one brand

[@lucasfischer6358]

i scraped together 6 months of salary without spending 1 cent to buy a Marshal JVM410h + speaker and, considering it's my ONLY audio equipment (not counting guitars and acoustic guitars), I think it was really worth it. Still, I have to say that I'm not looking for an ultra-wide sound (effect pedals, etc.) and I don't even play live with it. If I were going to use the same amount of money to build something more professional and varied, I would never pick up a Marshall right away. It was a childhood dream, by the way.

[@waltjames407]

I don't bother any more with big tube amps. All they ever did for me was get me in trouble with clubs and sound guys. Good riddance. Biggest amp I still own is a Peavey Classic 30 1x12. Now I get compliments on how good it sounds, instead of complaints about how loud it is.

[@bennymountain1]

The album idea sounds great. In my opinion that's what sets Polyphia apart, even though musicians enjoy their stuff too. But they're pretty much the only "guitar centered instrumental" band that my gf doesn't tell me to turn off immediately. Stoked to hear your stuff!

[@ShouldHaveBeen]

Here's an unfiltered opinion: This guy doesn't play with any feeling. It wouldn't matter if he played out of a Mesa rectifier or with an unplugged electric guitar.

[@sleepwalkerbg1]

As a musician who has a lot of technical background (almost 2 decades of experience in the field of electronics - repair and design) i tell you - guitar amp hype is just another form of "audiophoolery" (audiophilia) :) You know that disease - cables that cost 1000000 gazillion dollars , claims that digital is "bad" , that tubes are superior to solid state 🤯 , etc. Many times i said - music comes from person , not amp . In 99.99 percent of cases , regular person cannot notice any difference between 200 dollar vs. 2000 dollar amp 😊 Cheerz SammyG

[@MrJingles021]

Oh man, I was totally going to sign up to the newsletter to get the pentatonic course...but only 24 hours? Damn

[@dochert]

The Roland ST-50R is actually a seriously rare amp. Have you heard of it?

[@iplaymytele]

“ new subscriber” , Today is my birthday…🎶👍🏻🙏🏻🎉 ( 69 ) …! Being a Working Musician, most all of my life, including being on the road for almost 5 years … I have owned a plethora of multi faceted amplifiers throughout my illustrious musical career ….. And even now down in my studio, I believe there are six amplifiers that I can switch between all hooked up to my massive DIY Pedal board… , four of them are tube amplifiers… This comment is not about how wonderful my amplifiers are…! But the most incredibly fantastic sounding amplifier I have heard in my life..! When I was 16 or 17 I went over to my brother-in-law‘s house to jam…, with a couple friends that drove down from Chicago this one particular Guitar player, who is probably in his late 20s early 30s.. and was playing a beat up house painted green Blond neck and finger board, 68 Tele that had a Parsons White ( B ) Bender installed in it …! Not only was he one of the most phenomenal, blues and country players I have heard in my life…! But his sound was “off the hook..!!!” What a humble, soft-spoken brilliant Musician he was…🎶👍🏻🙏🏻👍🏻🎶. The amplifier he was playing through was a beat up Tube Sears Silvertone amplifier. That he said, his kids had pulled the knobs off of the front of it, except for two of them…😹😹😹👍🏻 My entire life I have been trying to achieve the sound of a guitar player nobody has ever heard of before…! Playing a guitar that inspired me to play a B bender telecaster most all of my life… Through a POS Tube amp that was missing most of the knobs on the front… I have several phenomenal sounding amplifiers…! That none will ever sound as good as my mysterious hero who I don’t think I even remember hearing his name…! ( The Jeff Galey Channel )

[@0megalul309]

this i what i felt on expensive overdrive pedals that only sound like the amp you run them too.

[@alexwoolridge94aw]

I love my tube amps. I gig my high end Magnatones and my Marshalls to an Orange Rockerverb. Idcif anyone cares but I like playing them and they're reliable. As a gigging guitarist reliability is whats truly important. I've only had two amps fail. One being a beat up Marshall jcm2000 dsl100 from the 90s, which is expected and a brand new cheap Egnater tweaker. You buy cheap you get cheap

[@CamCo55]

"Maybe I'll win one next year" We'll get you a Juno... - the participation ribbon of prestigious awards

[@masterchef3019]

I think there’s just so many choices in gear that it really is just the discretion and taste of the the guitarist that matters. I love tube gear for the feel and how modular they are(I also love to fiddle with electronics, something I can’t do with modelers), but I use a Yamaha THR30 forage night practice. Though when it comes to recording, tube amps and pedals are what sound the richest to me. Then again, there are guys who can get great tone out of plugins, it’s all up to the artist

[@VromanEmpire]

As a 40 year guitarist that loves tubes I've had some good line 6 gear even amps even my pod hd 500 can get extremely close so smh it is pointless to spend soooo freaking much on some of these expensive amps

[@MrTNT49]

Thanks for coming straight to the point that you teased in the thumbnail

[@aaronquinn8241]

You’re so fucking right about Tik Tok & reels formatting on social media & the attention span, would love to do a survey design around consumer attention span regarding short format video

[@slowpoke9364]

“Expensive amps are pointless. Buying a bunch of different guitars is much better.”

[@joermnyc]

Yes, now if I can only convince the wife that more guitars = better.

[@MK-vf1mr]

Will the free course also be available to your existing newsletter subscribers or do I need to resubscribe? 😅

[@williambartholomew5680]

The Spiders can sound great, the larger ones are awesome and still hold up - the problem with them is the front interface makes them hard to find the sound you want and to dial them in, get the interactive pedal (pod/helix) and that fixes that.

[@triplejudy]

The guy at the back playing pool attempting to get into the pants of the girl at the bar doesn’t give a shit whether or not your gear is expensive or not. Trust me!

[@mattwaymire5276]

I missed the free pentatonic class I think. It’s 4 days. I’d love to have it If you can please.

[@jakamahadika7605]

Never use an amp, the situations in house and local gigs can't allow me to have an amp. Always using a joyo american for that fender-y sound and it's good enough through PA Edit, spelling

[@tdchewy]

In regards to expensive gear is a waste of money: Duh, That's obvious to anyone that's not committed to expensive gear because they already own some. They need to justify that cost somehow, because everyone else knows a speaker is a speaker, an amp is an amp. It's what you feed into it that matters. There's so much effects and filtering and eq going on these days that the speaker makes 0 difference at all unless you're just playing clean, which hardly anyone does any more.

[@christorres4303]

Shop Dawgs deserve a Grammy!

[@andrzejmogus7237]

Meanwhile me with my beat-up 1970's amp "Eltron-30" bought from old school for 60 PLN (about 12 dollars) that i have been using for a year now. It was made in Poland and it actually went on fire not long after buying, but i managed to reprair it by replacing two or three burned components for couple of bucks. It weighs about 10 kilograms because it's case is made out of wood entirely (but it barely contains anything electrical inside). It still works somehow tho. Someone tries to get cheaper than that?

[@emmettyoung7603]

the only reason i have a twin is because they’re loud as hell and sound good, but if i could get away with it i’d use a blues jr or similar small amp

[@acidbath3226]

I have a crate powerblock and I get a sick tone just from the combination of graphtech pickup, nyxl daddario and neodymium pickup that I'm using. Also get like a mercury magnetics cable which brings more presence to the EQ spectrum and allows your tone to be more dial-able, especially if your playing live gigs

[@MarcMercier1971]

6:46 Truer words can't be more well spoken.

[@TheKlaun9]

When I was younger, I was carrying stuff for local bands. There was that band where the guitar player owned all this great equipment but he was absolutely convinced that the cheap stuff was so great that he exclusively did gigs with it. They regularly emptied venues because the sound was just so bad (very talented musicians, skill was not the issue). They were also always so happy with their gigs, the delusion was strong in this one. Don't underestimate the average person, they only listen to super polished pop music and not so much obscure or interesting recordings like we do. If the sound is off and not what they're used to, they will hear that

[@disaster1594]

If only matters what the musicians themselves think. As you said they were happy playing with the gear they chose, who gives a rats ass if they emptied the venue.

[@TheKlaun9]

@@disaster1594 that's the attitude of a true maniac but not even a true reply to the comment. The amount of people I've met there desperately trying to make a living with the s* they produced. Of this particular band, the guitar player got kicked out of any band he joined, desperately trying anything - I think he was 40 and his band mates were 18. And the bass player was trying to make it pro - which he did once he left that God awful band. It's concerning but well enough if you have that attitude with a fancy art project you do for fun, but you most likely don't hire people to carry your stuff then. I've seen it at least 3 times that I and the idiot who booked them being the only person who was there after the gig at major occasions - if you're not bothered by it, rock on with your gear or whatever fatal flaw your music has, but don't say nobody hears or notices it

[@_NoDrinkTheBleach]

I don't begrudge anyone for using outside writers on their projects. I think anything that serves the music is for the greater good. Ghost writing ultimately depends on how it works out for the ghost writer. If they are well compensated or get publishing royalties on what they do, more power to them. If they're being monetarily exploited to help some falling star stay afloat, then that sucks.

[@Johnny_Doe]

There are instances where gear snobs can tell the difference. However you can literally get a cheap old out of date Line6 Pod HD500X or a cheap old out of date Boss GT-100 and if you set your settings right, even most of the so called “tone” experts wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the cheap pedalboard vs vintage amp with boutique pedals.

[@AfroRedMusic]

The issue with "Ghost Writing" is like you mentioned with Em, where being your own lyricist is the standard, but this standard only came about in the late 80s-90s; Hip-hop/Rap like it is now, started off as party music, which is why I laugh at old heads who complain about "mumble rap" 🤣

[@thewdshck]

Wow Sammy g that's some info bro I haven't watched a movie since I started regularly watching KZbin that being said I do have a problem with patience and consideration.....experiment now pending

[@roberteltze4850]

The last time I saw any part of the Grammys Paula Abdul was winning all the awards.

[@rickpilcher6576]

in my experience 90% of the reason modelling amps sound like p00p is the absolute rock bottom quality speakers they come with. This is particularly true of the various Vox valvetronics, but even Mouldy old Flextones can be dramatically improved by fitting quality spkrs.

[@jarrodhroberson]

Vai and Buckethead are to be seen and experienced more than just heard.

[@JohnvanCapel]

Re: "Does skill level really matter if you're just in it for the creativity and fun of it?" I think that djmusey has their cause-and-effect backwards. It's not necessarily the case that getting more skilled will make it more fun or lead to more creativity, but having more fun and pouring more creativity into it will build your guitar-skills faster.

[@MaggaraMarine]

I think it works both ways. Creativity does require at least some skill/knowledge. The more skilled you are, the easier it is to apply those skills, because you aren't struggling with basic technique. If you have no skill and want to play a nice sounding melody, playing that melody takes a lot of effort, because your lack of skill gets in the way. And the same applies when it comes to writing music. If you have no skill, it's quite difficult to make the song sound the way you like, and it's difficult to have fun if you aren't satisfied with the way your songs sound. All in all, skill makes this process a lot more effortless. That way, you can focus on the "having fun" part, and not on the technical struggle. But it is true that when you have fun, you will automatically also learn faster. But I would also say that making progress is fun in and of itself. When you realize you can do something that you couldn't do in the past, it is inspiring and makes you want to learn more. I think at one point, people usually reach a skill level that they are pretty satisfied with. They no longer struggle technically with the parts they like to play, and they can write stuff that they are quite satisfied with. At that point, they probably feel no need to focus on their technique that much any more. But before one reaches this level, I would say skill level is definitely one part of the equation in your ability to have fun with the instrument. The fact that you can't do something that you would like to be able to do is exactly what makes people want to improve their skills. But of course even then, there are different ways of practicing. And when you are having fun and being creative, you make more progress.

[@David-ei5lq]

Samuraiguitarist is a brand in which you have invested. How well has changing brand names worked out for others?