((racingsnail84 wrote:

In my personal opinion , it has been proven over and over that you don’t need top shelf gear in order to make beautiful, iconic music. It’s just a fact.

As I understand it, Pipeline was recorded with a cheapo department store guitar. That was actually really cool and inspiring to hear because for a long time all I could afford and mostly still , are the mid-low range budget guitars.

For a long time I felt inadequate because I just couldn’t afford a Fender and thought I’d never be able to make music like the bands I love.

Luckily we live in a time where a guitar costing only 4-500 bucks , after a good set up, can hold its own against an any guitar costing 2-5 times as much. Mostly thanks to C&C machines and refined production methods.

Honestly whenever I encounter a gear snob I usually think they’re trying to compensate for the fact that their playing sucks , but they can afford a 2500 dollar guitar.__))

It’s true. My playing does suck. 50 years of playing and I still play mediocre. But at least I know it’s not my gear. Plus, I don’t go jonesing for someone else’s gear. Well not usually.

Last edited: Apr 23, 2023 21:06:32

IceratzSurf wrote:

You know the old saying "you get what you pay for"
I only buy expensive guitars to impress myself.

Yes, that makes point. I remember playing cheap (although not so cheap for us), unplayable and ugly guitars, in the end of 80s it was impossible to find anything besides Soviet guitars. If you were lucky you could get some Musima or Hohner but not for cheap.
I could buy my first “ok” guitar - Epiphone Special - in the end of 90s, and then got Mexican telecaster. Surely I dreamed of some cool American Fenders and when my career went to a new level I could afford them. I was buying all the AVRI Fenders I could find, plus top Gretsch and Gibsons. At that time I surely had a big Gear Snobbery, being pretty moderate player) When we were playing with some band with cheap chinese Corts I looked at them condescendingly.
However times were changing, I was changing, and as grew as musician and had more clear understanding of what I need from gear, it turned out that choosing guitars, gear and setup for some real musical purpose doesn’t always demand the most expensive one. Now I may come to a shop and leave with Squire, having moneys in pocket for American Original. Cause it suits my style, hands, musical context and purposes better. Or I may walk away with American Original cause it just makes me happy) Especially when remembering my Soviet childhood and youth and my early working years.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Last edited: Apr 24, 2023 01:25:14

racingsnail84 wrote:

Honestly whenever I encounter a gear snob I usually think they’re trying to compensate for the fact that their playing sucks, but they can afford a 2500 dollar guitar.

Sounds like reverse snobbery to me I guarantee you my playing doesn't suck - you may not like it, but I can get it done on stage and in the studio. I choose to do it nowadays on higher-end gear than I did 25-30 years ago. Having a steady job and a reliable income will do that. My first brand-new, US-made Fender Strat cost $525 (1991, I think, may have been '92). It's getting hard to find even a used MIM Strat for that these days. I liked playing that guitar more than anything I owned before it, which made me want to play more more more.

terma_reverb wrote:

There is so much bias out there about gear that it is hard to not be affected. Just buy whatever gear you can afford and start playing, don't care about what others say/think. I bet you will find a lot more interest in the music than in the gear. Of course it is nice to have quality gear but most I know started with very cheap guitars and amps. If you continue you will someday eventually upgrade to better equipment, if you like it.

Well said! My first electric guitar was a $99 Bradley Flying V and my first amp was a $100 (used) Peavey Bandit. I had just as much fun playing with that gear at 17 years old as I do now with more expensive stuff. Every guitar I've gotten since then has been a little better than the last one.

--
Project: MAYHEM -and- Moonbase Surficalus by Hypersonic Secret now available!

It's interesting reading this thread and the different attitudes to equipment. There are some that feel top end is worth it, some feel it's a waste of money.

When I was younger I worked with a guy who was a keen badminton player. He had the best racquet he could afford. It wasn't the best one, but it was a good one. He asked his brother if he wanted to play. His brother had played once or twice but didn't own a racquet. So, to join his brother in a game he went and brought a new racquet. When the two met, my friend pulled out his decent racquet. His brother, a complete newbie, pulled out a top of the range carbon fibre professional racquet. My friend couldn't believe it, this thing was so expensive that even as a keen player he couldn't afford it or justify. He asked his brother why he had bought that racquet when he was a complete beginner, and his brother replied, "I didn't want the racquet to hold me back".

I think there may be some of that with guitar gear. You buy the best you can so inferior equipment can't hold you back. If you buy the best there is, you can't blame the equipment.

When I see a guitarist with a top line guitar I assume he takes his playing seriously enough to justify the expense. He may be good, he my be very keen, he may be a novice. It sort of tells me they are committed to playing the guitar.

When I see a professional playing a top end instrument, I assume it's for tax reasons. You can claim back part of the cost of a guitar as a professional musician as a business expense. I understand that Chuck Berry bought a new Gibson every year (tax deductable) and it was part of his pension. What would a 1958 Gibson ES335 be worth now? And a 1959 one...?

So loads of different reasons for expensive gear, some of them musical. What I know for sure is that what is available today is far superior than what I learned on in the 1980s. And it's far more plentiful, guitarists are everywhere (the days of knocking on a strangers door and being welcomed in after an introduction of, "I heard you play guitar...?") and playing guitar is much less valued that it ever has been.

http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/

There is a clip on YouTube, of Mikko Lankinen (from Laika And The Cosmonauts) playing their song “Fadeaway” at The Purple Orchid, in El Segundo, California, 2008.

In it, he’s playing a Squier Strat instead of his usual Vintage Jazzmaster.
It’s a great performance, and it doesn’t exactly suffer for the lack of a $$$$ guitar.

By the way, it also appears that their Bassist is playing a Lakland (Korean made) Skyline series Duck Dunn model P Bass. (It looks just like my brothers.)

-Cheers, Clark-

-Less Paul, more Reverb-

Reverbenator - I too have seen the video of him playing that Squier. Sounded great.

DaveMudgett wrote:

I'm not a gear snob, but I like what I like. And for surf, that is usually a Fender. I definitely lean to actual vintage Fender amps, but for guitars, the reissues are also generally excellent. The prices on actual vintage Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, and Jaguars are so absurd that it can be kinda' crazy to take them out unless you're pretty confident about the situation.

But there are lots of good alternatives these days. As far as Squier goes, yeah - there are some good ones for sure. I already said what I could say about them here - https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/35851/ - but if you have a good one, they're fine.

Paraphrasing the great steel player Jerry Byrd again - if you can play, the gear doesn't matter; if you can't play, the gear doesn't matter. Within reason, I think that's correct.

I’ve seen a guy play one of those cheap $75.00 Christmas beginner set guitars.
He made it sound fabulous.

But it was being played through a at least $1500.00 Amp, and a pedal board with at least $1000.00 worth of pedals.
So it sounded very good.
But along with sounding good, build quality and reliability need to be factored into the equation.
The Christmas set guitar probably had a 90 day life expectancy.

A $2000.00 fender should last at least 15 year or longer for a life expectancy.

Joel

Last edited: Apr 26, 2023 16:12:28