Improve Sustain?

Fran

I used to buy guitar magazines religiously. I'm a fan of gear and reviews, i remember a BC Rich being reviewed in 'Total Guitar' and this would be late 90's (Oasis/Britpop era).

I expected it to get torn to shreds by the reviewer as this was the period dominated by 335-a-likes and Sheratons thanks to Noel Gallagher. But it did'nt and i think secretly the reviewer was choking, TG were blown away by the guitars clean sounds and said it was sonically suited to all styles across the whole spectrum.

So if this is the case why should'nt an indie or ska band use a BC Rich? I know it is marketed towards Metal players but in contrast the PRS never was and the Metal crowd used them extensively a few years back.

Image matters, but in some cases it has an adverse effect were cool becomes boring. Its unfortunate for the players themselves too, they buy something based on the image of an icon when the other guitar they tried like an unfashionable Yamaha was 10X the guitar they've bought. How many times do we get people come on here moaning the Jag is crap or it does'nt sound like Nirvana? Even Trav pointed out people should know what they are getting into before they buy a Jaguar.

tragictravisty

Robbmonster said: So much of it has to do with how guitars are designed and marketed. And of course the following they achieve. Alot of factors.
Take Fender for example. Telecaster = working man's tool, nothing fancy, just aimed at musicians who value sound over everything else. Jazzmaster = originally marketed at jazz players, didn't work, found a huge following when the early alternative musicians (Sonic Youth, J Mascis being the best examples) bought them cheap and used them to create new sounds. Mustang = student guitar, fairly low end, now highly sought after mainly after being popularized by Kurt Cobain (feel free to disagree).
A Warlock, of course, is aimed at another demographic altogether, and it fits in quite well. Don't see many jazz musicians strapping on a Warlock.
To me the most interesting ones are guitars like the Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang, so on, the ones that were aimed at a certain group, and went on to find popularity elsewhere. Shows how great and versatile the instruments really are.
And good on the Iconoclasts (looking at you, Fran) who like to buck the trends and do something different. Look through my cd collection and what you will find more than anything is musicians who broke the mold and tried to do what they wanted, not giving a toss about how they were percieved.
But as Another Tool put it, it shouldn't matter, but sadly it does.

i ignore trends. i dont buck them.

SmutVendetta

Fran said: How many times do we get people come on here moaning the Jag is crap or it does'nt sound like Nirvana? Even Trav pointed out people should know what they are getting into before they buy a Jaguar.

So true. So sad.

Robbmonster

Fran said: How many times do we get people come on here moaning the Jag is crap or it does'nt sound like Nirvana? Even Trav pointed out people should know what they are getting into before they buy a Jaguar.

I understand people wanting to play the same guitar as their heroes, and that is fine by me. Personally, I have a whole different set of considerations based more around finances and practicallity, and of course sound.

I just noticed I liked the sound of certain guitars more than others, and the sound is what I strive for.

Luckily the majority of people on this site operate with a similar open-mindedness. Above all, the sound has to come first, and if a White Falcon or ES-335 suites what you are doing, wonderful. If a Mustang or Jaguar fits, fine, if a Warlock fits, fine. Play what fits.

At the end of the day, if you are able to move enough people with your playing (or rock star icon status) then people will want to play a guitar BECAUSE you play it. This is, I think how trends form and how unusual guitars find acceptance in genre's they were not intended for.

SmutVendetta

Fran said: How many times do we get people come on here moaning the Jag is crap or it does'nt sound like Nirvana? Even Trav pointed out people should know what they are getting into before they buy a Jaguar.

I can definitely agree with that. But if you don't do research on the guitar you buy, to achieve that sound, then you wasted a lot of money for nothing. It'd be nice if some people would do that research before asking questions that have been asked a billion times before and are in the FAQ section.

Robbmonster

Haha I hear you there, smut.

I'm something of an ignorant question king 😉

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