« -Does gear even matter? »
Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 9:01AM Yes,.. and no.
There's certainly a temptation to equate great equipment with great tone and playing. Honestly, I don't think that is entirely accurate or balanced. A mediocre player with an incredible instrument is still going to sound mediocre! On the other hand, a great instrument or device can open up creative and tonal potential that wasn't there before.
I could walk onstage at a Clapton soundcheck, pick up his guitar and play through his rig. I know I wouldn't sound anything like Eric Clapton. Conversely, I'm confident that Eric could plug my $80 pawn shop hollowbody guitar into a clock radio & instantly sound great & entirely like himself. Of course, his musical vocabulary would be limited to the choices that this particular setup limits him. This 'limitation' can actually be super-cool and generate great results, by the way!
All this is to say that while I am devoting a series of articles to various guitars, amps, pedals, etc... I don't think that gear matters any more than the player. Arguably, the player is far more important!
I plan on continuing to update this section of justinoscarcary.com with pictures, descriptions, anecdotes and soundclips of various pieces of gear that I use regularly or am reviewing. I hope you find some value and entertainment from them.
