When did the guitar became a pariah instrument?

So loud obnoxious asshole guitarist complains he can no longer be loud and obnoxious and has to tone down?

Let's face it, Joe, the days of insanely loud stage volumes are over. The days that you had to play a stadium with stage amplification alone are over. PA systems have gotten good now and lets face, with rock music now in serious decline the days that you could play in a stadium or large arena and now worry about stage volume are over. And the venues where you can still play have health and safety regulation to contend with in regards to volume. And if you don't like to play a 1 watt amp on stage either invest into an Axe FX or some really good isolation cabs, cause the days of being loud on stage are over. And unless a miracle happens so is the day of the rock guitar player. Personally I'd worry about that a million times more then not being allowed loud and obnoxious on stage.
 
Watched an old movie last night. In it there were several scenes where doctors were smoking cigarettes while working. That was normal once. Now it's not. Things change.


Yep, I don’t want second hand smoke these days, just like I don’t want to drive a car without seatbelts and an unpadded dashboard, nor do I want my plumbing made with lead pipes etc...

We’ve learned the dangers of these things just like we’ve seen the lasting damage of loud noises on our hearing.

I don’t want to come home reeking of cigarette smoke these days, even though everyone at concerts used to smoke. I also don’t want to come home with my ears ringing for 2 days and suffer permanent hearing damage, just because someone says it’s “rock n’ roll and it’s supposed to be loud”
 
So loud obnoxious asshole guitarist complains he can no longer be loud and obnoxious and has to tone down?

Let's face it, Joe, the days of insanely loud stage volumes are over.

They aren't though. Doom bands, post-X bands, all very loud. Many running multiple amps and cabs and huge pedalboards.

I agree - don't let the guy at FOH get you turned down so that everything now sounds subpar and the first row can talk over your bassist. When I was younger, the comment I got the most was "I could see your fingers but I couldn't hear your solo!". As an aspiring live musician, that was terrible.

The trick to being any kind of loud is to have everything dialled in properly *before* you set foot in the venue.
 
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They aren't though. Doom bands, post-X bands, all very loud. Many running multiple amps and cabs and huge pedalboards.

I agree - don't let the guy at FOH get you turned down so that everything now sounds subpar and the first row can talk over your bassist. When I was younger, the comment I got the most was "I could see your fingers but I couldn't hear your solo!". As an aspiring live musician, that was terrible.

The trick to being any kind of loud is to have everything dialled in properly *before* you set foot in the venue.

I've been the guy at the FOH, and nothing sucks more then having a loud asshole guitar player with his giant stack that needs to be at 11 in order to sound good. Because then you can't do jack shit with that sound in the mix. Basically you turn off their mics and the only guitar the audience will hear is stage volume.

So go ahead, be a dick to the FOH engineer. And then wonder why your band sounds like shit. Being a dick to the FOH engineer is like being a rude asshole to the people who prepare and serve your food. The days of the loud obnoxious asshole guitar player are over. Hell, if we're not careful the days of the guitar player are over period.
 
They aren't though. Doom bands, post-X bands, all very loud. Many running multiple amps and cabs and huge pedalboards.

I agree - don't let the guy at FOH get you turned down so that everything now sounds subpar and the first row can talk over your bassist. When I was younger, the comment I got the most was "I could see your fingers but I couldn't hear your solo!". As an aspiring live musician, that was terrible.

The trick to being any kind of loud is to have everything dialled in properly *before* you set foot in the venue.


Isn't this essentially so many of us are now using the Axe=Fx instead of hauling multiple amps, huge boards, and needing tons of volume to not sound 'subpar' ??? With a modeler we can achieve ideal amp tone at any level we want, not to mention not needing to freight a bunch of different amps around.

Perhaps not surprisingly, you don't really seem to hear volume or FOH issues from all the bands that are touring with FAS rigs these days. Everyone just seems to always say the guitars and band mix sounded great, night after night.
 
Most un-fun gig was a local club here where the sound engineer insisted on turning down amps to close to 1 and told us that you could hear yourself fine in two non-self-powered small speakers mounted up in the roof about 20 feet in front of you. And if not you were banned from the club.

This craziness lasted for a month until most guitar players protested this treatment. Yes I was banned as I had to hear what I played and didn't mind this ban -- and after the ban the same evening the sound guy actually came out from the club and removed the ban from me. I think he also understood that this was crazy.

Well, other sound people have told me to either purchase your own in-ear monitoring gear. My response is that for this $100 gig I don't think I should spend money on that, monitoring is the job of the sound people. Also they say to remove my earplugs. My answer is that I want to hear in my nineties and I won't destroy my ears with cheap gigs.

Otherwise I'm all for lower stage volume, sometimes it works but with less professional configurations you always have another guitar player, drummers get over-excited, and especially bass player that just thinks they should hear more and then the volume wars start. I try to stay away from such wars but at some point my sound is gone. Oh well.
 
Joe needs to spend less time talking and more time on trying to make a decent album again.
I'm a Joe fan and actually really enjoy listening to what he has to say. I do wish he'd start writing guitar/blues albums again though. I'm no fan of the big brass band thing he has going on now. Maybe he's trying to cast a wider net to broaden his appeal (probably being told to do that by management I reckon).
 
Everyone is so busy controlling others and ensuring they think the right things. Sheesh - let’s run amuck occasionally!
It’s gotta be this, it’s gotta be that - fuck that!
If the ‘artist’ turns up with a xylophone with 200 watt horn speakers and an amplified tambourine, I’ll stick a mic or two on it. And do my best to make the band sound good - if he asks my advice on things, that’s another matter.
In short - everyone wants to have fun - if the drum overheads are picking up too much xylophone, turn them down and turn up the spot mics. In many cases, these poor bastards are paying to play (bringing 5k worth of gear to a $150 each , 3 hour gig, that must be sound checked before the punters arrive. It doesn’t need to sound as clean as the album -
Those of you with day jobs will know what it’s like being micro managed - it indicates people don’t trust your work. not many people prefer that, and the last thing band members want is to be told the sound they brought with them, planned, and thought about for all this time is wrong. Sure you get some assholes that are over the top, but over the top can also be interesting.
Let them control things - it’s their gig. Just my humble opinion.
Thanks
Pauly
 
I like Joe, he’s a great player. I like that he’s branched out into new things and, even though his blues rock stuff is my favorite, it’s good that he can try other formats to inspire himself. It has always annoyed me that he talks down use of pedals for a base distorted tone, or use of modelers at all. I always thought “well, that’s just spiffy if you can bridle together 5 or 6 amps turned up to power stage distortion, but your guitar playing fans aren’t playing in those venues.” Apparently, the shoe being on the other foot is uncomfortable.

I totally agree the sound man doesn’t dictate the show. But if you’ve ever done that job, the reality is that any instrument you can’t fit into the volume ceiling you’re working with is detracting from the musicality of the performance, no matter how technically “great” the offending performance is. He makes a lot of good points. The concept that everything else should be subservient to the tone of his chosen equipment isn’t one of them, though.
 
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Many of us want the freedom to expand our repertoire as players. Personally, I like jazz, funk, blues, rock, and prog. I find it amusing when guitar players are critical of other players who are expanding their repertoire.

As for volume, there is power in volume. That power is missing at low volume. That said, people’s taste for a musical experience changed. Tempis fidgets.
 
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