Does beauty, functionality & design equal a magic that we need in our music equipment? Are custom made guitars, amps & effects what we really need to sound best?
When I was young shop windows with unattainable guitars & amps were actual shop windows. And they were for me largely in London on Shaftesbury Avenue. Remember the lyrics in the Dire Straits song Wild West End?
“I saw you walking out Shaftesbury Avenue
Excuse me for talking I want to marry you
This is the seventh heaven street to me”
Shaftesbury Avenue was a short street of dreams for many people in that era. It was in the theatre district, embedded alongside those iconic theatres, next to China Town and bordering on Soho, where Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club was and still is. As a teenager it was 7th Heaven to me as well.
Nowadays the shop windows are the internet and elite guitar shows, with occasional high end suppliers, who offer showrooms more than shops. These are also spread throughout the world for me. As we age our catchment area expands. I was bought up within 25 miles of Central London yet it seemed such a big deal to go there. In middle age I look at equipment from all corners of the globe.
The magic still exists in the equipment I own and I believe it always will. It is for me at least an intrinsic part of the music and why we feel the need to make music.
If I were a professional classical violinist for example, I would be assessed in my playing style and advised on the best instrument I could get. I would then take out a large loan and buy it, getting to know it better as my playing and career progressed.
However as a professional guitarist I have up until now bought more guitars, amps & effects than I can possibly recall. Some more than once and some (Telecasters etc.) many times over.
Recently I sat myself down and looked at what my playing really needs. That tortuous process took some months. But by the time it was over I had acquired a beautiful Spalt guitar and 2 small Fender Valve Combos. Adding a looping pedal that had some memory patches and I was done. Hopefully for the rest of my career.
I own 3 guitars. A steel string acoustic, a nylon string acoustic and an electric. A sizeable proportion of my clients who I teach, own many more guitars and amps (and certainly effects) than I do. But I am blissfully happy with my equipment.
My main guitar and amp are a Spalt Vienna Custom and a Fender Pro Junior. That is the best gear for my playing and I will continue to get to know it better forever.
What do we gain or lose by this approach to equipment ownership? Well for a start there are many, many options for different guitars and amps. Violins are much more at their design zenith and have been for a very long time.
As guitarists we first need to have fun trying out different combinations of equipment and then we have some idea of what may suit us best. But we are often distracted by a new design, or what a top pro played, or a new sound from an amp etc.
But as I get older I realise that it is very important to me to get a good sound from one guitar and amp combination. I’ve got a limited amount of time left to play in years and I want to get the best music I can from that time.
So I made a list in my mind of what sounds are important to me, how those my be best generated and I then set about finding the best advice I could, to end up with my one dream guitar & amp.
If I could have done this 30+ years ago I would have saved around the price of my house in expenditure. I’ve had a lot of fun along the way of course. But I would urge anyone who can to look at top end equipment as soon as they think they know what they need and to then fund buying it, whatever the cost. You’ll save in the longer run and you’ll learn how to get great sounds by getting to know your gear much better than if you keep chopping & changing.
Indeed often a new effects unit, amp, string make, or guitar, just give us something new but keep us from a very personalised sound, that will draw out the music we love from us. That is what I gained when I left the path of buying glamour equipment and looked or the best of what will do it for me.
Now if I’d played violin in the first place? Not for me a violin. I need to play chords and have a beautiful quasi jazz guitar clean sound.
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