Music Gear: Where to Spend Your Money?

Music Gear: Where should you spend your money? 35% Discount Code for The Beato Book and anything in my store RB350

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[Briandnlo]

I have nine guitars; made by six different manufacturers, and I’m building a 10th from a kit. The only essential part of my rig is my fingers.

Rick is right. Good guitar, good amp, and practice.

[jasonstallworth]

Rick, thank you for the awesome insight here. I do believe that often times we get too caught up in the ‘right/best’ gear when we should focus more on our actual craft of writing and playing music.

[thinkofparis]

Hey everyone. I have an easy way to recall what has the biggest impact on your audio… just follow the path of the audio signal, starting with your hands. The order that the audio flows gives you the ranking of what has the greatest impact on your sound. As Rick stated in the video, the instrument has the biggest impact. I would argue to count the player and his or her hands as #1 and list the instrument as #2. In the case of a guitarist, the guitar is obviously the instrument and is the first item in the audio chain. Keep in mind that there are many things to change on an instrument to modify or enhance the tone. Guitar pickups, pickup location, strings, type guitar wood, type of neck wood, etch to name a few.

The order of impact, at least in my mind, follows the order of the audio signal when recording/tracking: The player/person > the Instrument > Amp + speaker + cab > Microphone > Mic placement > Preamp > EQ > Compressor.

I will tell you a little about myself so you can judge whether to ignore my text or consider it. I am a scientist / engineer from North Carolina. I have a degree in biochemistry and one in chemistry. I took a bunch of music courses when in college (Music theory I, II, III, Ear Training, Class Piano, etc.) even though I was always a science or engineering major. I finished my PhD in Nanoscience (essentially, the science of small things) a little more than a year ago. My area of focus within Nanoscience is Semiconductor process technology, Photolithography, and Device Fabrication. This is the technology used to make microchips, microprocessors, etc. This technology is now being widely in audio products. For example, Fishman Fluence pickups are now using some of these techniques as opposed to the ancient method of winding a Copper wire around a bobbin. As far as my music career, I have played music professionally and/or toured with the following bands: Waiting for Wednesday, Goldstar, Viewpoint, and Swift. We (Swift) played a lot of shows with Florida tased band, School For Heroes, who I think Rick recorded a few times back in the early 2000's. I have also went through the recording engineering program at Guilford Technical in Greensboro, NC. I would be honored to “nerd out” and talk gear, music, audio, chemistry, science, or engineering with anyone who has similar interest.

[Manakel]

Hi Rick! Let me take this chance to send a message, even if that's out of topic. I'm now 42, I spent a fortune in gear through the years. If I could send me a message, the me 20 years old, I would tell me: spend (invest) your money on lessons, concerts and travels. That's my biggest regret. I write that in tears.

[KyleMonizMusic]

You are right, I should buy another guitar. Thanks rick!

[Apollyon-szsn]

Budget guitars with high actions put off more beginner guitarists than any other reason. Spend a few hundred dollars more and get a guitar that wants to be picked up.

[markattaway]

I’ve found that the pick thickness is one of the biggest tone changers!!!

[jericat]

Rick, I LOVE what you're doing here on YouTube. I know it's a challenge continuing to find new subjects, but with all due respect, we're spinning our wheels if we're looking for one-size-fits-all solutions as far as equipment and strings. In my 57 years as a guitarist, I've come to realize that every single song, every single instrument, every single musical environment, every single performance, every single section of every song and, especially, every single player is different at all times. That's why the real magic is so rare and even the best performers can't always duplicate it!

With my three dozen or so fretted and fretless instruments, electric and acoustic, well-known and rare or el cheapo, various amps of different sizes and manufacturers, tweeked eq and effects, I have learned how to get almost all of them to sound like familiar and different instruments, even though they're radically different and played through various amps or recording systems and that even includes using various, mics, styles and sizes of strings.

The best anyone can do is figure out what it takes to get the sound they want for each performance of each section of each song through experience and using their ears. It takes experience, experimentation and, most importantly, good ears. Where there's a will, there's a way to get their sound.

Keep up the great work!

[joseph-owhf]

As a barely intermediate level guitar player, I am am spending money on learning to play. I've found a really great lesson site (that works for me) and one on music theory, so I bought plans. Gear will not make me a player. A long time friend is a pro musician and a superb guitarist. He could play the cheapest guitar (as long as it was in tune) through the crappiest amp and make it sound good.

[frankglad]

i always used .009's in my youth. As I got older I went to .010's and .011's thinking that SRV had to be right. But after your string demo I did my own test playing the low end riff of Her Strut with a variety of gauges and much to my surprise .009-.042's sounded better. So I'm back to the wisdom of my youth.

[frenchiesfrankieandhenry]

Rick doesn't have to buy vintage gear because he has it from when it came out🤣🎸🎸

[dphotos]

I saw you at NAMM wanted to say hi but I did not want to interrupt you conversation you were having. First time I was there. It was a bit too crowded and loud for me but it was nice to finally see it. I have had my 1973 SunburstLes Paul Deluxe since 1976 along with my Fender Deluxe Reverb and I have had my red American Strat for 20 years and I have a Spanish classical guitar for 30 years. All wonderful gear that was built well. My favorite guitar is my Strat because I enjoy playing old surf music.

[stanspb]

I am amazed how many people are buying so many ill-advised additions chasing tone when they have not learned to create something worth listening to. Every day someone asks me about mic preamps that cost as much a used car...Forget it. Interconnets(name for woo woo very expensive cables) that make Zero difference except make your wallet sound hollow. Or people want my opinion on a $2000 mic and I say no, every mic sounds different in different acoustic space but in the studio, we has HUNDREDS of mics from $25k/pair to old radio shack PZM, electric $1 electret mics and everything in between because everyone only of those on something, was the most appropriate sound character for the acoustic space, singer, material etc. Unless someone tests dozens of price range mics to see is anything fits their material and space better, they might find a used SM-58 from a pawnshop beats out the mic locker classic $5k tube mics.
You are right, instrument, lessons, arranger, strings, placement of a cab, placement of mics around the cab, drum mic placement, all these things have more impact than the inherent quality or spec of any one component like cables or preamps, or converters. When comparing the great studio sounds and records it was assumed by the beginners that the old equipment made the difference but it wasn't, a lot of the old priceless gear was not that good, but the attention and craftsmanship of the engineer, producer, arranger made sows ears into silk purses. All the home recordist hobby gear is better technically than what we had in big studios 40 years ago and the only reason home recording sounds like crap is who is doing the work and their ability of capitalize on defects and turn them into unique recordings. It as never easy to record a song that made you want to buy it.
The lesson is learn how to create the sound signature your music would be most enhanced by and learn how to listen in the session and experiment. Moving mics a few inches makes a big difference. But most of all, write material that is compelling in its own right and then whatever voicing you use will be the only everyone will be chasing and not know how you did it. Stop spending on things because they are a fad and start experimenting with sound character, even with cheap mics, in some positions they will sound much better. What sounds better is subjective in producing music, what sounds better in RE-producing music is more objective.

[DavidGossettMusic]

4:33 yup... guitarists always overlook their speakers and cabs. When I first started using IR's it really showed me how much I was missing with the cabs I was using before. I've always loved Friedman's approach to speaker choices. Mixing greenbacks with V30's to get the mix of modern and old school Celestion tones.

[stephenmurray]

I think the thing that made the biggest difference to me was an electronic tuner.
If you actually rate it by cost, it was an astronomical return on investment.

[mjobusch]

Playing rock and roll with heavy gauge strings is like playing pro football: the injury rate is 100%. Acoustic instruments really benefit from having heavier or harder tension strings -- electric instruments can be equalized and or set up differently. When you learn classical, so much emphasis is placed on "correct" technique -- this is as much or more about injury prevention than it is tone production -- to play to a high classical standard, you have to play for long hours, which is hard on your whole body, so the technique has evolved to allow for that, while minimizing injury. Rock technique will get you each and every time -- take Jimmy Pages advice: use the lightest strings you can stand. I also don't disagree that spending on an instrument is the most worthwhile piece - but consider buying used, and getting a skilled, honest luthier (maybe even one with access to a PLEK machine) to put in 5-10 skilled hours on getting your guitar really dialed in, with the most comfortable action, and best intonation possible -- don't overlook the time and skill getting an instrument really playing right: yes to spending on an instrument, but spend on someone to get it together (or learn yourself by trial and error). The difference between many instruments is just the amount of time skilled human hands have been on them -- G&L is a good value proposition in that regard -- but you can get about anything costing around $400-$600 used, and spend as much on a luthier, and you'll have something that plays as well as a $3000 instrument -- just worth considering, IMO.

[gottastayfocused]

I just love how you explain complex situations between the guitar, amplifier, and your ears, its all about the instruments!!

[Soldano]

Expectation: i'll buy an acoustic, a pedalboard, an effect processor, a soundcard and a new amp
Reality: i bought four stratocasters.

[mikefincham]

Rick - that AT&T 3G microcell back there under the light is officially vintage technology at this point. They are retiring the 3G network in 2021. Love your work. So proud that you are from ATL.

[brianwood]

Rick you're always on my A list of things to watch...so I wanted to tell you after watching this video went to my local store to hang out, and came home with a used divided by 13 1x12 cab. Great for gigging and recording, to me great value at $400(I'm in SFBayarea). A great speaker cab is something you never knew you needed, until you hear your fave amp thru it - now I can play out and record with my little ac10 and get awesome tone. Man I love this channel