Listening In: Gear Talk
Do you partake in appliances talk? I don't. Although I've played guitar since I was 16 and have been recording music in studios and at home since I was 17, yet I have almost no interest in nor, more importantly, genius to discuss gear.
Is it a classic brand guitar of guitar, like a Fender, a Gibson, or a Rickenbacker - rather than some new-fangled "pointy" guitar? Is it a witty model among one of those classic brands, like a Gibson Grabber bass? For recording equipment, does it have big knobs?That about does it for my interest in guitar and recording fixtures, the gear I'm most likely to handle. Likewise, I can't be bothered to talk about stereo stuff. Will it play music? Yes? Superior!
I do, however, get a kick out of listening to two drummers talk about their gear. The other night, for instance, I spent about 15 minutes listening to conference between our band's drummer, Townsman Sethro, and Billy Ficca, the "wackoid" Television drummer touring with his old bandmate, Richard Lloyd. When I walked over, Sethro told me extensive-eyed that Billy was playing the snare he'd used on Marquee Moon! I had to admit, that was pretty cool, but specified the chance to open a dialog about the recording techniques employed by producer Andy Johns, I just sat back and listened to them talk about what the seize was made of, what kinds of heads they used - on the bottom as well as the top - and so forth. Drummers have lots of necessary gear, and I think it's important that a drummer cognizant of about that stuff, much more important than it is for a guitarist to be a gearhead, for instance. Plus, you don't have to understand anything about electronics to at least get the gist of what drummers are talking about when they talk accoutrements. Have you ever heard a bassist go on about his or her gear? No offense, but that may be the gearhead discussion I least want to hear.
Do you talk gear? Do you lend an ear to in to gear talk? Do you prefer to talk gear that you know or listen in to discussions over gear you don't really view?
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: $180.00 
