The controversial gear thread

[DRodriguez]

Hiya, quick little post. I make a living doing the music engineering thing.

Long story short. Everything is different. Nothing is better. They are all tools that can be be used for whatever you're trying to achieve.

Digital vs analog? They are both better and worse at different things. These days, there is no reason why digital would be detrimental to the quality of your tone unless it's a lower quality device because of cost or sonic reasons. Often times people seek vintage digital things for the imperfections.

Speaking of imperfections, did you know that's why people like scatter wound/hand wound pickups? They are scatter wound because people are not perfect enough to hand wind a perfect pickup. All that scatter winding results in a lower capacitance and a brighter tone. Other ways of achieving a brighter clearer tone, amp selection, EQ, pedals, etc. A lot of people don't believe that lowering the value of their instrument while spending extra cash to change out pickups is worth it when they can often achieve a similar effect through other means. Especially because it's much harder to audition the sound of a pickup change vs reaching for tone knobs on whatever other devices you have. I personally love pickup swaps, and have a bunch laying around my space from boutique brands, seymour duncan, even stock pickups. But they are definitely not the best option for most people.

Imperfections lead to interesting sounds sometimes. But we wouldn't want our bridges imperfect. Like the imperfect intonation on telecaster bridges people love so much. But jazzy bridges are just a flavor of imperfect that doesn't appeal to you..

I am almost positive you cannot ID a circuit as analog or digital by ear alone.

I'm pretty sure my ears don't have a digital input.

[Chankgeez]

If I’m getting feedback, I’m doing something wrong. That’s my point but if you want to manipulate it into something it’s not that’s fine too

Don't plug in. That simple. Just play acoustic. No feedback.

[Chankgeez]

Hiya, quick little post. I make a living doing the music engineering thing.

Long story short. Everything is different. Nothing is better. They are all tools that can be be used for whatever you're trying to achieve.

That sounds more like you're an Assassin.

[AlexGlassLungs]

If your perpose in playing guitar is just to make sound that pertains to what you want to achieve and you’ve done so, then great. But there are people who find they like it when things sound better, and they continue to find ways to make those things sound better.

What does this even mean, Alex?

It means if he’s fine with his tone that’s great. I continue to try and make mine better because my passion in this isn’t playing my guitar, it’s the possibilities of the sounds my guitar is cable of making. So I continue to peruse what can inhance the sounds coming from my guitar. He is content with what he has, and that’s fine, but to be that kind of guitar player and tell someone like me that there is no difference in what the Guitar pickup is doing hold no weight.

[lordgalvar]

Bio mechanical!

[Jwar]

Hiya, quick little post.

TLDR and STFU

[popvulture]

Bio mechanical!

Yes. Feeling more and more as though we're talking to a bot.

[Strange Tales]

If your perpose in playing guitar is just to make sound that pertains to what you want to achieve and you’ve done so, then great. But there are people who find they like it when things sound better, and they continue to find ways to make those things sound better.

What does this even mean, Alex?

It means if he’s fine with his tone that’s great. I continue to try and make mine better because my passion in this isn’t playing my guitar, it’s the possibilities of the sounds my guitar is cable of making. So I continue to peruse what can inhance the sounds coming from my guitar. He is content with what he has, and that’s fine, but to be that kind of guitar player and tell someone like me that there is no difference in what the Guitar pickup is doing hold no weight.

And on the other hand you sound insanely persnickety.

[AlexGlassLungs]

Hiya, quick little post. I make a living doing the music engineering thing.

Long story short. Everything is different. Nothing is better. They are all tools that can be be used for whatever you're trying to achieve.

Digital vs analog? They are both better and worse at different things. These days, there is no reason why digital would be detrimental to the quality of your tone unless it's a lower quality device because of cost or sonic reasons. Often times people seek vintage digital things for the imperfections.

Speaking of imperfections, did you know that's why people like scatter wound/hand wound pickups? They are scatter wound because people are not perfect enough to hand wind a perfect pickup. All that scatter winding results in a lower capacitance and a brighter tone. Other ways of achieving a brighter clearer tone, amp selection, EQ, pedals, etc. A lot of people don't believe that lowering the value of their instrument while spending extra cash to change out pickups is worth it when they can often achieve a similar effect through other means. Especially because it's much harder to audition the sound of a pickup change vs reaching for tone knobs on whatever other devices you have. I personally love pickup swaps, and have a bunch laying around my space from boutique brands, seymour duncan, even stock pickups. But they are definitely not the best option for most people.

Imperfections lead to interesting sounds sometimes. But we wouldn't want our bridges imperfect. Like the imperfect intonation on telecaster bridges people love so much. But jazzy bridges are just a flavor of imperfect that doesn't appeal to you..

I am almost positive you cannot ID a circuit as analog or digital by ear alone.

I'm pretty sure my ears don't have a digital input.

Scatterwound also adds a slight warble effect to your ringging our chords that you do not get from a machine wound. But besides that you are correct. I prefer the natural brilliance from my pickup than achieving that through a pedal. There is something extra in natural sounds than manipulated sounds and it’s something you can’t always pickup in a recording.

[lordgalvar]

The best way to fix picky ears is to play louder and kill of those subtle frequencies. Ring mod is great for this at extremely high volumes.

It's about the speed and fun.

Drums are most important anyway.

[D.o.S.]

There's that objective "better" again.

[Chankgeez]

Ring mod is great for this at extremely high volumes.

That seems better to me.

[Ghost Hip]

My 2 cents on the OP

Guitar pickups are merely magnets interpreting what a guitar "should" quote unquote sound like. Therefore you are already reinterpreting the signal from the strings. As far as I am concerned the signal is already fucked with from the start. Digital/analog doesn't matter as long I am expressing myself and my musical vision accurately.

There is a very clear autible difference between scatterwound and machinewound, whether you care or not is on you, some of us do, like me. If you don’t care then why chime in? If your perpose in playing guitar is just to make sound that pertains to what you want to achieve and you’ve done so, then great. But there are people who find they like it when things sound better, and they continue to find ways to make those things sound better.

DUDE YOU LITERALLY ASKED FOR OUR OPINION IN YOUR ORIGINAL POST. Also, this is just as much a comment on the analog vs. digital as it is to pickups.

[AlexGlassLungs]

Can you please post a video like I said. I want to hear the toan loss from analog to digital through your magical amp.

It’s more than that. Have you ever stuck two strymon pedals next to each other in your chain? Have you not noticed the hissing sound that comes from them even when they’re off? Those pedals are so picky with what’s even next to it especially another strymon pedal. The repeats on an analog delay breakup as it trails when chopping repeated notes from the delay and playing notes over them they bloom and have a natural breakup to them this is something unachivable with a digital delay. That was my point, that’s why I asked why some people run both, I personally can’t get past the perfect robotic feel of digital sounds, I can hear the natural break up and feel of analog pedals. And I do use buffers but most digital pedals have an added buffer inside which if too many are in your chain it adds to a hissy signal and unwanted “distortion” of the the signal. At this point the square wave forms of digital are so small I can’t tell but I can tell how they react with my other pedals and my amp and most of all my signal

[comesect2.0]

you dont like feedback, hmmm....

go fuck your mother.