[Frank D]

I play in a blues, R&B band that stays mostly within that genre, BB King, Buddy Guy, T Bone Walker, with a few other tunes thrown in. We lost our guitar player a while back, so we've been trying out different guys. The ones whose playing I liked the most were the ones who just plugged into an amp and played. Unfortunately they all had flaws that kept them from getting the gig.

We seem to have settled on a guy who is a nice enough fellow and an adequate player, although he's coming from more of a classic rock perspective, which brings me to my dilemma: He comes in with a huge board full of pedals, and plays with a fuzzed out, compressed, echo drenched sound. So, do I say anything? If so, how do I approach the subject? Your sound is a very personal thing, so I feel like I'd be criticizing his nose or something. What do you think? The time to lobby for someone else has passed, so I need to make the best of the situation.

 

[Reedsplinter]

I play in a blues, R&B band that stays mostly within that genre, BB King, Buddy Guy, T Bone Walker, with a few other tunes thrown in. We lost our guitar player a while back, so we've been trying out different guys. The ones whose playing I liked the most were the ones who just plugged into an amp and played. Unfortunately they all had flaws that kept them from getting the gig.

We seem to have settled on a guy who is a nice enough fellow and an adequate player, although he's coming from more of a classic rock perspective, which brings me to my dilemma: He comes in with a huge board full of pedals, and plays with a fuzzed out, compressed, echo drenched sound. So, do I say anything? If so, how do I approach the subject? Your sound is a very personal thing, so I feel like I'd be criticizing his nose or something. What do you think? The time to lobby for someone else has passed, so I need to make the best of the situation.

Are you the band leader? Who hired the guy? I agree with you about guitar tone: I prefer it straight (actually, I prefer it played through an outboard reverb only: wonderful sound in the right hands). However, if you had the opportunity to "lobby" for someone else and let it pass, is it your job to try to change the guy's style now? If it turns out you like each other and can talk about it player to player in a friendly way, that could be OK. Otherwise, I'd say your band now sounds different.

 

[Frank D]

The drummer/leader chose the guy by default. I made my preference known, but in the end it's the drummer who calls guys for the gig, and he keeps calling "pedal board". It also helps that the guitarist does some vocals, and goes to the same church as the drummer.

It's not my job to change his style, but I have to stand next to him, play with him, and live with it.

 

[mlscnr]

It's not my job to change his style, but I have to stand next to him, play with him, and live with it.

I think you just answered your own question, Frank.

We all have issues like this no matter what line of work we're in.

 

[Bill Mecca]

This reminds me of a band I played in. Leader/guitarist had a ton of pedals. It's actually on tape somewhere, he's having issues getting things to work for one song, and says something like " I'm a slave to technology."

that said...a well timed trip over the power cord...:twisted:

 

[Al Stevens]

It's not my job to change his style, but I have to stand next to him, play with him, and live with it.

No, you don't. Lincoln freed the slaves.

 

[Grumps]

Manipulation. Take an interest in his board. Ask questions. Be impressed with the answers. Then ask, hey, can you get a sound like __________ (a player whose sound you like, of course) with that thing? Then when he does it, lay on the praise.

 

[saxphil]

Tell him he sounds like bees....bzzzzzzz.. zzzt.
There is no projection past his ten foot circle of influence,where he resides and to him is so impressive.
The audience needs it in the gut, lose the crap and give it to them.

My guess is that he will argue 'til he is blue in the face about how right he is, how wrong you are,how amazing his sound is,how brilliant others tell him he is
and what do you know, you don't play guitar.

His sound will never have balls and you will achieve nothing and be eternally frustrated. So....

Suffer,grin and bear it,fight about it,dump him or fu-gadd-aboud-it.
Cause he won't change and you will go mental.

 

[Dr G]

Can you not ask him to emulate the sounds of the classics that you are playing?

Maybe he just doesn't know/understand the genre. Give him some recordings of the sounds you are trying, as a band, to capture.

 

[JL]

...he's coming from more of a classic rock perspective......

There's your problem right there. It's unfortunate that the drummer leader picked this guy, but if you're stuck with him then I think Dr G has the right idea. Give him some cds in the style you want and ask him to learn the guitar parts and try to capture that style. But don't hold your breath. I've been down this road and unless this guy is very unusual and a good musician to boot, there is little chance he'll make the adjustment. Still it's worth a try. I think it's your only option since your drummer seems set on keeping him.

I feel extremely lucky because our band just picked up a guitarist/singer who knows the blues book cold and he's coming from the jump blues genre. He can play with the right tone, rhythm and also double up with my tenor when that's called for. And he knows iii-VI-ii-V changes, etc. Guys like this are hard to find though, because most of them are already working with a band.

I wish you luck and hopefully you can salvage this somehow!

 

[crazydaisydoo]

I have played the guitar for over 20 years, and I have done the pedalboard thing, and the only way he is going to get out of it is to learn for himself. If you in a pop/rock covers band, a pedalboard is essential, otherwise you can strip the sound right back.

In your kind of band I would be playing a Fender Tele or a Gibson 335 (maybe both) straight into a nice big fender twin. Saturated rock sounds don't really go well with this style.

As others have suggested, I also like the idea of asking him if he can get a clean sound. Ask him to do a "Steve Cropper" sound, maybe tell a white lie and say you always wondered how Steve did it, suggest the the soul man riff like Steve does. He should play it clean, with just a hint of break-up.......if not, you do have a problem. This is a taste thing, and you may have to have a bit of a band meeting to resolve it.

Awkward situation. You could try taking out the fuse in his power adaptor for his pedalboard

Effects can mask bad playing, it takes a confident and skilled guitarist to plug straight in, maybe he has a confidence issue.

 

[harmonizerNJ]

One approach to use is to focus first on one particular song that you think is a good example where he should be playing with a different sound, and ask him to create the different sound just for that song.

In this way, the focus would not be on what is wrong with the guitarist's sound in general (which would be threatening) - but instead on the supposed uniqueness of this one song. If the guitarist gets it (for that song), then after he gets comfortable and hopefully starts enjoying creating that different sound on that song, you might ask him to do it on a second song. If you are lucky, maybe the drummer will be the one to suggest it!

 

[Reedsplinter]

How old is this guy? If he's a young cat, you might make some headway getting him to listen to the old stuff and going for the "real" tone. (It's hard to convince some people that tone comes FIRST.) If he's an older guy who's been playing a long time, he may have made up his mind about what he thinks he wants.

Good luck.

 

[Al Stevens]

A guitar player chosen by a drummer. What do you expect?

 

[Bill Mecca]

A guitar player chosen by a drummer. What do you expect?

:lol:

 

[tjontheroad]

Steal his pedals! Or just hide them to make a point. Blues is meant be played with a pure tone. The only effects that make any sense IMO for blues guitar are slapback echo and spring reverb. And, the echo isn't all that needed. If used, it needs to be mixed down. Some bluesy players will use a wawa pedal (if they know how) and/or a tube overdrive box. A compessor for sustain is good for lead work if used lightly.

If your guy is messing with modulation pedals (chorus, flange, phase, etc), steal them. He doesn't get it. Tell him he's got some listening to do. Tell him to go check out Brian Setzer (of The Stray Cats fame) for example. He's a rocker with a bluesy tone. His setup is only a hollowbody guitar (Gretch Hot Rod), a 20+ year old 1/4 inch tape driven Roland echo unit and a classic 60's tube amp with four 10 inch speakers with the plate reverb built in (Fender Bassman). He's tone is awesome with guts galore.

Most of the best guitarist only use a few effects if any. Very few know how to use them in way that adds to their sound. The Edge from U2 is the best today at them. I don't suspect your guy is anything like The Edge.

 

[Reedsplinter]

Tell him to go check out Brian Setzer

Setzer is fine, but he should go back to the originals, from Elmore James through Hubert Sumlin to Freddy King (say). T-Bone Walker. Etc.

 

[tjontheroad]

Setzer is fine, but he should go back to the originals, from Elmore James through Hubert Sumlin to Freddy King (say). T-Bone Walker. Etc.

Agreed. I just happen to know Setzer's setup since I've seen him live. I also have a Gretch Hot Rod myself. It's my main axe

 

[martysax]

Would you take a Jimi Hendrix clone?

 

[JL]

Setzer is fine, but he should go back to the originals, from Elmore James through Hubert Sumlin to Freddy King (say). T-Bone Walker. Etc.

Yeah, definitely. A more recent guitarist who exemplifies the style would be Duke Robillard, who used to play for Roomful of Blues. Also check out "Little Charlie & the Nightcats" or Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones. Among others......

Or you could take Marty's advice and just get a Hendrix clone!!!