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The point about equipment is a really important one. A lot of people have a very stupid attitude that art is some kind of special domain where the tools don't m

The point about equipment is a really important one. A lot of people have a very stupid attitude that art is some kind of special domain where the tools don't matter--a true artist works beauty with whatever he has! Leave that nonsense at the door. If you were learning how to do landscaping, you'd buy a chainsaw, a shovel, and a blower. Anything less would leave you unequipped to do the job. I guess some guys have a gear fetish and can't stop from buying their 20th shiny guitar. Well, ignore EVERYTHING they have to say and get yourself the equipment you need. It can make the difference between waffling with no purpose and iterating productively.

smrq 4y ago
Hell, if you want 20 guitars and can afford it, get 20 guitars. Ideally each one brings something new to the table for you. I had a sudden uptick in creativity immediately after buying #6.
TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
True up to a point. There's a difference between content and production values. Production values are the frame. But you have to put something strong in the frame, otherwise the frame looks empty. Give Paul McCartney a shitty USB mike and a shitty guitar and he'll still sound like Paul McCartney. Whatever he creates will be unusually musical, even if it's not polished. Give most people world class studio time with a top engineer and they'll produce something mediocre at best, no matter how how much effort goes into it. Good tools get out of the way and sound right without much effort, but all that really does is remove one layer of distraction/excuse. The gear fetish market is driven by people who are mostly just collectors. Some musicians are also collectors. They will buy special vintage guitars, synths, studio processors, and so on because they're useful and the sound works for them. But mostly it's middle aged middle class professionals - dentists, doctors, lawyers, some software developers - buying equipment as a hobby in itself, because buying is a lot easier and less stressful than creating.
- filoleg 4y ago
  > But mostly it's middle aged middle class professionals - dentists, doctors, lawyers, some software developers - buying equipment as a hobby in itself, because buying is a lot easier and less stressful than creating. This hits a bit too close to home. I thought that it was a nice touch in Silicon Valley (the TV show), for their corporate lawyer to have a fancy Gibson Les Paul guitar (with a bunch of autographs on it) in his office that he touched exactly once on camera. All while having no amps or pedals or speakers or anything else to use it with at all.

smrq 4y ago

Hell, if you want 20 guitars and can afford it, get 20 guitars. Ideally each one brings something new to the table for you. I had a sudden uptick in creativity immediately after buying #6.

TheOtherHobbes 4y ago

True up to a point. There's a difference between content and production values. Production values are the frame. But you have to put something strong in the frame, otherwise the frame looks empty. Give Paul McCartney a shitty USB mike and a shitty guitar and he'll still sound like Paul McCartney. Whatever he creates will be unusually musical, even if it's not polished. Give most people world class studio time with a top engineer and they'll produce something mediocre at best, no matter how how much effort goes into it. Good tools get out of the way and sound right without much effort, but all that really does is remove one layer of distraction/excuse. The gear fetish market is driven by people who are mostly just collectors. Some musicians are also collectors. They will buy special vintage guitars, synths, studio processors, and so on because they're useful and the sound works for them. But mostly it's middle aged middle class professionals - dentists, doctors, lawyers, some software developers - buying equipment as a hobby in itself, because buying is a lot easier and less stressful than creating.

filoleg 4y ago
> But mostly it's middle aged middle class professionals - dentists, doctors, lawyers, some software developers - buying equipment as a hobby in itself, because buying is a lot easier and less stressful than creating. This hits a bit too close to home. I thought that it was a nice touch in Silicon Valley (the TV show), for their corporate lawyer to have a fancy Gibson Les Paul guitar (with a bunch of autographs on it) in his office that he touched exactly once on camera. All while having no amps or pedals or speakers or anything else to use it with at all.