I've been wondering this lately. As I gain more of an ear for tone, I've been noticing that these crazy boutique pieces of gear don't necessarily sound as godly as they claim, when compared to a cheaper model or line. My latest experience was at a local show. It was a fundraiser, and a lot of big local blues-rock bands had gotten together. There were several rigs on stage, including a JCM-900 half stack, a Rivera Sedona stack, and TWO Carr Slant 6V half-stacks. I listened in awe all night to these old blues-pickers, picking out what instruments were playing through which amp, and listening to how they each brought their own nuances to the players' music.
At one point, there were only two guitarists on stage, and I realized that only one amp was being visibly used. (two, if you count the Peavey TKO the bass was using) The rhythm guitarist was using one of the Carr half stacks, and the other guy, who had an equally awesome tone, was using the invisible one. Curious, I walked closer to the stage to get a better look. To my surprise, there was a beat-up Peavey Bandit hidden behind the keyboard, next to where the lead player was standing. It was the old type, with the large stripes down the sides and the reinforced vinyl covering. It may have just been the room, but what my ears told me was that a 20-year-old, sub-$500, solid-state combo was keeping up with a $3000+ rig, and continued to do so all night. My head just about exploded. Sure, side-by-side in a studio the Carr would sound better. But onstage, where it really matters, the Peavey easily held its own.
I've been thinking about that for quite a while, and realized that I've noticed the same thing many times before. JimmyM of Talkbass.com has done several "audio shootouts", one in particular unvolving a $120 SX P-bass and a real vintage Fender P-bass, both using the same rig and settings, and strings that were within a day of each other in age. The poll asked which one sounded better, referring to the soundclups. It was not revealed, at the time, which bass was on which recording. The next day, the basses were revealed and almost three quarters of people who had voted preferred the sound of the SX, an instrument less than 1/10 the price of the Fender. Here are the links to the audio files...you can see for yourself. http://www.bigassbroadcast.com/bass01.mp3 http://www.bigassbroadcast.com/bass02.mp3
...see?
That's not all. I found that my own bass, which would at first glance -having an agathis body, DiMarzio Ultra Jazz 5 pickups, and half-round strings- appear to have very odd tonal properties, can do a very good impression of a Warwick Corvette $$. Strange, no? I actually spent an hour and a half in guitar center trying to find something that my bass sounds like, and was very surprised to come up with that as an answer.
Another example was a video showing a Peavey T-40 playing a song, immediately followed by a Rockenbacker 4003 doing the same song. The tone was a bit off on both due to the amp, but the basses would be indistinguishable from one another to someone who doesn't know what a Rick sounds like.
Even now, as I'm typing this, I'm finding odd stuff to put here, like how Satch, Petrucci, and Vai have all made use of the Boss DS-1, the $40 cheapie that catches more than a little flak around here. Modded or not, that's quite a statement, considering they could have been using $300 boutique pedals with four tubes in them.
Now I'm aware that more expensive things generally have better build quality, look cooler, have the brand name, etc...but this still leaves me wondering, what does it really take to get a good sound? Do you really need to drop $5k to get that tone you want, or has it been right under our noses the whole time? I think a bit of serious thinking is in order on my part.
...but this still leaves me wondering, what does it really take to get a good sound? Do you really need to drop $5k to get that tone you want, or has it been right under our noses the whole time? I think a bit of serious thinking is in order on my part.
You hit the nail on the head right here......it's the tone YOU want. If you like it and it works for ya.......well? $ can buy a lot more than overpriced boutique junque....
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What does price really have to do with sound? blog
