Stop wondering whether your tone is as “good” as Bonamassa’s or Eddie’s or Joe Pass’ or whoever’s.
If you spend any amount of time on a computer, mobile phone, or tablet thingy these days, chances are you’re inundated with links to videos of someone doing something amazing or face-slappingly unexpected. As awesome as it can be to waste time on these things, in this ol’ bastard’s opinion there are also downsides.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying I don’t dig a lot of the crap digital circuits enable us to do. But sometimes it’s worth stopping to think a little deeper about how they affect us. To me, one of the biggest downsides of technology’s instant gratification is that it exponentially increases our already unhealthy tendencies to see the “best” of what’s out there in the world—whether it’s music, sports, or whatever—and then immediately measure our own worth relative to it.
For instance, how many millions of people have seen a YouTube video of someone who’s freakishly good at something—like a pre-teen shredding “Eruption,” sinking 30 three-pointers in a row, or dancing better than Justin Timberlake—and then immediately thought, “There’s no way I’m ever going to be that good, so why even try?”
This video of a 14-year-old girl playing "Eruption" went viral in May, causing widespread self-hatred
amongst older guitar players.
Maybe those with fewer years on the planet and less context to generalize from are more prone to fatalist reactions like that, but I bet it still happens plenty with those of us who’ve been around for a few decades, too. I’m not saying we’re all gullible, powerless, self-loathing idiots—I think most of us, young or old, get that viral videos are usually outside the norm.
But I also think it can be easy to maybe subconsciously let the daily deluge of sensationalized content streaming in from all over the planet permanently warp our perception of life and of ourselves—our conception of who we are, what we may become, and why our quirks shouldn’t necessarily be ironed out. Even when we put things in proper context and don’t let someone else’s apparent badassness deter us, too many of us still see it as an impossibly high resetting of the bar for what’s satisfactory or laudable in a given pursuit. Because let’s face it, everything is being done faster, more precisely, and younger these days (we’ll leave the soullessness of much of it for another discussion, though). In a word, this is all totally skewed—it’s a bogus lens on life.
Now, before you accuse me of whining about the growing pains of cultural evolution like a dinosaur ignorant that the choking smoke and increasing temperatures aren’t from a meager forest fire but are impending desolation from YouTube’s Comet, let me remind you that when it comes to guitar and music, we’re talking about Art. Yeah, that’s a capital “A” there, my friend—and you best hearken, for it be Ye Olde English signifier of something special, hallowed, sacred, holy, etc. In other words—don’t fuck with it!
Though some people seem perpetually hell-bent on making anything and everything competitive, the cynic in me believes that’s usually somehow tied to monetary gain rather than love and concern for the arts and inner enlightenment. I mean, is there a subject that a TV exec, film studio, or click-hungry social-media entity hasn’t tried to cravenly twist into a cash cow?
Obviously the web, mobile devices, and social-media networks didn’t create humanity’s greed, insecurities, or copycat tendencies. But I contend that, in a lot of ways, they act as a giant magnifying glass, amplifying the heat we already put on ourselves. At their core, these tendencies are actually a good thing. They’re engraved on our DNA, a Darwinian key to our survival. They’re integral to accomplishing things and adjusting and adapting to everything from how to act at a funeral to what sort of line to play over a funky vamp. But when fanned too much, these innate tendencies rage out of control and cause us to take something that should be inspiring and turn it into something either contrived or crippling.
So if you really want to play beyond compare—in the best, truest sense, in the way that will be infinitely more meaningful to you as an artist and to us, your fellow beings—then the answer is simple: Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop wondering whether your tone is as “good” as Bonamassa’s or Eddie’s or Joe Pass’ or whoever’s. Stop worrying about whether your licks are fast enough to impress or humble other players in the crowd. Stop caring about whether your pedalboard or amp or headstock logo pass muster with snobs in the room. Stop trying to make someone else’s creations yours—make your own mark, dammit!
Plotting your playing around what someone else does or thinks is as fruitless, unfulfilling, and silly as deciding to wear your hair, clothes, and miscellaneous personal accoutrements the way someone else does. Just think what people would say if you went around wearing leather pants, sleeveless shirts, a nose ring, and a long, curly mop of hair with a conch-bedecked top hat. Chances are, your physique—your height, weight, body and head shape, etc.—is better suited to something you discover on your own than trying to conform to someone else’s style.
So learn to freaking celebrate the fact that your freckles, wrinkles, nose, ears, and that weird cowlick you’ve got going on the back of your head are a combo that no one else has got. Same goes for your guitar playing. Learn to combat the downsides of the daily digital deluge and our built-in, self-preserving insecurities by taking inspiration from exceptional feats.
Just keep reminding yourself that players who’ve gone down in history took what came before and made it their own, while slavish copycats have always been forgotten.
Shawn Hammond
shawn@premierguitar.com
Billie Joe Armstrong’s Martin GT-70 features a semi-hollow plywood body with f-holes, DeArmond pickups, and Bigsby-style tailpiece.
A name synonymous with acoustic flattop guitars, C.F. Martin has been an industry leader since 1833 when Christian Frederick Martin bucked the controlling European guild system (violin builders had exclusive rights to build guitars over cabinet builders) and emigrated from Germany to New York City to start his own guitar-building company. Five years later, Martin moved the company to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where it’s remained for 175 years, producing more than 1.25 million guitars and several industry-shaping innovations. In the 1850s, Martin implemented internal X-bracing using wooden struts to stabilize the top and back, which helped the guitar project more volume without distorting. The first dreadnoughts were built around 1916 and named after the Royal Navy’s HMS Dreadnought because it appeared so big, massive, and indestructible that it “nought to dread.” And during the late 1920s, Martin created their OM body shape with a 25.4"-scaled, 14-fret neck-joint.
While Martin has been a front-running mainstay in the acoustic world, they’ve attempted to enter the electric guitar rat race on several occasions to no success. First in 1959, the company equipped their D-18 and D-28 models with exposed pickups and knobs on the guitars’ tops. Then in 1961, Martin built its first true electric guitar with the F series archtops. By 1965 the F series archtops were replaced by the GT series, which was halted in 1968. After a decade, Martin chased their electric ambitions once again, this time with the launching of the E series—solidbody guitars and basses that were only built from 1979–1982.
Shown here is Billie Joe Armstrong’s Martin GT-70 that he acquired from eBay right before Green Day’s most recent U.S. tour. It features a semi-hollow plywood body with f-holes, bound 22-fret mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, two DeArmond pickups, Bigsby-style tailpiece, and a larger, bound, non-traditional Martin headstock. After acquiring the eBay steal, Armstrong’s tech Hans Buscher had to heat press some neck relief—this is done because the truss rod is maxed out and needs to be reset to remove the unwanted curve. He also leveled the frets and adjusted the neck angle/pitch so the strings weren’t too close to the pickups. “Like a Fender, the pole pieces are the magnets, so having the strings too close to the magnets and the guitar will never tune or have any appreciable tone,” Buscher says. “The GT’s tone—with the DeArmond pickups—is a really bright and strident sound that needs to be matched with an appropriate amp. I don’t think that Martin really wanted this guitar to have the same characteristics as their acoustics—the GT-70’s bolt-on neck, flat fretboard, and plastic nut kind of let you know that Martin was trying something different for their electrics.”
Since acquiring the semi-hollow Martin, Billie Joe has made this GT-70 his unofficial hotel and backstage guitar.
A special thanks to Billie Joe Armstrong’s guitar tech Hans Buscher for the opportunity to feature this fine piece of gear and its story.
Got some gear that would make a great Gear of the Month? Then email pics and its story to us at gotm@premierguitar.com.
Miller ably composes her way through a spectrum of styles, including traditional-sounding jazz, peaceful folk, and quirky blues.
Jane Miller
Three Sides to a Story
Pink Bubble Records
Berklee Associate
Professor and former
PG columnist
Jane Miller has
gone solo for Three
Sides to a Story.
With a mix of
originals, standards, and pop classics, it is, as
Miller says, a snapshot of where she is with
her guitars now, and it’s a flattering one.
Original tunes are the foundation of the 15 tracks, and Miller ably composes her way through a spectrum of styles, including traditional-sounding jazz, peaceful folk, and quirky blues. She also showcases her deep knowledge and experience as a jazz musician by tackling George Gershwin’s “Our Love is Here to Stay,” Miles Davis’ “Nardis,” and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day.” Miller is a skilled arranger, taking tunes meant for full orchestration, paring them down to their essence, and making them sound like they were written for six strings.
Miller’s electric, steel-string, and nylon-string guitars are captured beautifully by recording engineer Lauren Passarelli, who combined a direct signal and a mic on the two electrics to produce an incredibly intimate sound. A solo guitar record is an artistic challenge, and on Three Sides to a Story Miller proves herself a master of many genres.
Must-hear track: “Gratitude”