ZZ cover tune

[tubenit]

Looking at the ZZ Top u-toobs you guys posted, I stumbled on to this.

I like the "tone" and style of this guys playing alot. Outside of EL34's cover, this is probably the best I've heard. Pretty tasty playing with enough to honor the original tune but also to make it his own expression of it. Wished I could play that well

Tubenit

[Manic]

 

lol That rig has so much compression I think it could play it self?

Its hard to tell if the guy can actually play or not.

[tubenit]

Its hard to tell if the guy can actually play or not.

Interesting critique/response.

With respect, Tubenit

[Manic]

Its hard to tell if the guy can actually play or not.

Interesting critique/response.

With respect, Tubenit

Well, I grew up a metal head more or less. I like(d) classic rock too. When I started playing guitar I was more into the 80's bands. I was in My late teens. You understand?
lol

I play music now that has dynamics with in the verses and chorus's, not just bang bang bang to a spotless clean tone, then back to super distortion bang bang bang like My hair days. Of course not all hair/ 80's music was like that, but a lot of it was based of that style of dynamics. Like a light switch... OFF/ON/OFF/ON. No nuance.

The amount of preamp distortion/compression that dude is running in that clip is way into hair metal territory. No dynamics what so ever.

After I moved away from hair band style of distortion I had to really learn to play My guitar, not float over it like that dude is. ALL that compression makes it to easy to play and zaps all dynamics.

Billy Gibbons has 10 times the dynamic as the dude in that clip on La Grange IMHO.

Billy is using his volume and fingers for dynamics, not a fuzz box(ON-OFF-ON)

Music = note selection(pitch) and note length and note volume. If You compress the tone till its all notes are the same volume You just took away 1/3 of Your musical expression.

33% is a huge chunk.

As We can see dynamics as major a part of being a guitar player/musician as any other technique is.

After years of playing super compressed tones I had to retrain my right hand BIG TIME to be dynamic.

For a long time i didnt like dynamics in a guitar amps because My technique sucked.

Hope that made some sense of My comment.

To be honest I was surprised You like that clip.  I have read ALOT of posts about You saying how dynamic Your latest build is. You even tweak for that effect. I just figured You would have called him out on it.

I really wasnt trying to be a douche. I just call em like I see em.

[tubenit]

To be honest I was surprised You like that clip.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it alot. And I am convinced he is a much better player than I will probably ever be.

I am guessing the guy wasn't using an amp at all?  Axis-TonelabSE-PS5-PC
So maybe that helps explains "the lack of dynamics (which you prefer)" that you were referring to.

Sounds like your playing has evolved and that you have pretty clear ideas of the tone you like.

With respect, Tubenit

[EL34]

To each his own, I thought the tone was ok.
It's just one of a million different shades of guitar tones.
Tone is in the ear of the beholder and there are lots of beholders out there.

Didn't think his playing was all that great, but that's just an oppinion, not a fact.

[madison]

Too much "air" on the geetar in the mix but again.......to each his own.

I do think the guy's playing on "VH Jump" is pretty darn good.....though the mix is.........

&feature=related

[Ritchie200]

I can understand Manic's response as someone who had eight (eq's, wah, sustainer, and assorted crap) stompboxes on my pedal board in the 70's and then my TOm Scholz rig that I put together in the 80's.  Now I'm lucky if I run through one preamp.  Is it easy to wiz around the neck with all that "tone shaping"?  Yup!  However, the wanna-be guitar playing kid in the music store that dials up gobs of distortion on the Knucklhead still sucks.  In other words, you still have to have some technique to utilize it.  I tend to think like EL34, this type of "tone" is just another color on the electric guitar palette.  If you really want to look closer, it's a heck of a lot easier to play a Les Paul or a Wolfgang than it is to play a Strat.  I don't think that makes anything done on a Les Paul inferior to anything I might do on a Strat.....hmmm, as a matter of fact - yes it does!

Have you heard any of ZZ's live stuff of late?  It's as gnarly as Billy's voice and it hardly ever gets turned down (except at the beginning of LaGrange)!  It's also easy for Billy to get all the squeaks and squawks when you have the amp dialed up like that.  I thought the guy playing the cover threw in enough "stuff" to make it his own and show off a little.  Was it a little flash 80's?  Yeah, but I still listen to that stuff.  I also think this was more of a look-at-me technical exercise than the guy just closing his eyes and going for it.  Dynamics in playing is usually the first thing thrown out the window in these cases!

MHO!
Jim

[sluckey]

I like the "tone" and style of this guys playing alot. Outside of EL34's cover, this is probably the best I've heard. Pretty tasty playing with enough to honor the original tune but also to make it his own expression of it. Wished I could play that well

I sure liked what I heard and saw too!  I'm just a mediocre player and my ears ain't too sharp anymore, but I was impressed.

[tubenit]

I'm just a mediocre player and my ears ain't too sharp anymore, but I was impressed.

Gee whiz Sluckey!!  Obviously, I am not a reliable source of "good taste" in music ........ I liked your playing alot also. And I was impressed you knew (& could play) anything I knew ........ PLUS you knew a kajillion other songs & riffs. 

 

With respect, Tubenit