It's not what you have, it's what you do (with plywood)

There is a disorder among musicians and recording engineers known as GAS. Not the kind you get from a chili dog, the kind you get from enjoying new music gear, finding the new toys, discovering new sounds. You want that guitar with the best wood and the best pickups money can buy. You want the latest recording interface with the new 673 bit Fribleratz D/A converters handmade by German elves. I have this disorder, but as I get older and wiser it is fading, losing it's hold on me. In the last few years I began repeating a new mantra in my head. It's not what you have, it's what you do with it. A guitar you found at a pawnshop for $50 might not be a great instrument, but it had a sound, a place for use, and a purpose. That $20 microphone collecting dust might not sound great, but it's sound might have a place in a mix. Now, there's a lot to be said for getting good sound in. There are some things that can't be fixed in the mix, and your engineer's head (maybe mine) will explode if forced to try. But questionable gear can make great sounds.

A few months ago I recorded a couple songs for the Delusionist demo, and recently I've recorded guitar tracks for three different new Strange Land songs. My main guitars for these projects have been a Stratocaster and a Telecaster. Not too remarkable. But these two aren't ordinary Fender guitars. The Stratocaster is a 1989 Squier II, made in India. It was my first guitar, and at one point it was almost painted as an art project to hang on the wall. It's been resurrected with a new bridge that doesn't really fit right, and a $40 Mighty Mite prewired pickguard. The guitar cost me $185 in 1989. Oddly, these things have a cult following and it's still worth about that much. It has a rather snarly, rude, Ygnwie Malmsteen-ish tone, great for metal. I started my guitar playing with single coil pickups, and now I'm leaning back to them. I just love the cut and attack. The Telecaster is a recent acquisition, $200. It's a Squier Standard, made in Korea, also from 1989. Everything on it is stock, and far from the the highest quality components I've seen on Squier guitars. The pickups sounds good to me, this is my first Tele. It even has mismatched tuners. I've got great clear clean tones and thick warm distortion out of it. It sounds great on it's own, but the Tele also seems to have a magical ability to the be perfect blending match to any other guitar for multi-tracking.

The most notable factor for both guitars? Their bodies are made of plywood. Yep, just a bunch of who-knows-what mystery wood glued together. Until I looked inside I always wondered why my Strat felt like it weighed 40 pounds. And I think they sound fantastic. Other players would just dismiss these guitars out of hand, just because they bear the Squier logo. Just because they don't have top of the line hardware. And especially because the bodies are plywood. But I don't care, they work for me and I don't need to go spend $1000 on a guitar. Just a little icing on the cake, I'm using amp simulator plug-ins. Free ones. They also sound fantastic, so far better than the one I paid for. I just can't get the sound I want from it. The freebies just have what I'm looking for. If there's a lesson here, I think that you should be sure to squeeze every possible useful, musical sound out of the gear you already have before you give in to your GAS. And when you do get the new Hursenbergerstein Tube Mic preamp or your MetlGodz 9 String Axe Of Doom guitar with 4 active pickups and genuine chainsaw attachment, don't get rid of your old one. It might be just right for something down the road.

From 10/7/11

From 10/7/11