All Things Guitar

[Shake n Blake]

(01-10-2016, 04:03 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I swear, if they had all this stuff back when I started playing (1992) I'd be such a better player.  These little ***** today have it made.

I distinctly remember taking whatever little money I had once a month and buying the new Guitar Player so I can actually learn a new song.  That was the only way to get tab if you didn't buy the books.  And shit, half the time I didn't even like the songs, nor did I own the tapes.  So I'm learning shit like Candlebox, without anything to play along to.

That and the old instructional videos were crazy expensive.  I bought the authentic Electric Ladyland VHS for 49.95.  Nowadays all that shit is on youtube.

Unlimited tab, videos, backing tracks, drum beats, all at the click of a button.  And you can get a used POD or V-amp for like $75 and have tons of tone options.  I had a Peavey Bandit, a Metal Zone, and a shitty DOD Chorus.  And I saved up forever to buy that shit too.

Now they got a damn band in a box.  Literally!!

Back in '99 when I started playing it was pretty much the same. Sure there was internet, but I rarely had access. I bought Guitar World/Player, I had tab books for Nirvana and Pearl Jam ($20 a pop). I'd learn some songs by ear and sometimes a friend would teach me a song. Those were really the only ways to learn anything, and those songs would go on to influence how I play to this day. 

I remember sitting at a buddy's house and we were both glued to the TV watching Bernard Allison play on some TV special. Now you can just pull that stuff up any time you want to see it. I remember mixing demos down by hooking a Tascam 4 track up to a karaoke machine and "riding" the dials to get the mix just right. My how times have changed.