They're listening with their eyes.

Started by Elantric, November 23, 2011, 08:01:10 AM

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Elantric

I find  the audience reacts to the visual appeal of you as a performer, and the instrument you play, and its mass cultural acceptance for the type of music you are performing. But when they hear a guitar synth playing sax , if they cant figure out who is playing the "virtual Saxophone" solo within 3 seconds, they tend to get bored swiftly then head back to the bar for another beer - figuring its Karaoke band

In my case,   since the Variax Acoustic 700 "looks" like an acoustic guitar, the crowd accepts and even enjoys its sound at my local winery acoustic gigs.




Despite that fact that as a guitar player, this solid body guitar feels and plays more like Leslie West's 1957 Les Paul Jr than any Martin Guitar.


Conversely,  I could be playing the  exact gig and the exact same music and sound 90% the same - when i play my Tyler Variax JTV-69 "Super Strat", (set to its Martin D-28 DSP modeling preset)



but the same crowd will not react the same, since they figure I'm playing an electric guitar, their eyes scan the stage for "Where's the Acoustic Guitarists?" - and most folks see a Strat and walk away figuring I'm performing to Backing tracks - and not actually playing "live".

I live in Wine country, and many gigs must have an ethnic  "celtic" acoustic flavor - even if I'm playing "unplugged" surf instrumental tunes.

All I know is, at the outdoor patio "wine tasting room / cork sniffer" gigs,  The tip jar fills faster when i show up with what appears to be an acoustic guitar - or other "ethnic" looking instrument

Godin A-10


If I break out the Super Strat at these "sedate gigs", the person who booked the band will be upset, and  grimace and hold their ears - BEFORE I play a single note , figuring I'll do something stupid like play a high volume sex pistols  / ramones  / metalica medley with my Marshall stack I have yet to retrieve from my Van.



https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kh9M7RCTX1UdXGHvhHrl31xcWvG9lHhQ/view?usp=drivesdk

aliensporebomb

Elantric - that's a really interesting topic for a thread: how people react to your equipment. 

Somehow if you play an acoustic thru all these gizmos you're perceived as "a musician" and if you play electric guitar thru gizmos you're either a mad scientist or a crazy guy playing thru cranked marshalls in a dank basement. 

They're listening with their eyes.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Elantric

QuoteThey're listening with their eyes.

Precisely - and is the absolutely rule #1 for success at any live performance

maxdaddy

My GK-equipped Variax Acoustic is received much better at the solo/duo gigs than my GK-equipped strat style guitar. I've also found that the opposite is true in a full-band setting.


aliensporebomb

#4
When I play new age festival type gigs, my friend Amy who is into that scene tells me my GK equipped strat goes over well because it has a sparkle finish which new age types apparently see as a sign of some kind of mystical importance.

I thought she was joking but she was totally dead serious!

I can't be totally sure about that but I wonder.  I have gotten more gigs in that type of environment since I got the sparkle strat and I used to use a shred machine to do the same job.

I wonder how a GK equipped acoustic would go over?

So serious, that Variax 700 is a Solidbody guitar?  Seriously? 
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

germanicus

#5
QuoteSo serious, that Variax 700 is a Solidbody guitar?  Seriously?


Yes, it has an extremely shallow soundhole.
My albums done with modeling/guitar synth at http://music.steamtheory.com

JTV69/59P/Godin LGXT/Multiac ACS/Variax 700 AC
Helix/FTP/GP10/VG99/SY1000
Traynor k4

fuzzfactory

"figuring I'll do something stupid like play a sex pistols  / ramones  / metalica medley"

i see nothing stupid in said medley all great bands  ;D

on the other hand i play gigs that feature "dj's" ....house / techno / dub step etc and they see me a silver sparkled strat and a laptop and the kids go WTF...then i drop some knowledge on them and they go WTF you are doing that with a guitar?!?!?

it is fun to funk with their minds hehehehe


vanceg


technoteacher

I wish the Godin Jazz box was a bit less expensive. It has a classic jazz look but it does acoustic and GK as well. My pickup sticks out like a sore thumb on my Joe Pass Emperor.
Mark Evans
Roland MV-8000, MC-909, Godin LGX-SA, Roland Ready Strat, GR-55
Boss GP-10
Crate Acoustic amps

Elantric

#9
"extremely shallow soundhole."
Thats a great name for my new band! ;0


QuoteSo serious, that Variax 700 is a Solidbody guitar?  Seriously? 
Yes







With the Variax Acoustc 700,  the Audience "sees" an Acoustic guitar, and automatically assumes they will hear soft new age natural tones, yet as the performer when I close my eyes, this guitar feels exactly like I'm playing a nice 1957 LP Junior with my favorite Neck profile (see below) - so I'm right at home.



 
Thought of adding a Bridge PU , make it more a bit like a Washurn Sammy Hager

Now_And_Then

Quote from: technoteacher on November 23, 2011, 04:25:04 PM
I wish the Godin Jazz box was a bit less expensive. It has a classic jazz look but it does acoustic and GK as well. My pickup sticks out like a sore thumb on my Joe Pass Emperor.

Have you got a picture of it up anywhere? I have an Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II (which I will assume is what you have) and I also have that little extender-mounting ring that attaches to the pickup bezel - which I got from UK and the price of which, last time I looked, had increased precipitously although that could be because of macro-economic reasons. I haven't yet installed it. I'd be interested to see what it looks like installed, although I want a few customizations done on mine: fixed bridge, or pin the stock floating bridge, new speed knobs, and of course a GK mounted. I am not sure about the best location for the GK control housing if I keep the stock tailpiece, which I kinda like.

GK on an archtop is actually is a bit of a problem: even though this one is not as loud as an acoustic guitar, it is not exactly silent, and even wearing headphones that provide very good isolation, the sound that leaks into the headphones is enough to make it very difficult to get a good idea of the sound that is being outputted by whatever GK-compatible device or devices that I am using.

fokof

#11
Quote from: Elantric on November 23, 2011, 08:01:10 AM
I find  the audience reacts to the visual appeal of your instrument,

People listen with their eyes and their VISA cards too.
( in audiophile circle , think cables  8)  )

I play in a small trio and play Corpo gigs ,loungy/jazzy gig , my setup is well received (fretless+VB99) but in my "very hard rock" band , that same setup is seen as an extra terrestrial thing.  ;)

Me likes it !



noirclassic

#12
I play with VG-88 and a GT-5 while the 15 last years and now gr-55 with GT-10. But use unoften preamp model, i have two valve head for electric guitar sound.

Nevertheless when people seen i played with that stuff, there's always one to said i sound cold and plastic "i hear valve missed" ... well, how to tell you ...

atonal

Oh how true,I myself is guilty of this also if i'm seeing a blues band and the guitar player is playing a shredder or has a wagon train pedal board I think this isn't going to work and most times I'm right but the same band with a guitar player with a beat up old tweed dlx and a strat,lp or 335 and I'm thinking  umm I'll give this a listen..You all know where I'm going with that..The past year i have been doing solo shows at nursing homes and day care centers using a dreadnought and an Ibanez am73t in seafoam green,there's not a show that the Ibanez doesn't steal the show and get many comments on how beautiful the guitar is!!!got a Godin LGxt coming and ordered the cognac burst for this reason,most shows I'll be using it for will be more conservative types and for all the other situations gonna have to figure it out!Music is an aural and vision show ,look at Kiss!!!!Just had to get my two bits in!!

rocksmoot

I'm guilty of this myself. However hard I try, I just can't avoid being human.
--

HoosierMan

Quote from: atonal on November 26, 2011, 06:51:15 AM
The past year i have been doing solo shows at nursing homes and day care centers using a dreadnought and an Ibanez am73t in seafoam green,there's not a show that the Ibanez doesn't steal the show and get many comments on how beautiful the guitar is!!!

That's interesting.  I also play solo shows in nursing homes and residential centers and I have been using GR-55 with my natural finish Epiphone Dot and with the GK-3 added I think it makes it look even cooler.  I have received comments too about "what a beautiful guitar".  LOL

ecca

Great thread.
I had a Gibson Les Paul De-luxe for many years to which was fitted a GK2 pick-up running a Roland GR09 and a VG8 linked with a US200 switch.
I remember one gig where the first half was principally  VG8 guitars, all sorts, acoustic, Gretschs, 12 strings, you name it.
A bloke came up to me and said knowingly, " You can't beat the sound of a Gibson ".

Frank

10-12 years ago I used to be in a band playing live drum and bass and electronica using my VG-8 and Tom Anderson superstrat.
The drummer had some V-Drums and a sampler and the bass player had a V-Bass rig as well.
There were no conventional guitar, bass or drum sounds, all electronic; in my experience it confused the hell out of an audience when I was playing sub 'hoover' bass drops and TB-303 type sounds along with weird string pads.
There was a clear look of 'where's the keyboard player or computer' on their faces.
It was great; listening with their eyes is very true.

IanRamos

amazingly important topic , that weirdly , i had never seen before in a music forum ...

listen kids , if you are starting now to play live , keep that in mind , cause it's gonna save you A LOT of bad gigs :
people actually do listen MORE with their eyes than with their ears .

i started playing guitar in hard rock and heavy metal bands , so i always loved my super strats , Ibanez , Jackson ... i use to have and love lots of those guitars .

you know who didn't love them at all ? my audience when i started playing for a living (meaning , not my own songs with some heavy band , but covers for tourist , wich is where the money is here in Spain )

man , it took me so many sad nights to realice why the people hated my performance most of the times even before starting playing , while others less talented singers and guitarrist where doing killing gigs every night .

didn't really got the support of the audience untill i did surrender , sold all my axes and got me a couple Strats and Teles ... they just see a familiar guitar , something that they saw before on the tv and totally relax , i even get lots of compliments on my "vintage" tone ... haha   if they knew that my sound is totally digital !!   ( gr-55 and Hd500 straight to mixer )

just my 2 cents on that .

Elantric

#19
IanRamos,

Interesting to read your experiences there in Spain!

Piing

#20
Quote from: IvanLozano on January 15, 2013, 04:55:33 PM
you know who didn't love them at all ? my audience when i started playing for a living (meaning , not my own songs with some heavy band , but covers for tourist , wich is where the money is here in Spain )

Hola Ian,

Exactly the same happened to me when I played my Charvel Fire Cracked (the one you can see on my avatar) with the summer-gigs cover band (in Spanish called "orquesta") playing not only for tourist, but also at the "rural Spain". I sold it and bought a sunburst American Deluxe Stratocaster, and after that some people loved me.  But not everybody, because I still used the VG8 for acoustic guitars.

BTW: I deeply regret of having sold that Charvel. Now they are a rarity!

Saludos desde Bangkok,  :)

Manuel


photonutalan1

Thank you for introducing this thread, Elantric; it's sooo true! The experiences of others is fascinating, too! There's a very good reason for the existence of the wonderful Variax Acoustic!! ;D Methinks Godin knows something about this too.

aliensporebomb

#22
Quote from: Piing on January 15, 2013, 06:14:39 PM
Hola Ivan,

Exactly the same happened to me when I played my Charvel Fire Cracked (the one you can see on my avatar) with the summer-gigs cover band (in Spanish called "orquesta") playing not only for tourist, but also at the "rural Spain". I sold it and bought a sunburst American Deluxe Stratocaster, and after that some people loved me.  But not everybody, because I still used the VG8 for acoustic guitars.

BTW: I deeply regret of having sold that Charvel. Now they are a rarity!

Saludos desde Bangkok,  :)

Manuel

Seriously?  I sold this back in 1998 because I wanted a neckthru soloist with two octave fretboard [I still have that one]:



It was actually a great guitar but I had kind of worn it out thru 10 years of heavy playing. 

It took quite a bit to get them to accept that guitar as part trade on the Soloist.  And that Soloist does have a GK3 on it!
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Rhcole

OK, all very interesting!

What I'm wondering about is the reaction to lots of floor pedals and other electronic gear. I'm less concerned about the guitars than I am looking like I'm flying an airplane.
Any of you had to deal with audiences reacting (especially in your wine country etc. type of gigs) to the technology itself?

Piing

Quote from: aliensporebomb on January 15, 2013, 08:07:15 PM
Seriously?  I sold this back in 1998 because I wanted a neckthru soloist with two octave fretboard [I still have that one]:

He he  :D Here I am:

That was with a Progressive Rock band (a perfect fit for the look of the Charvel). My playing skills were not very good at that time, but everybody praised me, probably because they listened with the eyes...    ;D