Hard To Handle

As one might imagine, I was excited to see Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson and newly minted foil Luther Dickinson on the cover of July's Guitar Player Magazine. Having had a full (3) months to absorb their latest release Warpaint, and digging it quite a bit, I was very interested in what Rich and Luther had to say about the guitars / gear they used.

That is, until I read this: "A good tone will make your whole body tingle with energy," says Rich Robinson, "and I think the way many guitarists are using digital technology has destroyed that."

Wow. Not even a paragraph into the feature, and here comes a well-aimed diss at guitarists using digital technology. Being a player who has readily embraced the idea of 1's and O's in relation to his own pursuits, Rich's somewhat cynical view didn't sit too well with me.

For starters, let us examine Mr. Robinson's current state of affairs in regards to "real" gear: a home studio crammed full of top-shelf vintage equipment; an ever-expanding network of legendary luthiers and analog amp gurus eager to custom build any guitar / amp he so desires; and a nearly unlimited supply of funds to support his tingly, mind-expanding quest for tonal perfection. And lest we forget - access to the finest recording facilities in the world. Yes indeed, as far as tone is concerned, Mr. Robinson hasn't ventured too far out of the "land of milk and honey" - - if at all. Sort of like the Kennedys bitching about the quality of food at McDonald's.

In comparison to the opinionated Mr. Robinson, the common player knows little of such frivolties - - being bound to more responsible pursuits than the "tingling of one's engergy." I can, however, personally attest to experiencing "tingling" sensations when playing through digital equipment - - although I have not compared these sensations to those achieved when using my '68 Super Reverb, Classic 30, or any of my other tube-based amplifiers. Perhaps it might be a good idea for a future Tone Farm feature? No matter how you choose to look at it, I find it a bit jaded for anyone, much less a prominent rock guitarist, to dismiss digital technology as "tone-less" destroyers of musical energy. It's simply not so.

Delving further in, one might also ponder the following questions: "Is the music-making and / or recording process somehow undermined if it's not analog." Or, "is one's playing less inspired because the sound is being created / processed digitally?" I would suppose that certain types of players could be more / less inspired - depending on the type of gear they play. However, this supposition should also reflect the contingent of players who are inspired by, or actually prefer digitally-rendered tone to analog / tube-based tone. To me, what it boils down to is this: if the song is good, and the playing kicks ass, how it came to be is irrelevant.

Here's another small, but tasty morsel of information: ALL of the Black Crowes' new album was recorded using M-Audio's Pro-Tools - a DIGITAL computer recording program!! Imagine that. In a world teeming with vintage Neve and Studer analog consoles - any of which would be at the Black Crowe's instant disposal - - they recorded the album using *ahem* . . . Pro Tools.

Today's gear manufacturers have done a fantastic job of leveling the playing field between preening analog wind-bags and the average joe player - and most especially with digital technology. As I see it, having access to something that tone-wise sounds reasonably close to, or has some of the playing nuances of a decent Fender or Marshall amp - I absolutely can't see anything wrong with that.

So, to all of the tone "purists"- please feel welcome to obsess about crap like amp sag, tube degradation, point-to-point, and cone wear all you want - digital / modeling technology is here to stay. Myself and a gazillion other players will make damn sure of it.

Now that I've ranted to my heart's content, I think I'll saunter into the jam room, crank up my PODxt, dial in a nice over-driven Fender Tweed - and play some Black Crowes. Damn you, digital technology. Damn you! - - J.