CMusicBlog

I remember a time when I was much younger when we'd get some old fogey in the store putting down the rock music of the day.

 

"It's just screaming and distortion"

 

I was reflecting on this on my drive to and from the post office while listening to the band Chrome.  Helios Creed, the guitarist for Chrome, uses quite a lot of distortion and other effects.  During the live set I was listening to he changed the tone of the distortion frequently, from bright and edgey to throaty, on the verge of serious feedback and all points between often in the same song.  I had to chuckle over the thought that using distortion was a sort of talent hider, a substitute for actual ability.  As most rock players know distortion has many faces and is the heart and soul of many guitarists.  If your ears are tuned to ...

If you've done any searching online for gear you may have wondered why you see the same price on gear.  It is because of MAP pricing.  MAP stands for Minimum Advertised Price, in other words the lowest you can advertise a particular product for without violating your dealer agreement.  MAP was put in place to protect both the dealer and the public.  It protects the dealer by creating a more level playing field, a field where one dealer doesn't ruin the investments of the other dealers by trying to undercut them.  Without MAP there only needs to be one dealer who is willing to cheapen a product to the point where it becomes worthless to carry by all the other dealers.  Of course, this means that the brand falls by the wayside as dealers drop them to find a brand worth selling.  MAP does not mean a dealer can't sell it ...

Times are tough, no doubt.  We all feel it in some way, whether directly or indirectly.  We have to make purchases wisely, buy things that last, require little upkeep and provide long term benefits.  Hey, I just described guitars!!

 

Let's face it, we all need things to do, things to entertain us, things to take us out of our workaday world and put a smile on our face.  We could buy new TV's but in a couple of years they'll be needing replaced and upgraded and honestly, the quality of what goes on those TV's is not all it could be.  We could buy video game systems.  Sure, those are lots of fun until you play out a game and need another to occupy you at an average of $50 a piece.  Those systems, if they last, aren't worth a whole lot down the road and the support and ...