Guitarist-isms that make you cringe

Bogwhoppit

Monstronaut said:

usedtobe;117971" said:

Buckle rash. Lawsuit.

This. There was only one lawsuit. It was against Ibanez in '75 and nothing came of it. It really bugs me when I see Tokai's, Greco's etc being sold as 'lawsuit' guitars.

+100

 

I am so with you on this. I read up on this case many years ago. In fact, a few people have detailed the complete 'lawsuit' event in full detail on the net. Yet people have adopted the word to justify selling a piece of 70s copy shite.  Tokai was dragged into the lawsuit debate in the early 80s, due to a wrangle with Gibson, but it was nothing to do with the defacto Ibanez [non] case from the mid 70s..

Skipped

Lukeage said:

We're guitarists, not bloody wine connoisseurs.  

Next thing you know we'll be talking about "the warm fruity tones of mahogany that are enhanced by the nutty honk of the P90s that spring up through the cavities softly and sit maturing easily on the ears."

Yeah - the fine wine thing crossed my mind earlier.
But here is the problem. Let's imagine you are writing a review for "boutique" PAF clones, and a dozen pickup makers have sent you an example (all using the same type of Alnico magnet)
It is possible that you will conclude that "they all sound exactly the same. End of". (If that was the case then the industry is finished as everybody will just buy the cheapest one)
But I don't think you would conclude that. And at that point you have to use......Language.

If we choose to roll our eyes every time somebody attempts to describe the subtleties of sound then we may well succeed in shutting them up. But do we want to? This is what I had in mind when I mentioned "bloom" which is sometimes used on LPF when PAFs and vintage Gibson guitars are being discussed. I guess it is now seen as pretentious, but it didn't start out like that. It started as simply someone trying to communicate a particular sound.

dogload

Bogwhoppit said:

Monstronaut said:

usedtobe;117971" said:

Buckle rash. Lawsuit.

This. There was only one lawsuit. It was against Ibanez in '75 and nothing came of it. It really bugs me when I see Tokai's, Greco's etc being sold as 'lawsuit' guitars.

+100

 

I am so with you on this. I read up on this case many years ago. In fact, a few people have detailed the complete 'lawsuit' event in full detail on the net. Yet people have adopted the word to justify selling a piece of 70s copy shite.  Tokai was dragged into the lawsuit debate in the early 80s, due to a wrangle with Gibson, but it was nothing to do with the defacto Ibanez [non] case from the mid 70s..

Even better when you see the term used to try and sell Hondo or Columbus 'Les Pauls'. 

SimpleSimon

'Dentists Guitars'... Surely all walks of life play guitars? 'The upgrades alone make it worth more'......meaning despite all the money theyve spent there still not satisfied..... 'To my ears the pickups sound harsh etc'......so change your amp settings! 'This is a highly sought after Korean ( peerless etc) model much better than the Current Chineese model' hmm its a given some factories do produce better guitars but again not all guitars are equal and should be judged on their own individual merits....

Rox

Skipped said:

Lukeage said:

We're guitarists, not bloody wine connoisseurs.  

Next thing you know we'll be talking about "the warm fruity tones of mahogany that are enhanced by the nutty honk of the P90s that spring up through the cavities softly and sit maturing easily on the ears."

Yeah - the fine wine thing crossed my mind earlier.
But here is the problem. Let's imagine you are writing a review for "boutique" PAF clones, and a dozen pickup makers have sent you an example (all using the same type of Alnico magnet)
It is possible that you will conclude that "they all sound exactly the same. End of". (If that was the case then the industry is finished as everybody will just buy the cheapest one)
But I don't think you would conclude that. And at that point you have to use......Language.

If we choose to roll our eyes every time somebody attempts to describe the subtleties of sound then we may well succeed in shutting them up. But do we want to? This is what I had in mind when I mentioned "bloom" which is sometimes used on LPF when PAFs and vintage Gibson guitars are being discussed. I guess it is now seen as pretentious, but it didn't start out like that. It started as simply someone trying to communicate a particular sound.

Easily solved.

PAF I vs PAF II

Because Gibson couldn't be arsed to be consistent on the production line, each humbucker had varying specifications, so had different sounds.  The PAF I and PAF II are going head to head to win the battle of the reproduction slapdash pickups.

PAF I:

On whacking the strings, the PAF I has a VAAAARRRRRRUUUUMPH that is satisfying.  With a underlying HNNNNNG that gives a vintage feel.  Turn the amp to clean, and you get an AAAAAH smooth WOOOOOO and PWANG that sounds good.

PAF II:

Same as the PAF I really, with less GGGGGGGNNNNNNNUUUUUUUNNNNNNGGGGGG but a little more HOWANG.

carlos

Skipped said:

But here is the problem. Let's imagine you are writing a review for "boutique" PAF clones, and a dozen pickup makers have sent you an example (all using the same type of Alnico magnet)
It is possible that you will conclude that "they all sound exactly the same. End of". (If that was the case then the industry is finished as everybody will just buy the cheapest one)
But I don't think you would conclude that. And at that point you have to use......Language.

You don't mean language, you mean marketing! If they sound the same, they sound the same. If they don't I agree we need some common ground to talk about sounds, personally I think magazine reviews of gear are fairly pointless compared to online ones with sound samples or video demos. My mahogany tone is not your mahogany tone.

Lukeage

Haha I tried to just be tongue in cheek about the whole thing!!

I think sometimes we can over-think and over-describe things but in all honesty does it all really matter? 

I think the thread here serves one purpose only: to laugh at some of the odd "guitarist-isms" as they've been labelled.

Let's be honest, they are all a bit odd. 

Personally I don't give a rats.  

Nerine

When 65 Amps talk about the sound of their products using the word "vocabulary".

Just nonsense.

carlos

Read a description of a scented candle "spicy and woody notes which are subtly savage and masculine", could work for guitar reviews me thinks

ICBM

A couple more, reminded by other threads…

"pup" - It's a *pickup*. A pup is a young dog.

"poly" - poly *what*? Polyester and polyurethane are quite different materials. Used as a universal put-down for anything that isn't "nitro", which is not quite as bad.

mike_l

Guilty on pup, but it's usually cos I can't be bothered to type pickup.

jd0272

Guilty in both, but there's an assumption that people know what's being referred to. Anyway, I tend to p'up.

Blueingreen

I 'd make a distinction between 

1. usage that seems jargony/clumsy/in-crowdy, cliched or downright ugly("axe" etc); and

2. terminology that's hard-sell or designed to mislead.  

The second type I'm happy to see scornfully mocked.

As for the first type - I have my aesthetic sensitivities the same as anyone else, but no matter how ugly the language whoever uses it comes across as much less of a dick than whoever picks him up on it.  Not knowing seems a much less grievous sin than undue pride in knowing.

Specifically re the use of "lawsuit". I had a Tokai with the fake-Fender spaghetti logo and the "good old strat" legend from new until I sold it last year.  I was told by the shop I bought it from that Tokai had been forced by threat of legal action to change the headstock and logos. Whether or not that is factually true  "lawsuit" became the accepted shorthand way of referring to the Tokais with the original Fenderesque headstock.  I used the term myself and there was certainly no intention to mislead.

fretfinder

Wolfetone said:

Neil said:

Calling a Les Paul a Lester. 

I realise that was Mr Polfus' real name but it seems so arch.

Nobody ever refers to Leo Fender as Clarence do they? 

"> Oooops....I have to admit that I have used that in the past. I suppose it comes from the Gavin and Stacey era where people were adding a 'ster' onto peoples names as in Les'ster' .....nah, I haven't convinced myself....it's a moron thing to do. (hang's head in shame) 

^ ^ ^ This, in spades! You wouldn't refer to your Ibanez signature as a 'Steven' or a 'Joseph' would you? Would you?!  

monquixote said: Use of "Strat" bothers me purely because I own a "Strat" which is a different guitar to Stratocaster and it makes it really difficult to explain to people what it is

Is your 'Strat' in fact a 'The STRAT'?!  

 

Pyroman

Nice! Another list detailing how to annoy other guitar players!

chrishill901

Describing something as 'teh brootalz' does it for me. Or just the horrendous misspelling of 'the' for any application. I gave up on UG a long time ago for that very reason. That and the recommendation of valve amps over anything else regardless of the criteria specified, simply because valve is awesome and SS is crap. 'Tubez is teh bizz' I believe is the general consensus...

Whoever said that people saying tone is in teh fingers was annoying, I totally disagree... It is. Teh lead guitarist in my band is a stunning player with great tone, when I play through his gear I sound totally different, it's a totally different tone. Teh only difference is teh fingers. Even if I became as technically competent as him I would never sound like him... And he doesn't sound like me through my gear... Which is his loss obviously...

Phil_aka_Pip

John_P said:

I cringe  at  the classic - "do you play lead or rhythm?" 

So do I. I'm a guitarist, I play a guitar. I can comp behind a singer or I can play solos in a band. Sometimes I can even play a guitar by itself and play a melody, harmonies, and a bass line all together.

Then there are the people who refer to electric guitar as a "lead guitar" presumably because it has a "lead" sticking out of its jack plug.

Panama_Jack666

Phil_aka_Pip said:

John_P said:

I cringe  at  the classic - "do you play lead or rhythm?" 

So do I. I'm a guitarist, I play a guitar. I can comp behind a singer or I can play solos in a band. Sometimes I can even play a guitar by itself and play a melody, harmonies, and a bass line all together.

Then there are the people who refer to electric guitar as a "lead guitar" presumably because it has a "lead" sticking out of its jack plug.

+1

thermionic

Loaded pickguard, or even worse, fully loaded pickguard.

You don't load pickups into a pickguard FFS, you load a gun or a removal lorry. Fit pickups, or install them.

scrumhalf

John_P said:

I cringe a bit at "axe"  and the classic - "do you play lead or rhythm?"

The answer to that is surely "yes, I do".

"Relic'd". Stupid spelling for a stupid word for a stupid practice.