h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>Expensive = good, assuming all second hand instruments are bad,


When I said the "A great musician../ will want the most suitable instrument to hand, in order to best allow their talent to shine" I said nothing about it being expensive, or even well-made. Most suitable is just that; a guitar they have found which is suits them, whether it be a hand crafted by magic elves or out of a dumpster with strings missing (Seasick Steve). My reservations about him/her buying a different guitar every gig is that s/he won't be familiar with it.

I await your apology.

>>Sorry, .../

Accepted.

"My reservations about him/her buying a different guitar every gig is that s/he won't be familiar with it." [Quotes]

That sounds like one reservation. Anyway, familiarity may be what the musician in question wants to avoid. He could bring a familiar instrument onto the stage with him, but he doesn't. How many times does a touring performer play the same songs? Probably a lot. Things can get stale after years of repetition, so using different instruments might be a way to freshen things up. Just supposing.

>> Things can get stale after years of repetition, so using different instruments might be a way to freshen things up. <<

I like this idea. The musician could get bored playing the same thing over and over. Playing with a new guitar would be a challenge for the musician and keep him interested ... I suppose it's like making love to a different women each night ...

>>/..using different instruments might be a way to freshen things up. Just supposing.

You're right, there is that possibility.

Keith Jarrett has a critically-acclaimed live solo album, The Köln concert, on which he doesn't play the concert grand piano he had requested for that evening, but instead uses a very ill baby grand, without properly working pedals. It became the best-selling solo jazz album. However, to my knowledge, he never subsequently chose to request a substandard instrument for any other concert; this particular 'triumph over adversity' was not the result of a deliberate decision on his part, and indeed he had nearly cancelled the gig when he'd first seen what he had to play that evening.

Also, and slightly different again, on David Bowie's Lodger album, at certain points the musicians play each other's instruments, in order to create a more naive sound.

That sounds good.

I must say that, even though I'm no closer to knowing the answer to my question, I am really enjoying the slightly drifting conversation. Lots of interesting ideas being discussed