The Morning Show: It's Not the Gear

The Morning Show is a transcript of today's podcast audio as a blog companion.

I've been fortunate enough to have been a musician for a little while, and along the way, I've been able to put together a modest collection of gear.  Nothing fancy, but lots of cool stuff to play with.  

 I remember being a teenager with one guitar...a black and white Squier Stratocaster that I treasure to this day. I would read the guitar magazines and catalogs, dreaming about how those fancy guitars on the pages would make me sound so cool, and how this gizmo or that gizmo would be tone heaven.  

 I learned an expensive lesson along the way.  They won't.  

I mean, SURE, my rig today sounds better than it did, but Eddie Van Halen was right - tone comes from your brain and your fingers, not your gear.  It's a lousy feeling to realize that new gear you just bought isn't the answer in itself, just like a new hammer won't make you a brilliant carpenter.  SURE it lets certain things happen, but you need the idea in the first place.  Far better to have the idea without fancy gear than the other way around.  So, while this is aimed at musicians, it applies to any field that you're in.  It's the ideas that are cool, man.  Not just the gear.  So, start rockin' today!  That hit song will sound a hit no matter what you play it on!