I've recently joined a band with two other friends, and we've been doing great! We have a Lead Guitarist (me), a Bassist, Rhythm Guitarist, Keyboard Player, and Drummer. We share a lot of the same interests and love to play the same type of music and listen to the same type of music as well. All of us except one person, the Rhythm Guitarist, who is also a good friend of mine. He just doesnt share the same interest and his equipment sounds horrible. Sometimes he just tunes out. He has a Fender Squier Starcaster with messed pickups (worse than usual), bad fretwork, bad electronics, and a mediocre Acoustic Lead Series 30 watt amp. We've tried to convince him to buy a new guitar as it sounds very bad compared to mine and you can really hear the difference (I have a Squier Hot Rails Stratocaster with a Mustang III 100 Watt amp) but says he cant and doesn't give any effort to convince his parents. I do not want to be any more rude to him, already asking if he can get a new guitar, so I was wondering if you guys know of anyway to tell him to leave or have any other positive outcome.
Thanks,
Hyper27

Since its a good friend maybe record some and let him listen and maybe the light will come on..

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Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

The problem is, he agrees that his guitar sounds bad, and I forgot to add, he stopped taking lessons at month 8 of guitar as his teacher left, and he also says that he doesn't think that his parents will let him take lessons. (Why?)

Let him play yours some and maybe he will want to get a new guitar. Friends help friends. Help him fix up his guitar.

Maybe money is the problem,not everyone has a lot of spare cash lying around at the moment.
If that is it, then no amount of cajoling is going to convince him or his parents to buy anything, let alone pay for weekly lessons.
Try altering the set up of the amp, turn the treble down and use the tone knob of the guitar. Everything on 10 is not the way to go!

Yea, if he's your friend, you should try to help him. Both the guitar player and bass player in our band had really awful equipment. But you know what? They could play. They are good musicians. So I let our other guitar player play my guitars, and I loaned our bass player my bass. Eventually, they got what they needed, and we recorded an album, won a Hawaiian music award, and were voted best live band in Las Vegas.

It's good Karma to help out. Don't make him feel inferior. Try to make him feel like he's a valuable part of the team. Help him out in an encouraging manner.

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The equipment issue aside, I think it's a good thing that you have someone involved in your band with different interest musically. This opens opportunities to find common ground that can develop into some innovative music. But he should be willing to meet you half way. If he's truly off on his on tangent then he may just have to go.

There's a youtube video with David Gilmour playing with BB King. The way they meshed was surprising and very good.

I've also seen Earl Scruggs with The Chieftains (An Irish folk band). It was stunningly well done.

Good luck.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

I've been trying to get my singer to buy a PA system for two years now... Seems kind of pointless to be a singer and have $2000+ sunk into a guitar and amp that you just play rhythm on, and $0 sunk into amplifying your main instrument (your voice). So anyway, there's always going to be that one person in the band who refuses to upgrade their equipment no matter how much you bug them.

With your band member, it could be he and his parents just can't afford new gear and lessons right now. One thing you could suggest as far as the gear goes is to get good, used gear. His parents will save a bundle of money and get way better bang for his buck. Keep an eye out on craigslist, and when you see something tell him about it. The alternative would be to let him borrow some of your gear (if you have anything extra that's better than his) on gigs and for band practices. The lessons is something really only he can tackle though. Either you have the drive to want to take lessons and find the right teacher, or you don't. Just help him out as best you can and point him to online lessons if you have to.

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+1 online lessons.

My son learned guitar via youtube. Heck, I've learned soldering, lawn mower repair, woodworking tips, all sorts of stuff on youtube. Free.

Just my opinion: being a 50-something guitarist, I've worked with plenty of musicians that were half-hearted about their instrument; they were really into other things. Not every activity can be your favorite. Maybe your friend prefers to invest his time and money into football, iPod, or x-box. Not everyone has "the passion" for music, but they have "passion" for something.

Hyper27, what is the age range in your band?

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I'm pretty sure his parents can afford his stuff, as he has guitars, but again as he didnt do research to see which is good, all but 2 are functional, the Starcaster and an acoustic electric Ibanez that has a bad pickup.
Our ages in the band are:
Rhythm Guitarist: 13
Lead Guitarist (me): 14
Bassist: 14
Keyboard Player: 14
Drummer: 16
I've also tried to teach him at times, but he just went off to do something else. He doesn't really know much in guitar, only a few chords, power chords, the 5th position A Minor Pentatonic Scale, and Down Picking.

Don,t be a gear snob. Just ask him about being in the band and if he want to stay you guys have to help him fix up his guitar.

I agree that a true friend should offer to help and the help you offer should be good thoughtful advise and some personal hands on tweaking. Real help. However if that help should be refused or ignored it might be time to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. You're not doing yourself or him any favors flogging a dead horse. It doesn't have to be mean spirited or friendship crushing but if he doesn't fit in then he doesn't fit in. Bands are often inherently troubled with personel issues right from the get go without the added strain of one of the members not really fitting in. Band relationships can be harder to maintain than a marriage sometimes. It might put a temporary strain on the friendship to gently release him but that will pass with time. You never know, maybe a little kick in the rear will help him to at least try to do better with what he has if not upgrade.

You don't want to say this next part to his face but the truth is, guitar players are very easy to replace compared with bass, drums or keys.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I think at that age range, you shouldn't worry too much about equipment, focus more on practicing on your own, and play for fun. You have to figure at least 1 out of 5 people who play an instrument don't stick with it. Your friend might be the 1 out of 5. But it's too early in the game to kick a friend out of your band because he's not keeping up with the pack. Think how you would feel if he started practicing and getting better and surpassed your skills. Would you want to be kicked out by your friend?

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