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Getting Your
S*** Together
(Applying the 80/20 Rule to
Equipment)
by John McKay
The one thing (besides your
ability to play) that will heavily
impact your live and studio work is
your equipment. Do you have a weak link
in an otherwise strong chain? To find
out, just take a look at your gear. Is
there a piece that fails more often
than everything else? Is there a cymbal
that you don't like to hit?
It's important to be completely honest
with yourself and your bandmates. If
you have one piece that sounds
terrible, you can bet that your fans
will remember that more than just about
anything else. Everyone remembers
playing with "that guy with the
terrible snare drum". So how do you
insure that you're sounding your best,
without taking out a second
mortgage?
Use the 80/20 Rule! The 80/20 rule
(otherwise known as the Pareto
Principle, after Vilfredo Pareto, the
18th century philospher who first
observed that 80% of the wealth in a
society is held by 20% of the members),
is basically the observation that 80%
of your results come from 20% of your
effort. In the case of equipment, it
means that replacing one terrible
component can have a tremendous result
in your sound.
Let's use the guitar rig as an example.
Following the signal chain, we have:
pick>strings>pickups>wiring
(swiches and knobs)>
cable>effects>cable>amplifier>speaker
cable>speakers. Any one component
can cause significant sound problems.
The systematic way to approach this
would be to test each piece, asking
yourself, "Does this piece work 100%?
Does it cause sound problems? Is it
more trouble than its worth?" If it's
not functioning perfectly, add it to
your repair/replace list.
After you've gone through the whole
set-up, you should have a list of items
that could be replaced or repaired.
While each item affects the sound
differently, a bad cable can cause as
many problems as a bad amplifier. A bad
cable, however, is infinitely cheaper
to replace. So, listing your items from
cheapest to most expensive, we might
have:
- Battery (distortion pedal) $2
- Cable $10
- Pickup $75
- Amplifier $400
Now, if you're playing a top dollar
guitar and you've checked all of your
gear, but are playing through a $25
Peavey from a garage sale, you may just
have to step up and buy a new amp. But
generally, replacing things like
cables, strings, and batteries can have
a major impact on your sound, for very
little cost. 80/20.
The same applies for drummers, bass,
keyboard, etc. One bad component can
wreak havoc, and ultimately, it costs
almost nothing to fix.
Similarly, if there's one part of a
song that causes trouble every time you
play it, you need to deal with that.
Either practice it until you're
proficient enough to hit it correctly
every time, or change the part.
Ignoring it is just going to make it a
focal point, and not a good one.
Making these small corrections can have
a very positive effect on your
performances, your confidence, and the
impression you leave with your fans.
Think of it like a sculpture; you're
just chipping away the pieces that
don't belong.
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