I'm wondering if anybody else has noticed this? I just chalked it up to his tone, which is actually not an easy thing to describe but It sounds more like chimes to me than a chord from a guitar. I really miss his style of play from the 70's with that full chord tone. It really fills out the music.

I swear sometimes its as if he turned his volume is all the way down. I'll watch him strumming and try to hear him, but there's nothing there, as far as I can tell. I guess he's trying to fill as little space as possible, with all the other instruments it can start to sound mucky. But I just think he's gone a little too far with that strategy.

Pogue- it really depends on the venue/show. Sometime he is loud and clear. I agree that often he is not and his tone is probably hard to get right in the mix. He was nice and loud at Boca and NYE 12/31/10. Have a listen and see what you think. I love Weir's playing and really miss it when i can't hear him or barely hear him. Not always loving his tone though.

pogue mahone wrote:


Yes, you're right.

I noticed that I had a hard time hearing Bobby's guitar at the 3 Red Rocks shows last summer. I could hear him much better in Chicago last fall.

pogue mahone wrote:


I noticed that "chime" thing your talking about on one of the songs. I didn't notice it as much at the show but I did notice it on the recordings I downloaded a few days after. I was like where is that coming from I don't remember that part lol

Yeah, I think it really depends less on the venue than the space that Bobby's in. I've noticed through the post-Dead years that his playing can be really hit-and-miss. Listening to some recordings from Furthur's fall tour last year, Bobby's barely audible on many, many songs, and way up front on others, which reveals, to me, his inconsistent playing. Often he is barely strumming at all, just ever so lightly picking. No matter how high he is in the mix is irrelevant if he ain't playing anything, dig?
This entire winter/spring tour run, however, he's been totally present and almost too up front. In the thread regarding Furthur's crappy live sound mixes, I'd noted how Bobby seemed to be mixed waaaaay up front. At the shows I attended, his guitar was truly the clearest sound coming from the stage. Except for Russo of course!

IMO, Bob is more noticeable then he was in the Grateful Dead at some times. I can def hear him playing and even soloing too. I think maybe you just were in a weird spot or a dead spot in a venue. Ideally you shouldn't get a dead spot in sound with a major act like this but its all possible.

Dead spots are always dependent on the geometry of the speaker setup. You'll always have destructive interference. Just a reality of the physics. Just need to learn to avoid them. One King Crimson show I went to I couldn't hear Robert Fripp's guitar at all unless i covered my one ear. It was bizzarre. Noise cancellation is a crazily complex field.