ilovefuzz.com

Whenever I go to as new taco truck I get the cabeza tacos because that is the measuring stick. At a new Thai joint it's beef pad see ew. Well when I test a piece of gear I go straight to a couple of riffs.

Dirt pedals and amps will always get a little Asphalt Risin'
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-rn7i75vhU[/youtube]

When I'm handling a prospective new axe and I want to check the pretty chords I go to the part of this Witchcraft song that starts at 2:20ish
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGjD81pL9yg[/youtube]

When I need to feel what it'd be like if I was beating up on it a little maybe I'll bust some Nuclear Bomb
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU7i6hck6Gk[/youtube]

There are more riffs and songs for more testing situations but I'm forgetting right now. What are you guys' faves when you're over at some weird dude from Craig's List's house?

I only play my own music. So basicly a Single Note riff, a powerchord riff, some normal chords, some more complex/broken chords. That's it. I know in 30 seconds if it is sth for me and in particular for what application.
Pretty boring answer, eh?
I should Record some my standard Test patterns...

Yep, same answer as uni here, with the difference that in 30 seconds I know whether it's not something for me, the verification whether it is actually something for me after passing the first test is a more time consuming matter in my case.

If I'm not mindlessly noodling, I fall back on stuff I (half)learned to play in high school and college

Jawbox - savory
Fugazi - break
the opening movement from A Love Supreme
Chameleon
various bass riff from the 2nd RATM lp

Break is a good one though. Ian's part works for chunk, thunk, low end resonance in cabs and speakers, how a bridge will feel under my hand, string spacing. Guy's part is all about sustain, fretwork, feel of the neck and the heel/body juncture, whether I'll dig the treble on an amp/guitar/dirt/delay.

I do like Uni. Always start with an E major. From there I improvise.

doommeow wrote: the opening movement from A Love Supreme

I play around with that too. Other standbys for this situation for me:

-Dark Star by the Dead
-1970 by the Stooges
-jennifer's veil by the Birthday Party, although wrong key cause Rowland wasn't in standard for it but ehh
-Lightning Boxer by Royal Trux
-shameful Jorma attempts when no one else is gonna hear me

Like others have said I largely stick to my own stuff, whatever I'm working on at the moment.

I definitely play my own stuff too but if I do I'll want to take a whole bunch of time. Like if I already own the gear in question and I'm all comfy at home I may not go straight to the Fu. But if I'm away from home I'll usually just spend a minute or two rocking the ones I listed and then I can know if the item can do what I want it to fairly quickly. I rarely feel like showing off a ton of my sweet riffs at the music store or at some rando's house during a CL mission.

i always feel bad because i suck at jamming out at guitar stores i keep that amp on .5

I'm boring. I play only the open E and then play octaves when I try amps out. I will though not plug into an amp until I want to hear if the electronics work in a bass or guitar I'm trying out. That way I can noodle in quiet and so no one hears my missed notes and messy chording.

Blitzkrieg Bop and Police Truck.

I never thought of having standard test riffs. Seems like a good idea. I normally just play the thing in question and see where the sound takes me. If heavy riffage comes out, it's for me, if not, maybe not.

Riff numerous uno is always Louie Louie.

Here's a few of my fallbacks.
Testing clean sounds:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovk4cJ6kGYo[/youtube]
Testing dirty sounds:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAl3A2pYFhM[/youtube]
Along with various ETID songs
Testing basses:
An arrangement of the Balamb Garden theme from FFVIII
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eU0tRBHnE0[/youtube]

New rose by the damned

I usually play whatever I've been working on recently. Then I play some open chords to see how that works out. Play some single notes. Play some power chords.

Sometimes I play riffs or licks if they've been in my head. For a minute or two I was just playing Today by Smashing Pumpkins a lot.

If I'm testing something fuzzy I like to play the opening riffs from Electric Funeral.