And, to be honest, even the speaker-ed TOTL arrangers are so low on anybody's radar that they rarely get recognized...

No, sadly, the TRUE source of most pro's animosity to the arranger (if there is such a thing - as I said, I have NEVER encountered it) is likely the LOW end arrangers. And even those probably get their reputation from the abysmal playing skills of many of their owners rather than the sounds themselves...

You see, it's all well and good to lock yourself away in a bedroom, with a machine that follows your every whim, no matter HOW bad your timing or how bad your ability to even play the chords correctly at the right time, play for a couple of tone deaf and VERY supportive relatives, and then all of a sudden, think that you ARE capable of playing with a live band

Of course, out you go with said low end arranger to sit in with a friend's band, where lo and behold! The guys in the band don't WAIT for you to catch up when you get off the chords, look at you funny when you play a solo utterly out of time with the chords they ARE playing, and then look at you even funnier when you demo the arranger's cheesy sounds and accompaniment AFTER the jam just to show them just how unnecessary they actually ARE....

No... sadly, the arranger has EARNED it's animosity in the musical community. But it isn't pros playing TOTL arrangers that have garnered that hatred (at least not in live bands ). It's your Uncle Eldred, or Aunt Maud, or Dad, bless him and his out of time AND tune bossa nova rendition of New York, New York.

PLAY like a pro, you get treated like a pro. No great guitarist is made fun of if he just blew everyone away with his cheap Peavey... [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/smile.gif[/img] Play your ass off, no-one CARES what it is on...