Rip it up and start again....

BintyTwanger77

What I see a lot of on this forum and others are examples of folk selling all their pedals and starting again, even to the point of a clichés developing (buy a load of pedals, sell them all, go for rack effects, doesn't work for them, go back to pedals). 

I ask this because I've changed my mind about pedals enough times for it to feel like a problem. Do people not trust their ears anymore, are they too fickle, or can you get to a point where the task of putting together a brand new rig (the "journey", if you want to get wankily X-Factorish about it) outweighs actually playing? Or are folk who do this never, ever happy with their tone?

I can see why guitarists might want to just end the indecision and uncertainty and sell the whole lot and start from scratch, but judging by the number of times folk have done this, it doesn't seem to be a foolproof answer.

Has anyone genuinely killed off these thoughts, and if so, how?

JDE

The pedal cycle is a problem I have. Even considering getting a multi fx right now to try and curb it. Genuinely pretty pathetic, but it keeps me off the streets.

octatonic

BintyTwanger77 said:

Has anyone genuinely killed off these thoughts, and if so, how?

Yes, I have.
I have a pedalboard with some pedals, and a multi fx board.
I use whatever I need for the task.

I don't obsessively buy pedals and sell them- if I buy something then I assume that it is mine forever.
I buy maybe 2-3 pedals a year and virtually never sell anything.
Anything new generally fills a hole- I don't have 10 different fuzz pedals, or TS circuits, I'm not collecting for the sake of it.
There is only one pedal that is absolutely essential for what I do and is very rare, so I have 3 of them.

My opinion is many people here like buying and selling stuff more than they like playing guitar.
That genuinely isn't a put down- I don't mind what people do with their money- but I hear a billion times more about the buying and selling than I do the actual playing of the stuff they buy.

markblack

I got a bit into 'building my board' for a about a year. Then I bought a Helix, didn't intend to, but I got a good deal on one and I was getting bored (excuse the pun) of not playing and tinkering / fixing.

Now I'm sure the Helix get's only 95% of the way there if you're a purist. But f**k it that's pretty good.

I sold 11 pedals off, number 11 going today in fact and my Helix is now paid for.

So far I actually feel I'm a lot more creative not pedals are virtual - I can move things around, try new things without the sound of velcro...

that's what got me off pedals... it was getting a bit addictive. 

JDE

octatonic said:

My opinion is many people here like buying and selling stuff more than they like playing guitar.
That genuinely isn't a put down- I don't mind what people do with their money- but I hear a billion times more about the buying and selling than I do the actual playing of the stuff they buy.

This is me, basically. I wish it wasn't, but it pretty much is.

Out of curiosity, what's your "rare essential" pedal, @octatonic ?

octatonic

Ibanez OT10.

BintyTwanger77

The one certainty I have is what guitars and amps are essential to me: Fender amps and Jazzmasters.

JezWynd

I've sold my guitar - no need for guitar pedals. Why didn't I think of it before.

BintyTwanger77

@JezWynd Now you can go back to focussing on the Hungarian Nose Flute orchestra...

Winny_Pooh

@octatonic said:

Ibanez OT10.

Interesting, you may like the Foxrox Octron

monquixote

 I got quite heavily into building a board a couple of years ago.

Initially I learned a huge amount but eventually I was just doing it as a hobby and not playing guitar except to test pedals.

One useful thing I learned from doing shootouts is that when you have 5 decent high gain ODs or whatever then any of them will do the job and the limiting factor is your playing.

Case in point we had an Amplifire and a Helix at the fest yesterday you could obsessively compare every model to see what is the "best" but pragmatically they both sound great so just pick a tool and play.

I've got tired of it now and I haven't bought a pedal in months. 

ThePrettyDamned

I don't obsessively buy and sell, but my new amp doesn't like muffs so hunting for a fuzz and a clean boost for the board.

I've had the same chorus, drive and delay pedal for quite a while, and I don't ever see them changing. My phaser is great, so that won't go. My reverb is fine - got everything I realistically need and sounds excellent.

I try to buy pedals that I love the sound of without getting caught up in any trends. It means I have one or two oddballs but they last.

pintspiller

Everyone has a sound in their head. Some people spend lots of money trying to find it. Some wish they had lots of money to try and find it. Some people are happy with their sound from the get-go. I buy some stuff. I sell some stuff. The stuff I keep may help me get the sound in my head. It may just be something I've wanted to have. 

As a guitarist who usually plays bass, I find myself wondering if I should just keep the stuff I use with the bass and flog on everything else.

Sporky

markblack said:

Now I'm sure the Helix get's only 95% of the way there if you're a purist.

I know it's a well-repeated mantra, but I don't think it's true. I think the Helix, or a pedalboard, or a rack setup, or an old Boss ME-5, gets you just as far as you're willing. There will be any number of pedalboards out there that can't cover 20% of what the Helix can, and only get to 50% for sound quality. There will be Helix patches that sound like it's broken.

As for the original question, people like new experiences. If you take two good pedals, the newer one will probably sound more interesting.

octatonic

Winny_Pooh said:

@octatonic said:

Ibanez OT10.

Interesting, you may like the Foxrox Octron

I've got one.
The OT10 does something very different to the Octron.
I've not found another pedal that sounds the same.
Have a listen to this at around 4 mins in

dindude

Goodness knows I've been through enough pedals. However, when I find one I love it stays - so the Mad Professor LGW has been a mainstay drive pedal for 3 years since I "found" it, likewise the Diamond Counter Point, Skreddy Swirl etc etc.

Part of the pedal hunt for me is actual getting to that one that is completely fit for purpose for your needs, yes any number of alternatives would be perfectly usable in its place but the final percentages are often worth seeking out.

If you rotate on from their then it's grass-is-greener territory or just plain boredom, and I've learnt my lesson there so don't bother.

One thing I am combating at the moment is having access to some of the other FX types that aren't on my main board for the occasions I want try something else for creative or boredom reasons - a multi FX is seemingly perfect for this but I just can't get on with them, they seem to have 18 different phasers and none of them sound any good, and you're on your hands and knees whilst you find this out! So I'm currently putting together a very small and simple "GAS-buster" extension to my board I can plug in a few extra choice pedals when the occasion arises and stop me keep on buying these food-groups that never make it to my final board.

Sassafras

I've never done the 'rip it up and start again' thing, only added or subtracted one pedal at a time.
I used to buy lots of ODs and boosters but I've settled on 2 ODs that do exactly what I want so if I never try another pedal, I can die happy (God willing).

Of course I'm joking, there is no God.

Teetonetal

@BintyTwanger77 as someone who has been round the fx pedal block... I reckon there are a  2 approaches to this, either buy what seems like a good idea at the time, and move on if it fails, or really take your time getting the right pedals from the start, but persevere with minor flaws Either way, don't get caught up on a forum hype train.

My gigging board has been set for over a year now. I know the sounds it gives me, it can do a lot, and all of the pedals work with my gear. For me, as player who deps a bit, and is in some straight forward rock based bands, this board does everything I need. Apart from replacing a dead pedal, I really can't see why I'd replace anything, although I do toy with the idea of replacing with an FX8 for plug n play ease.

http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj611/Patrick_Redford/Mobile Uploads/20160430_224702_zpsgtfxmcsk.jpg

Where the annoyance, spend, idiocy racks up for me, is in my home pedal board. This is made up of whims and fancies. Pedals that I love but don't work out on the gig board, picked up S/H are too expensive for a pub board. But I find that after a while the fun of creating sonic mayhem wears off if there is no band to express it in. Then the constant selling also begins to grate a little.

It used to look like this:

http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj611/Patrick_Redford/20151220_230735-1_zpseojp4cr3.jpg

But of that lot, only the Moogs, Whammy, WV2 and Four Eyes remain.

I've worked out that most multi pedals (eg Eventide, Neunaber) whilst sounding great annoy me. PSU annoy me. Patch leads annoy me. Too many options annoys me...

However

Since getting a helix I barely even stomp on those.
Since getting a helix I haven't bought any pedals, the only thing that tempts is a Gurus 1959 DD
Helix is the ultimate pedal board, as simple or as complex as you'd like

That said, there is a Boing in the clasifieds and that would fit my gig board very nicely....

digitalscream

I don't think I've ever really had this problem - but that's probably because I've always had a very specific goal in mind: optimised workflow combined with a small footprint. Hence...my board doesn't change very much, and has three pedals and a MIDI controller on it.

Of course, I get all my dirt from my amp, so there's not a huge amount that needs to happen on the board. Just a tuner, wah and phaser and I'm done.

english_bob

octatonic said:

I've got one.

The OT10 does something very different to the Octron.
I've not found another pedal that sounds the same.

A quick google search suggests that the OT-10 shares elements of the OC-2 circuit (octave down) and the EH Microsynth (octave up). 

That's a cool sound. I must try that wah trick with my Octave Divider clone. Where's the distortion coming from in the video? EDIT: never mind- watched it from the start now.

octatonic

english_bob said:

octatonic said:

I've got one.

The OT10 does something very different to the Octron.
I've not found another pedal that sounds the same.

A quick google search suggests that the OT-10 shares elements of the OC-2 circuit (octave down) and the EH Microsynth (octave up). 

That's a cool sound. I must try that wah trick with my Octave Divider clone. Where's the distortion coming from in the video?

Custom Audio PT50.
The faux-ring mod/torn speaker sound seems to work best with tight high gain heads, rather than pedal dirt.