Rip it up and start again....

BintyTwanger77

I suppose the most sensible thing in this situation would be to experiment with taking a few pedals off, start by playing straight into the amp and gradually add pedals one at a time, work out what you use most and enjoy most and sell the ones that aren't working. The idea of a mass sell-off does have a cathartic appeal, though.

BintyTwanger77

Right... This might sound like a daft idea, but.... I'm currently a smoker looking to stop, and if I sold all my pedals, the incentive to stop smoking and use the money saved on gradually rebuilding a pedalboard would be HUGE. Sounds daft, but might just work. Cigarettes or delay & reverb... At least I'd be serving a medically healthy addiction instead.

markblack

BintyTwanger77 said:

Right... This might sound like a daft idea, but.... I'm currently a smoker looking to stop, and if I sold all my pedals, the incentive to stop smoking and use the money saved on gradually rebuilding a pedalboard would be HUGE. Sounds daft, but might just work. Cigarettes or delay & reverb... At least I'd be serving a medically healthy addiction instead.

do it... it's public now so you have to

markblack

not to start a love helix / hate helix debate. But it sounds good and no 'ripping velcro' noise to be heard.

lasermonkey

Firstly, I wholeheartedly support your quest to quit smoking. I know it's hard, but the rewards outweigh the effort a thousandfold. I'd always choose reverb over cigarettes!

 As regards the pedalboard, is there anything specific that you don't like about it, or just a nagging doubt it could be better? I don't know your full setup, but from what I remember, you have a Timeline and Big Sky, and I'd sell some relatives for medical experiments to get hold of those! It would be interesting to know what your setup is compared to the sounds you're hoping to achieve.

The thrill of the chase is exciting, I understand that. However, I think the rewards of getting stuck into a piece of gear and *really* understanding what it can do and how to get the best out of it are ultimately greater. I'm a fine one to talk though: I have a stupid amount of pedals and more rack gear than you can shake a stick at, yet I'm still scouring eBay for vintage digital delays. I have resisted the urge to pull the trigger though. So far!

I think that understanding the sounds in your head is key: not only what is used, but how it's used. Right from when I first became interested in guitar, I was just as fascinated by how the different noises were created. It's not always going to be easy getting the sounds you hear on records replicated with a pedalboard, or with multi-fx racks going into amplifiers. It's amazing just how different things sound by, for instance, recording a guitar part, then adding effects through a console or DAW. The signal paths can end up being quite complicated.

Teetonetal

Work out how much you smoke per year then take a per day calculation.

Then work out which pedals you want.
When number of days = cost of most desired pedal. Buy it. So long as you didn't smoke of course.

Oh and don't buy any other gear. Rewards only work if they are just that. Rewards. Not additions.

viz

JDE said:

The pedal cycle is a problem I have.

Try a motorbike

pintspiller

Best of luck with the cigs? Patches worked for me for a while, until I thought I was a big man after 10 weeks . A few years later I paid a guy £100 and got hypnotized. Weed-free over six years. Read Allen Carr's Easyway too

Drew_TNBD

Honestly I think it's time I just admit to myself, I love gear as much as I love making music. Even if I stopped making music overnight, I'd probably still dick about with gear.

BintyTwanger77

pintspiller said:

Best of luck with the cigs? Patches worked for me for a while, until I thought I was a big man after 10 weeks . A few years later I paid a guy £100 and got hypnotized. Weed-free over six years. Read Allen Carr's Easyway too

I've just picked up something shiny today that ISN'T a pedal. Going to give this vaporiser lark a go. Very nice so far.

Pete24v

I change my pedals every now and again, sometimes I'm chasing a sounds in my head.. Sometimes I just get too comfortable and used to the current sound, so I change it up. 

My current board has mostly been the same for over 12 months, and I gig every weekend. 

meltedbuzzbox

regarding smoking, no one likes a quitter ;-)

do factor in that you might suddenly start eating a lot more 

octatonic

meltedbuzzbox said:

regarding smoking, no one likes a quitter ;-)

do factor in that you might suddenly start eating a lot more 

This was the case for me.
If I could go back I'd have started exercising a lot sooner than I did.

pintspiller

I seem to remember I noticed flavours more when I stopped smoking too. Weight gain for me arrived a year later when I moved to a less-laborious job

professorben

It's a multi step process. 
1) only play your complete current rig with a full band
2) practice unplugged or even better acoustic
3) delete your account on here, TGP and Huge Racks
4) spend time outdoors or with loved ones 
5) unsubscribe from That Pedal Show and any other guitar shows. 
6) spend more time practicing and less time strumming an open A chord whilst endlessly cycling through presets/turning knobs
7) make actual music. 
8) go to live gigs and without looking try to identify at which point a guitarist engages a non true bypass pedal, reward yourself by putting £10 in a music find jar every gig you succeed. 
9) after 12 months spend this find on new gear. 
10) enjoy life music and food more. 

From memory you have at least 2 strymons and an H9 on your board, I'm pretty sure there is no sound you cannot get 90% nailed. 

Im on step 2........ 3 is a stumbling block. 

Teetonetal

yup, being on gear pages is bad for the wallet.

BintyTwanger77

Finding out today I'd have to find a new place to move to in the next 3-4 weeks (when I thought I'd sorted out a new place) has certainly focussed the mind away from gear.

BintyTwanger77

@professorben All very very sage advice.

Have you tried (8) and, if so, how much money did you make?

professorben

BintyTwanger77 said:

@professorben All very very sage advice.

Have you tried (8) and, if so, how much money did you make?

Few times, I'll be honest I could barely tell when the guitarist changed guitars......
 

Moss

professorben said:

BintyTwanger77 said:

@professorben All very very sage advice.

Have you tried (8) and, if so, how much money did you make?

Few times, I'll be honest I could barely tell when the guitarist changed guitars......
 

You wouldn't notice - true bypass only refers to when the pedal is off