why do players play through soo much gear?

[BluesNRock87]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

i love the guitar-chord-amp, but that doesnt give me enough versatility for what i want.

so i have 3 pedals currently, a mxr dyna comp - pretty much always on, or, use it as a solo boost. Bd-2, depending on the sound i want i use it alone for light distortion, than add the amps distortion as a boost, or vice versa, depends on the amp. That way i have a slight crunch/boost in one dist. a light dist on anohter, and combine them for higher gain/solo. The cgb-95 is ur standard wah. i will eventaully ahve it bypassed. Wah is fun to mess around with and an essential for every guitar player, even though its use is infrequent.

Depending on the amp i have/get, i will add a chorus, phaser, and reverb pedal. if the amp can take care of any of those than i wont get one. prbly the mxr. phase 90 and the EH chorus, small whatever. the reverb wold be a EH holy grail.

in conclusion, i think there is a middle ground, not overboard, yet not bare bones. I like being able to change my sound up a bit foir different songs

[B2D]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I'm a Guitar, amp, and pedals type of guy but if I had the money for a small rack for all my special effects (chorus, flange, delay, tremolo) that would be cool. It's kind of a ***** having so many pedals and tap-dancing.

[Guitarist]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

Options, my friend, options.

[kmcguitars]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

When you 1st learn how to play guitar. The next step is to find your sound. The commom thought is to get more gear? So ya go down to the music store to find thatMagic box that's gonna give you your signature sound. A few $1000 later your realize (if your lucky) That your sound is with in you!!
Been there the whole time. ( but it sure was fun buying all that gear HA HA)
Well that's my take on it. I've come full circle
I started out with just a cable into a small tube Webcor reel to reel.
20 years And a few grand in stomp boxes and big amps and
all the gadget Dijour! I'm back with
a cable and a small tube amp. ( What a long strange trip it's been) LoL

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I am back to a head and cab plus very few effects.
I love effects, but I only use them when they have a purpose now.

[Rocker35]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I s'pose it's called GAS!!!!!

[sweet_lou]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I am an old guy just starting out. But I had other hobies and guys get crazy with stuff. Like Archery you have some really top shooter endorse a gadget and a bunch of people who don't understand good form run out and buy it thinking they can buy a better score, golfers do this as well. I try to check my self with the GAS attacks buy remembering the old cowboy expression " beware of the guy with only one gun"
Don't I sound like an old guy?

[Chi3f]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

i went 6-7 years with only my vox wah. Right into the amp most of the time from the guitar. past year or two i have been running a pedal board because i feel i have maxed out what i can do atm with just a guitar so i did it to attempt to get to the next level of guitar playing.

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I've got a Digitech 2112 that has all the effects in the world, but I really don't use it a lot. I also have a Vox wah, Mesa Boogie Bottle Rocket, & a Boss EQ-20 on a pedal board, which I do use.

I think it's all about versatility & finding your own sound. Along the way, it's fun to play around with different toys.

And the guys with the wall of effects...a lot of them are back-ups in case the main takes a nose dive.

I read an article on Jonny Lang a few years back (when he was a blues guy!)...his rig was Tele-wah-TS9-H&K Rotosphere-amp. IMO his tone on that 1st album was fantastic. Sometimes simple is better!

[jmv]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

guitar--cord--dirt simple amp.

great tone, gotta love it, why mess with it?? I want versitality, i flip one little switch on the amp, or plug into the other side, and presto.... different.

[Jonny R]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

Those guys like Vernon Reid or Petrucci, with NASA as a rig, actually look kinda ridiculous to me. All those flashing lights for a 45 minute set? LOL

3 hour set on the Dream Theater Metropolis DVD

I only heard a couple of obvious effects being used though. Most of the time it just sounded like he was just using his Mesa gain sound and wah.

I remember reading a Dan Huff interview, where he was saying that going into the studio each time he just had to have the sounds on hand that producers were used to and wanted to have on their albums. Sounded like that was the purpose of his rack gear. Later when he moved to Nashville it appeared he trimmed his rig a little.

[Mr Wolf]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

Well after my first gig i found simplicity was the best thing. Less hassle, no worrying about all your gear etc. In my band i need my usual clean, metal rhythm and lead sounds. So my rig comprises of the tuner and noise surpressor that goes to the amp, then an EQ in for lead in the effects loop. I found the wiring hassle at first, finding jacks behind the amp in the dark on stage. These experiences killed my GAS to get more pedals to complicate my rig. Im considering getting a Tech21 TRI AC though since it should give me my 3 channels in one unit which can go directly into a PA or clean amp. Seems sweet to me.

I'm thinking some people get loads of effects and racks etc is because they have their guitar techs who take the hassle away from them, or they dont have a problem with it themselves, or there are the people who have the genuine need for them to achieve the sounds they require.

[Mincer]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I have my rack stuff in a 6 pace rack, with a 12 channel mixer on top- everything is pre-wired, I just take the lids off, plug in my stereo cable, and 13 pin cable and go. Pretty easy. I don't have someone helping me, and my rig is lighter than most amps. The big guys have lots more stuff because getting your sound right in a big room is a lot harder than in a small club...it isn't just a case of adding more amps.

[Mr Wolf]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

I have my rack stuff in a 6 pace rack, with a 12 channel mixer on top- everything is pre-wired, I just take the lids off, plug in my stereo cable, and 13 pin cable and go. Pretty easy. I don't have someone helping me, and my rig is lighter than most amps. The big guys have lots more stuff because getting your sound right in a big room is a lot harder than in a small club...it isn't just a case of adding more amps.

Sounds like a pretty sweet set up you have there. I didn't consider the size of venues etc needing more stuff when it came to the big people. I stand enlightened and corrected

[Empty Pockets]

Re: why do players play through soo much gear?

i just think it's funny when a kid has a cheap 15 watt solid state combo amp, and a $5000 pedalboard with every thing you can imagine on it.

Sure you get lots of DIFFERENT sounds but not a single GOOD one.

as for myself, I only use a distortion pedal 'cuz my amp doesn't have a distortion channel. I kinda want a chorus pedal but that's just 'cuz i'm a stoner and I love the way that "wowowowowow" sounds...

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