Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Some view pedals as creative igniters.

I see them as a hindrance.

Just a bunch of "this pedal, that pedal, sounds this way, sounds that way, twist this, turn that, first in line, last in line, second in line, level up, level down, less of this, more of that" bull$hit.

I've always shook my head at those people. Glad you've seen the light.

I've gone full circle about three times with this, and what I've come up with is this.

I know what I need for music, first and foremost. That's usually one formula that consists of a great amp with one boost/OD pedal that melds the most naturally with it....and the main guitars that are 'you.'

After that, you've got a lot of other amps. If you have the opportunity to try a lot of dirt pedals with all of them, you eventually find out which OD sounds perfect with a particular amp.

Those amps are probably good amps you love, but aren't your main rig. This is where the experimentation comes into play. If you need a tone, you not only have an amp you know will work, you know which boost pedals plays the best with it.

[Jocelyn]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

This is precisely the reason I dumped the the ZOOM Effects processor a year back. I was fiddling around more and playing less. Turning this turning that all the time. Around 2 years back I started plugging directly into the amp and enjoyed my playing all the more. So i decided to sell it off. ( I actually gave it for almost free). A nice distortion/overdrive and some delay/reverb stomp box is nice and is probably a must. I think I I most probably would never ever go for a Multieffect unit again. Sure it falls more economic and is easier to carry around then a bunch of pedals. But I know I just want overdrive/distortion and some delay/reverb. Phaser is one thing I might most probably pickup.

[jimijames]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I have a single 18w amp that I can use daily, and while it sounds nice cranked, the range of distorted tones with a pedal (GGG Marshall Bluesbreaker Copy) can go from CCR - SRV - ZZ Top - Eric Johnson on the same guitar with the volume knob. Which you can't do without the pedal. Without, you go from excellent jazz sound to excellent rock sound, without the piano-like bass of SRV or the grind of ZZ top, or the sweet leads of Eric Johnson in between.

It's absolutely a crutch, in the same way a guitar pick is a crutch when compared when using only your fingers. Or, in the same way a guitar is a crutch as compared against a full symphony orchestra. I'm just saying, these things are popular for a reason.

[Matt42]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I've gone through several phases of lots of pedals, no pedals and somewhere in between. Each situation has its benefits, and each has its downside. Personally, I've never been much of a knob tweaker... I find the settings I like fairly quickly, and I only really fool with them if I'm in dire need of a new sound, or if I get a new amp or something.

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Some view pedals as creative igniters.

I see them as a hindrance.

Just a bunch of "this pedal, that pedal, sounds this way, sounds that way, twist this, turn that, first in line, last in line, second in line, level up, level down, less of this, more of that" bull$hit.

I've always shook my head at those people. Glad you've seen the light.

yeah that is wise... just judge people who do something different than you.

Seriously I'm sick of the purists thinking that Guitar->Amp is the only way to play.. Open your eyes and ears. I have heard amazing tones from just amp users and pedal into clean amp users. It is all preference so no need to "shake your head" at people who use pedals...

[Chickenwings]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

this is a cool thread.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Yeah man, this is great OP.

I spent about 15 or 16 years just plugging into an amp and it just makes you think differently.

I remember when Far Beyond Driven came out, I'd squeek my strings off the fretboard and it sounded right to me and I though that's what Dime was doing.

I definitely love pedals but in very subtle settings that just add to the top like sprinkles. I would never make a whole cake with pedals like...say...The Edge. (wait...why did that just turn into a baking reference...I don't bake)

whoa...

Anyway...yeah man.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Sometimes the sound really does inspire the riff, especially with delays and modulation. I don't do much futzing around when writing, but when recording I like having lots of options sound-wise, even if I may be the only person who notices.

I am however a VERY prolific writer, averaging a song per week; so for me there is little that slows me down!

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Too many choices = no studio results for me.

I sometimes write songs around a certain guitar/amp/effect, and make myself stick to a limited range of gear until the song is done. The only pedals I regularly use are a noisegate and Boss Giga Delay. The rest are just the icing on the cake (or sometimes mega distractions).

[xxxplorer]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

May even ditch my board and just strew what I use across the floor old school style lol. I do need new volume pots for my guitar now though... rolling them back a lot is wearing em out lol.

[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Some view pedals as creative igniters.

I see them as a hindrance.

Just a bunch of "this pedal, that pedal, sounds this way, sounds that way, twist this, turn that, first in line, last in line, second in line, level up, level down, less of this, more of that" bull$hit.

I've always shook my head at those people. Glad you've seen the light.

[trevorus]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I've been picking up more pedals, but splitting off into multiple pedal boards. I had 4 drive pedals on one board, and it was a bit excessive. Dropped to two, and I'm loving just using one most of the time, and exploring my volume knob, and my right hand dynamics.

Sent from my chromed robot turd, using the miserable junk code known as crapatalk.

[xxxplorer]

Had to sell off quite a few pedals over Christmas... even flipped a few off of craigslist. I noticed as the pedal count went down, the mucking around and twisting knobs went down and I'm actually playing! What a shocker! Lol, I'm not knocking pedals at all... just my behavior. I'm one of those who can't handle too many choices and will end up fiddling rather than really playing.

It's been quite a liberating experience, and I've even learned to make some of the noise a flanger or a phaser makes without them... I'm down to just my wah, an od, a fuzz (not on the board though), univibe, and a delay. Had SO MANY things before hahahaha!