Guide: How to STOP buying more pedals

NegativeEase said:
Havent got it yet. -still arranging frieght. (I have to use a white gloves shipper to pack it, air ride point to point truck, delivery, unpack into site etc...

But same model as this

IMG950892.jpg
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What the hell are you going to do with that massive boat anchor?

:D
 
GuitarStv said:
I found that building my own pedals reduces a lot of pedal wanting on my part. First, when you see how similar a lot of circuits are to one another you get a real appreciation for how much marketing BS there is in guitar pedals . . . and second, you figure out how to make exactly the little tweaks you want to pedals rather than hoping that someone else has done that already and you can buy it somewhere.
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I'd love to try it, where do you start?
 
GuitarStv said:
I found that building my own pedals reduces a lot of pedal wanting on my part. First, when you see how similar a lot of circuits are to one another you get a real appreciation for how much marketing BS there is in guitar pedals . . . and second, you figure out how to make exactly the little tweaks you want to pedals rather than hoping that someone else has done that already and you can buy it somewhere.
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I was going to post almost this identical thing. There really is no magic involved but marketing firms really want you to believe there is.

A guitar player buddy of mine spends crazy money on flavor of the week, boutique pedals that are mostly clones of old circuits. I can't wrap my head around that, now that I know that most of those pedals can be built in an evening for a fraction of the cost.

As for other pedals, I started setting limits for myself. I will only buy analog, US made pedals these days and only if they have all of the jacks on the top or on the sides. I can't stand pedals with side jacks but the power jack is on the top. Placement on a crowded pedal board is easier with jacks on one or two sides than on three.

Those things are all pretty arbitrary but making myself stick to those boundaries immediately removes a ton of pedals from my consideration. I have literally owned hundreds of pedals and have only recently downsized my collection again. Hopefully, these guidelines will help to prevent me from getting carried away with buying more.
 
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Sirion said:
For me, getting into the nitty-gritty of high-end multi-fx units did the trick. I was always acutely aware of the limitations and annoyances of the stomp box format, and once I actually realized that there was another way I never looked back. I have a couple of pedals still, but I only ever need overdrives and dimension choruses, which are the two things that my rigs (based around the G-System and the HX Effects units) don't uniformly do excellently.

Of course, you hav to buy these too, and might want to update them every once in a while, but the frequency is going to be a lot lower, and the fact that you have actually put in the hours to learn the ins and outs of them is a serious deterrent.
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I got Digitech's RP-1, RP-12, DigiTech 2112 SGS, Eleven Rack, Yamaha SPX 90, Rocktron Prophecy 2, Roland Boss GT 6 , GT 8 and GT 10 .... that got me away from using foot pedals.

But I got a Decibel 11 Effects Looper to use MIDI control of some Acoustic Modelers and a Sitar simulator .

I love the convenience of MIDI, but some foot pedals have Mojo that are hard to let go of.
 
AJ6stringsting said:
I got Digitech's RP-1, RP-12, DigiTech 2112 SGS, Eleven Rack, Yamaha SPX 90, Rocktron Prophecy 2, Roland Boss GT 6 , GT 8 and GT 10 .... that got me away from using foot pedals.

But I got a Decibel 11 Effects Looper to use MIDI control of some Acoustic Modelers and a Sitar simulator .

I love the convenience of MIDI, but some foot pedals have Mojo that are hard to let go of.
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True. As I said, I keep a couple of pedals around still, though I long for the day when I don't have to. It all comes down to what units can do vs. what compromises you can live with (let us ignore for the present that multi-fx units may sound cooler than pedals and that pedals come with a set of restraints of their own for the moment). For me, the Dimension C emulation isn't quite there still with the units I own, but I hear that the Fractal stuff does it excellently now. I can't imagine wanting to use, say, an independent echo or reverb these days.
 
Securb said:
I like the best of both worlds. I have used multi-effects and rack units. I like the modular flexibility I get with stomps. Adding the H9 to the chain gives me the multi-fx options. I guess I am a hybrid type of guy.
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Yeah, a combination is fairly common, I think. You'll see a lot of guys with a looper and a few pedals along with their effects processors in their racks, and a lot of the really high-end pedals out there today, including the H9, are more akin to rack units than traditional stomp boxes.
 
I retired my HX Stomp off my board after about 2 years and went back to all regular stomp pedals. Much happier now with just basic stomps. Only had to buy a basic reverb pedal to get things all the way right. I don't feel the need for anymore pedals. It all really just comes down to what you think you need and what you really need.
 
Those old units are great, especially if you dial in the perfect sound.

In fact, I sold one of my Avid Eleven Rack rack units and went back to my DigiTech 2112 SGS rack unit .... Those two 12ax7 tubes make the 2112 sound much better.

I noticed that the newer rack and floor units are 80% more on the money to get the Classic Amp tones, where as older units, you have to start from scratch , IMO.
 
Bogner said:
Newer doesn't always mean more better...
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I have yet to try the newer Axe-Fx units, but I've seen a surprising amount of people using the now somewhat old-fashioned and clunky G-System alongside it, because the G does pristine effects so well. The last part I can attest to.
 
The fact that when I saw the new Rat pedals in yellow and also red, and also the JHS pat rack -and I desire all 3 -despite having 5-6 original 80s and 90s Rats already means I need help.

It's like my 90s drug addiction replaced.
 
playas said:
Guitar + cable + amp
May take some getting used to, but has a tendency to get some great sounds and may even have the added benefit of improving your playing - assuming you practice a bit ;)
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No matter how much you practice, there are sounds you just can't get with that.
 
NegativeEase said:
The fact that when I saw the new Rat pedals in yellow and also red, and also the JHS pat rack -and I desire all 3 -despite having 5-6 original 80s and 90s Rats already means I need help.

It's like my 90s drug addiction replaced.
Click to expand...

I think it means you need a red, white, and yellow rat, to compare to the JHS....
 
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