My Tonal Awakening

[sopachrga]

I'm a combination of the worst of each.

Yep there will be people like you and Ed who can manage both at the same time.
But you probably still have a core set of gear that you play and just buy extras separate from your primary playing?

Not everyone has the time and funds to manage that. You're very lucky in that way.

[jeremyb]

I've always looked at like this:
Some people play guitar because they (similar to computer hardware nerds) like buying new gear and playing with toys etc.
Guitar forums are mostly filled with people from this category.

While others play guitar solely as a musical outlet. Those who play for this reason, can easily be lead down a bad path by not being able to control themselves when put in amongst people who fit the first category. It's easy to get distracted and get caught up in the GAS loop. Where you start spending more time worrying about your gear than you do playing it. I've fallen in to this trap a few times, but usually only when my band was inactive. Fortunately once my bands kicked back in to gear again I snap out of it and start focusing on my playing.

People from the 2nd group have to be reasonably thick skinned to exist on gear forums and still be able to resist the GAS monster.
We have a couple of obvious candidates of people who don't do so well at this here.

So true, the interesting thing with this forum is the balance, theres way more good players on here than any american forums, I buy / build gear as it distracts me from spending the time to actually get good at guitar, cause thats quite hard and I find it depressing

[sopachrga]

All relative to what you are doing. I'm sure it would be hard to keep up in a 'grind core' outfit with a Blues Junior, a Telle and no pedals.
Also if you entertain the public with music your GAS might not just cover guitar gear. There may be P.A. GAS or a few forum guy have 'home recording' GAS.

Yes, obviously there is the essentials needed. But you don't need to buy and sell your drive pedals every other week to play in your grind core band.

Though there are a few musicians out there who play live all the time with not much gear at all. There is a fellow in my neck of the woods who gig 2-3 times a week and only has a Cort acoustic. They are also so broke they don't have internet and computers so you wont find them in this forum often.

Yeah exactly, you are further proving my point.

[sopachrga]

I buy / build gear as it distracts me from spending the time to actually get good at guitar, cause thats quite hard and I find it depressing

There is nothing wrong with that either, If your hobby is tinkering with gear etc with a bit of playing thrown in then it's cool.
It the people who are trying to focus on playing more that need to learn to ignore the GAS urges from reading posts about new toys from people like you.

[sizzlingbadger]

I buy / build gear as it distracts me from spending the time to actually get good at guitar, cause thats quite hard and I find it depressing

how true, thats me too.

[jeremyb]

I buy / build gear as it distracts me from spending the time to actually get good at guitar, cause thats quite hard and I find it depressing

There is nothing wrong with that either, If your hobby is tinkering with gear etc with a bit of playing thrown in then it's cool.
It the people who are trying to focus on playing more that need to learn to ignore the GAS urges from reading posts about new toys from people like you.

I'll do my best to get gear no one wants, oh hang on I'm there already!!

[jeremyb]

I buy / build gear as it distracts me from spending the time to actually get good at guitar, cause thats quite hard and I find it depressing

how true, thats me too.

Late starter at playing eh? altho' I did start when I was ~16, gave up, tried again in late 20's, gave up, tried again in late 30's, stuck with it now, still not practicing enough tho'...

[Conway]

I had about a 30 year break and took up playing again as I was approaching 50 (mid life crisis). I enjoy the hunting and collecting side almost as much as playing.

[GrantB]

I'm a combination of the worst of each.

Yep there will be people like you and Ed who can manage both at the same time.
But you probably still have a core set of gear that you play and just buy extras separate from your primary playing?

Not everyone has the time and funds to manage that. You're very lucky in that way.

TIme for playing is my issue. So instead of playing I look at things....which then starts a vicious circle because if you look you will find. But if I'm not gigging, I'm not buying. That's the rules. It must be largely self funding.

In terms of core gear - yes. Playing the originals music I'm doing currently I get to step out of that core gear realm which is great. Truth is I could do most gigs with one guitar, one amp, couple of pedals.

But where's the fun in that?

[druz15]

While others play guitar solely as a musical outlet. Those who play for this reason, can easily be lead down a bad path by not being able to control themselves when put in amongst people who fit the first category. It's easy to get distracted and get caught up in the GAS loop. Where you start spending more time worrying about your gear than you do playing it. I've fallen in to this trap a few times, but usually only when my band was inactive. Fortunately once my bands kicked back in to gear again I snap out of it and start focusing on my playing.

People from the 2nd group have to be reasonably thick skinned to exist on gear forums and still be able to resist the GAS monster.
We have a couple of obvious candidates of people who don't do so well at this here.

So much this,
it's actually going to be good living here without a car until we can afford a van, because going to gigs means public transport, which means guitar in one hand, amp head in the other, maybe one or two pedals in your backpack.

[slash-ed]

I'm a combination of the worst of each.

Yep there will be people like you and Ed who can manage both at the same time.
But you probably still have a core set of gear that you play and just buy extras separate from your primary playing?

Not everyone has the time and funds to manage that. You're very lucky in that way.

TIme for playing is my issue. So instead of playing I look at things....which then starts a vicious circle because if you look you will find. But if I'm not gigging, I'm not buying. That's the rules. It must be largely self funding.

In terms of core gear - yes. Playing the originals music I'm doing currently I get to step out of that core gear realm which is great. Truth is I could do most gigs with one guitar, one amp, couple of pedals.

But where's the fun in that?

Haha I'm the opposite - if I'm not out playing a lot, I have more time to trawl the internet and look for fun new toys. Now is a great example of one of those times

[Scooter13]

I've been paying for singing tuition for the last 6 months. I only took it up so I could do a half decent job at backing vocals in the covers band, but I'm quite enjoying it now, and I'm even singing in a singers concert in a week! It's cool though, because you need very little gear to take it up as a hobby. But the money I spend every fortnight for a lesson I feel is well spent.

Hence, I'm thinking of taking up guitar lessons again, if I can find a good teacher in Wellington... There's something about putting your money towards tutelage that's rewarding for me. Especially for something like guitar, where it becomes a life-long skill. Plus, I'm forced to sit and practice weekly and be a good "student" (YMMV).

Good/cool gear can go a long way to making great music though. Don't discount it as a fools errand. It depends on the type of music too though. A blues guitarist might sound great with a good sounding SS amp and a strat, but a progressive rock player may need a bit more at their disposal, but it certainly doesn't need to be wow/rare/uber boutique.
Mind you, strats all sound the same no matter what they're going through
Ever tried to get a big rock sound from a cheap LP in to a cheap amp? Different story. That's certainly not going to inspire me to play.

[slash-ed]

I've been paying for singing tuition for the last 6 months. I only took it up so I could do a half decent job at backing vocals in the covers band, but I'm quite enjoying it now, and I'm even singing in a singers concert in a week! It's cool though, because you need very little gear to take it up as a hobby.

Tangent - not directed at you, but it's fucking annoying that actual signers think the very same thing!! Hardly any of the singers I've worked with over the years have owned any gear, if we were lucky maybe they owned a single microphone. That's retarded. If their voice is their instrument, you'd expect them to have the gear to amplify it. It's like being an electric guitar player without an amp. When I decided to try and be a real singer, first thing I did was buy a mic, mixer, and PA speaker.

/rant. Fucking singers.

[GrantB]

Tangent but bloody true.

[calling card]

The strangest thing happens after having great gear at your disposal. One day you'll plug in to 10w SS and somehow the sound you found with all those $ has followed you back.