Gigging saves me money

Jared Lash · #1 11-07-2008, 06:41 PM

All together I played out 6 times in October and I've already got 7 or 8 gigs scheduled for December. But, through an odd coincidence, between my two main bands I only have one gig in November and my originals band is on a break for some songwriting.

And what I've come to realize is that I never think during a gig that I want a crunchier distortion, or a more pronounced phaser or less wet filter. During gigs I use what I've got and get the job done.

But when I have time to sit around and tinker, that's when GAS hits.

I think most of us know that the small differences between the pedal we have and the shiny new one that we "have to have" aren't really noticeable to the audience. But idle hands are the devils tools. If I gigged constantly I'm guessing my pedal purchasing would drop considerably. Am I the only one that thinks this?

icarussmicarus · #2 11-07-2008, 07:16 PM

I agree completely. When your busy you don't have time to play with new toys or try something new. You play the songs with the tools you wrote them with.

**5stringwonder** · #3 11-07-2008, 09:01 PM

I've actually got a different experience. some of the pedals that I've had sounded just fine when I was tinkering in at home or during practice but in a live setting seem to not be able to cut though the mix or not sound the way that I thought they would.

I've ever come back from a gig thinking that I need to find a better setting for a particular pedal or find another pedal that would do the job better.

I must agree that the audience probably can't tell the difference but as musicians we can.

kevteop · #4 11-07-2008, 09:23 PM

When I take my effects gigging I'm always thinking of switching methods that would be useful, different orders/groupings for pedals, how a blended clean signal would've been better with that effect, etc.

So no, I'm always thinking about spending money. I think I've talked myself into buying another two or three basses for recording purposes too.

DaveF · #5 11-07-2008, 09:59 PM

I agree - the bass becomes more of a musical tool than a work of art. I become less reverent of the equipment and more "down to earth" the more I play out.

Lesfunk · #6 11-07-2008, 10:45 PM

More agreement here. When I'm on a gig, I'm "working" and the more I work, the less I feel like dicking around with new gear, toys etc.
When I'm gigging a lot, I actually like to get away from my bass for a while.
Other interests help to keep my music fresh.

Valerus · #7 11-07-2008, 11:05 PM

yeah I was going to mention idle hands, but BigO, you already mentioned it.
Good way of thinking about it, btw.

The BurgerMeister · #8 11-08-2008, 12:57 AM

i agree, BigO! out of the 100 pedals i have, i use 3 regularly... and i realized a long time ago that i don't even really need those 3.

BUT: they sure do add to the sound of the band. i've found the pedals that make the audience members come up after the show and ask what i was using to get all the different sounds.

bottom line, for me: i like having many pedals around because different gigs call for different rigs. some gigs i'll go bass -> amp, others will be bass -> pedals -> amp. then there's recording... THAT'S when pedals are especially fun.

shinobi · #9 11-08-2008, 02:35 AM

the audience would definitely not be able to appreciate the kind of effects we use, they don't know what a phaser is, a chorus is part of a song, a flanger is used to clear the sink pipe, a delay is when the band starts their set late... but that doesn't mean our effects are in vain...

we musicians can only be certain that the audience only know 2 things- "GOOD" and "BAD" (they also know ugly but it seems that we musicians don't place much importance in that!)

you may spend alot of time, effort and money for that little extra when pimping out your fx chain and while the audience may not notice it, they may notice "that special something" that they can't put their finger on. of course they can't, they don't know gear like we do!

atheos · #10 11-08-2008, 02:49 AM

Whoa, I just programmed 12 banks (4 patches per bank if you're not familiar with those things) for live use on my AX3000B

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OK, it's just 3 banks but with minor tweaks for both active/passive and amp/line. And patches 1 & 2 are always the same clean and drive with 3 and 4 being anything from slap clean to synth+filter+ringmod+drive

That's total of 8 different tones altogether.

Jared Lash · #11 11-08-2008, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveF

I agree - the bass becomes more of a musical tool than a work of art. I become less reverent of the equipment and more "down to earth" the more I play out.

Yeah, this is what I was getting at. And it's not really a judgment in any way, just an observation. After all, I go through pedals as fast as anybody else in this forum.

But when I'm gigging a lot they do become more tools than sources of fun. I think that's why we're so often surprised to see big name players with boards filled with non-boutique stuff. For every JMJ, gearhead type pro, there are three with a board of messy cables and 3 Boss pedals.

Again, just something I've been thinking about while wondering how it is that I just put in an order for my 13th new overdrive and my 23rd new phaser.

rustynuts · #12 11-08-2008, 11:37 AM

When I was gigging a lot years ago I had a different problem....I pretty much had all the pedals I wanted and when busy playing shows I never really thought much about the effects. My problem was other gear. I was playing guitar then, and every time I'd be in a new city I'd have to check out the music shops....Wound up with 11 Les Pauls, just about every flavor of Mesa amplification there was, and all kinds of rack gear.

If I could have kept myself busy during the day while the music stores were open I wouldn't have had that problem.