Growing with your gear?

[Jared Lash]

Here's something I've been thinking about a fair amount lately. I've been "assembling" a pedalboard for three years now and I've gone through pedal after pedal to do it. Every time I buy something new, there's things I love about it and things that don't quite measure up so I keep looking. In fact, I think I've gone through 20-25 dirt boxes in that time. My profile is continually out of date because I don't keep things long enough to bother updating.

But what I've noticed is that the pedals that have stayed on my board longest continue to reward me with new ideas and applications. I've come to think that maybe switching out gear so often deprives me of really developing some interesting things.

Perhaps I'm alone in this, but I've come to believe that constantly hunting for the latest, greatest is keeping me from really exploring what I already have. Anyone else feel similarly?

 

[kevteop]

How many pedals have you bought twice? That's usually a good gauge.

There are a few pedals I've nearly sold, found myself using them in a different situation or having to use them for a show and ended up keeping them, and even *shock horror* liking them!

So now I try to keep anything I buy for two or three months just to be sure I don't want them.

 

[GingerConor]

have u ever played a wooly mammoth, for me their like my dream fuzz pedal, cant wait to get one in the summer.lol

 

[Jared Lash]

have u ever played a wooly mammoth, for me their like my dream fuzz pedal, cant wait to get one in the summer.lol

Yes and no. I've never had one in my possession, but when sharing a bill with a local band I got a chance to play through another player's setup with one for a few minutes.

I always steered clear because all my basses are active (though I now have a VFB-2 with a Z control that would likely let me use it) and the report was always that the Mammoth didn't play nice with actives.

Here's what I took away from the experience: both the good and bad news is that nothing sounds quite like a Mammoth. It isn't very versatile and to me it completely dominates/replaces your bass tone, but it if you like the sound, nothing else will do at least nothing that I've come across. As someone who likes thick, bassy wall of fuzz sounds I thought I'd dig it, but it was a bit too industrial sounding to me.

 

[winston]

Perhaps I'm alone in this, but I've come to believe that constantly hunting for the latest, greatest is keeping me from really exploring what I already have. Anyone else feel similarly?

I know how you feel. In the last couple years I've spent much less time futzing with gear, and more time playing, writing, and recording. I've got some really nice basses (Pedulla Raptures, F-Bass BN-5, New Standard upright) and amp stuff that sounds just like I want.

I amassed about 15 pedals and several multi-FX but found that I could get plenty of wacky sounds from my core 4: DigiTech BassSynthWah, Boss BF-2 Flanger, MXR EVH Phase 90, and SansAmp ParaDriver DI. When I added more pedals I usually had to run a clean blend and round up extra power supplies and patch cords. More noise/interference, more stuff to lose/break/troubleshoot/carry.

That's not to say I don't think about gear--I'm just thinking more about music and how to use what I have. That said it's fun to check into Talkbass on a regular basis to see what all the gear whores have to say!

 

[beyondthe48]

i dont think the tone quest ends. im only content for a week or so then i think well maaayybe there is something better. this forum keeps the GAS full.

i have gone through about 15 different distortions just to find one that i like.

 

[namraj]

most pedals suck, bass eq amp thats all thats needed, if ur fussy then a compressor but y mess with perfection

 

[Jared Lash]

most pedals suck, bass eq amp thats all thats needed, if ur fussy then a compressor but y mess with perfection

I have to wonder why, considering your opinion toward them, you were visiting the effects forum.

In any event, I think you misunderstood my premise. I USE effects. I use a lot of them (14 on my current board) and I consider them essential to what I want to do. Now, I play in a RHCP tribute band and I back up a singer/songwriter/pianist where little is needed in the way of effects, but in my own writing I use them a lot.

No, my point was that I am constantly swapping them out and in that process potentially missing out on a bit of the symbiosis that occurs when you stick with a particular piece of gear for a long enough time period. I have found that while no setup will ever be perfect, forcing myself to stick with the gear I have forces/encourages me to be more creative with it. That's all I was saying.

 

[Oreomeister365]

most pedals suck, bass eq amp thats all thats needed, if ur fussy then a compressor but y mess with perfection

No.

There, I gave just as credible an argument, but with considerably better spelling.

 

[Jared Lash]

No.

There, I gave just as credible an argument, but with considerably better spelling.

 

[irvinz]

i think growing with your gear is quite valid. to a certain extent. like for stuff that i have owned, i keep it cause i find it that i have a use for it and apply it in live settings. tho sometimes, trying to use a certain piece of gear would kinda put a stump to my playing and get me just trying to implement the effects. which for me. doesnt really work. so in a sense. grow in the right enviroment? lol

 

[Swift713]

I think there can be a healthy balance between the gear doing exactly what you want and working with the gear's limitations. It's like part of the instrument, a piano can't do everything a violin can and vise verse. That's just a fact of life.

 

[Andy V.]

No, my point was that I am constantly swapping them out and in that process potentially missing out on a bit of the symbiosis that occurs when you stick with a particular piece of gear for a long enough time period. I have found that while no setup will ever be perfect, forcing myself to stick with the gear I have forces/encourages me to be more creative with it. That's all I was saying.

I agree.
The same happens with me.

Of course, that's a bunch of gear out there and there are different strokes for different folks, but the more I keep a piece of equipment, the better it sounds through my rig and recordings.

We gotta be loyal to our little boxes.

 

[bass-shy]

I'm right there with you, BigO. Recently, I had a listen to an album that a few friends and I recorded in 2000. Then, I had a Precision bass, a Crate BX-80 combo amp and a Zoom BFX-708. We recorded everything onto a Fostex Casette 4-Track with a couple SM-57's in a garage. Surprisingly, the album turned out really good. Everything was mixed very well, we all had great tone and it was a lot of fun for all of us. We only used the crappy equipment that we had at the time because we couldn't afford anything better. Since then, I have spent thousands of dollars on gear and I don't recall being that much more impressed with any of the new stuff than I was with the old. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I was stuck with my old gear, and I had to make it work for me because it was all I had. That meant taking the time to learn how everything worked and what obstacles I had to work around. Nowadays, if I don't like a piece of equipment that I own, I sell it or trade it toward something "better". I'm sure that I have missed a lot of great tonal secrets hidden inside some of that equipment for no other reason that I just didn't spend enough time with it. That said, I'm really content with everything that I have now and I think that I'm done buying and selling bass gear for a while.

 

[markjazzbassist]

i agree with you. i try and give myself a 5 month buffer, in which i can't sell a pedal till after 5 months with it. The only out is if I REALLY hate it.

Also, I am starting to keep pedals, and not try to find the "one fix all" pedals. I'm collecting pedals like candy, i need lots of different flavors, but all Mike and Ike's, cause i love those things.

 

[JanusZarate]

I know exactly what you mean.

I've only gone through a few chorus pedals in my time - a lot have interested me, and I've messed with a bunch, but I've chosen to stick to only the four I've owned (Boss CEB-3, EHX Small Clone, EHX Stereo Clone Theory, EHX Stereo Electric Mistress). During that time, I really had the chance to familiarize myself with the effect and actually find ways to use it, as opposed to letting myself get washed over with the "wow" factor and never let it get beyond the status of a toy.

The same thing has happened with my MXR Blowtorch. I can hardly remember the time I was without it, but I've had moments where I heard a new fuzz pedal and thought of selling my Blowtorch. Once I found the perfect places to use it, though, no other fuzz pedal would do... but it took some time to figure out how to make the best of it.

But without having that much time to mess with it, I wonder if it would have ever seen band use. And that's the problem with all of these pedals... you need time AND a band to really find out if they're good. First impressions mean a lot, but they can also be deceiving.

The honeymoon effect is the curse of every new pedal you'll ever buy.

With other effects... I wonder if I simply didn't keep them long enough to find a good use for them. Maybe they deserved second dates.

 

[TaySte_2000]

I take the don't fix what's not broken approach, I buy a pedal for a specific purpose I might have to buy 5 or 6 hell 30 who knows but every pedal I have now (Except for a few misc ones) are the top of the pile for me and I'm rarely left wanting anything other than an effect for a sound I don't have such as the Prometheus which is pretty much the only effect I want.

Once I find something I like I stick with it I don't really buy anything in the hope that it will be better and replace it, things tend to get bought when I have a problem with a pedal or a need for a particular effect.

For example I had both a Dod Octoplus and a Digitech BSW at the same time both are fantastic octavers and both are widely different from each other, but neither gave me what I wanted which was a fast tracking analog sounding octaver that could do 100% octave down and a blend so I looked around and the only pedal that could do that was the Octron 2 so I got an Octron 2, I have no issues with it at all other than it can't really track chords but that's no biggy for me and there is still nothing on the market that will replace this pedal for me, nor am I really interested as it does it's job perfectly.

Hope this helps

 

[tomhanzo]

i think i've outgrown my board!!!

i have been adding pedal after pedal trying new ones all the time and experimenting with weird pedal combos. But, as i have noticed in the past couple months (since i started a new band) i cant find a place to use my more dramatic effects such as the pitch shift or delay.

I think i am gonna start a solo act...

 

[fishtx]

Fortunately, I only have three different effects types I seem to always be looking to upgrade...Chorus, preamp, and EQ pedals.

I have a lot of other type effects (modulation, filters, octavers, distortion, delay, etc), and like what I have well enough that I don't really wheel and deal with these as much. I don't use a lot of them for gigging anyways, so...I tend to hang on to them longer.

Along with compression (I have landed on the Demeter Compulator and don't see myself changing this out anytime soon), Chorus, preamps and EQ pedals are what I use for the basis of my overall tone, and I'm always looking for that magic device that will come along and knock my socks off. Recent GAS is for parametric EQ's...

Having said all of this...I do want to try out that new Toadworks Flanger when it's available...

 

[grygrx]

We all battle at some level or another for dominance over the gear. It's too easy to dream of the magic button/lotto ticket.

I've shifted stances on this a few times over the last few years, but the mode I've worked into is this. Once I find a 'core' pedal I use that as a basis from which all others are judged and in some realms I've found peace. Settled on a chorus, delay, filter, and blend pedal that suit me.

That said, I find that my ear is fascinated with the differences between fuzz pedals, and no single pedal will EVER capture all that magic, so I've started collecting. Not trying everything and rotating it.... honest to god collecting. Check back with me in a year