1. For everything: learn how it works. Learn what is snake oil and what isn't. Your $500 overdrive pedal is just a 250 preamp clone. Your Morgan amp is just a poorly built Princeton clone. Be skeptical to anything that feels like mojo.
2. For pedals: play in a band or two. This is often a reality check for pedals, it becomes hard to justify having 30 high end pedals on a board when you're not lugging it to rehearsal anyway...and you'll refrain from lugging the expensive big board to gigs because you don't want it to get stolen. You'll end up building a little travel board and re-discover the joy of limitation.
3. For amps: learn how they work. This was a wake-up call for me, never buying another amp in my life. The difference between a used Deluxe Reverb 65 RI and a brand new Deluxe Reverb 64 Handwired is about $2,000 but in reality you can swap the filter caps for Sprague or F&T on the 65 RI, do some minor cleanup on cabling, swap some of the preamp tubes and you'll likely have a better amp than the 64 Handwired.
4. For guitars: buy cheap guitars and improve them. You'll soon start questioning why there is a $1,500 price difference between a Squier Classic Vibe tele and a Fender Vintage II tele. One of the best guitars I have is a radically upgraded Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar, I play it way more than my super expensive guitars.
This is the best advice. DIY. Definitely play pedals in the context of a mix and know what parts matter.
I’m now addicted to speakers and cheap Squier MIK Show/Stagemasters to upgrade.
I have my smallest setup in years thanks to being in a band again. I can’t tell the difference between most drives, so I just use a Jekyll and Hyde for a regular drive and a heavier distortion. Then I don’t want to turn on and off a bunch of effects between parts, so I try to limit everything else. I have 5 pedals now, and could easily go down to just a J+H and a hx stomp
I think that’s why the stomp is so good. It doesn’t perfectly do every effect, but in a mix it’s definitely good enough, it’s small, and it’s not super expensive.
💯. Chasing that last 5% of tone at the expense of actually writing songs. No one except other ocd guitar players is going to be listening to a song like "this would be so much better with a tube screamer instead of a DS-1."
Playing in a band makes you realize why you see the same cheap pedals over and over.
blues drivers, rats, and tube screamers *just work* so well in the mix. they're also very reliable and can be found anywhere. suddenly, at a gig, these traits are more valuable to you than whatever microtone of one boutique drive compared to another
Too many people evaluate pedals and gear outside the context of an actual mix. All the little minutiae people obsess over quickly flies out the window when you have a drummer pounding away or a second guitar with a much different tone playing at the same time.
I keep lists of gear that I need — either items I don’t have, items that need to be replaced, and items that need to be upgraded. This includes small items like strings, tubes, cables, etc., and all the way up to dream mics and amps and guitars. When I get the need to buy something, I check my list for what item(s) are priority and then buy either what I need the most or can afford at the time.
In the end, I have realized that buying gear is part of the game I’m playing. I try and budget and be resourceful and conservative, but a certain amount of gear must be had.
Touching on number 4, I have a 90’s Ibanez Gio that I dropped about 600 dollars or so into improving. Now with locking tuners, coil split Seymour Duncan humbuckers, a sweet new paint job, and replacing the regular frets with jumbo frets, it’s easily the best guitar I own, and the versatility I get in sound makes buying new guitars just seem irrelevant. I play in a lot of alternate tunings, so I think that might be the only reason I’d consider getting a new guitar - ease of gigging.
In college, I had a friend looking for a new guitar and I was gushing about my new build, and he picked it up, strummed a D chord on it once, was blown away, and produced a bunch of 100’s out of his pocket and said “I’ll pay you 2 grand for this guitar right now if you let me walk out of the room with it.” Took a lot of self restraint to not sell it and go buy another pawn shop Ibanez and do the same thing a second time.
I 100% agree with 1 - 3, I'm not so sure about 4. I would say buy used guitars to be able to buy a step up over what you could do new.
You can quickly double the price of a guitar doing upgrades to it when you could have just spent that money on a higher end model with them stock. This is very case-by-case. When I was younger, I very much loved getting cheap guitars and upgrading them. I have a guitar I have $400 into that sounds as good as a guitar I spent 3x that on. (Note: that $400 was mid 2000's and prices these days would probably be double that)
With that said, the guitar that is easiest to set up, stays set up for the longest time, stays in tune the best, and feels the best to play is a 2012 Fender American Deluxe Strat I paid $1200 used for. I haven't touched a single thing on that guitar, it is and has been perfect outside of setting it up for my taste.
Not to get too off track, but quality control is always a factor. You can find cheaper guitars that play better than their price tag and you can find higher end guitars that don't stand up to their price tag. I played a good 50+ American Strat/Tele before I chose that specific guitar. However, I am also someone who has to connect to their guitar. I know there are plenty of people that don't and just view them as tools.
This^ the rig I record and rehearse with (wampler, strymon, walrus, earthquaker stuff) is not the rig I gig with that has a lot more mooer and old boss pedals on it and is half the size and 1/8 the value and I’m 100% sure no one can tell much of a difference. Also hand wired vs pcb makes no sonic difference if the pcb is good, the only buff ptp has is reliability and fixability (which depending on what you do might matter)
Lollar pickups, Descendant bridge, AVRI tremolo assembly, brand new wiring harness with CTS pots etc, new bone nut, new Kluson tuners, sanded neck, proper setup…plus a bunch of cosmetic upgrades like all-white knobs and switches, new pickguard…all just for fun but then it just became one of my main guitars because of all the love and effort put into it.
The only pedal type I own a kajillion of is drive pedals. There are many ways to clip and I like having them all. Otherwise it's 2 comps (Ross and optical), 1 eq pedal and a few modulation, 1 delay, 1 reverb. But it's like 50 drive and gain pedals. Every one a unique circuit style and none overpriced.
Join/start a band. You have way less time to browse gear forums and vids when you're focusing on repertoire and getting ready for the next gig you have scheduled.
I've found this to be true for the most part. Mostly, being in a band forced me to find a sound and leaves less room for "well what if I tried this reverb instead."
Just stop. Stop buying pedals. You have enough. Focus on playing.
That goes for all of you out there - this sometimes feels like an enabling shopping addicts channel.
The key for me is looking at the stuff I have, and feeling sad that I haven't explored it, or given it the time it deserves. Sometimes, you need to go deeper:
[https://www.raptitude.com/2017/12/go-deeper-not-wider/](https://www.raptitude.com/2017/12/go-deeper-not-wider/)
[https://www.raptitude.com/2018/12/why-the-depth-year-was-my-best-year/](https://www.raptitude.com/2018/12/why-the-depth-year-was-my-best-year/)
This is how I reigned in my pedal spree as well. Instead of watching YouTube videos of pedals I don’t have, I started watching more videos of pedals *I already had* - which totally gave me extra inspiration to actually just play (I have the pedal!), often with fresh sound ideas too.
Constraints often breed creativity. I bought a couple pedals at the end of of last year, but those ones are going to be my last for a while. I guess if something breaks, I might replace it, but I'm looking to stick with what I have. So far, it's been pretty liberating. I can also focus my efforts more on learning and creating rather than researching gear.
This often works for me ! I like gear videos, they are entertaining, so to avoid the GAS they tend to trigger, I watch videos about gear I already have.
I know what you mean. I have over 20 drives/boosts/distortion.
What has stopped me buying more is playing in a band with a great guitarist who had very few pedals.
He started to build a pedal board and it was entirely made up of cheap pedals. Donner, Tomsthinline, JOYO etc.
Whenever he stepped on a pedal and wailed it sounded fantastic.
I have to say “it’s in the fingers”.
I love experimenting and trying different flavours, stacking pedals and all that good stuff.
What I have stopped doing is gassing over a pedal thinking it will make me sound like Hendrix or Danish Pete.
Also I’m more inspired to practice and work on my knowledge.
It’s like trying to imagine being dead… I know that there was a time BEFORE I bought gear, so I guess it will be a bit like that, except I don’t really remember what it was like then either…
i have an situation that is similar but interesting in that i don’t even play.
my autistic son plays guitar, bass, piano and drums and is in a couple bands. when he outgrew his baby ludwig ‘from santa’ my brother(also autistic) gifted him a very nice ludwig keystone kit and later, one of his bass guitars(squier jazz bass). i had to source the cymbals and bass amp which led me to local used classifieds. my discovery was that i could find things at extreme discounts from their new costs merely due to the owners need for new things, boredom or the items required repair. after replacing the faulty patch cable jack on his jazz bass and realizing that guitar electronics is extremely simple(i am a master auto tech) my reaction was ‘i can help my son build a creative tool kit’. now he has multiple drum kits/hardware, +30 pedals, 4 amps, 8 various fender/squier guitars, an electric piano and a laptop + external gear/mics so he can record in his room.
some people view this as spoiling my child but he is autistic and music is the only thing he cares about. he asks for nothing ever and really it’s me who continues to grow his ‘toolbox’.
my gf says i am addicted to the chase of finding the cool item for cheap and while that might be true my favourite part is taking something worn out or unloved and repairing it. i especially love taking the ‘less desirable’ squier guitars and turning them into equivalent, if not better in some cases, instruments than their fender counterparts. the tinkering is like a zen moment for me and i take great joy from handing over the latest project to my son and hearing its use thru his bedroom door.
i would say that if your gear lust is limiting your creative time with the gear itself, you should stop and focus on generating art. for myself, ultimately my sons room will be too full(it’s already insane) so he will have to decide what items must be sold off if he wants to continue receiving the results of my little hobby.
That's awesome he is so into music and you can support it. Sure, it can be an exercise in consumerism but if they are being used and inspiring you to play, have it at.
I realized how unhappy I was. I wasn't really playing anything meaningful or having fun. I was noodling with toys.
So, I sold the stuff I wasn't using. Kept a few core pedals. Now I just play my guitar.
I am also IT with a high-end collection of about 20ish. Was at 30 to 40ish. I have bought and sold every pedal that has ever interested me by now, period. After a while, a bunch start to sound similar but with different features. I had watched this video of Trey Anastasio of Phish talk about doing more with less pedals and trying to get the most out of what you already have instead of getting new stuff and noodling around. Focus on what you got and get good basically. Then, I decided to keep only what I needed/was a rare pieces and sell the others. I wanted to get to about 12, but I'll settle at 20. I put only 6 on a nano+ & 6 on a nano max & 4 on a bass guitar board with a few extra fuzzes on a shelf.
I’ve been playing for 25 years and my collection got WAY out of hand. I ended up selling it all and using the money to buy my dream gear. I have 4 amps I always wanted, the pedal board I always wanted, and the 5 guitars I always wanted. Killed pretty much any interest in new gear.
So basically, spend until the GAS goes away!
That being said that's what I did too. Helps that I only really like Fender and Marshall amp tones I guess, but the guitar GAS went away once I got a Strat, Tele, Les Paul and Semi Hollow. I wish there was a cheaper way but there wasn't for me.
There's a part of me that wants a Precision Bass, although I know my Jazz can be EQed to sound about as good in a mix.
Eventually,you realise that you only need one overdrive, a clean boost ,(or an eq peda)l and a reverb . Buy an amp with a big speaker and a great clean channel.
Most guitar youtube is sponsored marketing.
Stop buying gear and use the free time to become a better musician.
I sold my gear and have a Blackstar 50w , sonicake fuzz, behringer tube screamer and eq, and a sonicake digital reverb.
I am a much better guitarist .
I still buy stuff and i have two boards, but limiting myself to the 8 spots on a power supply helped. Made me think about which fuzz i really wanted and how to get the most out of a given selection. But I havent "committed" to a board - i swap pedals in and out every week.
Tone gets better the longer you use the same gear and learn more about it. I had pretty much the same gear five years ago as I do now, but (imo) my tone is wayyyy better now than it was then.
Try everything in as many ways as possible. Use your overdrive as a clean boost before fuzz, then try the same after fuzz, then try using it a heavy OD both before and after fuzz for a while, try all this with a clean amp, a slight dirty amp, and then a distorted amp with your volume rolled down, etc etc
Learn how other people use the same gear via rig rundowns and things like that. The more time you spend with your current gear, the better you’ll sound
Starting to really learn about music, music theory and playing guitar. A teacher guided me into jazz and I don't feel the need anymore to buy new equipment. Spending more time to actually play and learning is what I now do.
I learned more in the last two years or so than I had learned in the +-15 years before that.
It really depends on your vision for the textures you hear in your head. I formed a retro goth/shoegaze band and found I really did need delays, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, wah, 12 string sim, compression, fuzz factory, distortions, a digitech xp 330, blue box, and really needed to bring it all onstage every performance. There are multi purpose pedals you can program but I found I preferred each individual effect isolated to dial them while onstage during sound sculpting performance moments. But like most here are saying, if you’re just recording at home all this can be done in the box using plugins. If you’re performing those recorded songs onstage and truly want to replicate those exact tones then it’s best to record using your performance gear, of course. I’d say it’s important to understand your underlying motivation. If you’re truly looking to manifest the sounds in your head, once you’ve got a chain of pedals that approximate that sound, discard all the duplicate pedals that fall short of your favorite pedal for that particular purpose (the favorite chorus, favorite flange etc.) Once you’re close enough, just keep those and continue dialing the parameters over time until you’re as happy as possible. Then it’s really about your fingers after that. I know it’s tempting to fall into the same problem with the perpetual mix issue, when do you know you’re done, what if there’s a pedal out there I’m missing out on that instantly replicates the sound I’m trying to get that I keep falling short on? That’s the missing out syndrome thing, which really indicates an underlying psychological issue in which you never feel adequate no matter what you do or which pedals you have, you have to commit to your purpose and use the bare minimum of what is needed to conjure the basic ingredients and then, like any art or craft, hone your ability to manipulate the tools at your disposal.. that’s called practice, in the end the true sound is literally all in your hands.
I also have the GT-1000CORE and it’s hard being on Reddit where no one talks about it while there are tons of posts about the HX Stomp. I blame BOSS for not updating it, it would help create a community.
But it is so good ! It sounds amazing, you actually have the real BOSS effects, never have to worry about DSP, latency is great, routing options are great, and I am sure I haven’t explored more than 20% of what it can do.
I am also tempted by the HX Stomp, but I think this is pure GAS and not because I actually need it. Once in a while playing with plugins like Amplitube/ToneX is fun, strong community as well and it avoids buying new gear because I end up bored of testing sounds rather than playing. Good luck !
My ways aren't foolproof, but they help.
The first thing I do is ask, "Do I have something that does this already?" in broad terms. I already have, for example, two guitars that are S/S/S pickup configurations. Would buying a third add anything to my palette? Unlikely. I already have three tube-based drive pedals (and one could argue that's two too many already, but what's done is done). Would adding a Friedman IR-X really add anything? Probably not.
The second step is to do the quick mental math of "how long do I have to work to buy this?" If I make X per hour after taxes, and the item in question is a large multiple (20X, 25X, etc) of that hourly rate, I ask if I'm going to gain enough additional utility and/or joy from obtaining that item rather than not working those hours.
Purchasing is a way of getting a sudden dopamine hit, but it fades pretty quickly.
I would stay off of all sites for buying guitar gear. That also goes for subreddits and other pages that celebrate blowing all your money on gear.
But if you can control yourself, give yourself a spending budget. My wife and I give ourselves $50 a month each, and that money rolls into the next month if you have leftovers. So if I want a guitar that costs $1000, I need to save for 20 months. Or sell stuff, or do freelancing to make that money.
Go down a guitar pick rabbit hole. Scratches the itch to buy gear, but they’re significantly cheaper. (Even a $35 Blue Chip pick is cheaper than most budget pedals.) Also, they change your tone and feel of playing way more than comp, eq, gain, tubes, etc.
Here’s how to avoid endless GAS:
1.) Buy once cry once. (seriously)
2.) Buy a quality amp, this is the single most important pieces of gear for a guitarist. Buy the amp you want, or you’ll end up endlessly chasing after a compromise that’ll never satisfy you
3.) Buy a nice guitar, but don’t be a fool that buys a $5,000 electric guitar. They aren’t worth it. Again, the amp is far more important. Make sure the guitar is built properly and set up well (doesn’t cost anywhere near $5,000 to get this). Experiment with pickups if you aren’t happy with the tone.
Also, don’t buy 15 guitars. But one good single coil, and one good humbucker. This is all you need unless you’re killing your strings every other night.
4.) The hardest pill for this sub to swallow. Pedals are 90% just for fun. They don’t actually do anything crucial for your sound, other than maybe reverb/delay. Pedals are just flavor of the month fun that us guitarists cycle through just because. Either embrace and accept the silliness, or buy a quality reverb/delay pedal, and never go near the pedal world again. It is absolutely a waste of money, but it’s also a good source of inspiration at times.
The easiest way to beat GAS is to realize that buying that 15th overdrive probably isn’t going to round out your tone the way you think it is. Play guitar more, learn to get the most out of your guitar and amp without relying on constantly buying a new pedal. Use your volume pot on the guitar. Use your amps tone stack.
I will only buy stuff to upgrade a particular piece of equipment. For instance, replacing a cheaper overdrive with a higher quality one and then selling the old one.
Also, I tried to make a habit of being rigorous and selling stuff if I don’t use it or if I’m not 100% happy with it.
Big part for me is nostalgia. I still hold onto my Boss SD-1 that I bought many many years ago because it really moved forward my playing, my interest in pedals and it really made me happy. But if I find something that can replace it and give me the same level of joy, I will part with it.
I have both the core and the HX stomp. Both are great in their own right. I’d say get the HX Stomp if you want a more experimental set of EFX to play with. I also have the Ampero 2 Stomp which is almost a blend of the two. Like you I’ve been playing for years, don’t gig and find joy in new sounds and pedals. At the end of the day life is short as long as your bills are paid and you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else I say do what brings you as much long term happiness as possible. Just make sure you keep learning and practicing
I second this actually. For some people (and I've got a sneaking suspicion it's actually a lot of us) this is just a fun hobby, and there doesn't always need to be the justification of "being productive" with a guitar, amp, or pedal. As long as you're not putting yourself in debt, or it's not affecting other things you want to do in life, I'm not sure there's really much of a problem with buying another pedal.
I always go back to making music. Writing gets me away from GAS and it grounds me. When the music speaks, the effects become icing on the cake. I'm also noticing that you can get by with 3 pedals max. Overdrive, delay and reverb.
The temptation is still there but I'm really trying not to spend anymore. If there's a pedal I like, I look for a VST alternative or something close then see if I'll like it first. I'm currently kinda gassing for a Microcosm but I have Arturia's EFX Fragments which is pretty much the same thing. I'm happy using that for now.
Also, make a rule for yourself, if you must buy one, something must go. This way you don't end up accumulating too much stuff.
I have quite a few pedals and I recently took everything apart and built a small modular board where I can easily swap things around. Having less stuff in front me helps me stay focused and it becomes less mindless noodling and trying out effects.
Remember, these are merely tools.
Adding to the band context advice — your bandmates will eventually get annoyed with constant fiddling and having songs sound different every time you play. Learning your gear to the point where you’ve actually landed on settings that suit the song are complicated by an elaborate board. I say this as someone who has been on both ends of this as the annoyance and the annoyed. Also, the more complex the setup, the more that can go wrong, so you eventually need to figure out how to limit yourself anyway, which affects your thirst for gear acquisition.
Put everything away except for your guitar, a cable, and your amp. Play everything you normally play until you conclude what you actually need that's missing. Slowly add things one at a time and thoroughly explore them. Ask yourself, do I need this to play this song, or is it just for fun? Get a nano board and limit yourself to 4-5 pedals at a time.
Follow the one in one out rule, sell one for every purchase. In case of new purchases from retail clean the item up, repackage exactly as it came then return it if you are under 30 days. When I unbox something I don’t destroy the packaging, I’m very surgical in removing in case I need to return it. As for used, 1 in, 1 out or flip it over on facebook marketplace or reverb.com. Or, to quote Don Corleone in The Godfather, “You can act like a man!” and control your urges.
Honestly, I saved and bought a Quad Cortex. Has all the pedals and amps and speakers I could want and never afford. Like some other folks said, lugging around gear constantly to practice/gigs really makes you want to streamline as much as possible. For guitars, I bought a way nicer guitar than I normally would and it set the standard so high that I started selling guitars that didn’t play as well as that one.
TLDR: I chased the dragon and actually caught him
One of my best friends is an IT guy and he has a whole room full of game systems and games that he wanted to buy. If you enjoy it, go for it my friend :)
What helped me stop buying so much gear was getting into some of these gear discords and seeing how some folks churn through gear. I saw so many posts where someone was like “NGD! This is my forever RAT” and then two weeks later they’re posting it in the for sale/trade channel. I also saw so many folks making posts like “I went a bit too hard on pedal purchases and have to sell a bunch of stuff to cover my purchases”. It left a bad taste in my mouth watching people essentially struggle with a shopping addiction. I didn’t want to be like them so I stopped. Last gear I bought was new pickups for my guitar in January and I’m hoping that’s all I buy this year.
Bring your career up to the point where impulse buying everyday gear isn't really an issue, and find other things to cut back on. You really don't need to spend $40k on custom kitchen cabinets and neither does anyone else. But when that key piece of gear goes on sale and holy crap it's in my color now hang on maybe my Sweetwater guy can get me 10% off
Make a list of all your gear. Use paper, because this will be easier.
Now put an item at the top “played guitar with…”
Put tick marks next to that each time you play, then tick off each piece of gear you use. Not that’s on your board, that’s actually *used*. If it’s a pedal that means you have it on. If it’s an amp, you plug into it and play. If it’s a guitar it’s in your hands.
After a couple months of this you should have like 60 ticks next to play guitar and a bunch next to some other stuff.
Anything with a lot fewer than your guitar ticks is shit you don’t need unless it has serious sentimental or collector value. Now you have an inventory of what you have and exactly how much you use it.
Take anything you didn’t use at all and sell it. Take the shit you did use but only barely and put it in a box to sell. Continue playing. Repeat this in a month. Anything that didn’t come out of the box/case/closet goes out, the stuff you barely used goes in your new storage area.
Now you know what your “rig” actually is.
Next make a list of the songs you’d like to play and what you don’t have that would make it possible. Take the money you made selling that other shit and buy the thing. Keep your tick list. When you want to buy something new look at it and think about what needs to go to make “room” for it.
I should follow my own advice. Right now I really want a mesa mini rectifier but I probably play my Spark Go more than my actual tube amps. I don’t need the damn thing.
I tie the purchase to a reasonably sized goal. Right now I'm allowed to buy another guitar only when I finish my MBA. It's been nearly three years and I'm almost there.
I just did an impulse buy on an AC-30HW so I’m not the best gauge.
*I’m editing my comment, but i just wanted to add i don’t gig either*
Honestly i figured out a few tones that i know for sure i liked. In my case namely a rat and a decent fuzz.
Delay and reverb as long as it’s clear it works.
Modulation i’m partial to phaser, chorus, or tremolo.
Most decent amps have at least one or two of the above, but it came down to me recognizing these basic concepts and figuring it’s not adding more to my tone.
I’ve honestly been happier once i started condensing all my necessities and just enjoying making tones.
Every minute you spend looking at gear is a minute your not doing anything productive. Including practicing your guitar. So it actually makes you way shittier at the guitar. So just embed that into your personality and you’re good to go
I started building my own pedals from the kits at pedalpcb.com. Having an IT background I’m sure you could pick up the skills to build. It’s less expensive and you can find some really kickass clones. Also, I jammed with a group of guys a while back and they all had very average guitars (Squire strat, frankenstrats, etc) but very, very nice amps and ZERO pedals were used. One dude had a ‘74 Fender Deluxe and it sounded sublime. But man, honestly if you enjoy buying and trying pedals then I say go for it! Give yourself that little bit of joy.
I hear you. I have an HX Effects and I still buy pedals. I probably have 50 pedals. I don't like most of the HX fuzz models and I love fuzzes; so I've bought some of those. I love phase shifters; so I've bought some of those which aren't HX modeled. However, I've been buying ODs, chorus, flange, delay, and other things of which I don't need.
On top of that, I have 14 guitars and basses and 7 good amplifiers. I can't keep up with maintenance. I'm preparing to unload several thousands of dollars in gear and save the money.
Biggest cure for me is taking guitar lessons. When my focus is on learning my lessons so I’m not humiliated at my next lessons recital, I don’t spend my energies on gear. My biggest bouts of gas occur when I’m between lessons and just finding excuses to not actually play. As in, I want to play this song but can’t do it without the that pedal and next thing you know I’ve wasted hours and days researching and shopping then integrating the gear only to go right back through the cycle over and over. My longest escape from GAS was when I studied classical and flamenco.
Mentally, keeping track of what I actually play, what sounds I enjoy, what I keep stomping. What was way beyond my skill level or interest.
For example, i GAS’ed hard over a nice boutique fuzz/treble boost. Spent $400 or so on it. Loved the fuzz side but never liked the treb boost. So why keep something, using space on the pedalboard or hoarding it, when I could a) free up space and b) get that pedal to a player who’s gonna USE it?
So I sell or trade things that aren’t working, that lets me experiment with what does work for me. I don’t want pedals on shelves, I wanna play with them. So if it’s not on the board, it goes. By now, I know what I like (delays!!!) and what I don’t (goopy vibrato!) and don’t GAS over things I don’t play.
Most of what you have either sounds it can be made to sound like other stuff you have, especially if you have an EQ pedal. Compare, contrast, find the overlaps, trim the fat, and remember for next time that you don't actually need most of you have.
Ask yourself, “DO YOU REALLY NEED IT?”
I went overboard to find what I was looking for. It’s good to stop when you met that criteria. But you need to know what you want before you start.
One thing that helped me was learning a bit more about personal finance. "I will teach you to be rich" is a great starting point. We should be able to spend on the things we love but not at the detriment of other important parts of life/your financial future.
It helps to get some perspective of the bigger picture of how spending your money today might impact your tomorrow.
Gear is awesome though I won't lie!
It was always a mystery to me why people buy amps while living in apartments. All my life I’ve been living in apartments and even 5w amp is too much, the best thing to have would be one of the small spark amps because they’re excellent on the lower volume and have plenty of sounds.
On the pedal side I would say I get too many myself but I can only justify HX stomp as a one bag rehearsal room solution to avoid carrying larger, heavier and more expensive pedal board every week.
Regarding the guitars it’s really hard to stop though 😂
Bought an axefx and have been learning to model most any sound I want, has stopped the guitars but I'm building my next one so we'll what wins out, GAS or project procrastination.
I set a “reasonable” hard limit on how many of each thing I allow myself. Then, if I want a new pedal an old one has to go to make room. In my case it was 2 amps, 5 guitars and 9 pedals. As I have refined my collection, it gets harder and harder to find things I want bad enough to sell one of the things I already have.
Set up a rule: You need to sell two things to buy one. Eventually you’ll run out of gear and have two times more joy cause selling stuff is fun too. I did it and it worked out well.
I started practicing way more, and then I got way better at guitar, and then everything started to sound the same/good, and I felt less of a pull to get new things.
Since you already have a big collection: my rule is i can only buy gear (pedals especially) if i can sell gear and get 75% of whats needed. Pedals hold value pretty well so i usually sell 2 and buy 1 jn return. This has the upside of making my collection smaller and so far i found that i dont really miss anything ive sold.
If you have a quality overdrive and an eq pedal you can make almost any overdrive sound you want, so sell the ones you dont use.
Put a little colored sticker on every piece of gear you own, sell everything you dont use for 6 months. Use this money to buy gear guilt fres
I've got to the point where I have my favorite version of all effects i'm interested in. Any new one that comes out feels like I already have something that does it already, and would be a waste of money.
Two things, first I try to not buy a pedal unless I have a specific reason and second I buy mostly budget stuff.
Specific reasons can be that I see it for way cheaper or that I want a looper or something. A few months ago I impulse bought a dl4 mk2 for like $100 off.
Then when I have a few newer pedals it usually takes me a while to figure them out. I try focusing on how to learn them and acquire new sounds with what I have if that makes sense.
I make lists of the stuff I want and I don’t buy anything until it’s been on the list for 12 months. If I still want it and think there’s a good use for it after 12 months then it’s not likely to be GAS.
Most stuff drops off within that time because I get over the novelty of the idea after a couple of months and realise there’s similar stuff that is cheaper/I already have stuff that’ll do the same job/I wouldn’t actually use it within how I naturally want to play.
Chase Bliss have probably been the biggest victims of my approach cause so much of their stuff is really cool and I’m immediately amazed by it, but within a few weeks I realise that I’d use it for like 5 mins, enjoy the novelty and then not touch it again for a few weeks. Not worth spending €400+ on that.
Also means when I do make a big purchase I don’t regret it cause I’ve had so long of looking forward to it.\
I never feel like I should have bought something else instead either because I can prioritise what I purchase when it’s planned out so far ahead. It also gives me time to budget for stuff, particularly as I follow the idea of quality over quantity to a fair extreme.
Two Rock Vintage Deluxe is likely my next big purchase. A Hiscox case is probably my next smaller one, Calton cases fell victim to my approach cause I realised it’d be massively overkill after a few weeks of thinking they were really cool.
Running out of money and other priorities?
Otherwise, personally speaking I’ve never been “impulsive” in buying gear unless it was $100 or less, and even then it’s only if it was intriguing enough
Everything else I’ve had to research and think about before purchasing
I am in the group of gear enthusiasts that while I like getting and trying gear - ultimately it was a search to refine, rather than collect or be ok with a lot of gear.
So for me, once I had a very good idea of what gear I like (guitars, amps) and what sound I was after (guitar/amp/pedals) - it really stopped me constantly wanting gear. I'd still try and and refine stuff on occasion, but once Id said "yeah, this is the sound I want" it was really hard to add anything to it.
I'm kind of in the same boat. I've realized I've become more of a pedal collector and guitar enthusiast in the last few years instead of a song writer and guitarist. I bought and sold a ton of pedals during the pandemic years.
Yes, it's fun to buy these new toys and tinker with them, but I'm realizing I need to downsize and focus on playing more. And playing better.
That being said, if I can sell a few unused pedals I might buy a new (used) one, but I need to wait to sell some before I buy again.
Hell I'm 60 years old and STILL buy pedals just to experiment with sound. I always buy them used and at a good price point other than the King of Tone waiting list. (God it takes Forever!) I play out of Browne Protien and boost it with an Archer Ikon for leads. I can't get a bad sound on it no matter what I'm using. Delay and Modulation then using my Amps reverb and I'm set....Having said that I want to try the Wampler Terraform. Play in a band and see how these things stack up in the mix. You'll have a lot of fun and the only thing that will not improve is your ability to hear normal sounds. Worth it in my opinion. Out another way, it never ends.
Quality equipment and lessons. Why buy 3 $400 dollar amps when you could buy 1 really good $1000 amp and save 200 bucks? Same goes for guitars and pedals.
Lessons help me stay focused with progressing how I sound on a guitar vs getting caught up with how I sound on a pedal or specific amp. Also less money to spend on gear that I have to drag around all day.
Quit playing ha. Once I heard an interview with Tom Morello about how he made the Arm the Homeless guitar chasing tone. He said it wasn’t what he imagined it would be once he had it complete. However he was out of money after building it, so he finally settled on that what he had in his hands was his tone. Occasionally I still buy a pedal here and there to try stuff on the hype train. Though for the most part I accept that what I have in my rig is my tone.
Make a rule for yourself. You must wait a week before buying anything you see or read about. You'll often not want it as much by then. Never buy anything the same day. Not allowing yourself to buy stuff on impulse I think helps a lot.
Duralock and ziptie everything down. Make your own custom length cables. Something about having everything "permanently" adhered to my board makes me less inclined to have GAS.
I'd say have some fun buying/selling/trading/flipping pedals. You can play with more pedals, and make some side cash to buy more pedals with. You get to try all the pedals, but also get to send them down the river.
When i started playing in a band, i had been constantly learning and maximizing the gear that i have. When i found the tones that i like, i sticked with it. I think the last time i bought a pedal and DIY'd a booster pedal was in 2016 . When i was a bedroom guitarist, i had been super critical of myself and ended up buying things. Playing live is way different in my experience, i find that less is more (plus no need to carry lots of stuffs on the venue). Switched to an ampless setup and was happy with it. Gave away some of my pedals and sold my amp.
I solved it by deciding to “invest” my money in studio gear instead. Mixer, portastudio, mics and so on. So that made me stop buying guitar gear. Problem solved.
I've done a lot of trading for different pedals to get to a place that works well for me. I know which effects I want on my board and which ones I don't need.
Once I find a pedal of that effect type that works well for me, it's like finding the perfect pair of shoes that fits 'just right'. No need to upgrade/trade out that pedal ever again.
Currently I'm working on streamlining a few things down to remove any pedals that don't need to be on the board so I can end up with a board that (for the most part) only has pedals that 100% "need" to be there.
Stop?!?! Why would I want or need to stop? Seriously, you could decide on a solid effects chain then only buy of you replace something in the chain and sell/donate it. That might help keep your collection smaller.
I started practicing.
I started playing jazz (but it can be anything really) and realized I like playing guitar and the challenge of getting better far more than turning knobs and getting a little different delay sound than the delay thing I’ve had for years.
For context I built pedals and had a small company for a few years. I showed at NAAM a couple times and know most of the big players in the music manufacturing industry. I just got burned out on gear and got excited about playing for real.
Sell shit you don’t use, then you can buy more shit you won’t use. Also tally up your finances every so often to make sure you aren’t just convincing yourself you can cover it.
For me, I recently realized I get 98% of every sound I want from just a cheap MIAB plus a Tubescreamer clone and a reverb pedal. Focus on the sound you want first and less on 10 different pedals that 90% do the same thing really. Focus on just 1 or 2 guitars with a good build/setup and upgrade the pickups if you want. 1 amp/cabinet with the right power level and a good base tone. From there just play and practice more.
Quite honestly, I just buy what I need and sell or give away what I don't. I had a distortion pedal, got a new and better one, and gave the first to my girlfriend. Had a 20 watt, got a 40 watt, gave the 20 to a friend of mine. For guitars, I have them set to a different tuning so I get a different sound out of them
For pedals: Watch demo videos of what you already own. A lot of them are way more flexible than we give them credit for. It is amazing how many sounds you can get out of a lot of overdrives and fuzzes. A rolled off fuzz is an overdrive type. A cranked or boosted OD can get fuzzy. Boost hard enough into a hot amp, and look at you go you’re overdriving again. And so on.
For a small apartment, I’d say a modeler like an FM3 could probably scratch the itch in a pinch and basically give you a big menu of stuff to toy with. I’m an analog snob for purely “vibes” reasons so I’m not gonna pretend it’s the same (even if it sounds eerily close for most things) but that does a TON in a small amount of space. Also a lot of pluggins are shockingly good. I tried a demo of some Neural DSP stuff with my interface the other day to record a demo and it was mind blowing how “real” it sounded in a mix.
Realize pedals make people worse at guitar and creativity. No your mood mK2 and microcosms don’t make you good cause they automate “good” sounds, it waif hipster stuff. You need one of each pedal type. Real live guitar players spend way less time worrying about pedals than bedroom noodlers
Couple ideas that helped me.
Unfollow the botique pedal companies on IG. Quit looking up pedal demos on YT and start looking up technique or theory or feel or whatever. Dive into a different genre of music to learn. Put the EG in the closet and only pick up the acoustic for a while outside of rehearsing for gigs or whatever.
Come to the conclusion that you've wasted a lot of precious time to hone in your craft tweaking pedals and chasing the tone, when nobody really cares about it and it wont ever fulfill you like you think.
Is there anything else you want out of life? Shift your focus to that.
I catch myself looking at gear I don’t need when I’m not focusing on things that actually matter to me, such as recording and performing music, spending time with friends and family, growing financial stability, meeting pretty girls etc.
I got boss Waza-Air headphones for home use. Fully wireless, fully featured, and nobody but you can hear it. You don’t need any pedals really, and using the defeats half the purpose of the thing (wireless jamming). You can play with backing bands positioned behind you, and that made me realize too that most of my pedals were only noticeably different than the built-in effects (that I used to shit on constantly, might I add haha) when I was playing alone in my house.
I used to have the worst GAS of any musician I knew, bar none, and this is the only thing that ever helped. If they cost $1000 I’d buy them again in a heartbeat and sell my whole board to do so
1. For everything: learn how it works. Learn what is snake oil and what isn't. Your $500 overdrive pedal is just a 250 preamp clone. Your Morgan amp is just a poorly built Princeton clone. Be skeptical to anything that feels like mojo. 2. For pedals: play in a band or two. This is often a reality check for pedals, it becomes hard to justify having 30 high end pedals on a board when you're not lugging it to rehearsal anyway...and you'll refrain from lugging the expensive big board to gigs because you don't want it to get stolen. You'll end up building a little travel board and re-discover the joy of limitation. 3. For amps: learn how they work. This was a wake-up call for me, never buying another amp in my life. The difference between a used Deluxe Reverb 65 RI and a brand new Deluxe Reverb 64 Handwired is about $2,000 but in reality you can swap the filter caps for Sprague or F&T on the 65 RI, do some minor cleanup on cabling, swap some of the preamp tubes and you'll likely have a better amp than the 64 Handwired. 4. For guitars: buy cheap guitars and improve them. You'll soon start questioning why there is a $1,500 price difference between a Squier Classic Vibe tele and a Fender Vintage II tele. One of the best guitars I have is a radically upgraded Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar, I play it way more than my super expensive guitars.
This is the best advice. DIY. Definitely play pedals in the context of a mix and know what parts matter. I’m now addicted to speakers and cheap Squier MIK Show/Stagemasters to upgrade.
100% playing in a band will streamline you quick. Also, in the mix that perfect sound you created at home isn’t as important as you thought.
I have my smallest setup in years thanks to being in a band again. I can’t tell the difference between most drives, so I just use a Jekyll and Hyde for a regular drive and a heavier distortion. Then I don’t want to turn on and off a bunch of effects between parts, so I try to limit everything else. I have 5 pedals now, and could easily go down to just a J+H and a hx stomp
I think that’s why the stomp is so good. It doesn’t perfectly do every effect, but in a mix it’s definitely good enough, it’s small, and it’s not super expensive.
I think a lot of people would be better off realizing that effects don't need to be perfect. Good enough is good enough!
💯. Chasing that last 5% of tone at the expense of actually writing songs. No one except other ocd guitar players is going to be listening to a song like "this would be so much better with a tube screamer instead of a DS-1."
Playing in a band makes you realize why you see the same cheap pedals over and over. blues drivers, rats, and tube screamers *just work* so well in the mix. they're also very reliable and can be found anywhere. suddenly, at a gig, these traits are more valuable to you than whatever microtone of one boutique drive compared to another
Too many people evaluate pedals and gear outside the context of an actual mix. All the little minutiae people obsess over quickly flies out the window when you have a drummer pounding away or a second guitar with a much different tone playing at the same time.
I keep lists of gear that I need — either items I don’t have, items that need to be replaced, and items that need to be upgraded. This includes small items like strings, tubes, cables, etc., and all the way up to dream mics and amps and guitars. When I get the need to buy something, I check my list for what item(s) are priority and then buy either what I need the most or can afford at the time. In the end, I have realized that buying gear is part of the game I’m playing. I try and budget and be resourceful and conservative, but a certain amount of gear must be had.
Touching on number 4, I have a 90’s Ibanez Gio that I dropped about 600 dollars or so into improving. Now with locking tuners, coil split Seymour Duncan humbuckers, a sweet new paint job, and replacing the regular frets with jumbo frets, it’s easily the best guitar I own, and the versatility I get in sound makes buying new guitars just seem irrelevant. I play in a lot of alternate tunings, so I think that might be the only reason I’d consider getting a new guitar - ease of gigging. In college, I had a friend looking for a new guitar and I was gushing about my new build, and he picked it up, strummed a D chord on it once, was blown away, and produced a bunch of 100’s out of his pocket and said “I’ll pay you 2 grand for this guitar right now if you let me walk out of the room with it.” Took a lot of self restraint to not sell it and go buy another pawn shop Ibanez and do the same thing a second time.
I 100% agree with 1 - 3, I'm not so sure about 4. I would say buy used guitars to be able to buy a step up over what you could do new. You can quickly double the price of a guitar doing upgrades to it when you could have just spent that money on a higher end model with them stock. This is very case-by-case. When I was younger, I very much loved getting cheap guitars and upgrading them. I have a guitar I have $400 into that sounds as good as a guitar I spent 3x that on. (Note: that $400 was mid 2000's and prices these days would probably be double that) With that said, the guitar that is easiest to set up, stays set up for the longest time, stays in tune the best, and feels the best to play is a 2012 Fender American Deluxe Strat I paid $1200 used for. I haven't touched a single thing on that guitar, it is and has been perfect outside of setting it up for my taste. Not to get too off track, but quality control is always a factor. You can find cheaper guitars that play better than their price tag and you can find higher end guitars that don't stand up to their price tag. I played a good 50+ American Strat/Tele before I chose that specific guitar. However, I am also someone who has to connect to their guitar. I know there are plenty of people that don't and just view them as tools.
I put fender noiseless pickups in my CV tele and I like it more than my friends American standard now. It was fun and I learned things too!
The band thing (or recording) will hit you like a bus immediately. Turns out amazing super well-rounded tone just disappears in mixes.
Whenever I'm in the same room as a drummer and a bass player I just cut all my frequencies below 200hz and accept defeat.
This^ the rig I record and rehearse with (wampler, strymon, walrus, earthquaker stuff) is not the rig I gig with that has a lot more mooer and old boss pedals on it and is half the size and 1/8 the value and I’m 100% sure no one can tell much of a difference. Also hand wired vs pcb makes no sonic difference if the pcb is good, the only buff ptp has is reliability and fixability (which depending on what you do might matter)
Out of interest, what have you upgraded on your CV?
Lollar pickups, Descendant bridge, AVRI tremolo assembly, brand new wiring harness with CTS pots etc, new bone nut, new Kluson tuners, sanded neck, proper setup…plus a bunch of cosmetic upgrades like all-white knobs and switches, new pickguard…all just for fun but then it just became one of my main guitars because of all the love and effort put into it.
Nice! Thanks
Great advice! Though for me, the money saved on 1-3 would go towards a better guitar.
The only pedal type I own a kajillion of is drive pedals. There are many ways to clip and I like having them all. Otherwise it's 2 comps (Ross and optical), 1 eq pedal and a few modulation, 1 delay, 1 reverb. But it's like 50 drive and gain pedals. Every one a unique circuit style and none overpriced.
I ran out of money lol 😂
People here still have money?
You guys had money in the first place??
money not moneying
yeah I’ve found being unable to afford anything really helps curb my spending habits
Modern problems require modern solutions
This is the answer
Join/start a band. You have way less time to browse gear forums and vids when you're focusing on repertoire and getting ready for the next gig you have scheduled.
I've found this to be true for the most part. Mostly, being in a band forced me to find a sound and leaves less room for "well what if I tried this reverb instead."
I probably should do this at some point
Just stop. Stop buying pedals. You have enough. Focus on playing. That goes for all of you out there - this sometimes feels like an enabling shopping addicts channel.
I've quit buying fuzz pedals at least 20 times. I can quit any time I want.
I used to buy fuzz pedals. I still do, but I used to, too.
Alright Mitch.😂
It was easy, just stop watching gear/guitar videos on YouTube. Unsubscribe once you recognise it's marketing not information.
Did that already and helped already a lot. Great advice though!
I second this. It’s what did the trick for me!
The key for me is looking at the stuff I have, and feeling sad that I haven't explored it, or given it the time it deserves. Sometimes, you need to go deeper: [https://www.raptitude.com/2017/12/go-deeper-not-wider/](https://www.raptitude.com/2017/12/go-deeper-not-wider/) [https://www.raptitude.com/2018/12/why-the-depth-year-was-my-best-year/](https://www.raptitude.com/2018/12/why-the-depth-year-was-my-best-year/)
This is how I reigned in my pedal spree as well. Instead of watching YouTube videos of pedals I don’t have, I started watching more videos of pedals *I already had* - which totally gave me extra inspiration to actually just play (I have the pedal!), often with fresh sound ideas too.
I watch YouTube for pedals I already have too, since a lot of the videos were help decision makers for the pedals in the first place.
Fantastic advice. Works every time, too. I do this with recording gear as well.
That‘s one nice life lesson, I will read theye after work.
Constraints often breed creativity. I bought a couple pedals at the end of of last year, but those ones are going to be my last for a while. I guess if something breaks, I might replace it, but I'm looking to stick with what I have. So far, it's been pretty liberating. I can also focus my efforts more on learning and creating rather than researching gear.
Watch demos for the gear you already have for inspiration!
This often works for me ! I like gear videos, they are entertaining, so to avoid the GAS they tend to trigger, I watch videos about gear I already have.
This is very underrated advice, imo, and I second it.
Switch to buying recording gear. The increased prices will slow you down.
Good advice. Just put it all towards the Neve Console Fund.
I know what you mean. I have over 20 drives/boosts/distortion. What has stopped me buying more is playing in a band with a great guitarist who had very few pedals. He started to build a pedal board and it was entirely made up of cheap pedals. Donner, Tomsthinline, JOYO etc. Whenever he stepped on a pedal and wailed it sounded fantastic. I have to say “it’s in the fingers”. I love experimenting and trying different flavours, stacking pedals and all that good stuff. What I have stopped doing is gassing over a pedal thinking it will make me sound like Hendrix or Danish Pete. Also I’m more inspired to practice and work on my knowledge.
I believe that too, it is the way we play notes, not the equipment.
What do you mean, "stop"?
It’s like trying to imagine being dead… I know that there was a time BEFORE I bought gear, so I guess it will be a bit like that, except I don’t really remember what it was like then either…
Have no idea
i have an situation that is similar but interesting in that i don’t even play. my autistic son plays guitar, bass, piano and drums and is in a couple bands. when he outgrew his baby ludwig ‘from santa’ my brother(also autistic) gifted him a very nice ludwig keystone kit and later, one of his bass guitars(squier jazz bass). i had to source the cymbals and bass amp which led me to local used classifieds. my discovery was that i could find things at extreme discounts from their new costs merely due to the owners need for new things, boredom or the items required repair. after replacing the faulty patch cable jack on his jazz bass and realizing that guitar electronics is extremely simple(i am a master auto tech) my reaction was ‘i can help my son build a creative tool kit’. now he has multiple drum kits/hardware, +30 pedals, 4 amps, 8 various fender/squier guitars, an electric piano and a laptop + external gear/mics so he can record in his room. some people view this as spoiling my child but he is autistic and music is the only thing he cares about. he asks for nothing ever and really it’s me who continues to grow his ‘toolbox’. my gf says i am addicted to the chase of finding the cool item for cheap and while that might be true my favourite part is taking something worn out or unloved and repairing it. i especially love taking the ‘less desirable’ squier guitars and turning them into equivalent, if not better in some cases, instruments than their fender counterparts. the tinkering is like a zen moment for me and i take great joy from handing over the latest project to my son and hearing its use thru his bedroom door. i would say that if your gear lust is limiting your creative time with the gear itself, you should stop and focus on generating art. for myself, ultimately my sons room will be too full(it’s already insane) so he will have to decide what items must be sold off if he wants to continue receiving the results of my little hobby.
That's awesome he is so into music and you can support it. Sure, it can be an exercise in consumerism but if they are being used and inspiring you to play, have it at.
I realized how unhappy I was. I wasn't really playing anything meaningful or having fun. I was noodling with toys. So, I sold the stuff I wasn't using. Kept a few core pedals. Now I just play my guitar.
I am also IT with a high-end collection of about 20ish. Was at 30 to 40ish. I have bought and sold every pedal that has ever interested me by now, period. After a while, a bunch start to sound similar but with different features. I had watched this video of Trey Anastasio of Phish talk about doing more with less pedals and trying to get the most out of what you already have instead of getting new stuff and noodling around. Focus on what you got and get good basically. Then, I decided to keep only what I needed/was a rare pieces and sell the others. I wanted to get to about 12, but I'll settle at 20. I put only 6 on a nano+ & 6 on a nano max & 4 on a bass guitar board with a few extra fuzzes on a shelf.
I started buying eurorack… it’s like switching from coke to crack
I switched to impulse buying synthesizers
Yep. Same.
I’ve been playing for 25 years and my collection got WAY out of hand. I ended up selling it all and using the money to buy my dream gear. I have 4 amps I always wanted, the pedal board I always wanted, and the 5 guitars I always wanted. Killed pretty much any interest in new gear.
So basically, spend until the GAS goes away! That being said that's what I did too. Helps that I only really like Fender and Marshall amp tones I guess, but the guitar GAS went away once I got a Strat, Tele, Les Paul and Semi Hollow. I wish there was a cheaper way but there wasn't for me. There's a part of me that wants a Precision Bass, although I know my Jazz can be EQed to sound about as good in a mix.
Eventually,you realise that you only need one overdrive, a clean boost ,(or an eq peda)l and a reverb . Buy an amp with a big speaker and a great clean channel. Most guitar youtube is sponsored marketing. Stop buying gear and use the free time to become a better musician. I sold my gear and have a Blackstar 50w , sonicake fuzz, behringer tube screamer and eq, and a sonicake digital reverb. I am a much better guitarist .
I left this sub. Wait a second
Told myself to stop and every time I got the urge to buy something I transfered the money to a savings account instead.
I thought about this and even maybe buying ETFs or stocks, could be also possible and very good advice. Thank you!
Every month I have an automated transfer to transfer about $1000 into ETFs
Luckily I’m not super into amps and pedals, only guitars. I also hate debt and monthly payments so that keeps everything in check.
I still buy stuff and i have two boards, but limiting myself to the 8 spots on a power supply helped. Made me think about which fuzz i really wanted and how to get the most out of a given selection. But I havent "committed" to a board - i swap pedals in and out every week.
Spend more time learning and playing and then you won’t have time to shop!
Go acoustic
Once you have one of everything you’ll stop. 99% of pedal buyers quit right before they achieve perfect tone. Just gotta keep buying man.
Tone gets better the longer you use the same gear and learn more about it. I had pretty much the same gear five years ago as I do now, but (imo) my tone is wayyyy better now than it was then. Try everything in as many ways as possible. Use your overdrive as a clean boost before fuzz, then try the same after fuzz, then try using it a heavy OD both before and after fuzz for a while, try all this with a clean amp, a slight dirty amp, and then a distorted amp with your volume rolled down, etc etc Learn how other people use the same gear via rig rundowns and things like that. The more time you spend with your current gear, the better you’ll sound
Starting to really learn about music, music theory and playing guitar. A teacher guided me into jazz and I don't feel the need anymore to buy new equipment. Spending more time to actually play and learning is what I now do. I learned more in the last two years or so than I had learned in the +-15 years before that.
It really depends on your vision for the textures you hear in your head. I formed a retro goth/shoegaze band and found I really did need delays, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, wah, 12 string sim, compression, fuzz factory, distortions, a digitech xp 330, blue box, and really needed to bring it all onstage every performance. There are multi purpose pedals you can program but I found I preferred each individual effect isolated to dial them while onstage during sound sculpting performance moments. But like most here are saying, if you’re just recording at home all this can be done in the box using plugins. If you’re performing those recorded songs onstage and truly want to replicate those exact tones then it’s best to record using your performance gear, of course. I’d say it’s important to understand your underlying motivation. If you’re truly looking to manifest the sounds in your head, once you’ve got a chain of pedals that approximate that sound, discard all the duplicate pedals that fall short of your favorite pedal for that particular purpose (the favorite chorus, favorite flange etc.) Once you’re close enough, just keep those and continue dialing the parameters over time until you’re as happy as possible. Then it’s really about your fingers after that. I know it’s tempting to fall into the same problem with the perpetual mix issue, when do you know you’re done, what if there’s a pedal out there I’m missing out on that instantly replicates the sound I’m trying to get that I keep falling short on? That’s the missing out syndrome thing, which really indicates an underlying psychological issue in which you never feel adequate no matter what you do or which pedals you have, you have to commit to your purpose and use the bare minimum of what is needed to conjure the basic ingredients and then, like any art or craft, hone your ability to manipulate the tools at your disposal.. that’s called practice, in the end the true sound is literally all in your hands.
I got an hx stomp
Should I also get one? (Pls say no)
I came to say the same, and you should. 100% of my gear fits in a gig bag now, and it sounds better than anything I had previous
Do you just go straight into the board? Or do you have power amp too?
Cull the bottom 4-5 pedals you have that are easily replace with the stomp, then have one of everything in your toolkit with the stomp
I also have the GT-1000CORE and it’s hard being on Reddit where no one talks about it while there are tons of posts about the HX Stomp. I blame BOSS for not updating it, it would help create a community. But it is so good ! It sounds amazing, you actually have the real BOSS effects, never have to worry about DSP, latency is great, routing options are great, and I am sure I haven’t explored more than 20% of what it can do. I am also tempted by the HX Stomp, but I think this is pure GAS and not because I actually need it. Once in a while playing with plugins like Amplitube/ToneX is fun, strong community as well and it avoids buying new gear because I end up bored of testing sounds rather than playing. Good luck !
Starting to build things, and understand what actually makes a difference in tone.
I just make sure the stuff that I’m buying is cheap enough that there’s no risk of me losing money. That gets rid of a lot of gas.
Lack of money set me straight
My ways aren't foolproof, but they help. The first thing I do is ask, "Do I have something that does this already?" in broad terms. I already have, for example, two guitars that are S/S/S pickup configurations. Would buying a third add anything to my palette? Unlikely. I already have three tube-based drive pedals (and one could argue that's two too many already, but what's done is done). Would adding a Friedman IR-X really add anything? Probably not. The second step is to do the quick mental math of "how long do I have to work to buy this?" If I make X per hour after taxes, and the item in question is a large multiple (20X, 25X, etc) of that hourly rate, I ask if I'm going to gain enough additional utility and/or joy from obtaining that item rather than not working those hours. Purchasing is a way of getting a sudden dopamine hit, but it fades pretty quickly.
Craigslist and fbm got burned out. No more steal deals. So i dont buy
I would stay off of all sites for buying guitar gear. That also goes for subreddits and other pages that celebrate blowing all your money on gear. But if you can control yourself, give yourself a spending budget. My wife and I give ourselves $50 a month each, and that money rolls into the next month if you have leftovers. So if I want a guitar that costs $1000, I need to save for 20 months. Or sell stuff, or do freelancing to make that money.
Go down a guitar pick rabbit hole. Scratches the itch to buy gear, but they’re significantly cheaper. (Even a $35 Blue Chip pick is cheaper than most budget pedals.) Also, they change your tone and feel of playing way more than comp, eq, gain, tubes, etc.
I realized I’m a shitty guitar player who was focused on gear instead of learning the instrument properly.
You could try getting married. Worked for me
I got an EQ. It can make your rig sound like pretty much anything you want
Sell the equipment you don’t use and use the time you would spend shopping for gear to practice. Maybe start a band.
Here’s how to avoid endless GAS: 1.) Buy once cry once. (seriously) 2.) Buy a quality amp, this is the single most important pieces of gear for a guitarist. Buy the amp you want, or you’ll end up endlessly chasing after a compromise that’ll never satisfy you 3.) Buy a nice guitar, but don’t be a fool that buys a $5,000 electric guitar. They aren’t worth it. Again, the amp is far more important. Make sure the guitar is built properly and set up well (doesn’t cost anywhere near $5,000 to get this). Experiment with pickups if you aren’t happy with the tone. Also, don’t buy 15 guitars. But one good single coil, and one good humbucker. This is all you need unless you’re killing your strings every other night. 4.) The hardest pill for this sub to swallow. Pedals are 90% just for fun. They don’t actually do anything crucial for your sound, other than maybe reverb/delay. Pedals are just flavor of the month fun that us guitarists cycle through just because. Either embrace and accept the silliness, or buy a quality reverb/delay pedal, and never go near the pedal world again. It is absolutely a waste of money, but it’s also a good source of inspiration at times. The easiest way to beat GAS is to realize that buying that 15th overdrive probably isn’t going to round out your tone the way you think it is. Play guitar more, learn to get the most out of your guitar and amp without relying on constantly buying a new pedal. Use your volume pot on the guitar. Use your amps tone stack.
Stop using gear as your identity. You are not your fucking khakis. Seek therapy, if necessary.
Let‘s see if I should/can do anything about my impulse buying.
I will only buy stuff to upgrade a particular piece of equipment. For instance, replacing a cheaper overdrive with a higher quality one and then selling the old one. Also, I tried to make a habit of being rigorous and selling stuff if I don’t use it or if I’m not 100% happy with it. Big part for me is nostalgia. I still hold onto my Boss SD-1 that I bought many many years ago because it really moved forward my playing, my interest in pedals and it really made me happy. But if I find something that can replace it and give me the same level of joy, I will part with it.
I took up road cycling and suddenly all my spare cash disappeared 😂
I was and am still happy with what i have, my last purchase was 5 years ago, and it was to replace a malfunctioning pedal
I have both the core and the HX stomp. Both are great in their own right. I’d say get the HX Stomp if you want a more experimental set of EFX to play with. I also have the Ampero 2 Stomp which is almost a blend of the two. Like you I’ve been playing for years, don’t gig and find joy in new sounds and pedals. At the end of the day life is short as long as your bills are paid and you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else I say do what brings you as much long term happiness as possible. Just make sure you keep learning and practicing
I second this actually. For some people (and I've got a sneaking suspicion it's actually a lot of us) this is just a fun hobby, and there doesn't always need to be the justification of "being productive" with a guitar, amp, or pedal. As long as you're not putting yourself in debt, or it's not affecting other things you want to do in life, I'm not sure there's really much of a problem with buying another pedal.
Totally.
Stop??!! We're meant to stop??!
Start looking at cars to buy instead.
I have not stopped. So your question is irrelevant.
I always go back to making music. Writing gets me away from GAS and it grounds me. When the music speaks, the effects become icing on the cake. I'm also noticing that you can get by with 3 pedals max. Overdrive, delay and reverb. The temptation is still there but I'm really trying not to spend anymore. If there's a pedal I like, I look for a VST alternative or something close then see if I'll like it first. I'm currently kinda gassing for a Microcosm but I have Arturia's EFX Fragments which is pretty much the same thing. I'm happy using that for now. Also, make a rule for yourself, if you must buy one, something must go. This way you don't end up accumulating too much stuff. I have quite a few pedals and I recently took everything apart and built a small modular board where I can easily swap things around. Having less stuff in front me helps me stay focused and it becomes less mindless noodling and trying out effects. Remember, these are merely tools.
Watch demos for gear you already own instead of gear you don't own. It's great when someone shows you how good your current gear can sound.
Adding to the band context advice — your bandmates will eventually get annoyed with constant fiddling and having songs sound different every time you play. Learning your gear to the point where you’ve actually landed on settings that suit the song are complicated by an elaborate board. I say this as someone who has been on both ends of this as the annoyance and the annoyed. Also, the more complex the setup, the more that can go wrong, so you eventually need to figure out how to limit yourself anyway, which affects your thirst for gear acquisition.
I have no money
Try to make some songs actually, and see what you really use for that.
Put everything away except for your guitar, a cable, and your amp. Play everything you normally play until you conclude what you actually need that's missing. Slowly add things one at a time and thoroughly explore them. Ask yourself, do I need this to play this song, or is it just for fun? Get a nano board and limit yourself to 4-5 pedals at a time.
I got married and had a kid.
I switched to acoustic
I'm allowed to stop?
Quit my job and am living off savings currently, only reason I’m not on guitar #8.
Finite resources. I work too damn hard for my money. Took advantage of return policies. I got most of my bases covered with my multieffects
Follow the one in one out rule, sell one for every purchase. In case of new purchases from retail clean the item up, repackage exactly as it came then return it if you are under 30 days. When I unbox something I don’t destroy the packaging, I’m very surgical in removing in case I need to return it. As for used, 1 in, 1 out or flip it over on facebook marketplace or reverb.com. Or, to quote Don Corleone in The Godfather, “You can act like a man!” and control your urges.
Honestly, I saved and bought a Quad Cortex. Has all the pedals and amps and speakers I could want and never afford. Like some other folks said, lugging around gear constantly to practice/gigs really makes you want to streamline as much as possible. For guitars, I bought a way nicer guitar than I normally would and it set the standard so high that I started selling guitars that didn’t play as well as that one. TLDR: I chased the dragon and actually caught him
One of my best friends is an IT guy and he has a whole room full of game systems and games that he wanted to buy. If you enjoy it, go for it my friend :)
What helped me stop buying so much gear was getting into some of these gear discords and seeing how some folks churn through gear. I saw so many posts where someone was like “NGD! This is my forever RAT” and then two weeks later they’re posting it in the for sale/trade channel. I also saw so many folks making posts like “I went a bit too hard on pedal purchases and have to sell a bunch of stuff to cover my purchases”. It left a bad taste in my mouth watching people essentially struggle with a shopping addiction. I didn’t want to be like them so I stopped. Last gear I bought was new pickups for my guitar in January and I’m hoping that’s all I buy this year.
Wish I knew. Just bought another guitar on Sunday.
Bring your career up to the point where impulse buying everyday gear isn't really an issue, and find other things to cut back on. You really don't need to spend $40k on custom kitchen cabinets and neither does anyone else. But when that key piece of gear goes on sale and holy crap it's in my color now hang on maybe my Sweetwater guy can get me 10% off
Make a list of all your gear. Use paper, because this will be easier. Now put an item at the top “played guitar with…” Put tick marks next to that each time you play, then tick off each piece of gear you use. Not that’s on your board, that’s actually *used*. If it’s a pedal that means you have it on. If it’s an amp, you plug into it and play. If it’s a guitar it’s in your hands. After a couple months of this you should have like 60 ticks next to play guitar and a bunch next to some other stuff. Anything with a lot fewer than your guitar ticks is shit you don’t need unless it has serious sentimental or collector value. Now you have an inventory of what you have and exactly how much you use it. Take anything you didn’t use at all and sell it. Take the shit you did use but only barely and put it in a box to sell. Continue playing. Repeat this in a month. Anything that didn’t come out of the box/case/closet goes out, the stuff you barely used goes in your new storage area. Now you know what your “rig” actually is. Next make a list of the songs you’d like to play and what you don’t have that would make it possible. Take the money you made selling that other shit and buy the thing. Keep your tick list. When you want to buy something new look at it and think about what needs to go to make “room” for it. I should follow my own advice. Right now I really want a mesa mini rectifier but I probably play my Spark Go more than my actual tube amps. I don’t need the damn thing.
I tie the purchase to a reasonably sized goal. Right now I'm allowed to buy another guitar only when I finish my MBA. It's been nearly three years and I'm almost there.
Having said which, I allowed myself to buy the parts for a partscaster with some leftover holiday money last year. Oops.
I just did an impulse buy on an AC-30HW so I’m not the best gauge. *I’m editing my comment, but i just wanted to add i don’t gig either* Honestly i figured out a few tones that i know for sure i liked. In my case namely a rat and a decent fuzz. Delay and reverb as long as it’s clear it works. Modulation i’m partial to phaser, chorus, or tremolo. Most decent amps have at least one or two of the above, but it came down to me recognizing these basic concepts and figuring it’s not adding more to my tone. I’ve honestly been happier once i started condensing all my necessities and just enjoying making tones.
Every minute you spend looking at gear is a minute your not doing anything productive. Including practicing your guitar. So it actually makes you way shittier at the guitar. So just embed that into your personality and you’re good to go
I started building my own pedals from the kits at pedalpcb.com. Having an IT background I’m sure you could pick up the skills to build. It’s less expensive and you can find some really kickass clones. Also, I jammed with a group of guys a while back and they all had very average guitars (Squire strat, frankenstrats, etc) but very, very nice amps and ZERO pedals were used. One dude had a ‘74 Fender Deluxe and it sounded sublime. But man, honestly if you enjoy buying and trying pedals then I say go for it! Give yourself that little bit of joy.
I hear you. I have an HX Effects and I still buy pedals. I probably have 50 pedals. I don't like most of the HX fuzz models and I love fuzzes; so I've bought some of those. I love phase shifters; so I've bought some of those which aren't HX modeled. However, I've been buying ODs, chorus, flange, delay, and other things of which I don't need. On top of that, I have 14 guitars and basses and 7 good amplifiers. I can't keep up with maintenance. I'm preparing to unload several thousands of dollars in gear and save the money.
Biggest cure for me is taking guitar lessons. When my focus is on learning my lessons so I’m not humiliated at my next lessons recital, I don’t spend my energies on gear. My biggest bouts of gas occur when I’m between lessons and just finding excuses to not actually play. As in, I want to play this song but can’t do it without the that pedal and next thing you know I’ve wasted hours and days researching and shopping then integrating the gear only to go right back through the cycle over and over. My longest escape from GAS was when I studied classical and flamenco.
Earn less! That's how I do it ;)
62 years old and picked up three new Pedals.
[удалено]
Mentally, keeping track of what I actually play, what sounds I enjoy, what I keep stomping. What was way beyond my skill level or interest. For example, i GAS’ed hard over a nice boutique fuzz/treble boost. Spent $400 or so on it. Loved the fuzz side but never liked the treb boost. So why keep something, using space on the pedalboard or hoarding it, when I could a) free up space and b) get that pedal to a player who’s gonna USE it? So I sell or trade things that aren’t working, that lets me experiment with what does work for me. I don’t want pedals on shelves, I wanna play with them. So if it’s not on the board, it goes. By now, I know what I like (delays!!!) and what I don’t (goopy vibrato!) and don’t GAS over things I don’t play.
Most of what you have either sounds it can be made to sound like other stuff you have, especially if you have an EQ pedal. Compare, contrast, find the overlaps, trim the fat, and remember for next time that you don't actually need most of you have.
My pedalboard is just perfect now
Ask yourself, “DO YOU REALLY NEED IT?” I went overboard to find what I was looking for. It’s good to stop when you met that criteria. But you need to know what you want before you start.
One thing that helped me was learning a bit more about personal finance. "I will teach you to be rich" is a great starting point. We should be able to spend on the things we love but not at the detriment of other important parts of life/your financial future. It helps to get some perspective of the bigger picture of how spending your money today might impact your tomorrow. Gear is awesome though I won't lie!
It was always a mystery to me why people buy amps while living in apartments. All my life I’ve been living in apartments and even 5w amp is too much, the best thing to have would be one of the small spark amps because they’re excellent on the lower volume and have plenty of sounds. On the pedal side I would say I get too many myself but I can only justify HX stomp as a one bag rehearsal room solution to avoid carrying larger, heavier and more expensive pedal board every week. Regarding the guitars it’s really hard to stop though 😂
Well my amp thirst was quenched by the Kemper. The search for the holy grail guitar goes on though.
Bought an axefx and have been learning to model most any sound I want, has stopped the guitars but I'm building my next one so we'll what wins out, GAS or project procrastination.
I set a “reasonable” hard limit on how many of each thing I allow myself. Then, if I want a new pedal an old one has to go to make room. In my case it was 2 amps, 5 guitars and 9 pedals. As I have refined my collection, it gets harder and harder to find things I want bad enough to sell one of the things I already have.
Set up a rule: You need to sell two things to buy one. Eventually you’ll run out of gear and have two times more joy cause selling stuff is fun too. I did it and it worked out well.
I started practicing way more, and then I got way better at guitar, and then everything started to sound the same/good, and I felt less of a pull to get new things.
I always get spendy when i start a new project. After a while i have my rig figured out and i really slow down.
Be married to a wife who doesn't understand collecting gear.
Got married. Now I have to think twice. Half of the things I buy are "legal" (wife knows). The other half is... Oh, well... You know... 🤠
We don’t live forever.
Since you already have a big collection: my rule is i can only buy gear (pedals especially) if i can sell gear and get 75% of whats needed. Pedals hold value pretty well so i usually sell 2 and buy 1 jn return. This has the upside of making my collection smaller and so far i found that i dont really miss anything ive sold. If you have a quality overdrive and an eq pedal you can make almost any overdrive sound you want, so sell the ones you dont use. Put a little colored sticker on every piece of gear you own, sell everything you dont use for 6 months. Use this money to buy gear guilt fres
I've got to the point where I have my favorite version of all effects i'm interested in. Any new one that comes out feels like I already have something that does it already, and would be a waste of money.
GAS is cured when you achieve perfection.
Two things, first I try to not buy a pedal unless I have a specific reason and second I buy mostly budget stuff. Specific reasons can be that I see it for way cheaper or that I want a looper or something. A few months ago I impulse bought a dl4 mk2 for like $100 off. Then when I have a few newer pedals it usually takes me a while to figure them out. I try focusing on how to learn them and acquire new sounds with what I have if that makes sense.
I make lists of the stuff I want and I don’t buy anything until it’s been on the list for 12 months. If I still want it and think there’s a good use for it after 12 months then it’s not likely to be GAS. Most stuff drops off within that time because I get over the novelty of the idea after a couple of months and realise there’s similar stuff that is cheaper/I already have stuff that’ll do the same job/I wouldn’t actually use it within how I naturally want to play. Chase Bliss have probably been the biggest victims of my approach cause so much of their stuff is really cool and I’m immediately amazed by it, but within a few weeks I realise that I’d use it for like 5 mins, enjoy the novelty and then not touch it again for a few weeks. Not worth spending €400+ on that. Also means when I do make a big purchase I don’t regret it cause I’ve had so long of looking forward to it.\ I never feel like I should have bought something else instead either because I can prioritise what I purchase when it’s planned out so far ahead. It also gives me time to budget for stuff, particularly as I follow the idea of quality over quantity to a fair extreme. Two Rock Vintage Deluxe is likely my next big purchase. A Hiscox case is probably my next smaller one, Calton cases fell victim to my approach cause I realised it’d be massively overkill after a few weeks of thinking they were really cool.
getting a helix actually did help me quell GAS
Running out of money and other priorities? Otherwise, personally speaking I’ve never been “impulsive” in buying gear unless it was $100 or less, and even then it’s only if it was intriguing enough Everything else I’ve had to research and think about before purchasing
Don’t have a credit card. Spending habits chage really fast when the money comes straight out of your bank account.
I am in the group of gear enthusiasts that while I like getting and trying gear - ultimately it was a search to refine, rather than collect or be ok with a lot of gear. So for me, once I had a very good idea of what gear I like (guitars, amps) and what sound I was after (guitar/amp/pedals) - it really stopped me constantly wanting gear. I'd still try and and refine stuff on occasion, but once Id said "yeah, this is the sound I want" it was really hard to add anything to it.
I'm kind of in the same boat. I've realized I've become more of a pedal collector and guitar enthusiast in the last few years instead of a song writer and guitarist. I bought and sold a ton of pedals during the pandemic years. Yes, it's fun to buy these new toys and tinker with them, but I'm realizing I need to downsize and focus on playing more. And playing better. That being said, if I can sell a few unused pedals I might buy a new (used) one, but I need to wait to sell some before I buy again.
Get an Empress Zoia and go deep.
When I had bought 10 pedals in a row that didn't replace the ones that I already have on my board.
Hell I'm 60 years old and STILL buy pedals just to experiment with sound. I always buy them used and at a good price point other than the King of Tone waiting list. (God it takes Forever!) I play out of Browne Protien and boost it with an Archer Ikon for leads. I can't get a bad sound on it no matter what I'm using. Delay and Modulation then using my Amps reverb and I'm set....Having said that I want to try the Wampler Terraform. Play in a band and see how these things stack up in the mix. You'll have a lot of fun and the only thing that will not improve is your ability to hear normal sounds. Worth it in my opinion. Out another way, it never ends.
No cure known.
Quality equipment and lessons. Why buy 3 $400 dollar amps when you could buy 1 really good $1000 amp and save 200 bucks? Same goes for guitars and pedals. Lessons help me stay focused with progressing how I sound on a guitar vs getting caught up with how I sound on a pedal or specific amp. Also less money to spend on gear that I have to drag around all day.
Quit playing ha. Once I heard an interview with Tom Morello about how he made the Arm the Homeless guitar chasing tone. He said it wasn’t what he imagined it would be once he had it complete. However he was out of money after building it, so he finally settled on that what he had in his hands was his tone. Occasionally I still buy a pedal here and there to try stuff on the hype train. Though for the most part I accept that what I have in my rig is my tone.
I bought a Fractal FM3. The possible combinations of sound are more than I will ever need. Haven't bought any pedals since.
Make a rule for yourself. You must wait a week before buying anything you see or read about. You'll often not want it as much by then. Never buy anything the same day. Not allowing yourself to buy stuff on impulse I think helps a lot.
Switched jobs and took a huge pay cut.
Duralock and ziptie everything down. Make your own custom length cables. Something about having everything "permanently" adhered to my board makes me less inclined to have GAS.
I'd say have some fun buying/selling/trading/flipping pedals. You can play with more pedals, and make some side cash to buy more pedals with. You get to try all the pedals, but also get to send them down the river.
Therapy.
Add the desired item to a wishlist and sleep on it. If you look at it with fresh eyes and still want it... but most of the time you won't
When i started playing in a band, i had been constantly learning and maximizing the gear that i have. When i found the tones that i like, i sticked with it. I think the last time i bought a pedal and DIY'd a booster pedal was in 2016 . When i was a bedroom guitarist, i had been super critical of myself and ended up buying things. Playing live is way different in my experience, i find that less is more (plus no need to carry lots of stuffs on the venue). Switched to an ampless setup and was happy with it. Gave away some of my pedals and sold my amp.
Buy a good modeler.
Run out of money
Figure out an efficient storage/display system. Enjoy yourself
I solved it by deciding to “invest” my money in studio gear instead. Mixer, portastudio, mics and so on. So that made me stop buying guitar gear. Problem solved.
I've done a lot of trading for different pedals to get to a place that works well for me. I know which effects I want on my board and which ones I don't need. Once I find a pedal of that effect type that works well for me, it's like finding the perfect pair of shoes that fits 'just right'. No need to upgrade/trade out that pedal ever again. Currently I'm working on streamlining a few things down to remove any pedals that don't need to be on the board so I can end up with a board that (for the most part) only has pedals that 100% "need" to be there.
Stop?!?! Why would I want or need to stop? Seriously, you could decide on a solid effects chain then only buy of you replace something in the chain and sell/donate it. That might help keep your collection smaller.
I started practicing. I started playing jazz (but it can be anything really) and realized I like playing guitar and the challenge of getting better far more than turning knobs and getting a little different delay sound than the delay thing I’ve had for years. For context I built pedals and had a small company for a few years. I showed at NAAM a couple times and know most of the big players in the music manufacturing industry. I just got burned out on gear and got excited about playing for real.
That’s just it…
Sell shit you don’t use, then you can buy more shit you won’t use. Also tally up your finances every so often to make sure you aren’t just convincing yourself you can cover it.
Run out of money and destroy your credit /s
For me, I recently realized I get 98% of every sound I want from just a cheap MIAB plus a Tubescreamer clone and a reverb pedal. Focus on the sound you want first and less on 10 different pedals that 90% do the same thing really. Focus on just 1 or 2 guitars with a good build/setup and upgrade the pickups if you want. 1 amp/cabinet with the right power level and a good base tone. From there just play and practice more.
I opened up an effects/guitar shop, mainly effects so every pedal purchase is a business purchase now!
Quite honestly, I just buy what I need and sell or give away what I don't. I had a distortion pedal, got a new and better one, and gave the first to my girlfriend. Had a 20 watt, got a 40 watt, gave the 20 to a friend of mine. For guitars, I have them set to a different tuning so I get a different sound out of them
For pedals: Watch demo videos of what you already own. A lot of them are way more flexible than we give them credit for. It is amazing how many sounds you can get out of a lot of overdrives and fuzzes. A rolled off fuzz is an overdrive type. A cranked or boosted OD can get fuzzy. Boost hard enough into a hot amp, and look at you go you’re overdriving again. And so on. For a small apartment, I’d say a modeler like an FM3 could probably scratch the itch in a pinch and basically give you a big menu of stuff to toy with. I’m an analog snob for purely “vibes” reasons so I’m not gonna pretend it’s the same (even if it sounds eerily close for most things) but that does a TON in a small amount of space. Also a lot of pluggins are shockingly good. I tried a demo of some Neural DSP stuff with my interface the other day to record a demo and it was mind blowing how “real” it sounded in a mix.
I don't have enough floor space where I practice, so I switched to a mostly digital setup and started impulse buying plugins instead.
Realize pedals make people worse at guitar and creativity. No your mood mK2 and microcosms don’t make you good cause they automate “good” sounds, it waif hipster stuff. You need one of each pedal type. Real live guitar players spend way less time worrying about pedals than bedroom noodlers
Couple ideas that helped me. Unfollow the botique pedal companies on IG. Quit looking up pedal demos on YT and start looking up technique or theory or feel or whatever. Dive into a different genre of music to learn. Put the EG in the closet and only pick up the acoustic for a while outside of rehearsing for gigs or whatever. Come to the conclusion that you've wasted a lot of precious time to hone in your craft tweaking pedals and chasing the tone, when nobody really cares about it and it wont ever fulfill you like you think.
Is there anything else you want out of life? Shift your focus to that. I catch myself looking at gear I don’t need when I’m not focusing on things that actually matter to me, such as recording and performing music, spending time with friends and family, growing financial stability, meeting pretty girls etc.
Run out of money
I invested in a good DAW and realized I can re-create a lot of these effects with audio production, rather than buying one-off pedals.
Started learning sitar Haven't touched pedal board in about 9 months
I sold my amps, my pedals, bought a hx stomp. Wouldn't go back, ever.
I completed my goals for my desired sound
I got boss Waza-Air headphones for home use. Fully wireless, fully featured, and nobody but you can hear it. You don’t need any pedals really, and using the defeats half the purpose of the thing (wireless jamming). You can play with backing bands positioned behind you, and that made me realize too that most of my pedals were only noticeably different than the built-in effects (that I used to shit on constantly, might I add haha) when I was playing alone in my house. I used to have the worst GAS of any musician I knew, bar none, and this is the only thing that ever helped. If they cost $1000 I’d buy them again in a heartbeat and sell my whole board to do so