Pedal plan goes south!!!

[terrapin]

I'm wondering how many others have found themselves in this position???

I decided the best way to decide on a couple of OD pedals and a Fuzz pedal for my chain would be to do alot of research, then acquire the pedals that seemed to fit my needs and then have a "personal shootout" to choose the keepers and sell the rest...........Sounded like a good plan!

BUT, now I have acquired a Wampler Black '65, a Zendrive 2, a Durham Zia Drive, a Lumpy's Lemon Drop and a Lumpy's Liquid Lead for OD's and a Skreedy PigMine, a Skinpimp Fuzz Face and an AnalogMan Astro Tone for fuzz.

Problem...........I can't stomach the thought of getting rid of ANY of them!!! They all work for me in different ways!

Who else has experienced this?

 

[thewordking]

Nodding.

 

[brettmoor]

Story of my life.

 

[billyg121]

Yes! If money is not an issue..this is no problem. You are essentially just collecting. But if you are on a budget, this can get you in trouble. I can't bring myself to flip anything anymore! Prob is..you do a ton of research on prospective pedals..so chances are what you are buying, you will like....its just that maybe something else is good too..in a different way.

 

[RyanFromQA]

Never personally experienced this but the fear has kept me from doing what you've done.

Personally, I think that overdrive pedals in particular typically have a couple of sweet spots that they do really well, and that's what makes each pedal have character. Most youtube 'knobs at noon' pedal shootouts attempt to make pedals sound the same, but when I am comparing pedals at home, I try to make each pedal sound the best on its own, and then I compare those resulting tones head-to-head. Like, for example, the Nobels ODR-1 has a better low-gain-high-volume TS tone than my TS808. So I have it for that purpose, and I have the TS808 for high-gain-unity-volume tone. They're first cousins circuit-wise, but I can't ditch either one.

I think this issue is unique to overdrive and delay, because there are so many different, enjoyable shades of each effect. When it comes to something like a univibe pedal, you could buy 5 vibes and sell 4, because one is going to, to your ears, sound the most like a univibe, and the rest are gonna sound just a little off.

 

[terrapin]

Yes! If money is not an issue..this is no problem. You are essentially just collecting. But if you are on a budget, this can get you in trouble. I can't bring myself to flip anything anymore! Prob is..you do a ton of research on prospective pedals..so chances are what you are buying, you will like....its just that maybe something else is good too..in a different way.

Yep, yep, yep...Once I nailed down the major characteristics of the type pedals I like I began to try different takes on those characteristics thinking that the criteria for keepng or flipping would be redundancy. But for me all the pedals have enough uniqueness that redundancy has not kicked in?

 

[drolling]

I think this issue is unique to overdrive and delay, because there are so many different, enjoyable shades of each effect. When it comes to something like a univibe pedal, you could buy 5 vibes and sell 4, because one is going to, to your ears, sound the most like a univibe, and the rest are gonna sound just a little off.

Ahh, I once thought the same way, and have a rubbermaid bin full of overdrives to prove it!

I'd have another one filled with analog delays, but having exhausted the budget I've barely got enough of 'em to fill a shoebox!

And, yes, when I got a Sweetsound Ultravibe, I let go of a VL Microvibe, a Dano Chicken Salad, a Dunlop 'Univibe' and the old MXR Phase 90 that had been subbing for the real thing since the '70s

BUT.. when a FoxRox Aquavibe arrived, I had to make some more room! Not quite the same as the Ultra, but just as good (maybe better, even..) in it's own way. And tho' I've only heard on-line demos of the new contender from Croatia (Drybell), I can just tell that it's also a winner

Thankfully, I've run out of both space & money, as I've come to the conclusion that there's no end to this thing..

I've got 4 wahs, too

And five compressors, but one's optical, so that doesn't count, right


right??

 

[cwcashiniv]

It's been said before. "Welcome to TGP. Sorry about your wallet."

 

[GSVBagpuss]

Sounds like you had a fun time - nothing wrong here!

 

[champion ruby]

The best solution to the problem at hand is to disconnect the internet.

 

[GASaholic]

It's a wrench to let them go.

Emotionally attached to pedals anyone????

 

[MG90]

Play some gigs, whatever does not work for you dump it.

 

[Class5]

It's a wrench to let them go.

Emotionally attached to pedals anyone????

I wouldn't say I'm emotionally attached to any pedals, but after chasing OD pedals that I actually like, I now have three, making two redundant. But because the search for these pedals was so difficult , I don't want to let any go.

 

[billyg121]

Its crazy...I have some friends that dump things off like its nothing. Even gear that they really love. Damn, maybe I am emotionally attached! I should seek help.

 

[Heady Jam Fan]

I have, but then I keep them all on my board and certain ones don't turn on as often. I find myself resting on the ones that provide the 'my' tone rather than the ones that just sound great in general. Sell the ones that seem to stay off once your honeymoon is over.

 

[mondo500]

Make hay while the sun shines, I say... if the time comes when you can no longer afford to have the various 'must haves', you will suddenly become quite ruthless in your cull. By the time I'm done with mine, I'll probably just have a Hotcake.

You would not believe how long it took me to decide to type "Hotcake"... heh. Hopefully my finances will improve before I get there.

 

[japanmoran]

The only way I deal is to find local guys with pedals I am GASing over and do a swap for a week or so...I usually realize that I tweak and OD to sound like me - it isn't often that I find myself needing more than 2 or 3 dirt pedals.

I have decided to limit myself to a PT-1 main board, and a smaller plywood board for smaller places and simpler gigs. The smaller board is also my open mic night board that I can use or is available when I am in the house band to anyone...so I don't go putting major $ pedals on there.

Honestly, I have found having a decent amp or two (or 5) that I love makes my pedal gear less important. Try playing out sometime with just a guitar and an amp (or a boost if you must) and rediscover the guitar <--> amp combo that tends to get lost with 20 pedals in your path....

///sounding like an old fart. Get off my lawn, kids.

 

[monkmiles]

I have run into this problem before, mainly with fuzz pedals.

But the problem I experience more is setting up a board and having high expectations for it, then at a rehearsal it doesn't quite work the way I expected. For example, I was trying to cover for too many tones on my board, with a boost both before and after my overdrives. But I felt like I had one too many pedals on my board last night..I was accidentally bumping knobs and messing up my volume here/there.

 

[tjmicsak]

Welcome to the Hotel TGP!
You can check out all the pedals you like
And they will never leave......