Struggling with pedal board envy

[Pidgin English]

I know this is NOT the place to talk about this but I figure some folks out there would get where I'm coming from. I look at all your cool pedal boards on the forum here and struggle with envy. When I go to church on Sunday and see thousands of dollars of Strymon's and Timmy's I get envious. I often think "If I just buy that Strymon Flint" or "if I get that 200 overdrive pedal I'll be happy." I've got some decent pedals and frankly they all do the job I need them to do. But I guess there's a part of me that just wants to "fit in."

 

[god.machine]

It took me 25 years to get my board to where I love it. I buy used and discounted pedals on Reverb mostly, and sound awesome. Just be patient and get what you can when you can.

 

[BlueLou]

If buying a Timeline or King of Tone gets you the tone that inspires creative playing and you can afford it, then what are you waiting for? Lol. Conversely, if you are buying a pedal to make yourself feel better, it will work... for a while. Then it won't. YMMV

 

[HidesBehindEffects]

I would refer you to the little known 11th* commandment:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors dirt pedals.

*I believe it was a footnote.

 

[sleewell]

instagram pedal boards do nothing for me. i see them less as a tool to make music and more of a way to get likes on social media. hey guys i havent played guitar in months but i did rearrange my very expensive pedals and used a cool filter.. please validate me!!

 

[michael patrick]

Don't hate my board because it is beautiful...

 

[KBN]

I love gear and I have to constantly remind myself that it doesn't really matter. A friend recently found some video of my high school rock band from 1997/98. I was playing a stock Epi LP, a Boss SD-2, Digitech RP-6, and a Crate Vintage Club 30 1x12. I'll be damned if it didn't sound really good. And I was happy with the rig and had loads of fun with it. I wish I felt that way now.

 

[HidesBehindEffects]

instagram pedal boards do nothing for me. i see them less as a tool to make music and more of a way to get likes on social media. hey guys i havent played guitar in months but i did rearrange my very expensive pedals and used a cool filter.. please validate me!!

I was just thinking about those IG boards... there are two feeds in particular that burn me up. The mini one is especially bothersome - it's almost like some dealers (Reverb?) got tog and decided what to push, and you constantly see the same handful of pedals thrown onto otherwise innocuous boards. Yes- they are pleasing to the eye, but almost every one of those boards is un-playable in the wild. The way that double-switched pedals are stacked right next to each other would make the switches inaccessible to anyone with anything larger than a boys size 4 shoe.

And really - how many people have use for a Meris Enzo? yet every other board on that feed seems to have one - and low and behold.. there they are online, all priced within $5 of each other.


Don't let that sh1t get you down man. If you are happy with your tone/sound - then it's prb great, and ultimately, isn't that what matters?

 

[bigmac53]

I love checking out other people's rigs; whether it be on Instagram, YouTube, here on TGP, or (in the distant past) at live shows; but I also love my own rig. If you've got something that works for you then you've already done better than most! I have a bunch of stuff that I love how it works for me, it may not be the most expensive or rare, or whatever, but I've got a bunch of cool stuff that inspires me to play and that's all you can really ask for!

 

[T92780]

I remember years ago always wanting a Fender Custom Relic Candy Tangerine Strat ( I had nice MIA Strats). I'd go to boutique dealer websites and drool at them. I kept working harder at work, getting better at my craft/making more money and saving money a tad smarter. One day, I had the money and very patiently (not easy) waited for the perfect one to drop at a dealer, called, worked a deal and when it arrived.... I felt I arrived. Like it was my own pat on back saying good job, you deserve it. Some will say you don't need such $ gear, but those people are really preaching excuses of their own shortcomings and I steer away from them in life/my circle. Don't ever make excuses why you can't have something you dream of... only you, stop dreams from coming true, not your family, surroundings , etc. So, fuel yourself with higher octane and go get it. You can do it.

 

[Riffa]

Isn't envy a sin, though? Seriously, though: It may be because I'm in my 40s now, but I don't care what others are using--unless I hear they play something that sounds great/unusual and go "whoa what's that sound?!".

I think you should just focus on the pedals you can afford that will get you close to the tone you're developing. There's a lot of good tone in cheaper boxes. I'm much happier with some Boss OD pedals these days than I used to be with some boutique German units I had in the past.

Oh yeah, and screw the IG pedal show-offs.

 

[SubApathy]

Prince had a simple board filled with simple pedals.

I'm just trying to say that you don't need boutique pedals and the hottest version(s) of [Insert Pedal Here] to sound amazing. It's doesn't matter. Don't let what others have take away your joy of playing. Rock what you possess at your fingertips...or feet.

Cheers!

 

[judedog]

Don't hate my board because it is beautiful...

Yo, everything about that photo sent my OCD into high gear. I’m gonna log off and breathe into a paper bag for a little while

 

[Bill Dennis]

I know this is NOT the place to talk about this but I figure some folks out there would get where I'm coming from. I look at all your cool pedal boards on the forum here and struggle with envy. When I go to church on Sunday and see thousands of dollars of Strymon's and Timmy's I get envious. I often think "If I just buy that Strymon Flint" or "if I get that 200 overdrive pedal I'll be happy." I've got some decent pedals and frankly they all do the job I need them to do. But I guess there's a part of me that just wants to "fit in."

Whats on your board has nothing to do with fitting in. I can assure you, my predominately Tone City, MXR and cheap TC pedals kick all of the prerequisite ass. I have a few of the $200 overdrive pedals. They are good. Better? No, just different. The $40 Golden plexi kicked a Carl Martin plexi tone off the board. MXR super badass Distortion goes toe to toe with a Friedman BEOD MXR classic overdrive = better than TS9 to my ear. Its about your ears, not your wallet

 

[jamester]

I usually find that when I desire a pedal "just because", it almost never works out for me. It has taken a long time (and lots of money) to really learn what fits me, both musically and physically.

When I start to covet gear based on the seeming cool factor of other people's setups, I'm finally at the point where I can talk myself out of it because I'll already know whether it's going to be a good fit or not. I've got some big ticket boutique items living in their boxes, and I've got some run of the mill stuff that always seems to find its way back on my board..

 

[tnipe]

None of my favorite guitar players care about having cool or "trendy" pedalboards, so I'm not gonna care either.

 

[Vishnu]

It took me 25 years to get my board to where I love it. I buy used and discounted pedals on Reverb mostly, and sound awesome. Just be patient and get what you can when you can.

This ^ except it took me a LOT longer to get that board together

If it's any comfort to you we all go through this,well,most of us do,and to let you into a wee secret a Boss SD1 or Maxon OD808 ( to emulate that expensive boteek Kingsley OD tone) into a cookin' tube amp along with a carbon copy for the Strymons will get you most of the way there

The way i look at it Grasshopper is this... i feel just a little sorry for the kid that gets a Gibson for his first guitar.It took me about 5 years to get there and by the time i got the guitar,boy, did i appreciate it

 

[Jahn]

I went from no pedals on a board pre-TGP, to a few pedals on my first board when I first joined TGP:


I then felt just like the OP, and decided to fill it up. Traded my first electric guitar away and my big honkin' twin reverb for a CS Rosewood Tele and a '52 tweed princeton. And I should have STOPPED RIGHT THERE:

But oh, no. GAS had other designs on me. OP, take my advice, never let it get THIS bad:




When the pedalboard is bigger than the amp, it's time for some soul searching instead of tone searching.

These days my board is much more manageable, and is just right when it comes to the guitar-pedals-amp ratio in every way. Good stuff.

I do still have that Pedal Pal but it doesn't connect with this new board, so it might as well be a dinner plate. And the only stuff on there is my real situational pedals, a Champion fuzz, and my Janglebox compressor for my Ric 360-12 soirees.

 

[Thoughtpolice]

I know this is NOT the place to talk about this but I figure some folks out there would get where I'm coming from. I look at all your cool pedal boards on the forum here and struggle with envy. When I go to church on Sunday and see thousands of dollars of Strymon's and Timmy's I get envious. I often think "If I just buy that Strymon Flint" or "if I get that 200 overdrive pedal I'll be happy." I've got some decent pedals and frankly they all do the job I need them to do. But I guess there's a part of me that just wants to "fit in."

You could start by skipping church?

 

[monty]

Nothing to get envious about, anybody can go buy a pedal. Using them tastefully and musically isn't sold at stores.
The boards I dig are usually pretty basic meat and potato boards that somebody is getting great tones out of.