Is downsizing a trend?

[PanicProne]

Just curious. I feel like more and more people in general are getting into (and then quickly out of) the pedal game. So there's a lot more pedals going around now, new and used. However, I've had this feeling lately that the huge "worship-style" ambient and noise boards have all gone out of fashion and people are downsizing. I mean, come on, even Jwar has been caught doing this. Who's next? goroth? :O Nooo, it can't be!

So to the question:
Is it just me going insane and (no necessarily owning but) using more gear and bigger rigs lately or is there a general downsizing-trend going on?
Whatever the answer is, is this good? Why is it happening? Does vidret still want hooks for hands?

Last edited by PanicProne on Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

[UglyCasanova]

Inb4 relativism

[Bon Hoga]

Not for me. I need what I need.

[Ugly Nora]

People are starting to realize that a large amount of pedals wont make up for a small amount of talent and instead have started focusing on fundamentals like playing in tune.

[UglyCasanova]

He said, randomly hitting pots and pans into a looper and a delay.

[voerking]

People are starting to realize that a large amount of pedals wont make up for a small amount of talent and instead have started focusing on fundamentals like playing in tune.

HOW I WISH THIS WERE ACTUALLY TRUE!

[Ugly Nora]

He said, randomly hitting pots and pans into a looper and a delay.

Ive recently added some spring reverb at the beginning of the chain too! I think youll like it when i unveil my new sound.

[MechaGodzilla]

People are starting to realize that a large amount of pedals wont make up for a small amount of talent

I wish that were true of the local indie scene but it's a world of extremes - either just a crappy muff and a delay, or a board fucking packed with everything; verbs/delays/comps/buncha dirt/chorus+flange+phase/whatever else someone told them they should have.

The big boards are usually a mixture of something "boutique", one or two boss, then a bunch of chinese-made crap. All this for a 20-min set of sonic youth/mbv karaoke. And no, they don't have any real talent or a unique voice on the guitar. Guitar isn't hard to play, it isn't hard to be good at either if you enjoy playing it, but most bands I see treat them as accessories and everyone is wearing a jag/jm.

The explosion of cheap delays and offsets has led to a lot of players sounding exactly the same. A tacky and tasteless overreliance on delay/verb to fill out the sound where some decent musicianship should be. It's refreshing when somebody sets up a small board/few pedals coz it normally means they at least have confidence in their own playing, and that's a huge contribution to sounding like a decent player.

I'm in no way against big boards and I try not to be snooty about cheap or mainstream gear but the majority of the time, the people gigging the big boards are - consciously or otherwise - compensating for or covering up something.

[D.o.S.]

People are starting to realize that a large amount of pedals wont make up for a small amount of talent and instead have started focusing on fundamentals like playing in tune.

That sounds like an awful world and I want no part of it.

[D.o.S.]

The explosion of cheap delays and offsets has led to a lot of players sounding exactly the same.

Implying a lot of players didn't sound exactly the same prior to this

I know what you mean though. The world does not need another guitar crescendo band.

[goroth]

I have downsized as much as I can. 21 pedals. With that board I can make all the noises I want and every time i play I’m happy.

[dubkitty]

after being static for about three years i'm actually looking at up-sizing. trouble is, i can't afford anything

[worra]

Just curious. I feel like more and more people in general are getting into (and then quickly out of) the pedal game. So there's a lot more pedals going around now, new and used. However, I've had this feeling lately that the huge "worship-style" ambient and noise boards have all gone out of fashion and people are downsizing. I mean, come on, even Jwar has been caught doing this. Who's next? goroth? :O Nooo, it can't be!

So to the question:
Is it just me going insane and (no necessarily owning but) using more gear and bigger rigs lately or is there a general downsizing-trend going on?
Whatever the answer is, is this good? Why is it happening? Does vidret still want hooks for hands?

I think some of this is just the natural progression of people that become obsessed with effects, no? Only speaking from my own experience but yeah, it started with "ooh, two delays is fun" and quickly spiraled into a void of "must try every pedal ever, and have a board of 15 pedals". I'm back to a pretty small setup now where I play with somewhere between 4-7 pedals, and I'm quite happy, but I don't know if I would have gotten here if I hadn't taken the dive to see what all the fuss was about first. It helped me discover what worked for me and what didnt', and where my threshold for "holy shit this is overwhelming" is.




Or maybe it's just because I'm addicted to eurorack now.

[voerking]

(snip)The explosion of cheap delays and offsets has led to a lot of players sounding exactly the same. A tacky and tasteless overreliance on delay/verb to fill out the sound where some decent musicianship should be. (snip)

i am starting to think that this era of music is going to seem hilariously dated by shimmer reverb & POG octave sounds just like it was in the 80's with chorus & gated snare, etc

[Eivind August]

I can make all the noises I want and every time i play I’m happy.