When do you decide to flip?

[Jwar]

So I've been thinking about my previous gear flips and wondering why in a lot of cases. Why the hell did I flip this or that? Why didn't I give it more time? It makes no sense a lot of times to me. I'm being dead serious too. I just don't get it.

I feel like I give a piece of gear sometimes a day and if I don't instantly jive with it, it's out man. I'm either flipping it or holding onto it in hopes that I'll one day fall in love with it.

I've found that out of all the pedals I have, I only turn on a few. A delay, pitch shifter and overdrive. That's about it. So it's weird and kind of annoying.

But I'm a freak and have to have a full board. I have too. It's a fucking OCD thing. It drives me nuts to not have it now.

So what makes you flip shit? Those of you that don't gig, I'm especially interested in your opinion or those that have a non gigging board. I don't gig, so I don't need anything to perform. It's all for fun.

[Chankgeez]

YOU HATE FUZZ!!!

[SecretMachine]

Pre-buying I consider it's application in terms of songwriting.
I get the pedal, consider the logistics of it ie: how the hell am I gonna play, sing and hit this thing reproducibly,
how easy can I attain the sound I want and most importantly, do I like the sound it makes to justify the price and how reproducible is it ie: if i write something with it, if i accidentally adjust a setting mid song will I lose it in a noticable way for the audience?
If it doesn't fit those criteria, or I've found another variant that does what I want but better, I'll flip it.

[DRodriguez]

As a home player, I only flip if it's sat on the shelf for a while and I don't like it after trying it again after some time. I'll then go through a period of insisting on using it to make sure I really don't like it before flipping.

If it sits on the shelf forever, but I still like it on the rare occasions I break it out, I'll still keep it.

Or, if it just does not play friendly at all with my most used items.

[Strange Tales]

If I can't connect at all through the first playthorugh is my big thing on deciding to flip. The only mistake I've made so far that way is the Misty Cave. Really regret that one.

Generally after that, I only sell something if I haven't used it for a while and need money for another buy, or just outright replace it with a pedal that I think does a better job.

[Jwar]

Do you guys feel the same way about instruments as well?

[Jwar]

YOU HATE FUZZ!!!

I absolutely love fuzz. I seldom get to use it though. It's the one effect that makes noise throughout my entire house. So I have to constantly worry about my wife getting annoyed. Ugh. She used to not care, but now she does. If I go all out and am actually having fun, she asks me to turn it down. I'm a fucking bass player damn it!!! I can't stop the thump!

[Teej212]

i flip pedals just as impulsively as I buy them....leads to a lot of regret

[D.o.S.]

Never flip instruments. Only flip pedals when I need to make money or if something attractive comes along (I guess I technically 'lost money' swapping my second RM-1N for a Raptio, but that was before the price increase so I don't feel any regret for it).

It's sort of like having a library. I don't sell books just because I haven't read them in a while, you know?

[blakestree]

I think GAS has a lot to do with it, too. But, I try to give all pedals a fair shake. The only thing I think I've flipped quick was a Possessed. Sometimes, I just grow out of things.

And, yeah, goes for amps and instruments, too. Decided I was a Tele guy. Picked up a limited CVC and thought I was set. Got a Mustang and now that's all I ever play. Should I sell the Tele?

The gear I hang on to the longest is "my wife's".

[infamousalien]

I flip pedals if I want something new and I wasn't using them much. I hate having pedals that just sit there and I don't use them. I really only buy 1-2 pedals a year though at most. I keep around 7-8 pedals at a time. Every once in a while I'll get rid of pretty much everything and start over. This year will be one of those years. I never really flip instruments. I haven't bought a guitar in 20 years though.

[DRodriguez]

Every time I've flipped an instrument, I've regretted it down the line. Now I just fuck with them until it fits a new need. I should probably flip them more though.

[Dark Barn]

sometimes i buy pedals that I know I won't keep, but I just have to try. I try to buy everything second hand unless I am deep in the throes of GAS pains. And then I will only buy new if I think it might be a keeper instead of a buy to try. That's why pedals are so alluring to me, the cost to try and flip a second hand pedal is so low that it's hard to say no sometimes.

A few things will make me instantly flip a pedal, excessive noise, excessive low end loss, inability to dial unity gain.

[echorec]

Optimistically I'm an archivist compiling a musical library---but perhaps more accurately I'm a hoarder of pedals, who is working on an auditory warehouse. Sometimes I think to myself, "You should sell this rare tremolo/phaser/chorus and buy a better one." ---But if I did that, it would take a lot of patience and time to replace the old one. So I just accept that I'm going to own all of the modulation pedals one day.

The only way I'll sell something is if it's mass-produced and easy to replace, or if it doesn't wow me after multiple experiments. I give pedals the benefit of the doubt until they've failed to meet expectations after 3-5 trial runs. I try them out in different chains and with different instruments. It's a fairly empirical and time-tested procedure at this point.

[blakestree]

Every time I've flipped an instrument, I've regretted it down the line. Now I just fuck with them until it fits a new need. I should probably flip them more though.

Yes! That Dirge Telemaster needs to go!



...to my house.

A few things will make me instantly flip a pedal, excessive noise, excessive low end loss, inability to dial unity gain.

I have keepers with all those problems.