Where to go from here...the musings of a madman?

[Jwar]

I figured I'd make a whole "I came from this to that" thread in the same vein as the modular stuff being posted as of late.

So over the last six or seven years (maybe 8??? Fuck I dunno), I've gone ape shit. I don't want that to be put lightly. I have literally bought and sold so many goddamn pedals, basses, amps, and other shit, I can't recall it. I've owned the best of the best and the worst of the worst (ok maybe not the worst but...close).

It all started on that fateful day I purchased a Way Huge Swollen Pickle. I remember I had just received a new bass, my first nice one ever btw. A 25th Anniversary Musicman HSS brand fucking new. I paid 2600 bucks for it, which looking back was dumb, but I didn't care! I was 26! So before that the most expensive bass I'd ever owned was a custom (and I mean legit custom) Peavey that I sold for meth when I was 17. I'm not joking. I'll never, ever get over that. Anyway, I had just decided to get back into playing after taking a few years off. I really loved NIN and wanted Trent's tone on bass. Found out he used a Swollen Pickle. So I jumped in the car, went to Guitar Center and bought one.

I instantly hated it. I didn't know what was going on or how to make it sound good. It pissed me off really bad. Then I broke a cable on the inside of it and had to take it back. They gave me a new one while I was there and I decided to buy a Boss AW-3 (fuck that pedal sucks ass). I got home and started researching stuff and landed on Talkbass.com. I discovered my pedal had these internal controls (which to this day that shit baffles me), that I could tweak and get a better sound. I did that and was instantly happy.

From Talkbass I learned about the Carbon Copy and a few other TB type lame ass effects. Then one fateful day a gentleman by the name of Behndy invited me to ILF which was kind of a secret group so to speak. I joined up and learned about Fuzzhugger.com. I got on and saw a limited edition Dwarfcraft Secret Destroyer for like 200 maybe 180?? I can't remember honestly. I also saw a Seppuku Mind Warp, which I had NO idea what it did, and bought it for around 150 I believe. It was hand painted and looked cool. I discovered the Mind Warp made me be able to get The Presidents of the United States Peaches sound perfectly for what it's worth.

Those arrived and I hated the Secret Destroyer. I couldn't get over the fact that it made some weird noise that sounded like it was uncontrollable and made no sense. I actually believe I thought it was broken (which now I know to be oscillation. LOL!). I returned it and Tom Dalton agreed to build me something custom. I had no fucking clue about pedals, especially with bass, so I asked him what to do. We landed on a Chalice mixed with another circuit I cannot recall (Tom eventually bought this back from me btw, which I to this day kick myself for because he sold it to a buddy and I'll never see it again). I remember picking the colors, the design, the LED's...everything. The way the circuit worked even. It was beyond me that I could do that!

Then things just kind of went nuts from then on out. I started with a lot of Dwarfcraft stuff, most custom or second hand custom. A lot of SS/BS, that some was also custom. Then I just kind of started trying every fuzz I could get my hands on by every maker I could find.

If I had to guess, I'd say I've tried maybe 500 fuzz pedals and that's probably being a tad unstated. I actually have no idea. I do know that I've bought and sold almost 100k worth of gear in 7 years. That's, uhhhhh....kind of insane if you think about it.

I've owned pedals that cost me 25 dollars, and I've owned pedals that cost me 1500 dollars.

Now here I am with two full pedal boards and things still coming in all the time. I have a modular system coming in soon as well. I'm thinking, what am I doing here? Have I wasted 7 years of my life trying to achieve something tone wise and not made a lick of actual music??? The truth is to a certain extent, yes is the answer. I've not written one full song in that long. I've done almost full songs, but I'm limited by my lack on imagination and the overwhelming feeling of having too much to work with now.

I know the answer here too. Put it away and play with less, and trust me, I've tried that. It doesn't work for me. I have probably some of the worst OCD possible. I get very in the zone and want to have it all or nothing. It's the way I am with literally everything in my life. It's fucking exhausting at times.

So where do I go from here? I want to make music. That was the entire point of this journey I stared 22 years ago and when I did, I played in a band! We sucked, but damn it, it was fun! Now I'm lost. I'm falling down that rabbit hole of being that lonely old guy who hoards gear LOL! I'm laughing because I know for a fact there's more of you out there!

This isn't an "oh poor me" thread. This is a "holy fuck, I'm a crazy man" thread. I know own easily around 12-13k in gear, maybe more. I don't do anything cheap really.

So that's my gear story....reduced gear story at least. Those that have been on ILF have watched probably and shuddered at times of my rampant regard for collecting and just flipping board after board after board. haha.


Thanks for listening if you did.

For you Jack I'll summarize. I bought and sold a lot of shit, then realized I never really do anything with it. So fuck balls basically.

[JonnyAngle]

lol I read the first and last paragraph.

The robot btw gave me taint spasms

[Chankgeez]

Kim Jong-un's on ILF now?

(If you're reading this, plz, don't nuke the forum.)

[ThurberMingus]

Buy a PT Jr. Fill it up. Sell the rest.

Don't be a turd just do it.

Record everything.

Buy some synth stuff/a drum machine with the money you make from selling all your pedals.

Seriously, you don't need that my pedals. With enough instruments you can make your own band.

Use those big pedal boards for keyboard tables.

You can be Trent Reznor.

Just sell those extra pedals.

[Jwar]

I mean, I totes could be Trent Reznor right??? He's older than me though...gotta work on that. LOL.

I have thought about selling a lot of shit.

This is where I'm at board wise (minus one that's on loan from Behndy).



I also just got a Fuzzhugger Sonic Bloom and Lone Wolf LWA120

Plus there's more coming in.

I have 3 amps currently, only 2 cabs, 3 basses (two are pretty much junk though), a midi controller or two, 4 power supplies, 1 combo amp too, and a bunch of other shit I'm forgetting. OH! Got that modular thing coming in July or August.

Soooooooooooo...way too much. I literally have no idea how to simplify. I just don't. It's so fucking hard man.

[D.o.S.]

Soooooooooooo...way too much. I literally have no idea how to simplify. I just don't. It's so fucking hard man.

Sell some stuff*, get a recording interface and a decent recording computer with the money. Force yourself to sit down and learn how to use whatever DAW you want. Make music with what you have.


*Easiest way to figure out what to sell: imagine you're going to record some bass or whatever. Figure out what pedals you would use. Sell some of the pedals you wouldn't, but not all of them.

[Jwar]

With just the Toneczar stuff alone, even with bad prices on selling them, I could have a cool 1800 in my pocket.

Fuck. If I were able to sell the Echoczar at a decent used price. I could get over 1500 for just that.

[D.o.S.]

You can get a pretty bitchin' recording setup for 1800

[Dark Barn]

Join a band, or even take music lessons, both of those can get you focused on occasionally making music. Otherwise nothing wrong with being a gear fiend, just keep the roof over your head.

[tremolo3]

You can get a pretty bitchin' recording setup for 1800

That's 8 months of rent for me, who needs 3bd anyways.

[DRodriguez]

You can get a pretty bitchin' recording setup for 1800

That's 8 months of rent for me, who needs 3bd anyways.

That's 1 month of rent for me, who needs a shitty 2 bedroom share anyways?
ny sucks

[raj007]

Jwar sells half his gear.

Jwar gets family member(s) to watch kids.

Jwar and Jwar-wife pick an amazing vacation spot.

Jwar and Jwar-wife vacation like bosses: drink, relax, bang--the whole 9, bitches.

Jwar comes back refreshed.

Jwar feels better about life.

Jwar makes music with a simpler outlook on his gear.

[worra]

You can get a pretty bitchin' recording setup for 1800

That's 8 months of rent for me, who needs 3bd anyways.

That's 1 month of rent for me, who needs a shitty 2 bedroom share anyways?
ny sucks

That's barely over 1/2 of one month's rent for me. SF bay sucks.

[neonblack]

Jesus Christ. You guys need to move to the South.

$475 utilities included
Only till August though, then it's time to get fucked with real world rent again.

[D.o.S.]

It's a cost of living thing, though. Can't measure finances in a vacuum.