ilovefuzz.com

I like you guys.
hahaha

I was semi hoping someone else would be like "yea I've totally been in the same boat".

The pedal buying isn't really a concern as in I'm hurting anyone in my life with it. It's just an OCD thing.

I think I'm going to tear everything down, get a nice rug, and jam with a few things at a time. See how that goes and move to a different approach if need be. To record all I need is monitors and some decent recording software. I'd love Pro Tools, dat price though. I have a Mac Mini, and interface and everything else. I'm assuming that's all I need currently.

That sounds like a good approach: shifting the focus from building something perfect, to making music.

For recording I prefer headphones. For mixing though I like monitors.

jwar wrote:I think I'm going to tear everything down, get a nice rug, and jam with a few things at a time.

It really is nice. Some of the most fun I've had recently has been playing with one or two pedals.

Jero wrote:

raj007 wrote: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.

rfurtkamp wrote:Stop worrying about the gear.
Stop buying it. Stop selling it. Just *have* it.
Then make music.
No excuses.
No bullshit.
Just make music for a few minutes a day, whether you want to or not.
Only reason you haven't is you haven't wanted to enough.
It's all about actually doing it, not finding reasons not to.

rfurtkamp wrote:The other reason I suggested stopping the buy/sell cycle - you get invested in *that* instead of making music too.
"I'll make music once I strip down" is just as crippling as "I'll make music once I have the great guitar of the gods!"

Bill:
Ted, while I agree that, in time, our band will be most triumphant. The truth is, Wyld Stallyns will never be a super band until we have Eddie Van Halen on guitar.
Ted:
Yes, Bill. But, I do not believe we will get Eddie Van Halen until we have a triumphant video.
Bill:
Ted, it's pointless to have a triumphant video before we even have decent instruments.
Ted:
Well, how can we have decent instruments when we don't really even know how to play?
Bill:
That is why we NEED Eddie Van Halen!
Ted:
And THAT is why we need a triumphant video.

Much wisdom here

Yup. I know I use the "pedals are just tools"-argument a lot, and I stand by that, but it's also important to be aware of where your focus lies. When I say pedals are tools, it means they are purposeful additions in my noise making endeavours. However, I think having an interest in the tools is a separate thing.

So, I can have a hammer which I use for hammering shit, and it could be any old hammer as long as it does what I need it to do, namely hammer shit. But I could also have a special bond with this particular hammer, because it hammers shit so damn good it's fucking amazing. Going further, I could have a general interest in hammers, and collect several of them that I use for different hammering purposes. In the end, I could have a fetish for hammers, and just collect any old hammer because fuck man, hammers are so sweet, look at the fancy handle on this one, shiiiiit.

All of these are fine relationships to have with hammers, but awareness is key. What is the purpose of the hammer(s)? Shockingly, hammers in this scenario is fuzz pedals. I was using the example of hammers as a metaphor. Pretty neat, right? But the point is that there are several ways to look at your tools; if you like collecting pedals without using (all of) them to make music, that can be ok. That has nothing to do with the separate issue of you making music. Having an active interest in pedals does not necessarily have to do with whether you will use them to create music or not. I know what tools I need, and have an interest in having the best tools that fit my purposes, and in this way I end up fetishizing certain pedals. But I could just as well have made my music with alternative variants of these tools - they are not an intrinsic part of what I do (beyond the fact that I need my fuzz to oscillate, obviously). So, never let the pedals and your relationship with them affect your music making, beyond being able to create the sounds you want. If you want ALL TEH SOUNDS readily available, that's cool. But it has little to do with the act of composing the music.

It's hot here, and I kinda lost track somewhere in the middle there. Got really invested in the hammer analogy. Anyway, follow your boner, jwar. Follow your boner.

Might I relate a somewhat similar dilemma I was in:

About two years ago, I had been making music and recording everything but it was all improvised, none written. I had a friend ask if I would come play her birthday party but that scared the shit out of me because I had no prepared material. What if I just froze in front of people? It was a nightmare scenario.

I also had way too much gear to move: It would be like an all day affair or even longer to break down and set up somewhere else.

So I resolved to come up with a live set that I could repeat.

That meant first, reducing my gear footprint. So now, I only have what I can fit on to one board and I only have small combo amps. I still change stuff in and out but I only have what fits in that footprint.

And then I started practicing. I started with one song, now have 11. I'm still trying to get there but am getting closer all the time. And am much happier.

Point is, if you want to make music, set a goal and modify your equipment to reach it. If you don't want to make music, there's nothing wrong with being a collector.

manymanyhaha wrote:Might I relate a somewhat similar dilemma I was in:

About two years ago, I had been making music and recording everything but it was all improvised, none written. I had a friend ask if I would come play her birthday party but that scared the shit out of me because I had no prepared material. What if I just froze in front of people? It was a nightmare scenario.

I also had way too much gear to move: It would be like an all day affair or even longer to break down and set up somewhere else.

So I resolved to come up with a live set that I could repeat.

That meant first, reducing my gear footprint. So now, I only have what I can fit on to one board and I only have small combo amps. I still change stuff in and out but I only have what fits in that footprint.

And then I started practicing. I started with one song, now have 11. I'm still trying to get there but am getting closer all the time. And am much happier.

Point is, if you want to make music, set a goal and modify your equipment to reach it. If you don't want to make music, there's nothing wrong with being a collector.

This is nicely reassuring. Thank you

I'll add to what manymanyhaha said.

I have solo material that I play live. A lot of the songs are based off of the effects I used to write it. So, that very act, kind of makes me married to certain pieces of gear.

For example the Strymon TimeLine - when it came out it was amazing, now there's stuff like the DD-500, Nemesis and the Echo Station. However, I used a lot of different engines/algorithms and have saved presets for my songs, that the thought of recreating those in another pedal is time consuming, pointless and kills any gas. Same story with H9, BigSky, BitCommander, Mobius, Revolver, Possessed, Miku etc.

There's stuff I want but it's minimal and it's got to serve a unique purpose or make sounds my other pedals can't - Freqout, Ottobit Jr., Outward/Tensor

JWAR - like many have said try to write/record some music, perhaps that will change your perspective.

DRodriguez wrote:So more on topic, what I generally find works well for me, is write with minimal tools, and then build up from my tools.

So I have my pedal section of my room, and a bunch of virtual synths. But when I write, it's usually a guitar run clean, and one drive pedal, and one fuzz. And for synths, I'll have a piano loaded, and a sine wave based synth. Once I have a foundation, I'll start switching things up and adding pedals. Changing synth sounds. I might even get rid of the original guitar entirely, but the foundation built up from is there.

Maybe make a micro board for composing, get a recording rig, and then use the masses for the final polish

Pretty much this. Write awesome riffs clean then decide what pedals would make it sound cooler. Effects should inspire, not be the entirety of your playing. Make your pedal board your slave, don't be a slave to your pedalboard

Thanks guys!

I took an actual break from almost all my effects today and it was refreshing. Well, aside from my motherfucking amp making some noise again. I swear to God almighty I will go ape shit on Mesa if it's busted again.

Anyway, I'm going to look into getting a simpler drum machine and a few other things. Just so I have something to record off of. I had one and sold it some time back. It was a simple Korg drum machine. I want one because I enjoy industrial type music and that's what I want to create. I did right a song back when I had a recording set up and now I can't recover it because my PC broke and I just haven't had time to take out the hard drive and pull it. Sooo that's annoying.

As far as the set up goes.

I have a Mac Mini and a Laptop currently. When I had a tower, it was several years old with less ram than I have now in the Mac Mini and it did not have any latency issues. So perhaps it's just something with the Mac?? Or maybe it's a driver issue with the interface? I'm using an M-Audio Fast Track. It's stupid simple, but maybe I need something else or better?? I'm open to suggestions on that one.

I had a Presonus before and it worked pretty good and came with a light version of Pro Tools, which actually worked pretty good for what I do. Maybe I ought to look into another Presonus. Hmmm...

Anyway, any cheap solutions would be appreciated.

I totally get what you all are saying about the gear too. Since I don't play out (at least not yet lol), I don't need a board, so maybe it's time to just get it out of the way and be free. There are pieces that I feel are vital to the sound I like to make, so I am looking heavily into what I use and why.

So keep it under 1k? Got it!

Nah. I don't have a ton of funds to throw at it currently, so the cheaper the better!

thinking about hammers gives me the feels. grandfather died a few years back, recently my grandmother gave me his toolbox and hammers.

Right? I get the feeling you have the same thing with pedals and gear. You want the perfect piece for every possible application, whereas I am a one hammer guy (except for oscillating fuzzes, of course ). Sad to hear about your grandfather, those are some sweet looking hammers.

I don't see a pin hammer there, BOBfather.

Sorry if this has been said...I am lazy and dont want to read 4 pages. BUT, try ripping them off of the pedal boards and putting them on a shelf. Then when you play, just grab two and three to play with that night. For whatever reason i am more creative when I am forced to have limits.