ilovefuzz.com

So recently I was getting frustrated with my Loupe- sometimes I wanted it to be on the floor so I could hit switches while playing guitar, and sometimes I wanted it to be on a table, for knob twiddling. It doesn’t have MIDI so I can’t control it remotely- it’s one or the other.

My home base for looping is the Gibson EDP, as I’ve waxed on and on about in other posts. I’m comfortable with that device- I get it.

The Loupe is heavily inspired by the EDP- and I’ve been trying to get it to be a sort of portable miniature version of the EDP. And in the process, I’ve been getting frustrated with it.

Yesterday I had resolved to sell the Loupe, telling myself I’m an EDP man, that’s all there is to it. Before listing it on Reverb, however, I thought, hang on, let me see what other people are doing with this thing, maybe I’m just not getting it.

I found this video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=udVMteLsu ... 91IGxvdXBl

And it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. I checked out some other videos and they all had one thing in common-the best and most inspiring ones are where the player is leaning into what makes Loupe unique. They aren’t trying to make it a mini EDP, like I was- they’re treating it as its own thing, and digging into all its little idiosyncrasies.

I then realized, of course I should treat this as its own thing- my frustration with it stemmed from me trying to make it do things it wasn’t great at doing, and forcing it to fit into a workflow I was comfortable with.

I didn’t not like the Loupe- I was just expecting it to be something it wasn’t.

That got me thinking about the revolving door of gear I’ve been participating in for years- how many pedals did I sell off because it didn’t do something I “needed” it to do? Did I take the time to find out what it did do well? Probably not! I just wrote it off as not for me and moved on.

It’s hard, because money is limited, and when I buy something it’s because I want it to do a specific job- and when it doesn’t do that job, I move on to something else that I think will do it. The problem is, almost nothing does the job perfectly- and the “job” I’m looking to fill is a moving target. And on and on.

Anyway. I won’t be selling the Loupe. Or the Habit. I’ll try to find what the gear is good at, and what I enjoy using it for, rather than trying to get it to fit in the box I’m comfortable being in.

Anyone else want to participate in this moment of zen?

this is why i try not to sell off stuff if i think there's any possibility, however slim, that it'll be useful for something. in particular i have a LOT of delays and am loathe to part with any because they're all good for something. i also try to periodically dig into the pedals on the boards i tend to set and forget and look for different things in them. i still haven't gotten anywhere near the bottom of the Virus and the So High So Low filter pedal yet, but those are relatively new...i've been mucking about with the reverbs, delays, and modulation and found a couple of settings i really like.

For me getting pedals is pretty hit and miss (or at least so it feels at times) as I use contact mics and simple synths (no keys!). Sometimes something that sounds awesome in a guitar demo will sound like nothing much with a contact mic. But I am am still convinced in most cases that the pedals have some worthy sounds that I just need to find. That's why I am keeping almost everything I get. There have been some happy late discoveries but my drawers are still "filled" with bland pedals I really need to dig into for that one awesome sound.

le lambin wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2024 11:31 am That got me thinking about the revolving door of gear I’ve been participating in for years- how many pedals did I sell off because it didn’t do something I “needed” it to do? Did I take the time to find out what it did do well? Probably not! I just wrote it off as not for me and moved on.

I have done this so much... I think I've got better about realising what I need over time and not buying things that don't fit in with that, not buying complicated things I'll just get annoyed with etc. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still doing this sort of thing!

For some reason having stuff on a shelf almost never being used bothers me, even at a fairly small level where it's not actually a problem for space or finances. So I end up looking for reasons to sell stuff sometimes, which is pretty silly.

My rule is if I sell something and 'miss' it enough to buy a replacement, even if it's years later, that item goes in the eternal 'keep' pile.

I don't make the same mistake twice (and rarely make it all these days)

That something that happen me a lot of times! Especially with glitch/micro-loop pedals.
I also used to have the Loupe: it's a wonderful machine and can achieve some amazing textures, but in the end I'm just fine with my trusty Looperlative LP2. So Loupe had to go.
I feel always sorry for gear not being used and actually is a relief to get rid of stuff I barely use. I'm not a collector, and feel better the stuff have to go and land in better hand than mines.

rfurtkamp wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2024 10:34 pm My rule is if I sell something and 'miss' it enough to buy a replacement, even if it's years later, that item goes in the eternal 'keep' pile.

I don't make the same mistake twice (and rarely make it all these days)

Yeah this is a good rule. Which I have broken once (but I feel OK about it)

This is why I go watch gear review demos for things I own. Or, go look on social media to see how other folks are using it.

I've purchased the volca FM three times. I hate it, but I love the weird, little quirks. I'm tempted by the v2, but I'd miss the full-size midi jack. So, it stays.

It's funny this thread came up again, I've recently been considering buying another Algal Bloom.... had my old one for years and years, then got a doom bloom and decided I preferred that because I was more interested in heavy stuff at the time so flipped the algal. Then I flipped the doom because I think for heavy stuff I prefer distortions/amps aaaand now I think I want another algal bloom for general fuzz... yeah I'm smart. Or just something else that has the same sort of clarity and attack while also being fuzzy. It's such a cool sound.