This is just a food for thought post.
All comments are welcome. Agree, or disagree.
So Iāve pretty much stopped getting new gear.
Iām ok with this too.
For this reason.
So the last guitar I got, which I happen to like a lot was 3 or so years ago.
When I brought it home and was playing it and really enjoying myself.
My wife said something to me that really stuck with me. And fwiw, my wife knows nothing about making music.
She said.
āNice guitar, but you still sound like you.ā
While I like to chase tone as much as the next guy. That comment really struck home for me.
Itās like, my gear really didnāt make any difference to her untrained ear. I still sounded the same to her. And that was going from a solid body electric to a hollow body electric, which to me sound very different.
But to her, it still just sounded like me. I just thought that was a pretty interesting comment.
Enough so, that not only have I not bought much gear for a few years. Iāve removed most all my pedals too. Not that I had a lot of them, six I think when I had the most deployed.
Iām down to two (tremolo and 10 band eq fwiw) for I suppose getting close to a year now. I donāt feel short changed for not having a gob of pedal tones to fall back on either. It almost feels liberating to play and have it be me that Iām listening to.
I figured since I sound like me with whichever guitar I choose to play today, or amp too. It perhaps really does come down to tone in the fingers.
If I want to sound good, perhaps I should pursue playing better. Getting tone out of the instruments that I have.
So far Iām good with this idea.
My disclaimer is that I feel I have fair to good enough sounding gear as it is. Most of my gear is moderately priced gear. Not cheap, not expensive as gear goes. Itās just usable/servicable gear
I did have a amp that I truly didnāt like, a amp I couldnāt seem to get tone out of that was satisfying to me. If I had only that amp, I for sure would consider new gear (I not only considered it, I replaced that bum amp). But if ya got gear that generally sounds good to you, perhaps a new guitar or a new amp or a new pedal isnāt what is needed? Working on playing better is whatās needed?
Just food for thoughtā¦
Making music is by āmeā. If I can.
If I canāt make music, I donāt think itās my gear thatās holding me back. Any new gear that Iād get will not make me play music better.
Hopefully, my tone is in my fingers. And that is what Iām working on. Not what my next gear acquisition will be.
It seems (at least per my wife), Iāll still sound like me whatever I play for gear.
What are your thoughts on this?
Iāll assume many will feel much differently than I do. Judging by how many different styles of amps, guitars and pedals there are in this new modern age. Near infinite choice.
I am with you on this. In fact, I may be even further from the mean; I have very little gear, and very little desire to add to it.
One of the most chastening things to happen as a musician is to have someone pick up your instrument and instantly play something absolutely wonderful on it. You know then what it is that is holding you back. Everyone should put themselves through that experience.
I posted on the subject of GAS very recently in my learning log. I griped about a few other things too!
A lot of hobby activities are like that. The initial spend can often be big. especially when you are learning what you like. but then you get to a point where the stuff stops being at the forefront. at least until maintenance needs arise. but ongoing maintenance usually isnāt a big deal compared to getting started in the activity.
I definitely fall into this type. once I get to a point where Iām satisfied, my purchases taper off a lot. I probably overanalyze many purchases, but I do that to minimize the chances of being unhappy with a purchase and needing to buy again.
with music, untrained/inexperienced ears arenāt going to be able to identify a lot of nuance specifically. doesnāt mean that the little things donāt matter or that they wonāt be able to tell āas a wholeā when itās all put together and polished. especially if you have a recording they can listen to back-to-back. but itās nearly always the case that nobody will be as critical of the way you sound as you are.
are your purchases for other people, or are they for you? my first goal when Iām considering buying something is if it will help me be happier with the music I play, not if it will make other people happier.
Not sure it is GAS thatās the problem. Buying new gear wonāt make you better but 1 or 16 guitars will make zero difference if you are not working on technique including touch and feel.
I happily rotate around my stable but these days I stick to half a dozen presets on my Podgo that I developed during BLIM 1, they are all subtly different and also sound different depending on which guitar I am using or which pup is selected.
Due to my home situation and because it was a route I wanted to explore, I now play more hybrid or just finger picking on my electrics which makrs a huge difference to dynamics volume and tone.
Would my missus hear the difference? Havenāt a scooby but sheās never complained about the sound or style.
My 2cts and Iāve not bought owt for a while and happy with all the gear I have acquired but hey never say never.
Good for you, it can be hard to get off that treadmill.
I have more gear than I need. Much less than some, but more than enough for what I do. I do however have a pretty strict one in / one out policy on guitars these days. If I get a new guitar then one has to go.
In my opinion itās not strictly about the sound, itās about the feeling. When it feels āgoodā and I like the tone then I generally play better. Itās quite possible that Iām the only one that can hear the difference, but it can change the wasy I feel and hence the way I play.
An interesting topic, to be sure, and I believe it affects most of us, one way or another. What I have learned from experience is that, indeed, I may be buying more guitars and I will still be sounding the same or very similar, unless I make a substantial change in other components of my sonic chain.
Actually, since I bought my Les Paul last year, I havenāt thought, even for a moment, of buying yet another guitar. It does not mean I play only the LP. By no means. I have a Harley Benton FusionT tele style guitar which I love and play often, also a strat clone, for its distinctive position II tone, so in terms of guitars I adamantly resist any GAS temptation.
However, I must admit I occasionally buy a new modeller out of sheer curiosity, especially if itās not expensive and gets lots of positive reviews. These days there are many budget-friendly or, as they call them, entry level modellers/multieffects sounding surprisingly good while also serving as recording interfaces which is particularly important to me. Recently Iāve been recording all my tracks using either a Boss GX-1 or Valeton GP-50. I donāt regard buying new stuff as a mortal sin against modesty . There are many other hobbies people engage into that require a much higher expenditure, even for very basic equipment.
Do I get rid of the guitars I donāt play? Yes, I do. And I canāt always tell why they have to go. Life verifies their usefulness. Sometimes thereās nothing specific wrong with a guitar; simply she and I were not made for one another.
Iām talking and talkingā¦ well, as I said, itās an interesting topic. Thank you, Jim.
This is so true. the whole industry is built around GAS. When the truth is all the great guitarist in the world have very few peddles and some with the best tone just plug right into the amp.
Donāt even bring up The Edge he barely cracked the top 50 in the Rolling Stone top guitarist list.
I challenge every tone chaser to plug their guitar straight into the amp and set every knob to 5 including the guitar and spend an afternoon fiddling with the knobs and see what and how each changes the tone of your playing. Write down the settings you like best, play like that for a few days.
Youāll be surprised and how much better you sound. Not only to yourself but to others as well.
I donāt have a problem with buying more stuff as long as the motivation behind it is realistic.
If you own lots of stuff and think the next guitar/amp/pedal will be the solution to your problems then youāre likely fooling yourself.
While I think thereās a lot of merit in the philosophy of 1 guitar, 1 amp and play the heck out of them, I donāt fully agree with it. Itās common to go into guitar playing a bit blind. A lot of starter amps sound like a wasp in a jam jar and there is such a thing as the wrong guitar. I started with a terrible Strat clone which would have put anyone off and then got an Epiphone LP which was night and day better but still the wrong guitar for me. If youāve had 3 amps and 4 guitars and are still convinced the next ones will be the solution then thatās the bad kind of GAS.
In my case Iām quite fancying a V shaped guitar at the moment. I am realistic about it though. Iād be buying it because they look cool. It wouldnāt be nearly as comfortable to play as my headless guitar (which will remain my daily driver) and it wonāt offer anything new sonically as I already have twin humbucker guitars. It wonāt improve my playing but like I say, Vās are cool!
Iām not one that buys a lot of gear. I have all that I need at the moment - a good guitar and a decent amp.
Learning and trying to improve my playing are far more important to me than buying more gear.
I am minimalistic by nature and have 1 amp, a looper pedal and 2 acoustic guitars.
I would probably only have 1 guitar but a couple of years ago one of my wifeās friends gave me an electric guitar she didnāt want as she was moving. It sat in our spare room for a year after I got it and was never played as I have no interest in electric guitars. I eventually swapped it at Guitar Centre for a slightly blemished Guild acoustic which I love.
In a few more years we plan on moving back to Europe and only one of my guitars will be joining me, probably the Guild.
But each to their own, do what makes you happy as life is too short to do anything else.
That your are. Perhaps not further though.
I did miss your post, but now Iāve read it. I couldnāt agree more with it really. It is pretty point blank, I will give you that. Thatās ok, I like point blank. Though I tend to beat around the bush a bit myself. The point is the same though. Your post has many good points in it.
I will say, I hope are real player donāt pick up my instrument though. Iād guess my ego, if I have one (which I probably do), would be burst pretty severely. Even if I do know I have much further to go in getting to be a better player.
I enjoyed your learning log post, thanks for sharing that so I didnāt miss it.
Iād like to think thatās true Nate. But Iām not sure it is.
I see many folk with āroomāsā full of gear. Guitars, amps, pedals. It pretty much astonishes me.
My guess would be not really. Iām like you I think. So far, I have thought long and hard as to what Iāve purchased. Like 6-12 months before I put down my cash. And like you, my slowness has paid off I think in that the gear I have acquired is satisfying for me.
This is one area I do agree about gear. Specifically amps. Iām not a modeler amp guy at all. But for someone just learning the ropes, I think they may be a great way to go to become aware of what the possibilities are.
Hum, Iād not even considered that idea. Interesting. I suppose thereās some folks to do consider that though. Unless theyāre Jimi, or Eric, I think there could be better uses of their time. Or perhaps they just got a lot of bread too. I could see that as being inspiration to get āmoreā too.
Myself, I play what I play because it seems to fill the bill of what I need and how I play.
Yep, thatās pretty much my point Toby.
But, thatās what I donāt do. I think there are many folks that do do that though.
I do rotate through the gear I have at my disposal. 2 electrics and three amps mostly. But the amps are all pretty much set flat. I play the clean channel on them often. My soft spot is for tremolo though. I have it on much of the time and do adj. depth from very little to notable. And, while my amps are set flat, I use my guitar controls much. This is how I vary my tones, if thatās what I want to do.
And thatās where Iāve landed at too. Many tones to be had, right at your fingertips so to speak.
It is hard to disagree with that. While I aināt bought much in years. I do still look often. Craigslist near daily even. So far, in years of looking past my last gear purchase, I see nothing that makes me want to go check it out. Itās fun to look though.
Perhaps, I really never thought I was on it. But if I was (and perhaps I was, I do have 5 total guitars and 4 amps). All it took was my straight talkin wife to straighten me up. That one comment of hers really went home for me. Iāve looked at gear in a different way ever since she said that to me.
This I agree with also. I do like a good playing/feeling guitar. Unfortunately for me, I think I have this. Soā¦ It must be my playing that I think is deficient, not my gear.
I will say, I do kinda lust for a les paul though. Iāll likely not realize my dream though, they are kinda pricey. I generally just donāt have that kinda bread layin around. Maybe a special though? Someday? Iām in no hurry.
Iāve not got to that point yet James. Iāve got three normal players. Iāve grown attached to them. I canāt see sending them on their way.
That there is. Like boating! Which is what I gave up when I went back to music. Whatever gear Iāve spent money on is less than I spent to stay on the water. While I love to boat a lot. It is a very expensive hobby. One that really is outside my pay scale. Music more suits me. I got what I got. Now itās up to me to make it work well.
Capitalism at itās finest ay?
Obviously, I agree with that comment, to the max really.
And that would be my goal Rick.
Lately Iāve been experimenting with none of my 2 pedals engaged. No reverb, no nothing. Just me playing. And everythings (sans volume, my amps are too loud) at 5 too. Iām kinda liking it too. Adjust from the guitar and thereās a lot to be worked with.
I do got one or two of them too. The eq I adj. that way. Oddly, I donāt adjust it much though from flat. I thought Iād use it more, but since I donāt adj. from flat, I donāt generally even turn it on. The tremolo I start @ zero and work up from there though.
Consider, the grass is always greener on the other side Matthew. Thereās many folks that are in your boat with you I think. I see many folks right here on this forum that I think would likely agree with you 100%. And all is well too. Weāre all different in how we approach our playing. imho, nothing is right nor is it wrong. It just comes down to individual taste I think.
imho, yep, thatās whatās needed David.
Perfect Eddie.
Itās you and your guitar. For good or for bad.
If I had to only have one piece of gear. It would for sure be an acoustic. Iāve got a Epiphone DR500MCE that I just aināt parting with. Of my playing. Iāll guess I give that guitar 45-50% of my play time. It just sounds and plays too good! And I say that liking my electric gear too. I just like the me and my guitar idea too much though. Itās me.
And that will come as we work with our minimal gear.
And itās a proper analogy too.
That description fits the amp I didnāt like to a tee!
A peavey audition 20. Sounded just like bees in a jar exactly.
No redeeming tones I could get out of it (and I did try to make it work for me too, I just couldnāt seem to succeed). I donāt miss it at all. I will say one thing about it though. It did do itās proper work. It did amplify my electric guitar. Just in a horrible way. At least to my ears anyways.
Great comments folks.
I thought I was the odd man out and it seems I have plenty of company in how I think about my gear.
Thanks for all the feedback!
Others chime on in with your thoughts too.
Indeedā¦ doesnāt just apply to guitar either. Itās one of those Instagram things where people will have 3000 books and have read 2 of them.
Itās fine up to a point as long as it doesnāt involve debt but even without actual debt I wonder how many will have a realisation in years to come thatās the reason theyāre working deep into their 60s or even 70s because of their spending. And to be clear, I got lucky hereā¦ Iāve always been a spender but somehow stayed out of serious debt and managed to retire early - younger me was not good with money
I once joined a bass abstinence thread. No buying new bass gear for a year. Then a 2nd tier for other instruments. You were allowed to change strings, fix anything like for like if it broke, and presumably I was allowed to get the piano tuned. I didnāt spend anything on bass, piano or for that matter guitar. But I did spend plenty of time looking at gear during my abstinence year and on the 2nd of January of the following year I shelled out for a Rickenbacker 4003.
So did it help with GAS? Not really. Did it help me appreciate the gear I had? For sure. Do I now own the sexiest looking bass on the planet? Of course
My Ric sounds different to my G&L, but Iām fairly confident I still sound like me regardless of which bass Iām playing. Listening to others play, they have their own articulations that makes them sound like them. I think the same is probably true of me on piano. Iāve probably not being playing guitar well enough for long enough to have established a āSimon soundā.
I put my guitar pedal board together fairly quickly based on guidance from a mate. The intent was to get to know what I like. I later added a couple of pedals and Iāve switched stuff in and out. I may be GASssing or not, but I do think about what Iām expecting to get from each new purchase.
Indeed. As I came to the end of my abstinence year, I realised that if I continued doing it every year, and everyone else joined in, then we wouldnāt have a guitar industry.
I gig reasonably regularly with a couple of guys who work in guitar shops. Iām fairly confident they both vote for centre left parties. They still need to make a living regardless of their political affiliations.
I like having a big guitar shop down the road from me. A new set of string isnāt just a new set of strings, but a chance to go in and try out a couple of guitars and chat music with the people in the shop. Then the next time we are at a jam, they might ask me to play with them.
Took a similar more cheesy approach when setting up amps on both the Mustang and the PodGo. EQ 666, same with channel vilume and master. Gain started around a mild 3. Iād tweak from there but not by much and rareky extreme. Found what I like and saved the settings. Most factory presets in modellers and multifx are really extreme, so a mid point is always a good place to start when creating your own.
If I can. 
