So, most of us here are probably beginners to intermediate players. Iāve tried a few different amps and guitars. I own two amps, and 3 guitars. I also have a pedalboard.
Yet, I wonder about the wisdom of these things āat my levelā. Letās call me a semi-advanced beginner.
On the one hand, itās fun having this gear. On the other hand, am I really getting good with the gear? Not really. Spending time learning guitar, not dialing in tone with differing combinations. X guitar with Y amp, Z guitar with B amp, X guitar with pedalboard, Z guitar, oops, gotta change settings. Ad naseum. And then there is the money spent. A lot of money for somewhat questionable return.
So, yeah, I have a bit of GAS. But, I wonder if this is to my detriment. Then I think, should someone at my level just stick with one guitar and one amp? Sell something? Try to spend some time with everything or put some gear aside for now?
My question -
What is your viewpoint on the amount of guitars and gear for the beginner to intermediate player?
First, I donāt have any pedals. But then, I donāt āperform.ā I just play for my own enjoyment. I donāt try to make my guitar sound the same as the ones in the recordings I play along to.
I have one amp for my electric guitars, and one for my acoustic guitar. I never have to fiddle with the acoustic amp settings. I have two electric guitars, one an S-type with all single coils and one a hollow body with humbuckers. The only difference in amp settings between the two is backing off the gain considerably for the hollow body, because the humbuckers are much āhotterā than the single coils.
But, as I stated, Iām not a tone chaser. I donāt try to make my guitar sound the same as the guitar on the recordings. I found a tone on the amp Iām happy with and I leave it alone. The only thing I do to change tone is use the pickup selector on the guitars.
I recently started playing electric after many years of acoustic. Had a few ideas and choices for amplifiers / effects boards / modeling. Decided to get the simpler of the choices as I knew with the more complicated ones Iād be spending time fiddling and not playing. Six months into my electric journey Iām really glad I chose simple over fiddling.
Your mileage may vary a lot. If you are spending most of your time playing, you are in a great space. If not, re-evalute
Thereās the kinda obvious answer here of āyou need to be happy with how you sound or you might lose motivation to playā.
For me, that minimally meant figuring out what I liked. The stuff I started with had some things I liked and others I didnāt. I could afford to make some gear changes, so I did. Doing so brought me closer. I have some pedals. I use them some when something I want to play calls for them. Some of them I use better than others, for sure. I still have lots to learn. But the amp was definitely the biggest part of sounding like I wanted to sound. so Iām happy I bought it.
Yeah, about 40% of what Iāve spent on guitar has been going down the rabbit hole. I have a friend who is a serious tone chaser. He probably influences me.
Itās like my Rat pedal. On my Katana there is a setting to approximate it. But, āIāve heardā and āIāve readā that it is close but not like a real Rat. So, I bought it. Do I like it? Yes. Do I need it? IDK. Not playing for others, just me.
Another thing is, Iāve got the Katana in the house, wired up to laptop, switch, etc. I use it for practicing and messing with different settings depending on what Iām playing. So, I thought, if my buddy comes over to jam, this is a hassle to move, so I buy a āgarage ampā. Last time he came over was 6 months ago.
So, itās like a rabbit hole, you get down the hole halfway and ask yourself, āWhat the f am I doing?ā, āDo I really want to do this?ā. Lost in the weeds feeling.
This is of high importance. If you donāt like playing, and donāt need to do it to eat, then you are chasing the wrong thing in your spare time.
Will this help you form that barre chord? Nope
Will this teach you how to play through the gear? Yep.
So, this IS part of learning to play if you want to play electric.
I decide what to grab when I sit down. I just go thru a mental check of what I want to do - if it is that I want to play a particular song, I grab whatever gear I like to hear. If I am just going to work on a grip or scale or bends, etc. then I grab what I want to feel under my hands. Note the conssistent part there āwhat I wantā. This is a decision in the moment because playing is fun, not work I need to do to eat.
As with most hobbies, for some itās more about the excitement of the gear, the anticipation of new stuff, the thought of it all rather than the reality.
For others, itās simply more the passion of learning itself. I think we all fall somewhere in the spectrum here.
Youāll perhaps eventually āsettleā on a ācoreā system that gives reward; or youāll endlessly buy gear that you canāt really play. Or somewhere in between.
I think those who are less able to throw money around have the advantage here.
Yeah, it took awhile to get my ācoreā amp. Thatās my Katana. Iāve also settled on my Strat with a DiMarzio chopper as my ācoreā guitar. Those are going no where. So, the money I spent to get to them was well worth it.
Iām trying out the PRS, basically wanted something for grunge and classic rock like Black Sabbath, though the strat can handle that too but not as ādarkā, wall of sound, etc. So, probably a keeper.
Pedalboard? I dig it. Itās fun.
Garage amp? Not sure itās needed at this point. Maybe just a āgood ideaā that didnāt turn out.
A Rat clone with a delay (after it) is some of my favorite kind of dirt. You just never know what you are really going to like as you progress and work to find your own voice on the instrument (which should be every playerās ultimate goal).
My jamming buddy didnāt work out, besides the garage gets hot in the summer. I can practice in the family room, but my wife works nearby remotely. I could use headphones with the blackstar but thereās not a good place for it to stay out there, so Iām thinking I might sell it and get the NUX Mighty Plug Pro or Fender Mustang Micro Plus. I could use it in the family room, backyard patio, wherever. IF my pal ever decides to come over, I could just move the Katana. Thinkingā¦thinkingā¦
My best advice on an amp is to get one with a decent FX loop. You can then use a preamp pedal and get just about any amp tone that you want to build on. This not a highly promoted feature of a good FX loop, but it is a great one for us tone tweakers and chasers (not a perjorative).
Iāll share what I think, though I donāt expect many to see things the same way. Iām quite minimalist, ascetic even, in general, and I like to really use the things I have. I bought a bass some time in the mid-1970s, and itās the only one I own; same for my acoustic, bought in the early 1980s. Two years ago I was given a Strat, and I expect to keep that for life too. I simply do not need any other guitars. I never bought a pedal, but I got a Sonicake Pocket Master recently to replace my broken N-ux headphone amp. Iāve also used it as a tuner, looper, effects unit, audio interface, and, yes even this, a pedal. Damn, I still have most of the plectra I got in the 1970s and 1980s. My highest priority, miles above anything else, is to play better. Thatās what makes me happy. My Strat facilitates that perfectly. Itās me that needs to improve, not the equipment I own.
I am not indifferent to the benefits of new equipment. I remember when one of the guitarists in my band bought a pedal. I think it was a chorus, very popular in the 1980s. It felt like we had entered a new era of sound! And Iād been saving hard (literally buying as little food as I could get by on) for an active left-handed Ibanez bass Iād tried in Rushworths, in Liverpool, though I ended up using the money for an air ticket to Sydney instead.
Each week I watch several videos about new gear. Itās kind of vicarious, I suppose, but what I notice is that the focus of most guitar reviews is paint jobs and wood. And as for pedals, I donāt think Iāve ever really heard anything simultaneously new and useful, itās either one or the other. You may disagree, as I said.
I firmly believe creative people will be creative even if all they have is a stick to draw in the sand or bang against a log. If you have any more than this, just be thankful.
I had to ask myself the same thing recently. Iām a complete beginner. I would start over every year or so, make it to around stage 3 in justinās stuff, and then stop for whatever reason. But I was feeling like I had way too many guitars (6 currently). I own a gibson les paul ffsā¦ and I can barely play a Dm. But a couple were used things I grabbed because I wanted to learn to fix them up, 1 was a gift, one was a contest thing, they just have a way of piling up. And except for the 2 yamaha acoustics, they all should fit a different playing style. And variety is nice. As for other gear, todayās digital amps and pc software give me enough different tones that I donāt feel the need to buy much along those lines. But thereās something satisfying about knowing whatever song I want to do, I probably have a guitar with the right setup to do it. Thatās encouraging me now.
My highest priority, miles above anything else, is to play better. Thatās what makes me happy. My Strat facilitates that perfectly. Itās me that needs to improve, not the equipment I own.