Reverting to the Good old, Cheaper Set-up

[IncX]

i wonder if this ever happened to you? ok, so here's what happened to me:

back then, i had a very modest pedal board: visual sound H2o, boss tu2, sansamp gt2, and a zim foxrox. nothing in there was truly expensive (nothing above 7K at least, except for the foxrox i traded for). then i began selling the non boutique ones and ended up with a more expensive pedal board - strymons, love pedals and red witch, just because i wanted "more."

but lately, im finding out the headache associated with boutique pedals, namely:

-choosy with amps (love pedal)
-juggernaut mA requirements (strymon)
-does not sound like a phaser (red witch)
-too many buttons and features (strymon again and especially toneczar openhaus)

and i find myself buying the pedals i had before i upgraded lol ... the good ol' classic tech21, boss, and MXR stuff

so now, i am wondering, has this only happened to me? whats your experience in upgrading then suddenly missing your old set-up - it could be guitars, amps or even cabs?

i am thinking of selling my good ol' tokai strat and getting a Fender MIA ... but naaaahhhh! i dont think i'd be making the same mistake of fixing something that aint broke.

[r_chino18]

All is part of learning, imo. Start low, go up higher and higher.. until such time you see the weaknesses of those up high then you start on inspecting what traits they share with the cheaper ones, etc.. then you go back to your roots. But at least you can say that you've tried those up there to be able to defend why you have what you have now.

Been there.. tried clones, cheaper stuff.. some boutique.. and I have to agree with you, maraming boutique pedals na mapili sa amps. Sucks to say, baka mas applicable sila sa mga boutique amps din.. haha..

Now, I have pedals which I had before.. pero mas naaappreciate ko sila ngayon.

[kernelsalonpas]

buy before selling. 

[nickson]

buy before selling. 

If you somehow realize that you love the new acquisition and the old one, you end up with a steaming pile of guitars. 

Hopefully this won't happen to me. I'd like to think I spent my money well with the stuff I have now. And I'm happy with well, aroung 75% of my purchase.

 

[kernelsalonpas]

sa pedals nagagawa ko naman ng ayos.

sa gitara di naman ganun kadami meron ako pero nabenta ko na ung mga naiwan ko sa aten na iba. so down to 4 dito, and then 3 sa bahay. benta ko pa ung isa na andito. but i get what you mean haha

[MYN11]

I've spent countless hours building and configuring my Amp/Cab/Rack Rigs only to find myself nowadays playing live with a 2U Black Box and 2 Powered Monitors. Why? EASY SETUP. EASY TO TRAVEL.

I miss my Mesa Tube Amps/Cabs and my Rack stuff. But the situation in guestings, mall tours and special shows (by land/plane) made me decide to just go the AxeFx2 way. Ang ginawa ko na lang para di ko lalo ma-miss yung mga amps ko is I Tone Matched all of them in the AxeFx2  And yes...it's a cheaper setup for me.

[bluefist]

hehe...after I used my recent pedalboard last December, I'm currently in the state of thinking to lessen the pedals on it...bigat kasi, saka naisip ko na dati I'm just using 2 Boss pedals and nothing more...

[arkeetar]

Slowly but surely works for me, ayoko ng bili benta in a short span gusto ko magamit at makabisado ko 

I sold my blues driver a few months ago parang gusto ko ulit haha 

Same with my DS-1 

Yung artec chorus ang hindi ko na babalikan at multifx... Mas gusto ko ng rumekta sa amp or 2 od pedals.

[musicjunkie]

I agree with the TS.

I have gone through lots of pedals. Tried Lovepedal, Xotic, Zvex, Fulltone, Blackstone, etc. But somehow I have come back to mostly stock pedals. I have found that most of the boutique pedals I tried just didn't sound pleasing with my set-up. Somehow most of em were either fizzy or harsh sounding. Eventually, I have a pedalboard with a Marshall Bluesbreaker, TS808, Rockett Flexdrive and a DD20.

The drive pedals work really well stacked into each other and I have this set-up for the longest time compared to my other set ups.

[Al_Librero]

Kung effects lang ang pag-uusapan, I can easily revert to my old pedalboard which includes two pedals I built. Guitars... as long as the cheaper one is set up nicely, I suppose I can do that, too. But going back to a cheaper amp, which in my case equates to inferiority... I might find that difficult.

[Bolt Thrower]

di mo rin talaga maiwasan bumalik sa mga boss at mxr. durable kasi at di maarte sa setup.

[bluefist]

di mo rin talaga maiwasan bumalik sa mga boss at mxr. durable kasi at di maarte sa setup.

+1000...I revert to zoom multi...pero hanap ko pa rin tunog ng boss..

[IncX]

Kung effects lang ang pag-uusapan, I can easily revert to my old pedalboard which includes two pedals I built. Guitars... as long as the cheaper one is set up nicely, I suppose I can do that, too. But going back to a cheaper amp, which in my case equates to inferiority... I might find that difficult.

so you carry amps to gigs?

-*-

i also actually carry bass amps to gigs (i am really a bass player who also owns guitar gear) ... a portable head and a 2x10 cab (with casters) that weighs about 60 lbs. BUT ... the last time i took the set-up out, it took me 30 mins to set-up and 20 mins to play. i have an upcoming gig, and its the typical 3-5 song bar gig, and i honestly dont feel like bringing out my amp.

the first few times it was ok (bringing amps) ... but after awhile ... watching the audience reaction (or NON-reaction) and the stress of bringing out a 60 lbs amp that has to be set-up ... you kinda feel that its not worth doing it.

[Poundcake]

It's part of learning. More often than not, our drive to try more stuff compels us to sell the stuff that we were satisfied with.

I don't buy guitars that frequently, but whenever I do, I make sure that they'll fit my preferences tone- and feel-wise. The Suhr Modern was actually my first blind purchase, but I made sure that I reduced the uncertainties by choosing all the specs myself. The same goes with amps. I tend to stick with those that sound pleasing to me.

As for pedals, I always try new stuff but I bookmark those that I like the most. I've been through so many pedals whether they may be boutique or mass produced, but I let my ears decide which ones are good or not.

My suggestion for everyone is to assemble a go-to rig with all your mainstays then maybe you can have another rig for experimentation. It's too risky to keep on changing your main rig because you might lose certain tones or functions that you'll need for gigs.

[Al_Librero]

so you carry amps to gigs?

-*-

i also actually carry bass amps to gigs (i am really a bass player who also owns guitar gear) ... a portable head and a 2x10 cab (with casters) that weighs about 60 lbs. BUT ... the last time i took the set-up out, it took me 30 mins to set-up and 20 mins to play. i have an upcoming gig, and its the typical 3-5 song bar gig, and i honestly dont feel like bringing out my amp.

the first few times it was ok (bringing amps) ... but after awhile ... watching the audience reaction (or NON-reaction) and the stress of bringing out a 60 lbs amp that has to be set-up ... you kinda feel that its not worth doing it.

I only gig occasionally. So yes, I actually do carry my own amp. Occasionally, I bring a second amp for my bandmate, too.

In any case, I thought this was a general musing. You didn't say anything specifically about gigging in your original post. If you did, my answer would've been different.

[Poundcake]

so you carry amps to gigs?

-*-

i also actually carry bass amps to gigs (i am really a bass player who also owns guitar gear) ... a portable head and a 2x10 cab (with casters) that weighs about 60 lbs. BUT ... the last time i took the set-up out, it took me 30 mins to set-up and 20 mins to play. i have an upcoming gig, and its the typical 3-5 song bar gig, and i honestly dont feel like bringing out my amp.

the first few times it was ok (bringing amps) ... but after awhile ... watching the audience reaction (or NON-reaction) and the stress of bringing out a 60 lbs amp that has to be set-up ... you kinda feel that its not worth doing it.

Abonado ka pa sa gigs minsan. Ang bayad lang sayo minsan is "Ang galing mo zire!" and maybe a free bottle of beer but that's about it. Isipin mo na lang nag pag may gig ka, para ka na ring papunta ng gym. More Jay Manalo-esque pics for you. Hahaha!

[gandydancer123]

di mo rin talaga maiwasan bumalik sa mga boss at mxr. durable kasi at di maarte sa setup.

yup..tama to..with a touch of zoom

[DiMarzSiao™]

In for the Zoom.

pag na-b-bored na ko sa paglalaro ng Tetris sa board., back to the old set-up.,
buti na lang naka-save ang mga patches na pinagpuyatan ko dati sa pagtimpla. 

[Bolt Thrower]

pag tinatamad din ako, yung Zoom nilalabas ko. 

[IncX]

I only gig occasionally. So yes, I actually do carry my own amp. Occasionally, I bring a second amp for my bandmate, too.

In any case, I thought this was a general musing. You didn't say anything specifically about gigging in your original post. If you did, my answer would've been different.

oh yes, i did forget to mention in my first post, was that the reason why i ended up wanting the "common pedals" in my set-up back - it was because of gigging.

a few days ago we went to rehearsal with my pedal set-up (the love pedals and stuff) and the sound was just too fizzy (love pedal plexi 800 boosted by love pedal eternity burst on a vox solid state amp). i did not remember the sansamp gt2 sounding bad like that, and all of a sudden i felt like i could use a gt2 more than a love pedal plexi 800.

i also remember the time where it took us 15 minutes to set-up the toneczar openhaus, while it only took 3 mins for the line 6 M5 to have a decent tone - that made me look at the openhaus very differently (although, i miss the sound of it when played through the fender hotrod at home).

just like you, i also dont gig often ... and like poundcake said, usually the payment you get is "tenxxx zire!"

im sorry if my question sounded too straight to the point, i was just genuinely curious

-*-

lol going to gigs feels like going to the gym... before i hit the first note, im already covered in sweat because not only do i have to set-up my bass sound, i also have to take care of vocals (i actually bring a PA at times to gigs) ... and i trouble shoot the guitar/amp in case my cousin cant figure out how to get a decent sound off the house amp.

lucky though that drummers always know how to set up their stuff

[Bolt Thrower]

^same here. kaya kumuha ako ng gt2 din ulit. well amt dt2 siya, pero you get the point. sounds good anywhere.

[gainsucker]

Paikot ikot lang ang gear, minsan you miss some tones, minsan you search something, minsan you go back to basics, depende sa kung ano trip tugtugin.

[Poundcake]

lol going to gigs feels like going to the gym... before i hit the first note, im already covered in sweat because not only do i have to set-up my bass sound, i also have to take care of vocals (i actually bring a PA at times to gigs) ... and i trouble shoot the guitar/amp in case my cousin cant figure out how to get a decent sound off the house amp.

lucky though that drummers always know how to set up their stuff

Pag metal, kailangan maraming pawis. Kasama sa metal look yun

[Al_Librero]

oh yes, i did forget to mention in my first post, was that the reason why i ended up wanting the "common pedals" in my set-up back - it was because of gigging.

a few days ago we went to rehearsal with my pedal set-up (the love pedals and stuff) and the sound was just too fizzy (love pedal plexi 800 boosted by love pedal eternity burst on a vox solid state amp). i did not remember the sansamp gt2 sounding bad like that, and all of a sudden i felt like i could use a gt2 more than a love pedal plexi 800.

i also remember the time where it took us 15 minutes to set-up the toneczar openhaus, while it only took 3 mins for the line 6 M5 to have a decent tone - that made me look at the openhaus very differently (although, i miss the sound of it when played through the fender hotrod at home).

just like you, i also dont gig often ... and like poundcake said, usually the payment you get is "tenxxx zire!"

im sorry if my question sounded too straight to the point, i was just genuinely curious

-*-

lol going to gigs feels like going to the gym... before i hit the first note, im already covered in sweat because not only do i have to set-up my bass sound, i also have to take care of vocals (i actually bring a PA at times to gigs) ... and i trouble shoot the guitar/amp in case my cousin cant figure out how to get a decent sound off the house amp.

lucky though that drummers always know how to set up their stuff

The last time I played electric in a gig, I carried my Vox AC30CC1 to the venue's second floor. Then I had to double back to get my guitar and pedalboard. And of course, I'd have to carry all of them back down again to the parking lot. Taming that pedalboard when it started humming wasn't any fun either.

I say my answer would have been different because it would have. If I already owned a POD HD500 and knew there would be a decent PA system on hand back then, things would have been easier on my back, saying nothing yet about mixing in properly with the rest of the band. My board of stompboxes seems like the simpler and cheaper setup. But it's not always the most convenient thing to use.

[ubersam]

so you carry amps to gigs?

I used to gig with a 10-u rack+head+4x12+2 guitars. That was heavy as fsck! I also play bass. That rig was a lot lighter, bass+amp+two 2x10 cabs. But situations changed and I don't gig as much, if at all. I still have all the equipment but lately I've been playing through this:

Experimental overdrive on breadboard>nova delay>clean jfet preamp>mosvalve power amp>1x12 cab.