The joy of minimal effects

Everyone needs a stompbox.
Post Reply
User avatar
JazzBlaster
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 9474
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:34 pm
Location: United States
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by JazzBlaster » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:06 am

zhivago wrote: On the price point raised earlier, thing is this, yes, while my rig is very expensive (mostly due to the guitar, really), the fact that it kills GAS, actually means that in the long run, I will save money...you'd be surprised hoe ebay fees, extra postage fees, whatever, builds up over years.
Way to self justify :D

User avatar
Slow-Pop
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2926
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by Slow-Pop » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:29 am

I am not sure that age is the only thing going on with the GAS. Seems like on other forums a lot of pedal buying and swapping is done by older people with money to burn. Maybe GAS is just something that hits people when they get caught up in a new way to spend money regardless of age.

User avatar
zhivago
Mods
Mods
Posts: 21926
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:18 am
Location: London, UK

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by zhivago » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:33 am

JazzBlaster wrote:
zhivago wrote: On the price point raised earlier, thing is this, yes, while my rig is very expensive (mostly due to the guitar, really), the fact that it kills GAS, actually means that in the long run, I will save money...you'd be surprised hoe ebay fees, extra postage fees, whatever, builds up over years.
Way to self justify

hahaha...you are so right! ;D
Resident Spartan.

User avatar
zhivago
Mods
Mods
Posts: 21926
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:18 am
Location: London, UK

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by zhivago » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:36 am

actually...lemme kick off another thread...go to misc...in a bit
Resident Spartan.

User avatar
JazzBlaster
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 9474
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:34 pm
Location: United States
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by JazzBlaster » Fri Feb 21, 2014 1:14 pm

zhivago wrote:actually...lemme kick off another thread...go to misc...in a bit

:D

Saw that

User avatar
redchapterjubilee
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1775
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:01 am
Location: AVLNC

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by redchapterjubilee » Fri Feb 21, 2014 1:17 pm

I have a ton of music gear. I also play drums in a bunch of bands, guitar in two, synths in another, etc. I definitely have more than I need, but I consider my extra stuff a playable savings account. When I need to get access to cash for something the family needs, a guitar/amp/pedal/drum, etc. goes on the block. I have a solid core of instruments that I will never sell, but there is some fluff around the outside that I would miss but could still gig without. I started out with inexpensive stuff, but over the years I've traded up towards having much nicer stuff. I had disposable income for several years thanks to a near-death car crash. I used some of that to upgrade. No Custom Shops or any +$1500 instrument but stuff I'm proud to own, works how I want it to when I need it to and sounds great to my ears. Not for a second have I regretted trading up. I don't really have the desire to buy any farther up the chain than where I'm at now so that's slowed down my big purchases significantly, not to mention that we are devoting extra $$ now that the missus's student loans for her PhD have just come due.

Last week I saw Sebadoh in Houston (actually, I played onstage with them, but that's another story...) They had five pedals between the two of them. I keep 6-7 pedals on my board at any given time. Any time I see a band like that who rolls with minimal effects it always gives me pause. I know i step on pedals more during a song than I probably should. Last year I ditched a lot of modulation fx to bring the count down and I feel pretty good about running 6 at the moment (tuner, 3 dirts, delay, bitrman for noisy digitalz). But I could easily cut that number in half. But I won't, because I've discovered what works for me. Huzzah to anyone that's found what they're looking for, be it with 30 pedals or none.

idiotbear

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by idiotbear » Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:16 pm

zhivago wrote: I have more fun playing music now, than ever before, and I have now been playing obsessively for over 20 years...
I'm having more fun playing than ever, too. My musical style has really evolved - in my 20s, I was really trying to be "out there" and get into all the stuff I thought was hip. I'm not really that guy - generally, Sonic Youth and Slint and all that good stuff isn't really anywhere close to my style, but it still had a really positive influence on me: try new stuff, push boundaries, try new things.

I'm very much a pop guy at heart, my band is a two-piece playing what is at root just melodic electronic pop. But even so, our new stuff that we're writing now brings in so many influences: drone and noise rock, punk, disco, techno and house, hip hop. Right now I'm trying to learn those amazing Nile Rodgers licks - not hard, on the surface, but the pocket is EVERYTHING. The precision and the swing which players like Nile can bring to a song is just incredible.

So yeah, over the years I've tried to be Slash, Thurston, Kurt, J Mascis, Scotty Moore, Prince, Nile - and it all adds up into me being happier making music than I've ever been.

eggwheat
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 5151
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:30 am

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by eggwheat » Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:42 pm

John McGeoch - a flanger and a bit of overdrive.

http://youtu.be/VS8_oXSbIpk

User avatar
echobaseone
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2030
Joined: Mon May 21, 2007 12:59 pm
Location: Everett, WA
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by echobaseone » Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:49 pm

As part of OSG:Team Middle Age, I would venture to say that our collective GAS slowdown is a result of getting wiser with gained experience. I know now what my sound is, because I've learned what my sound isn't, by going through all these little signal tweaks. I wouldn't call my setup minimal, but I would definitely call it mine.

User avatar
Sound for Sandwiches
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 228
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 11:01 am

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by Sound for Sandwiches » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:10 pm

I have it opposite from many of you, it seems, in terms of pedals. When I was 22 I thought anything but guitar -> tuner -> amp was self indulgent, and even the tuner was a bit suspect :D but of course back then I was playing a LP tuned drop C through an Ampeg VL502 full stack in a grindcore band. Now I am 35 and over the past 5 years I have really come to embrace pedals. I have a small board compared to many, just a tuner, a flange, a delay, an OD, and a rat. Then there are about 5 more pedals off to the side that I occasionally break out to scratch the knob twiddling itch- mostly fuzzes. One thing I don't do is rely on the pedals to write a song or a riff- if it doesn't sound good on my acoustic guitar it rarely makes it past the idea phase into a full fledged song. As some other of you have said, the textures afforded by the pedals are used to problem solve or add variation to what should be a solid song regardless. with the stuff on my board, I also don't change the settings, pretty much ever. The carbon copy is set for a short slapback, I found the sweet spot on the rat, and I add those things when I need them.

I do buy and sell a lot though. Unfortunately I am interested in several overlapping fields that each have their own GAS quotient- records, stereo equipment, recording equipment, woodworking tools, machinist tools, bicycles (although I think I finally found the ONE bike for me). I have always been somewhat of an obsessive deal-hound and picker, but as I get older and have a better job I have warmed up to the "buy the best, cry once" ethos. I have also recently begun a fairly time consuming but liberating sell-off to try to pare down to less clutter and more of just the good stuff. And of course, I just bought a rickenbacker. It's a long battle.

User avatar
therizzla
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2277
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Tacoma, WA
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by therizzla » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:18 pm

I also have been looking at the small board (nano). Currently I'm looking at:

Pitchblack -> SHO clone -> Liquid Sunshine -> Reverb Unit -> Amp

I may add a fuzz or trem, not sure yet.
reverb.

User avatar
Telliot
Mods
Mods
Posts: 12201
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:38 pm
Location: CA

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by Telliot » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:33 pm

A few of the players have changed, but the tuner/comp/volume still reside on the same board. Would this be considered minimal? :unsure:

Image
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

User avatar
StevenO
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 17768
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:06 pm

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by StevenO » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:59 pm

Woah there, Kevin Shields. The thread said minimal!

User avatar
Telliot
Mods
Mods
Posts: 12201
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:38 pm
Location: CA

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by Telliot » Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:01 pm

:D

:ph34r:
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

User avatar
cestlamort
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 5175
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:01 am
Location: Seattle
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by cestlamort » Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:05 pm

I'll chime in with another testimonial to minimizing (or simplifying). In my 20s and much of my 30s, I was running a huge string of this and that, basically trying to get my head around what all the effects did and, more importantly, what could be done with them. (I tried out tons of stuff and an argument could be made for springing for a multieffect thing when starting out would have saved me countless set ups. That said, buying quality pedals etc. used is a great way to try stuff out for free or for profit).

We've all settled into what we like. I like analog delay pedals (always have) and have gone through a ton of them. Right now, I'm perfectly happy with a big box memory man, while I never quite got along with the AD900 (maybe weird trim pots?), DM-2, AD-9, Malekko, etc. etc. etc. (I still love my ad80 however). The gear closet still has a ton of stuff in there, but it will likely all be released back into the wild at some point soon. But, I'm happy with the particulars of the choices I've made (this amp, that guitar; not just any amp or guitar).

I recently had the opportunity to rethink everything: Our rehearsal space was demolished last fall and I've been playing in the basement at home, just guitar > memory man > amp. Lovely and does a good job of matching the sound that's in my head.

We're now moving into a new building and I unpacked the pedal board to get back into the swing of things. (And because I have yet to use the current amp, ac30, in the band or with multiple effects). As of right now, I'm pretty happy with the more complicated board, but only the memory man and a reverb pedal are actually on.

Regarding consumerism. I used to comb the thrift stores for miles around in my teens/twenties, looking for cool clothes and the like. It doesn't hold the same luster now that I actually have accumulated a few good pairs of shoes, a good suit, some quality wool shirts, etc. (And that the retail thrift/vintage clothes industry has decimated America's vintage sharkskin, denim and gaberdine resources).

Post Reply