Epiphany: gear buying/ flipping= waste of time.

[severinsteel]

Ok, so the title speaks for itself. And this obviously doesn't apply to everyone, but definitely to me.

Over the past year, I've bought and sold a silly amount of gear. I'm talking guitars, amps, pedals, you name it. I've sort of stopped buying guitars, but lately I've been onto amps. I buy an amp, and just tweak it, then compare it to another amp I have and tweak that. Trying to get them to sound great. Before I know it, I've spent an hour just comparing amps. Then I find myself researching gear and buying something else. I'm trying to fill this void that I've created with my expectations.

Lately, I've had bad luck with buying something and it having problems. And that really sucks.

So, I've some to the conclusion that I need to just enjoy what I have, practice, and make music. This is not a foreign idea, but man is it easy to get distracted. So, aside from my Boss pedal collecting, I'm hoping to be done.

Rant over

 

[Anonymous]

If you're having fun, I don't see it as being a waste of time

 

[EVHpickdust]

If you're having fun, I don't see it as being a waste of time

If you're starting to second guess your actions like he is, then it is. Time better spent could be learning to play Eruption.

(says the man with a room full of amps)

 

[Anonymous]

If you're having fun, I don't see it as being a waste of time

If you're starting to second guess your actions like he is, then it is.

Then it probably means he's not having any more fun

 

[hunter]

You're absolutely right.

It's obscene all the gear whoring, and indeed far from efficient if you're after making music.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

So you gonna flip the BE100?

 

[crankyrayhanky]

All that making music activity gets in the way of my gear flipping

 

[Lampshade1973]

Id probably buy more gear if I had the cash, then thus flipping more, this damn site doesn't help!

 

[sivad]

I know that feeling--why do I need anything else when what I got is plenty

 

[JerEvil]

I did this for a while as well. I have stopped flipping amps ever since getting the Splawn rig. It cover so damn much ground for my needs it's ridiculous. Longest I have kept an amp in YEARS!

 

[Corrundum1]

I almost always regret getting rid of stuff then I try to buy it back

 

[severinsteel]

So you gonna flip the BE100?

Nope! It's not a BE100; no way I could afford that. It's a Friedman Kitchen sink modded Marshall JMP. That's my grail amp.

But yeah, I've just bought too much stuff. I spend more time messing with it all than making music.

 

[guitarrhino]

Ok, so the title speaks for itself. And this obviously doesn't apply to everyone, but definitely to me.

Over the past year, I've bought and sold a silly amount of gear. I'm talking guitars, amps, pedals, you name it. I've sort of stopped buying guitars, but lately I've been onto amps. I buy an amp, and just tweak it, then compare it to another amp I have and tweak that. Trying to get them to sound great. Before I know it, I've spent an hour just comparing amps. Then I find myself researching gear and buying something else. I'm trying to fill this void that I've created with my expectations.

Lately, I've had bad luck with buying something and it having problems. And that really sucks.

So, I've some to the conclusion that I need to just enjoy what I have, practice, and make music. This is not a foreign idea, but man is it easy to get distracted. So, aside from my Boss pedal collecting, I'm hoping to be done.

Rant over

I was this way for a long time. I let the lust of shiny gear and advertisements cloud my love of the music and playing. It's a normal thing. In terms of guitars, I would still love to have some other guitars in my arsenal, but I realize that it's not necessary for the time being. Instead, I try to give myself goals. For example, I really want to buy a new Gibson R9. I already have a Gibson SG Standard that helps with my current Gibson kick. In order to get my R9, I gave myself a set of stipulations that must be met before I order one:

1) I have to learn ten new songs (fully)
2) I have to write and record three new songs (fully). If I can do all of that, then I will think about actually pursuing the R9.

Until then, I just keep myself to my goals. This way, I end up USING the existing gear that I have, which helps me fall back in love with the toys that I've got. It seriously works!

The pedal chase just isn't for me anymore. In terms of the amp search though, that's a tough game to get over (and another matter altogether). I went through so many amps over the years, so I totally know how you feel in your gear conquests. I grew up on rock music that I thought was defined by the high gain tones of Mesas and Marshalls. After going through many high gain amps, I realized that the only amp that truly satisfied my ears (and fingers) is a low-powered Fender tweed Twin. It's got the mids and the gain to give me any sound I want, and it's a soulful trick at that. If I need more gain (and less definition), I just use a fuzz (Hoof) or a distortion pedal (Pinnacle) for those "over the top" drive sounds. Trust me, if you aren't fully happy with the gear that you have, I'm not sure you ever will be.

Keep searching and focus on the music. You'll know when you're there when you're there. If you aren't happy and content playing through your current amps, you need to keep searching. You'll get there (hopefully).

 

[JimAnsell]

I did an obsessive amount of gear buying and flipping in the mid-late 2000's. we're talking probably 150 guitars, 200 amps/cabinets. At least one ( in some cases 5 or 6) of every boogie mark series from the IIa-to the V, hundreds of pedals, dozens of old les pauls, etc.

I had a pretty good record of comming out on top of every flip, until about 2010, when shit just started to change.
Things didn't move as fast, ebay fees started getting higher, more people were trying to flip, and i started to come to the same conclusion.
"dude, why don't you just stick to one thing, and fucking play it!".

but the fact of the matter is that it was a fun hobby that kept me busy, and owning all of that shit made me a more well rounded player. Buying gear out of my comfort zone, inspired me to explorer other styles of playing, and genres of music that were also out of my comfort zone.
I still check the classifieds bi-daily on the major gear nerd boards, and check ebay for certain things every day, but after having tried basicly everything worth trying, i'm a stubborn fuck who knows EXACTLY what i want. so there really is no need to buy and flip anymore. plus i'm no longer in a band, have a career, and 2 kids, so its harder to find time to really get the most out of the one amp i have.

its not like it was even 5 years ago. i bet some people are making a killing flipping DJ and lighting gear though.

 

[1big1]

i didn't flip so much as i built up my collection. one of the things about having an amp collection is that you have to maintain it as well. there are hidden costs involved with that. same thing applies to guitars etc. as well.
while i don't regret having bought gear or the time and money i've spent tweaking it i have stopped doing so and i'm just focusing on keeping what i do have working properly. i may also thin the heard a bit.

 

[nevusofota]

Congrats on the epiphany. You will become a better player for it.

Mine came when James Lugo did his first high gain amp shootout. His service to the guitar community isn't utilized enough. I heard minimal differences between most of the amps, definitely not $3K worth of difference. I realized that tone chasing was endless and there really isn't that "holy grail" tone that stands above all that, as gear whore's, we struggle to find.

Find an amp that does everything well, learn it inside and out, and stick with it. You most likely have your "holy grail" tone, you just have to find it in what you already have. I'm a firm believer you "learn" and "play" an amp like you would any instrument, i.e. guitar, drum, saxophone, etc. For me it was the 5150III. It does everything well and its been my main amp since 2007. Another benefit, unlike boutique amps, it's manufactured in high quantities. This makes it cheap and easy to replace without having to re-configure my rig. I always liked the piece of mind to know that if I was playing far away from home that I could easily find an EVH locally to replace mine (luckily this never happened). Sure I've purchased a few amps since but more to satisfy the "collector" in me than actually tone chase.

I have many guitars but focus on a few. I plan on keeping all of them for my kids.

 

[Heritage Softail]

I like playing new or different gear to me. If it is better and I have disposable coin I buy it. No big deal.

For me it is about how the economy is doing and therefore my bonus, If I get a bonus equal to an average family annual income, I buy a few amps and guitars and my wife and kids get the rest.

One thing is for sure, it makes local music store people know me when I walk in

After a point there isn't that much that jumps out. I played a few guitars at guitar center over the weekend. All were good to great, but not better than what I have. So nothing was brought home.

I play daily for a meditative thing in a way. New material, new ideas. I have been trying to learn sections of Steve Morse - Simple Simon.

If you consider some other hobby like coin collecting, gear buying/trading is much more user involved. You do nothing with a gold coin aside of looking at it.

I have a buddy with a new amp to him, a modded VOX that I will play when I swing by, and bring my latest new Suhr Modern. It's all good. A few drinks, some jamming, talk some shit and call it a good day. Not a waste of time. That's the good life bro...

 

[glassjaw7]

In the 5+ years that I've been on Rig-Talk and other forums, the least amount of time I've spent obsessing over gear was when I was regularly gigging. When my bands take breaks or we're just not playing a lot of shows, I tend to develop an unhealthy obsession with pedals/amps and start "geeking" my rig until my wife thinks I'm crazy. Lol.

 

[Sierra Voodoo]

I feel the same way. While I enjoy trying different things, I always seem to find myself coming back to the same few mainstay items I have always had.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

just think it you actually used that time to practice, play, write, record ans perform LOL