Hmm...What Have I Done???

[Shades of Blue]

Ok, so I’ve been getting back into electric lately and have been enjoying the ride. I’ve been buying pedals and even decided to build a DIY pedal board out of reclaimed wood (see below). I’ve got a few pedals inbound, but as I sit here planning out my board I realized something. I haven’t played the guitar in 3 days while I’ve been doing my usual buying pedals, researching patch cables and power supplies, and the expense keeps growing.

I’m about $700 in already with $300 worth of pedals enroute. HOLY CRAP this adds up quick. All I really need is a drive and a reverb for my Marshall. I’m starting to panic a bit because this wasn’t supposed to get out of hand this quickly.

So, the funny part is that I’m still struggling with acoustic vs electric. I start dumping money into electric and I play acoustic 90% of the time. I also think I am still wanting to pick up a used Martin Dread at some point, but the pedalboard keep growing. Funny how that works.

What do you guys think? Keep growing the board and see it through? Sell all but the Timmy and Reverb and just focus on acoustic? Or, just keep what I have now and the incoming and just be done and focus on acoustic later? This is why I originally got out of playing electric...

IMG_6026.jpg

[mcduffnw]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

Ok, so I’ve been getting back into electric lately and have been enjoying the ride. I’ve been buying pedals and even decided to build a DIY pedal board out of reclaimed wood (see below). I’ve got a few pedals inbound, but as I sit here planning out my board I realized something. I haven’t played the guitar in 3 days while I’ve been doing my usual buying pedals, researching patch cables and power supplies, and the expense keeps growing.

I’m about $700 in already with $300 worth of pedals enroute. HOLY CRAP this adds up quick. All I really need is a drive and a reverb for my Marshall. I’m starting to panic a bit because this wasn’t supposed to get out of hand this quickly.

So, the funny part is that I’m still struggling with acoustic vs electric. I start dumping money into electric and I play acoustic 90% of the time. I also think I am still wanting to pick up a used Martin Dread at some point, but the pedalboard keep growing. Funny how that works.

What do you guys think? Keep growing the board and see it through? Sell all but the Timmy and Reverb and just focus on acoustic? Or, just keep what I have now and the incoming and just be done and focus on acoustic later? This is why I originally got out of playing electric...

Attachment 32017

It seems you are in need of a hobby...to take your mind off of all things guitars, and give you a little R&R...


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[L20A]

Life is short.
Find a way to enjoy both acoustic and electric styles.

It all doesn't have to happen at once though.
Plan it out and set up financial goals.

Noe go play some guitars!

[brencat]

Shades, you are one restless cat...!

[Lauren710]

Originally Posted by mcduffnw

It seems you are in need of a hobby...to take your mind off of all things guitars, and give you a little R&R...


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

Might I suggest knitting? It's pretty easy to learn, and not at all possible to get carried away researching yarn types and buying artisan hand-dyed wool and good needles and oh no now there's a whole corner of the spare room that's devoted to crafts...

In all seriousness, though, you've put thought and effort into this already; not to fall into the sunk-cost fallacy trap, but I'd probably just let the stuff you have en route arrive and see where you're at after that. If you're going to lose money turning around and selling what you just bought and you don't NEED the cash immediately, I see no harm in keeping it all for a while and whittling down later once you've had a chance to actually use it all.

[mcduffnw]

Originally Posted by Lauren710

Might I suggest knitting? It's pretty easy to learn, and not at all possible to get carried away researching yarn types and buying artisan hand-dyed wool and good needles and oh no now there's a whole corner of the spare room that's devoted to crafts...

In all seriousness, though, you've put thought and effort into this already; not to fall into the sunk-cost fallacy trap, but I'd probably just let the stuff you have en route arrive and see where you're at after that. If you're going to lose money turning around and selling what you just bought and you don't NEED the cash immediately, I see no harm in keeping it all for a while and whittling down later once you've had a chance to actually use it all.

How about Civil War Reenactor??? At least it gets you out of the house and some exercise and fresh air...


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[Dr O’Fluf]

Well it’s a start

Keep on growing it.

[swampyankee]

When got more into electric I took it slow buying effects. But what I did instead was spend lots on amplifiers. One for small venues, one for oldies gigs, one for practice, a spare, and a vintage Twin for outdoor gigs.
Now that I quit the band and getting back to acoustic playing, I have quite a collection..
My advice is cover the basics - a couple of overdrive pedals, a chorus, a delay, and a reverb if your amp doesnt have it. And leave room for expansion..

[RP]

Originally Posted by brencat

Shades, you are one restless cat...!

I don't know what to tell you, Shades, but I do love to see a post from you titled, "What have I done?" It just makes me feel uncharacteristically stable in my buying and selling...

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

I haven’t played the guitar in 3 days

http://sdarchive.com/gas.html

I think you have a terminal case. Step away from the computer and stay out of music stores for 30 days.

[docwatsonfan]

I like your approach!

I'd rather do it, and wonder why, then not do it and wonder what if....

with that said...

take up the banjo

[jaan]

While I do play acoustic most of the time, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a pedal board for electric too19E59CB4-5723-4E08-8AF5-4E5409C7B3BC.jpg

[rstaight]

Wow, I remember when I started. I went electric early on because it was easier to play. Went from some no name to a Gibson SG in I think 6th grade.

At the time if you had an amp with tremelo you had something. Though the effects can be pretty cool I have never owned a pedal. Probably never will.

[Jaden]

What I’ve found is that I really should trim down to one acoustic guitar and one electric guitar for home use. As Big Band Guitar points out in another thread, whenever a guitar isn’t played for a while, returning to it entails having to find its “sweet spot” of tone, which applies to my experience, and thus having a few guitars around for my purposes means I’m “falling asleep” on them (not so much the instrument) whereas my time would be better spent honing my skill on just that one good guitar, one each for acoustic and electric. I don’t use pedals at all so I’m not able to offer advice - my guess is you work hard at your job and the accumulation of novelty items like pedals is a pleasurable pursuit and gives your mind a rest, so don’t feel guilty about it.

[J Patrick]

...my pedal board is an always in process project that allows me to tinker without spending huge sums of money...that after the initial investment of course...every few months or so I sell one and replace it with another one I’m curious about...I could stand pat at any time but I like mixing it up....I’m not chasing tone...just sampling it....