Kind of hard ......downsizing of electrics and stage amps. You?

[musicman1951]

I had no problem getting rid of heavy stuff I never wanted to carry up a staircase again. I had a Marshall stack with the 8 12" speakers and it was always kind of a crazy purchase (but all my heroes had them). Before that I had a Fender Bandmaster with 2 15's and a Marshal with 8 10's using a Y chord. God bless the 60's. Madness.

Maybe one thing that helped me was I almost never practiced with an amp. Even when I had solid body guitars I practiced without an amp. It made it easier to do the gigs as it was easier to play with a little extra sustain.

[amears]

This sort of hits home for me. I've been playing electric for more years than I care to think about, but just recently I told a friend and fellow musician that maybe it's time to move to the next phase - acoustic sets.

I have about 4 or 5 electric guitars that I could liquidate - keeping my Custom Shop Stratocaster, a 58 reissue Les Paul and maybe one other - and a couple of "never sells".

I only have one amp - a Two Rock Studio Pro 35 Combo - and it pretty much suffices for all of my needs from den to live playing.

All of my GAS lately has been for acoustics. I'm not slowing down - just shifting gears.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Whew, glad to know I’m not alone! Going to put the amp on CL tonight. Good bye the teenager inside of me. Lol

[Nymuso]

For my rocking out I have a small 1 x 10 enclosure with a Crate Powerblock head. For effects I use my Zoom GX1on. This allows me to be as nasty as I wanna be. Hey, that would be a good book title!

[51 Relic]

I still have my three electrics after 30 years of Country and Blues gigs but I don’t play them anymore . For the last 9 years I’ve been 100% Acoustic fingerstyle , love it . The one thing I do miss is gigging with a AC30 but I don’t miss lifting it

[M Sarad]

I just bought the PRS H amp from an AGF member. Great amp for the blues band. Plenty of power with 50 watts and dual channels. Lots of headroom.

Yesterday I gigged with my relatively new 1980 Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb I bought from Laurent Brondel. 20+ watts, it was perfect for an outdoor gig with a Tele. Previously I had two Deluxe Reverbs I played through.

Guitar wise, the SG with Throbak PAFs has great tone, but it will not stay in tune! I am considering keeping it tuned to open E or G and dedicating it to Cooder style slide. My PRS McCarty Double Cut Gold Top with new Harmonic Design Soap Bars stays in tune. Lots of sustain, it gets Santana style feedback through the PRS amp. This combo gets me the sound that the ZenDrive can’t touch.

[KevWind]

I just got back into electrics 2 1/2 years ago But have already realized I needed to down size (weight wize) So within about 6-8 months I bought and then sold a Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special combo ( 59 lbs' ).

And realized I probably won't be doing much gigging so from here on out it will likely be 20 watt and under and Amp head and single 1x1 speaker cab.

Currently considering a REVV 20 head or a PRS MT 15 head
I am keeping my Supro Titan 1X10 50watt combo (47 lb's) and matching 1x12 cab (23 lbs) as my heavy weight high watt system

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

Played electric in rock bands all through high school and college. About 10 years ago I sold off my stacks. Mesa Single Rectifier, Marshall JMP and 4X12 cabinets.

Then I bought a Fender Silver Bullet Hot Rod Deluxe and a pedalboard in case I found an occasion to jam with someone. Been 10 years....haven’t jammed with anyone yet. It’s been in my basement for about 5 years. Just brought it into my office. Played about 15 minutes and was like....ugh, it doesn’t sound good unless it’s turned way up to hit it’s sweet spot. And my tinnitus kicked in. Just too much amp for home.

So, I think it’s time to end an era. I have a small little Blackstar modeler that I think will take care of my rock needs when the flare up.

Anyone else have trouble letting go?

Attachment 20999Attachment 21000

Oh man, I am SOOOOO with you there! I was into electric from age 13-28 and played at churches and have had more gear than I care to dive into. But, around 29-30 I just stopped playing electric. I just stopped caring. I sold the amps and bought a Line 6 Helix and figured it would be my one stop option. Well, I NEVER used it and sold it too.

About 3 months ago I got a wild hair to get back into electric. I bought a Marshall Origin 20 head and cab, and a Les Paul. I have to say, I'm enjoying it a lot, but I don't get to play it as much as the acoustic because of what you mentioned....volume.

Plus, I don't enjoy setting it up, and it can sound wildly different at low volumes. So, I just play it mainly when my wife goes out for a few hours, or when my daughter wants to dance around and rock out.

I when out and did something really stupid and bought a Two Rock, but it's like been pushed out to a 12 week lead time and I'm really second guessing myself. I started getting back into electric and sold my D-28 to help pay for some of the electric stuff and I see myself spiraling out of control again. What keeps me in it is that a lot of the music I listen to has soulful electric guitar and I just get the urge to play some of that stuff occasionally, and it also helps me to unwind when I crank an amp.

Sometimes, I feel like the best thing is to stick with one thing. For example, I've given up my photography, golf, gun, and drone obsession. Heck, the only two things that really seem to bring me joy anymore is wine and beer!!!

Maybe I should cancel the Two Rock order and just get another Martin haha!!!

[FrankHudson]

Yeah, I should be selling some stuff too. I like my Hot Rod Deluxe too much to sell right now though. Unlike you, I like its sound fine with the touchy taper volume knob turned down low. On the other hand I have a 4x10 Fender Blues Deluxe that really needs a bit of cranking to get going. I'll never need that much volume, and the only reason that it's not gone is that I can't bear the thought of carrying the thing up a flight of stairs and out to the parking.

[Dru Edwards]

Horse, I don't have a problem letting go because I don't want to. Even though I know my three 100w Marshall heads don't get the playing time they deserve. They look so cool!

Good luck with the downsizing. Smart decision if you only hit that sweet spot when it's too loud.

[PTony]

I’ve been somewhat successful at pairing down. Amps seem to be the easier option to downsize for me. I’m down to 2 amps now. And 6 guitars. I’d gotten down to 5 (after having 9 at one point). But I still struggle pairing down guitars. I have “live” stage guitars. And then “studio” guitars. Then “take with me” guitars, and an “office” guitar.

Everytime I get serious about downsizing something else grabs my attention and I just “HAVE TO” have it. You know the story...the whole, “it fills a void that I don’t have covered tone wise” bit. And while partly true...chances are that “void” will only get filled occasionally. I also have a tough time parting with my current stable as I’d spent years honing what I “must have”, and I finally feel like I’ve found that in each guitar I own. So moving them on has become very difficult as well.

It doesn’t help that I love to modify and tinker...as well as play and collect. Pedals have even been an issue as of late. I’d ask if it will ever end or get better but I already know the answer.

[Steel and wood]

I've got three electrics and they're all keepers even though I'm not currently playing with others. If I was forced to downsize to just one for whatever reason, I would keep the Telecaster.

My Roland Cube and Fender Mustang takes care of my home playing needs but I'd love a smallish Fender tube amp like a Blues Junior just so I can enjoy the best of both solid state and tube amp worlds. (Even if it didn't get used that often).

[ghostnote]

I have a bunch of stuff that has to go. And when that stuff is gone, I'll still have too much! There are guitars I won't miss all that much; amps and pedals too. But there are things that I just have to keep for now. I have electrics that are great guitars, and I've bonded with them - I need to find out what they can do. You know that feeling that a good guitar gives you, that it can do anything you could possibly want it to do? No fighting with it, no issues, just a pleasure cruise every time? Those are the keepers; I've got a few of them, and some of those will have to move on. It's gonna be very difficult.

[Shades of Blue]

I can't help but wonder why we put so much emotional energy into this hobby. I mean, most of the gear I own can be replaced fairly easily. I'm talking mainly electrics because in all honesty, electrics are far more consistent in sound than an acoustic.

There are sentimental guitars for sure. For me, my Seagull was my father's and my PRS SC245 is signed to me from Paul. If it weren't for the autograph, it would have been sold years ago. So, is it worth keeping it over an autograph? If I ever accidently smudged it, I'd clean it off and sell it, so why even keep it?

I've bought and sold scores of guitars and amps, and there are only 2 things I've sold that I miss dearly:

1) I miss my Martin Custom Shop 000-28. I didn't realize what I had when I had it

2) I miss my John Mayer Strat from 2012. I miss this because there is a picture of me and my daughter with it when she was 1 year old. I liked the guitar, but I'd LOVE to have her see it today since she's in the pic with it as a young girl.

So in the end, I'll keep what is sentimental to me. I think the only guitar I have now that I have a bond to because of my daughter would be my new Les Paul. We bought it together on July 4th last year, mainly because of the steal of a deal, but secondly because her favorite drink is Sweet Tea, and she loved the name of the color, Iced Tea. It was a fun day and I don't think I could sell that guitar now.

[KY000]

I quit gigging three years ago. Last week I decided I should start getting rid of some amps. I thought I'd start with my Fender Bassbreaker 45. So I drug it out of the storage room and plugged it in. It sounded so great I decided against selling it.