Remembering the lessons learned in the first article (Beginning The Quest For Tone Part 1), the intermediate player will now know roughly what is desired in his/ her quest for tone. Forming, joining, or already being in a band may be a consideration, so power becomes more of a concern. Your budget has probably increased, too, so a hole may be burning in your wallet (or purse, we have to be Politically Correct here). Do I really need a good clean sound? Do i want alot of switches to play around with? The list can go on and on. These are all hard decisions to make amd time must be taken so you spend your money wisely.

With the intermediate amplifier, things can start to get expensive. It can be very easy to get to $1000 in the your quest. I don’t recommend a half or full stack. A stack is 1 or 2 cabinets with 4 12 inch speakers and a head (this is an amplifier without speakers). Too hard to lug around. A more powerful, chock-full-o-tone 1×12 combo or even a 2×12, are my suggestions. They are much easier to transport, and can get as loud as a half stack in some cases.

How much power do i really need? In my experience, 50 or 60 watts of tube power is all you really need. With solid state amplifiers, 100 watts should be sufficient for anything that may come up. If more volume is desired or needed, a second speaker cabinet can be added or miking of the amp can be done, for playing in large halls.

To tube or not to tube? This is a very relevant question at this point. And a very tough decision. Tube amplifiers can and will show the mistakes and bad habits that have been picked up, especially the lower gain (distorted) models. But they will usually make you a better, more rounded player. If a tube amp is purchased, maintenance will become a factor because the tubes will age and burn out. Responsibility will have to increase.

What kind of power tubes? 6L6, 5881, EL34, 6550, EL84, 6V6? What kind of preamp tubes? Only one type, the 12AX7, is used in most currrent, mass produced guitar amplifiers. Others types are sometimes used by the more expensive, boutique amplifier manufacturers. The reason for the lack of diversity in preamp tube types is purely economical. Back when 12AX7’s were first starting to be used, they were cheap, plentiful, and didn’t sound too horrible. The same goes for today.

So, what power tube do i want? Personal tastes are key here, but I can give you an idea of what to expect from each of the power tube types. I highly recommend more reading about the specific type tubes listed here. More detail can be found elsewhere on the web.

• 6L6-This is a hard vacuum tube and be described as “hard hitting”. They have decent harmonic content and are great for guitar amps. They also last for a while. Mesa uses these for the Rectifier series of amplifiers. Expect 40 to 60 watts out of a pair.
• 5881-A variant of the 6L6, slightly lower output.
• EL34-These tubes have a soft vacuum. This is the sound of countless recordings. Think AC/DC, Van Halen, Hendrix. Marshall uses these tubes, for the most part. Expect 20 to 40 watts out of a pair.
• 6550-These tubes can be found in quite a few Marshalls. A bit harder hitting than 6L6 types. These can last a long time, especially the N.O.S. (New Old Stock). Expect 40 to 70 watts out of a pair. Not used much in guitar amps.
• EL84-These are a 9 pin miniauture type power tube. Very similar in sound to an EL34. If run hard, they can be short lived. These are used in quite a few of the lower wattage combo amps. Expect 10 to 25watts out of a pair.
• 6V6-These can be found in some of the Fenders. Similar to the EL84, but have a cleaner sound. Could be described as “bluesy”. Expect around the same power from a pair as EL84’s.

For the preamp tubes, I wouldn’t worry about it. They rarely need to be changed and today’s amplifiers are designed around currently manufactured tubes. There are more factors in deciding which tube amp, such as tube rectifiers, effects loops type, etc.

Tube rectifiers? These are found in some of the higher end amplifiers, such as the Rectifier series by Mesa, Marshall Jtm-45 and the Fender Prosonic. They have a different sound than the silicon diode (solid state) rectifiers used by the majority of amplifier manufacturers. It can be described as “sag”. Refer here http://www.svetlana.com/docs/tubeworks.html and here http://www.triodeel.com/ptnotes.htm, for a better description of what the rectifier does and what the differences between tube and solid state rectifiers are. For a definition of the different type of effects loops, go here http://www.soldano.com/mharticle.htm.

If you don’t want to deal with tubes just yet, there are many solid state amplifiers available. They can sound great, and you don’t have to worry about maintenance. Digital effects such as delay, echo, flange, chorus. phaser, etc., are commonly found on today’s intermediate amplifiers. Some even digitally model tube tone. I have used them, and they are not bad for the money, especially with the effects that they have. Some even have wah available with the addition of a dedicated floor controller. Great for gigging.

Here a few suggestions and places to look for Your tone:

• Marshall DSL 401-Great for that classic marshall tone.
• Peavey Classic, Delta Blues and Ultra-Excellent bargains.
• Peavey Bandit-My fave for solid state.
• Line 6-Great for the gigging guitarist that needs a range of tone.
• Johnson-Digitech’s modeling amps. Again, great for the gigging player.
• Fender Hot Rod series-excellent choice for the more mellow player.
• Waller-This is a new amplifier company. All solid state designs, but have a very nice feel and tone to them.

I’m sure I have left quite a few amplifiers out. But the rules are the same: power, tone, and features are the things you need to consider.

At the moment, I am running a Peavey VTM-60 head into an Electro-Voice loaded 4×12 speaker cabinet (heavy!!). This is for my normal distortion sound. I heard one a few years back and just had to have one. It is a one trick pony, though, so I have to use other amps for different sounds. For my clean tones and a super heavy sound, I use an Ampeg SS-140C. This was the second amplifier I ever owned (not this particular one, however). Great clean tone, and a brutal distortion when set up right. I run this into the power amp of the VTM. This is quite a bit of stuff to haul around and it isn’t easy to switch them back and forth without alot of noise. My next amplifier purchase will probably be one of the modeling amplifiers. I need a greater range of tones that are easily accessible, especially for gig type situations.

Decisions and compromises will also have to be made with how you achieve your tone. One amplifier will usually not do it all (the modeling amps can come close). What is more important to your sound? Distortion or clean type tones? Would your rather purchase an amp with a great clean tone and use a pedal for distortion effects? Accept the fact that your amp doesn’t have a good clean channel and deal with it? This all comes down to the specific uses your amplifier will have to address. It is a case by case scenario.

Choosing an intermediate amplifier, be it your 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th one, can be difficult. Greater playing diversity, maturing ear, tube or solid state, more power, etc. all become factors. Take your time and remember, purchase what you want and listen to your ears!!!

About the author

Jeremy Ledford has been playing guitar for 14 years. After just joining his first band recently he is also learning how to build tube amplifiers. Jeremy intends to market a line of boutique amplifiers that will hopefully compete with the major manufacturers.

Jeremy Ledford has also written Beginning the Quest for Tone Part 1 – How To Buy A Guitar Amp

Well…

The signal that “travels” through your amplifier normally takes the following route: Input – Preamp with EQ section (generally responsible for sound and – if you want – overdrive) – Power amp (generally responsible for volume, although with tube power amps the sound is also shaped).

All well and good, the problem is that some effects (modulating effects like chorus or delay effects like delay and reverb) work and sound better if they come after any distortion or gain that is applied to your guitar signal. For example, it would not sound too good if you put the reverb before the overdrive. Why is that so? In short, you want a reverb on your overdriven signal, not an overdriven reverb.

There are some basic rules that “govern” where to put effects in the signal chain (I’ll add more specific information in later articles when talking about the specific effects):

1. If the effect modulates the signal, put it after any preamps or overdrive/distortion boxes.
2. If the effect boosts the signal, put it before overdrive (a compressor for example).
3. There are no rules! Break them, experiment!

Now without the effect loop, all you can do is put your effect boxes between your guitar and the input of the amp. If you use an overdrive/distortion box for your sound and not the amp’s “hot” channel, all is well as long as you remember to have the overdrive/distortion among the first effects your signal travels through, in most cases before effects like chorus, delay, reverb, flanger etc (see text above).

But if you use your amp’s overdrive channel, you get the problems described above (the effect box with the delay now comes before the overdrive). This is where the effect loop comes in. The guitar signal comes from your amp’s preamp and through “send” goes into those effects that should be put behind any overdrive. The signal comes back into your amp through the “return” socket. There are little switches inside these sockets that make sure the signal goes to the right place, depending on whether a cable is plugged in or not. Therefore, you should have all the stomp boxes that should come before overdrive between your guitar and the amp’s input and all the boxes that should come after overdrive after your amp’s preamp in the effect loop.

“Ok, but I’ve got a multi-efx unit – what can I do now?” (Please note that in my eyes, something like a POD is just a sort of multi-efx: different effects – overdrive being an effect – and a way to save the parameters and sounds)?

If you want to use your amp only to amplify the great sounds you’ve programmed into your multi, you don’t want the signal to pass the amp’s preamp because the preamp EQ section will color that sound. You want the signal to go straight to the power amp. So the signal path is: guitar – multi efx input – multi efx output – amp “return”. Remember to switch off the multi-efx’s “speaker simulation” – you don’t need it, your amp has a guitar speaker, so why emulate one in addition?

If you want to use your amp’s sound, things get more complicated.

• a) easy way of doing it: Use your amp’s clean and overdrive sounds and the multi-efx only to provide the effects that should come after overdrive/distortion. Put the multi into the effect loop.
• b) But I want the full monty: I want to use the overdrive sounds of my amp and my multi and the effects of my multi-efx that usually come before overdrive (compressor for example)! Gulp … just hope your multi-efx has an effect loop, too. The signal path then is: guitar – multi – efx input – multi efx “send” (the signal has now passed the effects that should come before gain and the multi’s overdrive section) – amp input – amp “send” (the signal has now passed the gain section of the amp) – multi-efx “return” – multi-efx output (the signal has now passed the effects that belong after the gain stage) – amp’s “return” – the signal now “reaches” the power amp.

Try it, but remember to turn the volume down before you switch everything on – you might have to adjust quite a bit of controls to make it work (the volume and gain controls of your multi’s effects, the input sensitivity of the multi …)

Some amps have a series others a parallel effect loop. With a series effect loop, the guitar signal (=your sound) comes from the preamp of your amp, “leaves” your amp through the send jack, runs through the inserted effect and comes back through the return jack. 100% of your signal goes through the effect. Many people have found that their sound suffers (great tube amps and – perhaps cheaper – digital effects => maybe loss of sound).

The solution was the parallel loop: with the control, you control how much of your original signal leaves the amp and passes through the effect. The “remaining” signal stays in your amp, preserving much of your sound, and is “joined” again by the signal coming back from the effect, now with effects on it. So you can mix the dry (without effect) and the wet (with effects) signals, but keep in mind that you won’t hear much of the effects if you only put a tiny part of your signal through the effect box. The effects in the loop should be set so that they let out no original signal but 100% effect signal. You decide with the parallel effect knob how much effect you want.

Hope you’re still with me next time when we start talking about the individual effects.

Because that’s what you’re looking to find – the right tone. Tone is the combination of your guitar, your amp, and your fingers. The amp is crucial because it provides the means for self expression.

This is the first installment of two articles that will try to help you choose an amplifier. I will focus on beginning players today and intermediate players in the next installment. First, what style of music do you play? There aren’t as many amp choices as for guitars, but they are more or less designed for specific groups of players and/or genres of music. This doesn’t mean one amp won’t do most things in the world of tone, but they usually shine in only a few areas. Last, but definitely not least, PRICE!! Some of us can go out a buy whatever our hearts desire, but for the majority of us, price plays a major role in the search for tone.

Although I know you want to, as a beginning guitar player, you don’t need to go out and buy that massive Mesa or Marshall stack or even a 2×12 combo amp. Start with something basic. A small practice amp with an 8″, 10″, or 12″ speaker should be sufficient. Channel switching is very nice to have. Channel switching allows you to go from dirty to clean with push of a button on the front panel or with a switch on the floor. Reverb, as well as chorus, is a nice option to have. (Don’t hold your breath for chorus, though.) These features make playing much more fun.

I wouldn’t spend more than $300 on an entry-level amp, and that figure should probably end up somewhere between $100 and $200. I don’t recommend buying below $100 dollars. I don’t think they sound all that good. At the sub-$300 price level, pro tone hasn’t entered the building, and tubes are hard to find (there are a few, but we won’t go into that here). Decent noise can be had, though. For most tones, the entry level amps of the major manufacturers are great buys. I would stay away from tube amps, because they tend to show more mistakes. This can be very frustrating when just starting out. All that is needed is an amplifier that sounds relatively decent and will keep you playing.

As a beginning guitar player, you don’t have to play in the store. Have the sales guy take a particular amplifier through its paces. Listen closely to the amplifier. Is the sound clear? If applicable, how does the reverb sound? Lush and warm or “Boingy”? We want as close to lush and warm as possible. Channel switching? Does it pop when changing the channels? What kind of range do the knobs produce? A large margin of frequency cutting is what we want here, for the purpose of getting as many sounds as possible. (Cheaper amps only have passive tone controls, i.e , they only cut frequencies. The more expensive amplifiers can sometimes have active tone controls, i.e., cutting and boosting of frequencies is possible. The Peavey 5150 II is like this.) Remember that the sales dude has most likely been playing with all these amps for 4 hours a day for several years, and he may sound a lot better than you do, but he also knows the amps.

If you do feel up to playing in the store, we need to define some of the terms that you will find labeled on the amplifiers and what some of the jacks on the front do. (Some of the amps in the higher end of this category may have jacks/controls on the back, too.) On the front the amplifier, you will find one or two 1/4″ input jacks labeled input. With two jacks, they are either labeled high and low or 0db and -6db. The high/0db input is for guitars with passive pickups, and the low/-6db is for guitars with active pickups, which have a higher output signal compared to passive pickups. The one, lower input is padded to help control input distortion, which can sound pretty bad. I have found that the only difference is in volume with transistor amps, but your experiences may differ.

Next are the controls. The number of controls can vary from one to about twelve, and more have been seen. Generally, you will find a volume control, a bass control, a middle control, and a high control. These are pretty explanatory. Sometimes, the volume control will be labeled post gain. On amps with channel switching, a pre gain control is usually present. This controls the amount of dirt or distortion. If you are lucky enough to get an amplifier that has reverb, there will be a control to adjust the amount of “echo” that you hear, from none to full saturation. With amps that have more than this minimum number of controls and channel switching, a separate set of tone controls are usually added for the clean channel, so that you don’t have to use the same settings on your clean channel that you use for your distortion channel. With chorus, the controls are rate and depth. Rate is the speed of the effect and depth is the amount of the effect you hear.

For power, ten to thirty watts is all that is really needed. Anything more, and hearing loss (what? what did you say?), parents, siblings, and neighbors become a problem. If the amp does have channel switching, I strongly recommend purchasing the footswitch that goes with it. You will thank me. Specific manufacturers to look at are Peavey, Fender, Marshall, Randall, and Waller (this is a new manufacturer that puts out some great sounding amplifiers). If you do have the budget to get an effects box along with the amp, I don’t recommend getting a distortion pedal. Let the amp do the work. Besides, noise problems will usually pop up, especially with transistor amps.

In closing, choosing a starter amplifier is more about getting a decent sound that will keep you playing than stroking your ego or looking good in front of your friends with the latest and greatest amplifier on the market. Imitating the tone of your favorite guitar player isn’t necessary, and can even be foolish. If you spend alot of money and don’t keep with it, you have bought your self a very expensive door stop. Remember, purchase what you want and listen to your ears!!!

About the author

Jeremy Ledford has been playing guitar for 14 years. After just joining his first band recently he is also learning how to build tube amplifiers. Jeremy intends to market a line of boutique amplifiers that will hopefully compete with the major manufacturers.

Jeremy Ledford has also written Beginning the Quest for Tone Part 2 – How To Buy A Guitar Amp

In case you don’t know your law: Murphy’s Law says that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong and it will go wrong in a way that it has the worst possible effects. The more electronics and gear are involved, the greater the chance of something not functioning. Granted, this is quite pessimistic, but nonetheless, chances are that at any gig some minor things can and will go wrong: A string can break (nice when it happens on a Floyd Rose equipped guitar in mid-solo), a cable might stop working or a battery is flat. The possibilities are endless. The audience won’t mind as long as the show can go on and it is entertained. And fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to prepare for Murphy’s law to make sure that you can keep going. Some preparation also can reduce the stress potential of a gig tremendously and help you concentrate on your music.

For a start, make sure all your equipment is in good working condition. That means that you check the batteries in the tuner and in the stomp boxes you use and in doubt replace them before the gig. If necessary, put on new strings – on all the guitars you’re going to use. Don’t just replace one or two strings, put on a complete new set. This will give a more balanced sound than four old and two new strings.

It is a matter of taste when to change strings. It depends how long and often you play, how much you sweat and how clean your hands are before you pick up the instrument. There are other factors, too. For example, I don’t like the feeling of completely new strings so I put them on before the last rehearsal to “break them in”. Stretch new strings to make sure they stay in tune and check the intonation. Don’t forget to take a look at your chords and amp, too.

Your band should agree on a set list before the gig and stick to it – no discussions on stage about which song to play now. Also choose a couple of encore songs. If you’re using a lot of different sounds and effects (a programmable multi-effect unit for example), take a long look at that list and program your sounds so that you have only a minimal amount of switching to do on stage and there is no unnecessary delay between songs. Furthermore, write the program number(s) you use next to the song on the set list – stage fright can make you even forget the name of your mother-in-law. Searching for the right program number and sound on stage will not amuse the audience.

I hope your guitar case or gig bag has plenty of room for those things that might save you when Murphy’s Law puts its head through the door at your gig.

Here’s my list:

• spare strings, preferably two complete sets and maybe one or two extra high e-strings
• all the tools you need to change strings and set up your guitar (adjust intonation):
• screwdrivers, allen wrenches, a string winder, a string cutter …
• a good tuner, preferably one with a needle and lighted display
• spare batteries: at least one for the tuner, if you use stomp box effects with batteries a couple more – oh, and make sure before the gig that the spare batteries still have power left (Jeff Beck used nearly empty batteries in his distortion boxes to get a certain sound, but I doubt that the majority of your audience would like it today)
• spare cables: if you plug straight into the amp, one is enough, if you have more cables in your setup (for example because you use the effect loop of your amp), two or three
• if you have a tube amp, some replacement tubes
• some extra fuses for your amp
• a torchlight – ever tried to replace an amp fuse on a dark stage?
• duct tape: if you use a lot of effects or have a lot of cables lying around the stage, tape them down so nobody trips over them and pulls them out by accident
• a knife: cutting duct tape without one is difficult at best
• pen and paper: there’s always something to write down, maybe even your phone number for the record company exec who saw your gig
• a multiple adaptor

Do I take all those things with me? To be honest, no I don’t and here’s why: When I play a gig, I take at least two guitars with me for sound variations. That means, I probably can get by with less spare strings – changing guitars in mid-set is also faster than replacing a string. Ever since the day my tube amp stopped working in mid-gig, I’ve brought a solid state replacement amp to every gig. Yes, it’s more to carry, but it also saves time (no need to replace tubes or a fuse in the middle of your gig). Thus, I get by without replacement tubes or extra fuses.

Remember: Even if you are fine and have no problems, your second guitar player or the bassist might be less well-prepared and then one of your extra instrument cords might come in handy.

Preparing for a gig does not start or end with the gear, nor with rehearsing your set list until you can play it in your sleep. If you’re interested, there’s a very interesting article on www.activebass.com (under articles) called “Preparing for the gig” that deals a bit with time-management before the gig. And there’s also the field of getting ready for the gig mentally, but that’s for maybe another time.

What do we basically need to play guitar? One guitar, one amp, a guitar cord, and a pick.

Now when I look around my house – and I’m pretty sure I’m not the exception – I see a lot more than that. Do I really need all the gear I have? How do I justify buying even more?

I can think of a number of reasons for this behavior.

1. I sound bad, I suck! Remedy? A new amp/guitar/effect will help me get the sound I’m hearing in my head!
2. I want to sound like Santana, so I’ll buy a PRS Santana, a Mesa Boogie amp, a Fender amp and a couple of effects. One year later, my Santana days are over and now Steve Vai is my hero. That means, I’ll get an Ibanez Universe guitar, the Carvin Steve Vai amp and an Eventine harmonizer.
3. I want to be as versatile and flexible as I can, I want a huge variety of different sounds because I play/enjoy a lot of different styles, play in a Top 40 band, or I’m a studio musician. Thus, I need a Telecaster and a Fender Twin for playing country, a Les Paul and a Marshall for rock and a Gibson ES335 and a Roland Jazz chorus for jazz.
4. I just like guitars and gear – I collect them.

I don’t know about you, but #s 3 and 4 definitely apply to me and I had a time when # 1 was also an important reason. Maybe there are some points above where you nodded your head and said “Yes, I can relate to that, I had the same experience” and maybe you shook your head after some points and thought “This is stupid.”

Here are some of my thoughts concerning these points:

A good guitar player still sounds good even with a crappy guitar and a cheap amp. A number of years ago, I went to a guitar workshop and as I had to go by train, I took a cheap Squier Strat with me. All the people at the workshop plugged their guitars into Marshall combos. The guy in charge of the workshop was a Canadian studio musician – sorry I forgot his name.

To make the story short: he made a point of playing every guitar that people brought to the workshop and he sounded great with each one, even playing my cheap Squier I always had thought unable to produce a great sound (this was the last in a row of experiences that cured me from thinking along the lines of #1). He did this to show exactly that: the sound is first and foremost in your hands, not in the gear.

So … if you think you sound bad, do some self-evaluation before you run out and buy new gear. Get the opinion of other people, have a friend play through your gear. Is it really a new amp you need or more practice (no doubt, new gear can motivate one to practice more …)?

Of course, a good amp and guitar supports the player, but the basics are in one’s hands.

I’d go as far and say that 80 to 90 % of a player’s sound comes basically from his hands and not the gear he’s using. Case in point, a couple of years ago, Eddie Van Halen and Ted Nugent met backstage. Both were interested in the other’s gear and so they switched guitars and amps. Eddie took Ted’s Gibson semi-acoustic and Ted plugged Eddie’s Kramer Strat into Eddie’s Marshall. Both were surprised that Eddie still sounded like Eddie and Ted still like Ted – of course there was a small difference to their usual sound but everybody could tell who was who.

It boils down to the fact that you can buy the same gear your hero uses and still not sound like him or her. If you don’t play similar licks and phrases, the same gear won’t help you. Furthermore, you might copy the sound, but you can’t copy tone. Tone is the sum of the equipment, the licks and phrases and the playing technique of the player (his vibrato, the way he bends, slides, picks, where he picks, with how much strength and so on).

Another thought is – do you really want to copy somebody else? Sound like somebody else? Or would you rather be you?

So when somebody asks me, how he can sound like Nirvana, I of course can ramble on about the equipment Cobain used, but would it help? Could you afford all the stuff Kurt had (or Steve Vai has)? Is your technique the same as Kurt’s? Chances are, you won’t sound like him.

I can give you some advice on what to buy to sound close to a famous guitarist, maybe even without spending thousands, but keep the above in mind.

Ok, if the gear is only a small part of the sound, why then do some players change guitars so often? Why do studio musicians come to some jobs with a whole van filled with gear?

Their basic tone is the same, no matter the gear. But of course, different gear provides some variations in the sound of an artist (the 10 to 20% missing from above) – for obvious and not so obvious reasons.

Listen to Cream and Eric Clapton. He plays Gibson guitars (sometimes an SG, sometimes an ES335). Then listen to a 70s recording of Clapton or Derek and the Dominos, a Fender Stratocaster is used here. You can still tell it’s Clapton, but the sound is (slightly) different.

The blues can be played with a Stratocaster (SRV), a Telecaster (Albert Collins), a Gibson Les Paul (Gary Moore), a Gibson semi-acoustic (BB King) or any other guitar, but the sound will be different.

On the other hand, there is certain gear that lends itself better to certain styles – a Marshall amp has a lot of “bite” and is ideal for rock, but because of this “bite”, it’s not very suitable for jazz.

But don’t forget to experiment. The most unlikely combination of gear (people tell you “You can’t play country on a Les Paul, you won’t sound country”) might be exactly YOUR sound, a sound that distinguishes you from the masses.

Players also experiment and find that they are more comfortable with a certain guitar when playing a certain style. This brings us to another point.

Different gear might make you feel different. You might feel more comfortable with a certain amp/guitar, you might feel more “country” and unconsciously use more typical country phrases when playing a Telecaster as your subconscious associates this instrument with country. It affects your playing and the way you sound.

Another aspect is the discussion solid state amps vs tube amps. Solid state amps have come a long way and there are some good enough that the listener would be hard pressed to notice the difference to a tube amp. But those amps feel different for the player, they don’t respond as well as tube amps (more on this in a later column).

So, different guitars and amps might mean more difference to the player in a certain situation (“Guitar XY feels better when I play the blues, but guitar Z feels better for rock” – or as Laura and Lee would say: “The Blue guitar sounds better for Blues, and the Red guitar is better for Rock’) than to the listener, who might not even perceive a big change in your sound/playing.

Therefore, #3 might be a valid point. Just ask yourself if you really need all the stuff you have or plan to buy in order to get all the variety you need.

What can I say concerning #4 – there’s no hope for a cure. If one likes collecting gear, how can you argue against that? He even admits that he doesn’t need it all.

Ok, that’s it for this time – I guess next time I’ll ramble a bit about effects generally before starting to write about the different effects and what they do. And I plan to write about how to choose the right amp for you … hmm, don’t know yet, maybe you will tell me. I hope you give me some feedback, and if you want to comment on what I wrote or argue some points, please feel free to do so.