It's a nice collection.
I have always been one for Quality over Quantity, though. With my Zoom G2.1U, Boss EQ20 and Morley Power Wah pushing my Dean Hardtail into a Fender 2x12 i can usually imitate and create a large variety of sounds. Large enough? No, not really.
I used to own lots of little boxes but then they became too much of a burden for performances. It's a trade-off unfortunately. The more you have, the better your options are, which is always best of course, but the larger the collection becomes, the more impractical it might be.
When you are out performing, or just jamming at a friends house... what are YOUR personal favorites you can't do without?
That would interest me the most.
:)
I only really have 3 boxes that I use:
Digitech GNX1
Roger Linn Black Box with foot pedal
Roland GR-33
I have some other pedals, an MXR distortion and the matching phase 45 from 1979 and three Danelectros for goofing around.
I don't have ANY pedals whatsoever, and I've never thought of buying any....that's not some kind of elitism/reverse snobbery, it's a combination of two things - 1...I don't like wah-wah, I'd never use it - 2....Any distortion/phase/delay fx I need, I can achieve with a combination of my cube amp and bass cube...
Well three things really, I ain't got the money to fork out on fx.....
OK a question - don't you think using fx is somehow cheating? Like you should be able to get that effect out of your guitar without resorting to pedals? I remember reading an interview with Rory Gallagher back in the 70's, wherein he stated he didn't need a wah-wah - he could get the same effect by playing with the tone pots with his strumming hand....
(I cheat all the time - I use the metal stack setting on the cube....)
What I'm getting at, do you think relying on pedals to get a certain sound somehow detracts from guitar technique? Or are there certain sounds you can't achieve without a modelled amp or a huge pedal board? As one who's never used a pedal, this is simply my curiosity....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I believe sound engineering and guitar technique to be entirely seperate from each other.
Sound Engineering is the developement of your sounds and colors, your palette. Guitar technique is the method in which you utilize your resources.
One is the artist, the other is his tools... having more tools is not cheating, it just gives you more options and ability to express what your art.
Yes, you can achieve many sounds naturally. You can bend your Gibsons neck in half to simulate a dive bomb or slash your speakers to tonal perfection, but you won't catch me doing that.
The idea of using effects as "cheating" is interesting to me because that's exactly how I felt when I recently purchased a Line 6 Spider II amp. This was at the beginning of my re-entry into the world of playing music, and I thought this amp (full of effects and different amp settings) would give me an edge. I actually said "this amp could make anybody sound good" as I purchased it. For the first time ever, I was able to sound like a metal guitarist, for example, just by tuning into the "Crunch" setting. How cool!
Now, about 2 months or so later, I wish I could return the Line 6 for a full refund. It's not defective. It's just that I bought a Fender Blues Jr. and an actual Strat, and that's my favorite "effect" in the world! If ever I get the chance to purchase another amp, it'll be a tube amp. And probably a Fender.
Having said that, I still own lots of effects pedals with which I have lots of fun experimenting. And, being one who was apparently born with GAS, I'll probably continue accumulating them whenever I'm able. As for cheating, I guess it could be said that using a Strat and a Blues Jr. alone could be considered cheating because I've never sounded like this before with any other combination of instruments and/or effects. I certainly do understand that line of thinking, though. On the other hand, I hear kids at Guitar Center with distortion and crunch like crazy going to town and sounding awful (to me, at least). This makes me think that there's no such thing as cheating. As Keith Richards once said (and I'm paraphrasing): there are no rules when it comes to playing guitar.
I'm having fun and that's all that matters to me! :D
Love and Peace or Else,
CC
I had a Spider for a while. It was a neat toy, but it got old. Traded it for a MIM Tele that I turned into my Keefocastor. I'm jonesing for a tube amp, probably a HRD. Until then, my trusty FM212R will do fine.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
