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Pedal option paralysis

Quatschmacher

By Quatschmacher,
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Quatschmacher Grand Master

Quatschmacher

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I’ve been feeling hugely overwhelmed by my pedals of late. Every one that gets added seems to exponentially increase the choices available and I’m finding that quite debilitating. And this coming from someone who is co-designing a MIDI controller.

 

I’ve decided to pack everything away for a while and see what I end up missing. Think it’s probably time to shift a few things that I have never really used too (so keep an eye on the classifieds as there should be some nice bits of gear appearing soon). I’ll just get one thing out at a time for continuing testing Mortrix.

 

This is my very minimalist setup now. 
F75643F4-38A8-4C81-91A0-E42A6F2A6E16.thumb.jpeg.c5adcd44b2576eaf4a78f65da70b2a02.jpeg

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GremlinAndy Proficient

GremlinAndy

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I have to take an occasional ‘moment’ and take stock every now and then.   
every pedal I buy seems like a *must* but then after a while, their importance seems to wane, in favour of simplifying.   
it’s a weird sine wave rollercoaster for me.  The big problem is I fear that I’ll want them again if I get shut, so I tend to hang on to everything.    
It’s sad really.

but no regrets!  It is what it is.    
 

good luck with your quest for the perfect path bud!    
oooh. I just realised, you’re a fellow Sheffielder!     I’ll be watching the for sale forums for a local purchase!    Lol.

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Quatschmacher Grand Master

Quatschmacher

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14 minutes ago, GremlinAndy said:

I have to take an occasional ‘moment’ and take stock every now and then.   
every pedal I buy seems like a *must* but then after a while, their importance seems to wane, in favour of simplifying.   
it’s a weird sine wave rollercoaster for me.  The big problem is I fear that I’ll want them again if I get shut, so I tend to hang on to everything.    
It’s sad really.

but no regrets!  It is what it is.    
 

good luck with your quest for the perfect path bud!    
oooh. I just realised, you’re a fellow Sheffielder!     I’ll be watching the for sale forums for a local purchase!    Lol.

Thanks. Yes, there are a few of us Sheffielders on here. 
 

There’s at least one I know I won’t ever get rid of: Future Impact as I did a lot of work on the feature set of the pedal in everything from v3.00 onwards. Will likely keep an analogue octaver and analogue envelope filters. The C4 is quite dear to me too as during lockdown I created and shared hundreds of sounds for it, which got me noticed by Source Audio and I’ve been beta testing for them since then. I’ll keep a reverb, delay and some kind of phaser. Everything else is up for consideration. I really don’t ever use much distortion so those will likely go. Ultrawave is already listed and I might list the Aftershock at some point.

 

For the moment, I’ve listed two of the ones I’ve not ever really played in the 2-3 years I’ve had them. A couple more fall into that category, but those are ones I’ve never even played yet, as opposed to the ones I had played but wasn’t motivated to play further.

 

Is there anything in particular you were looking for?

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jimbobothy Mentor

jimbobothy

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... I've been looking at my 'collection' of late and turning away from them also. I even thought of doing the same and packing them up and see what I'd want to actually use! However I also would probably regret selling anything as it'd give me less options in the future, but you get overwhelmed by having the options ... and the cycle continues 🤔😐😁!!

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Quatschmacher Grand Master

Quatschmacher

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6 hours ago, jimbobothy said:

... I've been looking at my 'collection' of late and turning away from them also. I even thought of doing the same and packing them up and see what I'd want to actually use! However I also would probably regret selling anything as it'd give me less options in the future, but you get overwhelmed by having the options ... and the cycle continues 🤔😐😁!!

The beauty of just packing them up is that they are not gone; if you miss something, it’s easy to dig it out again. 
 

I’m looking for the sweet spot of having things that will inspire to play and write music without swamping me with so many options that I never get beyond tweaking. Don’t get me wrong, I love designing sounds and that’s a nice way to be creative when musical ideas aren’t forthcoming, but I don’t want that to be all I end up doing.

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22 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

The beauty of just packing them up is that they are not gone; if you miss something, it’s easy to dig it out again. 
 

I’m looking for the sweet spot of having things that will inspire to play and write music without swamping me with so many options that I never get beyond tweaking. Don’t get me wrong, I love designing sounds and that’s a nice way to be creative when musical ideas aren’t forthcoming, but I don’t want that to be all I end up doing.


Personally, having pedals etc with an overwhelming number of options ends up with it sitting unused on a shelf, so I can relate! I definitely wouldn’t make any rash decisions regarding getting rid though, especially if some things would be hard or impossible to replace.

 

….that being said, if a 3 leaf envelope filter did surface in the classifieds, I would be mighty tempted 🙃

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Quatschmacher Grand Master

Quatschmacher

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On 05/04/2023 at 07:41, Spaced said:

that being said, if a 3 leaf envelope filter did surface in the classifieds, I would be mighty tempted

I sold that one quite some time ago, I’m afraid.

 

The things I’ve recently listed really are things I’ve never touched and am unlikely to ever have done so.

 

A few things I’m looking at have become redundant as I’ve been spending the last three years working on my keyboard chops, so the synthy stuff is better covered on keys. (I’ll still keep the FI though as I love it.)

 

I’m finding myself in a similar situation with synths. There are some which are ram-packed with features which I end up not using much; but I seem to get the most enjoyment out of the stuff that has a simple architecture and a great sound. I currently have a Juno 106 on loan from a friend and it’s so immediate, simple and fun to play that its limitations become an asset. It’ll be a wrench when he takes it back to sell it (he has two and needs to downsize).

Edited by Quatschmacher
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SumOne Grand Master

SumOne

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I like mucking about with pedals and think good analogue envelope filters are hard to beat but everything else gets close enough with a decent multi-fx, especially if playing with a band and through an amp and cab where subtleties get lost. And if playing at home or recording then a clean recording and then using a laptop to add effects gives more control than most pedals - not as immediate or fun though.  

 

....then again, pedals are fun and can be more inspiring than multi fx and laptops. 

 

Logical vs emotional parts of the brain battling! It keeps me on a cycle of buying/selling pedals. 

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lee650 Grand Master

lee650

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What a nice dilemma to be in🤣 if a pedal isn't being used I've no qualms about selling it (I've never been a hoarder)regrettably finances have meant I have to sell in order to buy things. I'm currently looking at building a smaller board, as I'm fed up of breaking down my board to make a small one for the Rockband. I'd love a list of the ones your selling Peter! 😁

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Japhet Grand Master

Japhet

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I've trimmed my board down to a Programmable Bass Driver which is essentially the same pedal 3x (so 3 dirt/drive sounds), and a B1Four as a tuner and a few other bits and bobs when required. Also have a MicroThumpinator on there. Nice little compact set up that doesn't get in the way. 

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Quatschmacher Grand Master

Quatschmacher

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5 minutes ago, lee650 said:

What a nice dilemma to be in🤣 if a pedal isn't being used I've no qualms about selling it (I've never been a hoarder)regrettably finances have meant I have to sell in order to buy things. I'm currently looking at building a smaller board, as I'm fed up of breaking down my board to make a small one for the Rockband. I'd love a list of the ones your selling Peter! 😁

Yes, sorry, it is a bit of a first-world problem. I didn’t mean it to be demeaning to anyone. Much of it has come about because I beta test pedals and get to hang on to them as a thank you for the work I have done. The “issue” with that is that these aren’t always pedals I would have considered buying for myself and I feel a bit funny about selling them, especially as I might get asked to test out further firmware updates later on. When I dug out the EQ2 the other night, I found a MIDI bug and reported it.


This is what I have, some of these might end up on the chopping block (bold ones are already listed):

 

Panda Audio Future Impact (x2) 

Source Audio C4 

Source Audio Lunar

Source Audio Spectrum

Source Audio Collider 

Source Audio Ultrawave

Source Audio Ventris

Source Audio Nemesis

Source Audio Atlas

Source Audio Aftershock

Source Audio ZIO

MXR Vintage Bass Octave

Zvex Mastotron

MXR Bass Envelope Filter

Mu-Tron Microtron IV

Sadowsky SB-2

 

Source Audio Hub (x2)

Morningstar ML10X

Morningstar MC6 Pro

MORTRIX (Not for sale obviously)

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BigRedX Grand Master

BigRedX

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I've been a multi-effects user since the late 80s, but even then extra devices have always crept into the signal path.

 

My current multi-effects unit is the Line6 Helix. Earlier this year I was considering adding my Linn Adrenalinn for live use, but after a lot of experimentation I have found a way of creating the same effect within the Helix itself, and so my current philosophy is that (certainly for live use) if I can't do it with the Helix then it doesn't need to be done. 

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stewblack Grand Master

stewblack

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I have an astonishingly ludicrous pedal collection too. But I enjoy building boards, most of which seldom get gigged. It's creative and fun and I learn about pedals a little more each time I do it.

My 'Pedal option paralysis' is related to multi effects units. If I'm not doing everything they're capable of doing then I feel I'm under using them and they get shelved.  It's ridiculous. If any pedal produces just one sound which enhances my overall sound, then its served its purpose.

Take the Ultrawave. I feel overwhelmed by the possibilities, and bewildered by the software. So it sits on the shelf. Last night I just decided to find six compressor presets I liked, load them up and then select the best one. Can it do more? Yes. Does it have to? No.

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fretmeister Grand Master

fretmeister

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At home when I'm playing to make fun noises I'm happy to use anything I've got lying about, but for 99% of gigs if it won't fit on a Nano+ board then it doesn't come with me. So there's a bit of swapping depending on what I'm doing.

 

At the moment it's

 

Bass > Spectrum Filter > C4 > Darkglass VMT > BC-1X > OC-5 > Micro Thumpinator > amp.

TBH the C4 is on there just for a bit of experimentation on a tune or two - my big band are doing an interesting arrangement of Bruno Mars 24K magic and I'm getting close to getting the synth tone from the C4. It's all about being lazy really - I have an excellent patch for my Bass Station 2 that really nails the recording but I just don't want to carry more kit!

 

I also have a massive board that was assembled from when I was in a function band and were playing everything from the Blues Brothers to Muse. I haven't used it for ages, but it's got a couple of LS-2 for blending, Fuzz Wah, couple of different drives and fuzz, the old BSW, etc etc. It weighs far too much.

 

If I ever did that again I think I'd do it all in Helix. But I'd have to buy another one as my existing one is the rack and it's fully integrated into my home studio and there is no way I'm pulling it apart to take to a gig. Too much hassle! 

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Oomo Rising Star

Oomo

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I've been through similar cycles sometimes, but don't really see it as a negative thing, as long as I've learnt something along the way.

 

Thanks to messing about with various pedals, I've learnt:

  • how to recreate many sounds I've heard on recordings
  • a lot about EQ
  • a lot about noise and how to avoid/minimise it
  • sounds I like/dislike (e.g. if I want an octave sound, I know a bunch of ways to get a sound I like, which pedals I like, etc.)
  • how to combine things to get a certain sound
  • sounds that work well/badly on bass
  • how to play to help tracking for synth/octave type pedals
  • how to order pedals/effects
  • difference in sound between some analog/digital versions of effects

and a bunch of other things I've probably forgotten.

 

So regardless of whether I actually use a lot of the effects I've tried out over the years, I still feel I've learnt a lot from using them, and most I can sell without taking too much of a loss (and can probably make a big profit in a couple of cases).

 

Like @stewblack though, I have more trouble with complex pedals and multi-effects just because there's so much stuff to mess around with, and I can waste a lot of time menu diving and tweaking without achieving much. Would much rather have a pedal with a lot of limitations than something that can do everything.

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tayste_2000 Veteran

tayste_2000

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20 hours ago, Spaced said:


Personally, having pedals etc with an overwhelming number of options ends up with it sitting unused on a shelf, so I can relate! I definitely wouldn’t make any rash decisions regarding getting rid though, especially if some things would be hard or impossible to replace.

 

….that being said, if a 3 leaf envelope filter did surface in the classifieds, I would be mighty tempted 🙃


https://ampguitars.com/product/3leaf-audio-bass-envelope-filter/

 

💁🏼‍♀️

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