Can a guy have too much gear?

[t_ross33]

LOL! Stupid question, I know. Here's the thing. Love my Vox AD30VT, but not happy gigging with it. May be too small for what I'm asking of it (runs pretty much flat out at stage volume) or may be some issues with running a RP-80 multi-effects pedal through it (thus digitizing a digitized signal), or a combination of both. Great for practice, portability etc. just not what I want for live performance.

I ran my old ('74 or '75) Yamaha YTA-95 at last night's gig and it smoked! It's a very warm sounding amp for a solid state, love the cleans it has and the RP-80 sounds much better through it. The amp models really stand out, whereas they seem to get kinda lost or thinned out in the AD30VT. Of course, it's bigger and more powerful than the Vox (100W 2x12) so it should have more punch. But it's ridiculous how great it sounds. I had the volume knob at "2" and it was almost too loud for stage volume (still mic-ing to the board for front-of-house). She's a bit of a bear though at 75 or 80 lbs.

So here's my question. I've decided to gig with my Yamaha, do you think it would be worthwhile keeping the Vox for home/practice use? Or would you sell/trade for something (like a Squier Tele Custom II ). What's a guy to do?

[Katastrophe]

I would say that you have too much gear when you have to contemplate buying a bigger house...

It's not a bad idea (even if your 100W amp is a solid state) to have a backup just in case... You never know when Murphy's Law will come into play. Of course, in a pinch, you can run the RP80 direct to a board and get some nice tones that way.

Having a practice amp at the house is a great idea, too. Keeps you from having to lug the "gig amp" around!

[SuperSwede]

Sell the Vox and check out the Tonelab!
You can plug it into the Yamaha and enjoy the best of two worlds, and imho modelers sound better when played through a SS amp.
It sounds really good through headphones, and going straight into the board sound fab as well. You also have S/Pdif out for high quality recording.

Just my 2 kronas

[Katastrophe]

ORRRRRRRR......

Sell the Vox, get one of the floor model Tonelabs, complete with a tube....

...or a Radial Tonebone like Spudman or Nelskie...

GAS is fed by the many options available!

[Nelskie]

Too much gear . . . ? Wha' ? I think you better check your computer to make sure you're on the right forum, t_ross!

As for what I'd do, it's quite simple. In the time you spent writing that last post, you could have been on the Musician's Friend website buying that Squier Tele Custom, and been much better for the effort. We're all gear freaks here, so why would we even think of disappointing you. And really, what's $200 in big picture of playing guitar?

One of the best days for me as a guitar player was the day I quit trying to justify buying gear, and just got down to the business of making music, and enjoying myself. Believe me, once you put that awkward gear-buying feeling in your rear-view mirror - - that's when you can really point yourself down that golden road of true guitar-playing satisfaction. And then, the real magic happens!

But don't take my word for it . . . go find out for yourself.

[tremoloman***]

Give a used Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4x10 a try... It's 60W of power but sounds as if it is 2x that! It also has an awesome tone for any Fender or Squier guitar.

I know how you feel about the Vox for gigging... I traded mine in for the very same reason. Anytime I added a pedal it went crazy after about ½ an hour of use.

[t_ross33]

Too much gear . . . ? Wha' ? I think you better check your computer to make sure you're on the right forum, t_ross!

As for what I'd do, it's quite simple. In the time you spent writing that last post, you could have been on the Musician's Friend website buying that Squier Tele Custom, and been much better for the effort. We're all gear freaks here, so why would we even think of disappointing you. And really, what's $200 in big picture of playing guitar?

One of the best days for me as a guitar player was the day I quit trying to justify buying gear, and just got down to the business of making music, and enjoying myself. Believe me, once you put that awkward gear-buying feeling in your rear-view mirror, and point yourself down that golden road of true guitar-playing satisfaction - - that's when the real magic happens!

But don't take my word for it . . . go find out for yourself.

I figured that opening statement would get some attention around here I like my Vox, and I want to be happy with it (it was a fairly major purchase for me at the time, even if it's considered "budget" in the grand scheme of the amp-world), just wanted to get some feedback re: keeping it or selling/trading it. I know how devoted the AD**VT users are around here and didn't want to be blacklisted if I decided to go another direction

We have some good gigs booked in the next month, so I think I will pursue the purchase of the Squier Custom II tele (the one with P90 pups) regardless.

Now my only question is Black, or Vintage Blond?

Trev

[Katastrophe]

Black. Absolutely choose black. On the Custom II, its the only one that looks right IMHO.

[duhvoodooman***]

Can a guy have too much gear?

No. But his wife/girlfriend will think so.

[Nelskie]

No. But his wife/girlfriend will think so.

And the problem with that is . . . ?

I have a buddy who just purchased a $22,000 fishing boat. And another who goes to the Caribbean every year to scuba dive. And another who just bought a new Harley Davidson Dyna-Glide, which w/o accessories is just a smidge under $30,000. I tell my wife that music is a relatively cheap hobby, and in that light, I think I'm pretty much telling the truth. I mean, all of my equipment added up together is right in the three grand range. Or about the cost of a (6) day trip for two down to Mexico. Guess what my wife's getting for her anniversary?

Maybe Sammy will let me up on stage at the Cabo Wabo?

[duhvoodooman***]

And the problem with that is . . . ?

No problem. Merely a statement of fact!

[SuperSwede]

Guess what my wife's getting for her anniversary?

Oh! Buy her a guitar

[Mark]

Your absolutely right Nelski. I got have right at 5500.00 between my guitar, amp and all my home studio gear oh I havent confessed to you guys about that Korg TR61 synth and Kontrol pad that followed me home last month LOL. To put it in perspective I got my Pilots license a few years ago that was 6000.00 oh the hog in the garage set me back 22000.00 5 years ago. Now my brother inlaw has 45,000.00 in the fishing boat and another 50gs in the truck to pull it and probably another 10Gs in sonar and tackle he uses it occassionally. My flying (no I did not buy a plane, talk about high maintenance!!) has been a blast for my whole family we used to go all over, the hog, me and the wife enjoy the heck out it and weve been on some awesome vacations on it. It all boils down to what pleases you. I do admit I have the greatest wife I have never heard one nag about any hobby I have nor do I nag her in fact we encourage each other. Life isnt a sound check, you better get it right the first time, cause when the shows over.......its over!
It also helps to treat her like a Throughbred so she wont become a nag ifin ya know what I mean.

[t_ross33]

I'm in total agreement. I probably have around $2Gs in equipment purchased or aquired. Not much compared to the other hobbies mentioned. (Mark, I got my glider pilots licence in '84, but didn't do much with it. That was an expensive hobby for a 16 yr old ). At least I pick up a gig once or twice a month that pays cold, hard $$$. And we are getting good enough, well known enough and confident enough that we can start charging fair market value for our services. So it's almost self sustaining, though I'd be playing guitar regardless. Gigging just gives me the ability to buy more gear My motto is "I don't really know how to play this thing, but at least I'm gonna look like I can" - LOL!

I guess my point wasn't whether a guy could have too much, but more along the lines of what would you do to put your limited resources (i.e. cash, disposable income, trust fund etc.) to the best use? In my case, wondering if having two amps would be practical/useful.

Thanks for the feedback.

Trev

[Nelskie]

I guess my point wasn't whether a guy could have too much, but more along the lines of what would you do to put your limited resources (i.e. cash, disposable income, trust fund etc.) to the best use? In my case, wondering if having two amps would be practical/useful.

Ah yes, t_ross, another twist in the road - although really, the question again leads to the same destination - namely, how you choose to "justify" the expenditure. Calling it "practical", or "useful" is an exercise in that very same process, philosophically speaking.

From reading your posts, I can tell that you truly enjoy playing. That being the case, I would encourage you to do whatever you need to do make that experience as good as it can get. The time you spend "wondering" is less time that you'll spend "experiencing". That being said, it's up to you to decide what "value" that the playing / music experience has to you . . .

[blogan]

I guess my point wasn't whether a guy could have too much, but more along the lines of what would you do to put your limited resources (i.e. cash, disposable income, trust fund etc.) to the best use?

There's nothing wrong with experimenting with different gear. In fact, it can be a lot of fun. As long as you buy used, you don't really lose any dollars buying and selling (except shipping, if you go the eBay route). Knowing you can sell your gear for basically the same $$ you spent buying it is very liberating.

[t_ross33]

Thanks for the push/encouragement guys. Though I've been playing for 25 years (not well for the most part ), I'm pretty new at the gear aquisition thing. Most of my early gear was handed down or given to me by friends. Up until 8 months ago, the only thing I purchased for myself was my bass (which I used student loan $$ for ) and that's going back almost 20 years now!

So yeah, I still feel a bit guilty about buying new equipment, and if I do buy something, I feel like I had better stick with it...

I'm learning though. "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me" - LOL!

So thanks again, not only for feeding my GAS, but being so supportive. Music is a deeply personal experience for me, but it's nice to know there's folks out there who have your back

Trev

[Spudman***]

Well...speaking from experience...yes you can have too much gear...unless...you use it every once in a while in a creative endeavor or to make money with. In that case you can have as much as you want. Personally I like not having to go to the store when I need a new sound or feel or vibe or whatever. I just go to the new gear wing of the house and pull something from stock.







Please don't tell my wife this. She thinks my friends are giving me their old instruments.

[Nelskie]

. . . I just go to the new gear wing of the house and pull something from stock . . .

Spud, you're my hero! The gearhound's gearhound. Long may you run!