So I've decided the likelihood of me ever making any music people like enough to hear outside the bubble of my spare room is precisely zero, and my spare room is too small for the stuff that is in it, so I've deicded to sell up and try to source a smaller more appropriate set up to save some space and give me some spare money to buy better non-music things (I mean put into savings of course).
So was hoping to get some words of wisdom for such an undertaking, but also to kind of talk through the process as I go a little bit. I think I may get around £2k if I sell all but a few key bits (mental when you add it all up isn't it) but I don't want to spend anywhere near that really. But at least it means I should have a bit of choice.
Instrument-wise, I'll just be flogging a couple of surplus electrics. Keeping an Eastwood Twintone, my diy SG and a resoglass Airline type thing. Keeping acoustic even though I find acoustic really dull, I always seem to need one if I flog them. That bit is easy.
The FX and Amplification are where the trouble is at. I basically don't need an amp, as I'm never likely to play in public for various reasons, although chiefly because I don't get on with people and I'm not that interesting.
But do I get a cheap ish amp to sit under the desk just in case? Or an FRFR (like the Alto ones at PMT) or PA set up as that may be useful in other applications? I have a Digitech GSP1101 that it wouldn't be worth bothering to sell, that sounds absolutely fine hence the FRFR amp idea, though would be a bugger to transport I imagine without one of those ghastly looking plastic or carpet covered rack cases should I ever need to leave the house with musical intentions.
I do have a Supro 1x12 that I did think about trying to convert to a powered cab (by velcroing one of those mini pedal sized amps to the back) but when you add up how much the mini amp would cost plus how much I would be able to get for the Supro cab if I sold it (maybe up to £150) then I imagine I could just get a much better sounding combo set up for around £200 and "save" myself a bit of poundage. Or as mused above, an FRFR for about the same.
Mostly I play at home, so it's the GSP into cheap studio monitors, which sounds spectacularly adequate. But I don't have a foot controller for it, so to change sounds from drive to fuzz mid song requires a lean over, a bash of the headstock on the desk, a slight tugging out of the cable from the instrument etc. If I sold my pedals, my Princeton amp which was utterly useless at home, and my mini Supro 5 watter, I'd easily have enough to get a Helix HX FX thingy which would also give some lovely stereo possibilities and better fx than the GSP. I could even use it as a midi switch thing for the GSP I guess.
It's a bit of a ramble I suppose but hoping somebody reads at least some of it and has some thoughts, even if it's just "shut up Matthew and go and play the bloody piano instead".
Comments
Again... on what basis do you think you’re ‘not that interesting’? Playing an instrument automatically makes you a bit more interesting than lots of people.
Standard reply I know, but Katana is the answer. Quiet enough for home use and loud enough for a small gig. Absolutely stonking amp for around £200.
Anyway, if you want to do more than just play in your bedroom, you need to get out there (jam nights, open mikes, etc) and meet other musicians. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen by itself - you do need to be making the first moves.
Best of luck.
re a home setup with minimal kit - if you have any tech and assuming you're on a pc / mac / ipad / tablet atm - then look at software route with a simple interface - theres loads to choose from inc freebies to serious studio capable packages .
many recording packages / .DAW ( digital audio worksation ) come with built in guitar / bass stuff ie garageband on mac or ipad
one of many articles on subject
https://www.musicianonamission.com/guitar-amp-simulators-vs-real/
good luck n happy to talk through if it helps - pm me ..
Yes I did an EP of songs and sent them to my family (I don't really have friends to share it with) and when they eventually bothered to listen (took about three weeks and even then I had to ask again if they'd received it before they even made any comment at all) they said it was boring and my dad asked me if I was "going through one of my silly depression phases again". I posted here and the (much more useful than family feedback was that I used too much reverb and the songs weren't particularly interesting
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
As for the rest, it sounds to me like a little kindness and interest in your passion is more needed than any particular kit. Hopefully the community here has enough peeps that totally get that.
On the kit side, sometimes a review and planning a new rig is a great project. The only real advice I can offer is don’t get rid of what you have for something else unless you’ve actually tried it and know you like it. It’s so easy to think something will fit the the bill based on reading and net videos, only to find when you get it, it’s crap.
Normaly Dazzajl I'd agree with you about not selling all to buy replacements as that's what has happened to get me here - I sold a load of stuff at knockdown prices to buy a Princeton amp which has been utterly useless to me ever since. So in this case i have absolutely no issue selling the stuff to replace it as its no use to me. Since posting the op the other day I've kind of resigned myself to the following:
Home : get a HX FX, into the GSP, into monitors
Grab and go : HX FX into a small amp
Public : either HX into the GSP into frfr, or HX FX into an amp 4cm then send IR effected outputs to the PA or another frfr
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Having heard your stuff on several of the composition challenges i'd say you were being overly harsh on yourself, none of it was boring.
Regarding gear, i decided a while ago that an iPad and garage band was more than enough to get something going, if i ever come up with anything worth spending more on, i'll save up for some studio time.
Make music to please yourself first and foremost, music is consumed in such a different way these days, to most people it seems to be a very transient thing rather than something to be cherished.
I'm lucky if i get more than a few bars of a tune, i rarely finish anything so for you to have completed an EP of songs makes you interesting in my book.
A lot depends on what style of music you want to play and what you want to achieve with your playing. Since it seems that you have decided you only want to play for your own enjoyment then only the style question remains. There is a lot to be said for simplicity IMHO. My main set-up at the moment is guitar, lead, Fender Champ. I have 3 different guitars to choose from and the only other tone shaping ability comes from me and how I play. It helps me just play rather than chase tones around on some multi-option platform, and for me it is a big help. I realise that this won't work for everyone, but if you are in the 'traditional' camp when it comes to your guitar playing then it is worth some thought.
Plus more useful than my existing crappy pedals for when playing outside the house.
As long as it sounds as adequate as the GSP does for amps it will be fine.
It was a pretty pointless OP from me to be honest, just feeling sorry for myself being not very good at things that I've not put enough effort into, and not being able to sell any of my tat (chiefly for the same reason that I don't want it I imagine). I was quite glad the post had sunk down the pages without anybody noticing to be honest!
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Your story is not boring when you find the right listener. That just might happen to be a fellow musician in the same boat. Then you will both have great stories to share and great music to make.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
For me, a Princeton and a few pedals or a half-decent multi-FX would be far preferable to any sort of modelling and FRFR set-up for home playing - it just sounds much more natural.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Plus the fact the Princeton plus a few pedals is around £600 more than I paid for the GSP, which has seen much more positive playing time
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
If so, and you still want to try the idea of a valve amp, I would think about using the Supro cab and something like a ZVex Nano or the little 'yellow submarine' amp @4114Effects just made... around half a watt fully cranked, and - from the Nano I had - only around 0.1W clean. The Nano was specifically designed for recording.
If that's still too bassy, I would perhaps recommend trying a very odd choice of speaker in the cab - (I can't believe I'm going to say this ) possibly something like a Celestion Rocket 50, which has no bottom-end and is very quiet for a 12" speaker. And would be a cheap experiment!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Thank you
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
FWIW @thecolourbox, the following seems pretty apt;
Especially the last sentence, whether in the context of what you originally posted, or in the subsequent regret of having posted it.
I reckon that people here will find things in your material that you have overlooked.