Inveterate Flippers - Are you in denial?

monquixote

A comment I saw recently made me think there are possibly a few kinds of GAS hounds out there. 

There are collectors who buy lots of stuff and keep hold of it and then there is the category I belong to, that of the inveterate flippers. 

I buy and sell shed loads of stuff, mostly pedals, but it's kind of a hobby for me. I don't have the time to get out to shops and my experience of trying stuff in shops is that it typically tells you very little in the real world. I could of course mail order stuff and send it back under distance selling regs, if I don't like it but that makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable especially as I only tend to keep about one in ten of the things I buy.

So I treat buying pedals as a kind of rental with the postage charges when I sell it being the rental fee. I'm under no illusions that there is no such thing as mojo and the main limitation in the quality of the music I produce is my own shortcomings as a guitarist not because I just haven't found the right gear yet.

I like trying different circuits and learning about how things sound and fit together and if there's one thing I've learned it's that I could probably use just about anything half decent and still do what I do.

I've heard a few people saying they live in hope of the next piece of gear being the magic tone provider that will take them to the next level only to be disappointed. 

So who's a hobby flipper and who's in denial?

prh777

Denial. Uber high end ODs for metal to make me play like Misha.....

hubobulous

If I had to fall in one camp, it's the one that researches purchases so that they are keepers. There's always some stuff that gets sold on, but it's rarely within a year or two of the original purchase date. Now, that Velvet Fuzz you just bought....?? ;-)

mike_l

I'm not in denial.

I acquire lots of dirty pedals.

And Wahs.

And a few others......

JDE

Hobby flipper, but have got to the point where I know in deliberately putting off getting a new project started because I keep flip flopping over pretty trivial things like pedals, so I'm going to stop. I rarely write or play anymore because I'm too busy "testing" stuff, or packing it up and sending it out. Fun while it lasted but I've had enough now.

ThePrettyDamned

I really like trying gear, and selling on.

I'm not a brilliant player or anything, but I do love experiencing different gear and objectively seeing "what the hype is about". I also get a great deal of pleasure playing under hyped gear, often finding they are just as good as the really hyped stuff.

And I love the finishing process of guitars. The ones I've built have varied (jazzmaster not so great, bad idea for first project! Others pretty great if I do say so myself) and I'll soon be building a telecaster. Do I need one? Nah, but it'll look pretty on my wall

guitarfishbay

I got over pedal buying when I discovered I only had 2 feet and wasn't very good at using them either. As a consequence I always have a considerable gap between my pedal switches as compared to the average board on here, meaning I can't really fit many pedals on quite a big board. Limiting myself to the space I have available greatly minimises GAS options for me anyway. http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i123/guitarfishbay/20140221_132402_zps2b36ebda.jpg

guitarfishbay

hubobulous said:

If I had to fall in one camp, it's the one that researches purchases so that they are keepers. There's always some stuff that gets sold on, but it's rarely within a year or two of the original purchase date. Now, that Velvet Fuzz you just bought....?? ;-)

I'm more in this camp too. I tend to do a lot of research before I buy something.

Drew_TNBD

Hmmmm... not in denial as such. I don't buy pedals for tone. I buy them for workflow. The problem is, I can never settle on a workflow. Mainly because I have this whacky notion of being able to have it all.

The best board I ever had was a bunch of single pedals, two Voodoo Labs pedal switchers, and a Commander. I didn't bother with tap tempo back in the day, and my delays were analog ones from Malekko. The next best board I ever had was based around a Line 6 M9 and a few extra single pedals. Since then I've gone through quite a number of delays and reverbs, and they've all been pretty much a muchness.

fretmeister

I just enjoy changing stuff around.

I find new pedals just as inspiring as a new instrument or listening to new music. 

I've recently (1st time in 25 years) found fuzz pedals I like and I definitely play differently when using them.

I am quite relaxed about money lost on new pedals as I also think of it as bit of a rental period, but if I can buy used then I will.

digitalscream

I've gone through a decent amount of gear, but I wouldn't call myself a "flipper". My core rig has stayed pretty much constant for the last few years - yeah, I've flirted with things like the Eleven Rack here and there, but I've kept my last one on the basis that trying to force it into my live rig was simply using it outside what it was designed for.

I've bought and sold a lot of amps, but for the last few years it's mainly just been Jet City amps (followed by selling them because of money pressure, and then buying another one...or two...or three...).

Prior to three years ago, though, I was constantly buying and selling stuff. Pedals, effects units, amps, guitars...I think the cure for the guitars was just finding one which fit me absolutely (the Jaden Rose). Since I'm convinced that there's nothing out there that will do the job as well as it does, there's little point buying anything else (except another Jaden Rose, of course) and the one I've got on the way is going to be here to stay given the fact that it's basically unique. Similarly, the Jet City amps cured my amp GAS (unless I end up in a position to get a Soldano at some point), and I've come to the realisation that pretty much every drive pedal sounds exactly the same through these amps so it's cured my pedal GAS at the same time.

So...yeah, there's a cure. It just relies on finding exactly the right gear...which can be an expensive proposition

jellyroll

Hobby flipper. But I keep forgetting to flip....

vasselmeyer

I flip to try and get the sound in my head. These sounds are of course a reference to some of my favourite bands, or at least the sounds I need for the covers band I'm currently in.

I'm almost there as well. I'm sorted for mods, delays, reverbs, and wah. I'm still not settled on a compressor (will probably pick up an Xotic SP for that). For fuzz and Marshall crunch I'm sorted as well as boost. The one thing I'm still short of is mild crunch. I'm almost there with a Klon clone but it's not quite what I want. I'm thinking perhaps Liquid Sunshine.

So for me it's a process of elimination. Once I'm there it's pretty my board is staying as it is.

monquixote

The SP and Liquid Sunshine are both on my small list of keepers.

vasselmeyer

@monquixote That's a shame because one of my keepers (Xotic SL Drive) came from you! First dibs when they've fallen out of favour...

monquixote

Never say never, but I think it's unlikely. The LS has been on my board for about 3 years and the SP for 2 and I've never considered selling either of them. That's fairly rare for me. The only other thing that's lasted that long is my CAE wah.

dogload

I can't help it! It's the lure of little coloured boxes of sonic joy! Add to this the chance that aural satisfaction is just over the next brow... it's a virtually insatiable hunger for THAT sound!

I think every now and then you get a keeper that makes you wonder why you never got one sooner (in my case the El Capistan) but there are relatively few of those.

Beexter

vasselmeyer said:

I flip to try and get the sound in my head. These sounds are of course a reference to some of my favourite bands, or at least the sounds I need for the covers band I'm currently in.

I'm almost there as well. I'm sorted for mods, delays, reverbs, and wah. I'm still not settled on a compressor (will probably pick up an Xotic SP for that). For fuzz and Marshall crunch I'm sorted as well as boost. The one thing I'm still short of is mild crunch. I'm almost there with a Klon clone but it's not quite what I want. I'm thinking perhaps Liquid Sunshine.

So for me it's a process of elimination. Once I'm there it's pretty my board is staying as it is.

This is pretty well where I am. Although as @jellyroll said, I keep forgetting to flip. I think I'm pretty well there now after a LOT of trial and error. I'm now down to just 4 pedals on my gigging board:

Xotic SP Comp - this really is everything I've ever wanted from a comp but until I tried the SP, couldn't find. I've been through 4 compressors before settling on the SP.

Xotic SL Drive - when I want classic Marshall crunch, I step on this. There is not enough room on this thread to list the number of drive pedals I've gone through to end up at the SL.....

Moller OD - the built in boost and the blend control on this makes it the winner, effectively making it two pedals in one. Very versatile.

Zoom MS70- CDR - this thing is a proper Swiss army knife of a pedal and has replaced dedicated tuners, delays, reverbs, chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo pedals. The delays and verbs are great, as are the choruses. The phaser, flanger and tremolo are maybe not as good as dedicated units but in context of playing live in the covers band I play in, they are certainly good enough to get the general vibe.

Of course, I still have a big collection of pedals that are off the board and I do need to do a purge soon so keep an eye on the classifieds! As of now, my GAS is pretty well under control 'cos I'm finally happy with the sounds I'm getting. But never say never....

hugbot

I was thinking the other day about how many awesome pedals I've had and flipped and now want back. I can't even remember why I sold most of them....

dogload

The only one I keep re-buying is the Electro Harmonix Micro Synth. It's never as good as I think it should be, but I just keep having to try!

meltedbuzzbox

I find I get to a point then have a mass purge. 

I will happily punt £20 - £40 on a pedal to see if its any good and move it on if I dont like it. 

The more expensive ones can be a sticking point. I bought a thorpy clone for too much money and I cant give the damn thing away now. 

I haven't ever searched for that pedal that will make me a tone god.  I love the sound of my guitar so I try to preserve that as much as possible by using transparent pedals. I dont get all pissy about true by pass and resistors and all that other Jazz. Like most things guitar related if it sounds nice and plays well that will do. I dont care how it is assembled, if it has correct components and all the other stuff people get caught up in.