Can't be bothered with the chase any more.

Jonathanthomas83

Excuse the click-baity, dramatic title.

Feeling a bit down about guitar stuff today. I sold the Kemper because the only profile I was using was a clean Laney profile. So with that in mind, I purchased another Laney Lionheart, like my fifth in 10 years. I've built a solid collection of nice pedals that sound good with that profile and (stupidly) thinking everything would just translate nicely with the real thing, I plugged in yesterday and was underwhelmed and feeling sorry for myself.

The amp is faultless, I think they've upped their game with these newer Lionheart's, it's better than all the ones I've had before in terms of build quality. Sounds fantastic with the Strat and Broadcaster but I was left really underwhelmed with the Les Paul, which I'm sure is partly down to a weirdly hot neck humbucker.

Furthermore, many of my nice pedals now sound either shit or too aggressive with the amp and not as good as what they did with the Kemper. I'm not saying I'm pining for another Kemper, I'm not, there's a reason I sold it, but the amp has caused me to have to rethink the entire setup now, which was never the plan - and frankly, to do the job that these pedals did with the Kemper, I wouldn't know where to even start and don't really want to start the search for alternatives.

If I just played one style of music, with a Strat and Tele, I'd be loving life, but I don't and can't afford three different setups to suit my needs.

As dramatic as it sounds, I've trodden this road so many times, I'm ready to knock it all on the head. You know what they say about doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results...insanity!

57Deluxe

Leftfield: Ask your GP to have your hearing checked. Tinnitus can creep up and is not always the ringing in the ear syndrome, but a significant change to how you hear frequencies.

mark123

Being devils advocate
Are you chasing the if i buy xyz pedal or xyz amp i will sound /play better ? Because it's the old adage .
Jeff Beck with a Yamaha Pacifica and Boss katana amp v joe bloggs with his Fender custom shop strat and boutique amp and hand made pedals
,.....guess who still sounds amazing ? 
I'm guilty of it myself , this place doesn't help .
Best things i've bought are the spark positive grid amp and set of AKG headphones find myself practising more instead of looking for 'the next big thing '

digitalkettle

octatonic

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Excuse the click-baity, dramatic title.

It isn't what you have, it is what you do with it that counts.
I stopped worrying about gear a long time ago because it largely doesn't matter.

Get into your playing, learn a bunch of more songs, transcribe solos, play with people more.

Most of the playing I do is into a small solid state amp.
It doesn't sound great- I don't spend much time tweaking it, because I am working on my *playing* not my *sound*.

Leave it a month before you buy or sell anything.
Focus on the craft of guitar playing.

noisepolluter

No harm in taking a break from guitar for a bit, see if that recharges the batteries 

guitarjack66

digitalkettle said:

I recommend Pointless instead.

Greatape

We've all been there. I feel your pain, OP. The FOMO is strong. 

Most guitar players don't hang around on forums and endlessly trade gear. Especially most pro's. I've realised I'm way more interested in playing than gear. Tbh, having few available funds very much helped with focussing on needs Vs wants. 

idiotwindow

Jonathanthomas83 said:

As dramatic as it sounds, I've trodden this road so many times, I'm ready to knock it all on the head. 

Without wishing to be blunt, that sounds a bit petulant. I guess you need to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve and whether you can enjoy simply playing the guitar without feeling the need to "chase" something? Perhaps play acoustic for a while and leave all the amp/pedal/tone stuff aside.

Jonathanthomas83

idiotwindow said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

As dramatic as it sounds, I've trodden this road so many times, I'm ready to knock it all on the head. 

Without wishing to be blunt, that sounds a bit petulant. I guess you need to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve and whether you can enjoy simply playing the guitar without feeling the need to "chase" something? Perhaps play acoustic for a while and leave all the amp/pedal/tone stuff aside.

Sorry, yes, I can understand why you'd say that. I'm not trying to be a spoiled brat about it, but that's probably how it's coming out.

I feel I've focussed on my playing and writing for years and have a bunch of songs I want to record but am very picky about tones and how I want things to sound, I don't have the money to back that up. It's like a roadblock to recording a written song when I don't feel that the sound is right. I have a definitive sound in my head and if it's not right, then I won't record it. That will sound stupid to some, but that's me, I'm afraid.

And to that end, I don't feel I can fully enjoy guitar again until many of these songs are recorded and out of my head to make room for more things.

26.2

But what are you chasing? Do you enjoy gear or do you enjoy playing guitar? They’re not mutually exclusive but your balance might be off. Set yourself a non-gear related guitar goal perhaps?

Jonathanthomas83

26.2 said:

But what are you chasing? Do you enjoy gear or do you enjoy playing guitar? They’re not mutually exclusive but your balance might be off. Set yourself a non-gear related guitar goal perhaps?

As I allude to above, if the tone in my head doesn't match the tone I'm getting, then I'm not happy playing. As flippant and spoiled as that sounds. Hopefully it's a phase, but I've been like it for years now.

Blueingreen

mark123 said:

 Because it's the old adage .
Jeff Beck with a Yamaha Pacifica and Boss katana amp v joe bloggs with his Fender custom shop strat and boutique amp and hand made pedals
,.....guess who still sounds amazing ? 

It’s not just Beck v Joe Bloggs though. Local hero Dave who’s a 7/10 player but not much interested in gear using a Bandit and Squier and a couple of Boss pedals v local hero Mike whose a 6/10 player and gear obsessive with Custom Shop Strat, Two Rock and boutique pedals, who will sound like the better player? My money’s on Dave every day of the week.

GoFish

Just to clarify: You have written / arranged songs and are now ready to record them. You have specific sounds in mind  but don't know how to achieve them?

What stopped you recording the songs using the Kemper and the Laney clean preset?

GoFish

If it's a new Lionheart, don't you need to wait for speaker break in etc.?

idiotwindow

Jonathanthomas83 said:

idiotwindow said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

As dramatic as it sounds, I've trodden this road so many times, I'm ready to knock it all on the head. 

Without wishing to be blunt, that sounds a bit petulant. I guess you need to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve and whether you can enjoy simply playing the guitar without feeling the need to "chase" something? Perhaps play acoustic for a while and leave all the amp/pedal/tone stuff aside.

And to that end, I don't feel I can fully enjoy guitar again until many of these songs are recorded and out of my head to make room for more things.

Ok, understood. What is it about the current set-up that isn't working with the Les Paul? Are there any other, cheaper, digital modelling solutions that could substitute for the Kemper in your previous set-up? Perhaps buy used and then sell on when you've recorded your songs?

darthed1981

mark123 said:

Being devils advocate
Are you chasing the if i buy xyz pedal or xyz amp i will sound /play better ? Because it's the old adage .
Jeff Beck with a Yamaha Pacifica and Boss katana amp v joe bloggs with his Fender custom shop strat and boutique amp and hand made pedals
,.....guess who still sounds amazing ? 
I'm guilty of it myself , this place doesn't help .
Best things i've bought are the spark positive grid amp and set of AKG headphones find myself practising more instead of looking for 'the next big thing '

Pretty much exactly what I'd say.

beed84

octatonic said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Excuse the click-baity, dramatic title.

It isn't what you have, it is what you do with it that counts.
I stopped worrying about gear a long time ago because it largely doesn't matter.

Get into your playing, learn a bunch of more songs, transcribe solos, play with people more.

Most of the playing I do is into a small solid state amp.
It doesn't sound great- I don't spend much time tweaking it, because I am working on my *playing* not my *sound*.

Leave it a month before you buy or sell anything.
Focus on the craft of guitar playing.

Agreed. I’d also suggest practising electric unplugged more often – that way you only have to focus on your guitar. When you do plug in to a amp, something we might take for granted, it can be really rewarding to hear a completely different sonic response, whereas hearing it all the time can become a little jaded.

But feeling crestfallen about your gear is an opportunity to play around with it and feel good again. Take pedals off, put pedals on, tweak things, do something different or keep things the same. Maybe make a smaller board for home practice and reserve your larger one for gigs. Whatever you decide, though, gear is secondary to your playing ability.

p90fool

GoFish said:

If it's a new Lionheart, don't you need to wait for speaker break in etc.?

That's exactly my thought. If your pedals all worked well with the profile but are aggressive and too "forward" with the amp, it could either be the speaker needing more use or simply that your ears have become used to the artificial end-of-chain rather than amp-in-room feel of modellers. 

Either way the answer is the same, play more! 

26.2

Jonathanthomas83 said:

26.2 said:

But what are you chasing? Do you enjoy gear or do you enjoy playing guitar? They’re not mutually exclusive but your balance might be off. Set yourself a non-gear related guitar goal perhaps?

As I allude to above, if the tone in my head doesn't match the tone I'm getting, then I'm not happy playing. As flippant and spoiled as that sounds. Hopefully it's a phase, but I've been like it for years now.

But there is no tone in your head, only the tones you hear and more importantly the tones you create. Just work with what you have. 

It does sound like you maybe need a break to recharge your (9 volt) batteries. Don’t overthink it. 

(As an aside I’m bloody sick of the word ‘tone’ and all it implies).

victorludorum

These tones that you hear, are they the sounds coming from isolated guitar tracks on record or are they the sounds coming from a completely mixed and mastered song?