Burned out

[Orvillain]

Get a real amp and use the axe for just effects. That's what I'm doing. Takes a lot of the worry out of it too.

 

[la szum]

Why not just keep the Axe setup and also get a grab and go rig?

I don't see any point in vacillating to a Kemper. Again.

 

[la szum]

I am also leery of giving anyone advice. Not qualified. Especially with someone like Met, who
is far more astute and accomplished than most of us.

But man, he sure like he needs it right now guys.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

Sometimes we need to embrace the simple fact that all you really need is a couple of pedals and a guitar...

 

[AlbertA]

You may have ADD.

 

[Will Chen]

I use a handful of models and that's it. I don't care that there's 300, I don't really care about OD pedals at all, and once I get something dialed in it pretty much stays that way (though I've had to make some adjustments to low end with my new Strandberg).

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I’m getting rid of options cause it annoys the hell out of me that thinking about which option to chose takes too much time.
In my case mostly hardware/configurations…not bitten by the endless modeler tweak bug
So I’m selling stuff..also stuff I really like

2 takeaways that helped:

- The realization that your ears get used to whatever you use..and you sound more or less the same whatever you use. Because the human ear calibrates…not you, not your listener will get any joy out of the last 5%.That last 5% only reveals itself in A/B comparison...comparing itself is the issue…not the 5%

- The awareness that a problem with sound, or an improvement, is something you can always fix at a later point in time…you don’t have to do it now, especially if you have sounds that work. Wether you do it today, wether you do it everyday the coming month..the result will be no better then when you do it no earlier then 30 days from now. Thats different from practicing…you cant undo a day where you didn’t practice, and whatever you practice today will travel with you the rest of your life.

Same goes for gearpurchases. Sure..there’s stuff that is more convinient, maybe sound a tad better…but what happens if I don’t buy it today…and rethink it 3 months from now? Less joy in playing? Missed out and something? no…stuff will be there 3 months from now..maybe even better stuff…

 

[ragingplatypi]

I build patches in my HX Stomp that have 3 levels of amp gain and then I have one modeled drive and one real drive pedal. My amp gain and pedal gain don’t sound too much different from each other but they react very differently. So I’ll use one or the other depending on my mood, the humidity, and general electrical whatnot that makes everything the same but different.

 

[metropolis_4]

It definitely requires being considerate of what rabbit holes you go down. Maybe you are better off if you give yourself some time limits on how long to work on something. I mean most of the time when we use real pedals, we turn it to something good enough and then just keep playing instead of trying to find that last %2 better tone from what we have.

Absolutely. I feel like the prevalence of options quickly leads to “this one might work a little better here…” rather than just going with what’s good enough.

I am also leery of giving anyone advice. Not qualified. Especially with someone like Met, who
is far more astute and accomplished than most of us.

But man, he sure like he needs it right now guys.

Haha, thanks for being my support group

You may have ADD.

May

 

[duzie]

Here’s a positive thought..
At least you have the proficiency to play.
Imagine having option paralysis and the inability to play .
Welcome to my world

 

[EOengineer]

Absolutely. I feel like the prevalence of options quickly leads to “this one might work a little better here…” rather than just going with what’s good enough.

There’s something to be said for the ingenuity forced upon us by the limits of old school single purpose gear. As a dumb teenager I figured out how to make my MXR 117 Flanger cover chorus, phaser, and ring mod sounds because I needed it to. Turns out it created its own sound that hinted at those effects without sounding fake or over processed, which made me sound unique.

It’s perhaps a bit like a painter limiting their color palette. Maybe that tree doesn’t look exactly like a real tree now, but maybe something more creative and emotive came out of working with that limitation.

I’m not sure it’s really an analog verse digital thing like we sometimes speculate, but more about how our imposed creative limitations can force us into new creative spaces, or maybe even lead us to something unexpected that just “feels right” I guess.

 

[shanesiegle]

I use two amps in my FM3 for a four hour set. You’re doing more complex stuff for sure but it doesn’t have to be over complicated.

 

[Stone]

@metropolis_4 your a man of experience go with what you know and what works
it really is that simple , many options in Fractal means they are at your disposal, does not mean they are required

 

[FuzzyAce]

Maybe just try a simple, uncomplicated amp, with very few controls. Perhaps something like the Mark VII.

 

[burningyen]

One of the nice things about being in a tribute band is that I'm always shooting for a specific tone. I don't spend time taste-testing the infinite possible recipes in the hopes of stumbling across "my tone" or squeezing the next 0.5% of tonal improvement out of the gear. I think the only way out of your rut is to be more goal-oriented. I find I'm the least worried about niggling little details when my I'm busiest making actual music.

 

[dk_ace]

Find one amp model that does what you like, and pretend like the rest don’t exist. Just like what you would do if you had one amp for gigs. If at some point it really isn’t doing what you want and you need another, go virtual amp shopping and find the thing that you want at that point in time and then just use that.

Same for drives and boosts, although I find those easier to decision and swap out over time than amps.

D

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I only use one amp model for 98% of my playing. Just the one, and different levels of boost or overdrive. Approach it like you bought a nice amp and the option paralysis goes away.

 

[Stone]

ID imagine the type of amps depends on what your Playing I for one am glad have many types but there are a handful that im glad to have in the Fractal

 

[metropolis_4]

I know I can build what I need, I’m just feeling tired of the process of building tones for a new show. Maybe it’s time to start saving some presets instead of building them fresh each show.

Also I’m 100% onboard with the idea of trying to approach it like it’s a single amp I own.

 

[Jarick]

Honestly I can sympathize. I stumble over the options quite a bit myself.

In your shoes, can you just create a super basic preset like the drive-amp-cab you described?

Do you have a real amp with an effects loop you can use for monitoring purposes, so you can isolate the amp and drive first?