Has anyone else experienced this?

metropolis4 · 10-18-2009, 01:02 PM

I was noticing today that I feel that as I continue to mature as a player, my pedal board keeps shrinking.

I used to use a huge board with 23 pedals on it and swore up and down that I needed every single one of them. I think I had 5 different overdrive pedals, and 4 different fuzz pedals!!

Today for worship my pedal board consisted of 5 pedals total: dyna comp, homemade booster, carbon copy, dd-20 and a tuner. (And I probably could have gotten by just fine without the dd-20 and the dyna comp)

I was playing the same songs I used the huge board for and didn't notice any difference in my ability to get the tones I wanted. If anything it sounded better today because I'm a better player now and have a better feel for my tone and setting in the band than I used to have.

I still keep a couple fuzz's, a wah, an FD2, a homemade dual distortion, a treble booster, a chorus and a volume pedal around just in case I'm in a situation that calls for them, but for the most part they sit in the closet. I keep finding that I don't need all the gear I used to think I needed. Same goes for guitars. I could be happy the rest of my life with nothing but my telecaster.

I keep wondering if the difference is that when we are younger players we are trying to find our voice on the instrument, and we often think we need lots of different gear to get different sounds. But as we mature and find our voice we find that we don't need all that stuff, because we sound like ourselves no matter what we are using.

el cabong · 10-18-2009, 02:14 PM

I would say that I have experienced some similar stuff, although I haven't matured much as a player.

I've had a ton of amps, and more than my share of stomps. I went from a Classic 50, to a Laney, to a Blackheart, to a Visual Sound Pony, to a Maz Jr, to a Soldano HR50, to a Traynor YCV50, and I'm currently back with my Blackheart Little Giant. I still sound exactly the same too. A Zendrive, my Crunch Box, and a decent digital delay and I am good with just about any amp. A good EQ helps too.

LWatford · 10-18-2009, 04:45 PM

I think we start to settle into things a bit, maybe find out what we really need. There is a place for lots of effects, but most of the time (especially live), a couple of pedals may be all you need.

I usually end up coming down to a Tube Screamer type pedal and a delay. I've got a compressor and reverb pedal also on the board right now, and I'll probably add a tremolo back on. If I still had an amp with reverb and tremolo, I'd probably get rid of those. The compressor I go back and forth on.

I think that might be another element we learn...we figure out what all this stuff really does and what we like, and we're not just buying to have the most stuff.

Another thing seems to be that we realize that the stuff only gets us so far.

PianoMan · 10-18-2009, 06:45 PM

It may not be true for everyone, but it certainly is for me. I used to have my massive pedal board, but I sold it all and went for my POD and haven't looked back. All I use on it 90% of the time is a Tubescreamer and a digital delay.

Ax · 10-18-2009, 07:31 PM

I make changes to/modify my board as I see that I need it for my band(s)' current set list(s)... I have a pretty set one now, however, that I don't guess is gonna change anytime soon. Crybaby > Soviet Power > Lazy Sproket (once it gets finished) > Tube Screamer > Fuzz > Chorus > Tuner... It's not a huge set, and I've only had slightly larger chains at times, but I'm happy with it.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 10-18-2009, 09:08 PM

I did, but depending on my amp I may stack 3 overdrives all set at light drive.

I think I have 6 or so dirt pedals and a couple delays. However, each have a variety of flavors. (and they range from 1 mesa, 1 marshall, 1 dumble and a couple other overdrives. and a fuzzy distortion. 2 I just use with baritones, as those require an entirely different distortion pallet, and I could get away with a lot less. However, I don't have to, and they all fit on my pedal train

**akaukal** · 10-18-2009, 09:32 PM

For recording, I constantly borrow different pedals and such. My current board that I use for live stuff is six pedals. Jekyll and Hyde > Big Muff > Carbon Copy > CE-5 > CS-3> TU-2.

Other than my tuner, for worship, I only every use the J&H and the Carbon Copy.

AudioAUnderdog · 10-19-2009, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metropolis4

I keep wondering if the difference is that when we are younger players we are trying to find our voice on the instrument, and we often think we need lots of different gear to get different sounds. But as we mature and find our voice we find that we don't need all that stuff, because we sound like ourselves no matter what we are using.

I think that's the way it was for me. Three years ago I had a huge multi-effects board and I always had lots of effects going. Two years ago I had a chorus, a phaser, a wah, a metal zone and a jekyll and hyde. A year ago I took it down to just one overdrive, one distortion and a wah and I've stuck with that. Although now I really think I could get by with just the overdrive if I had to.

crazymoose · 10-19-2009, 01:18 AM

I'm at the point where my pedal-board is growing, and I can't see needing anywhere near 23 pedals. Assuming my amp has nothing but clean, I could live with just my jekyll and hyde and a tuner for worship. Delay, chorus, and wah, are all be nice, but not needed. I couldn't live without some sort of heavy distortion for metal aside from worship. Also I love my loop pedal for when I'm playing alone at home, but again it's not needed for live.