Gear Finances

I remember when the first of my little circle of friends got a credit card. It was kind of amazing. I grew up in a middle class family and seeing one of my parents pay for anything via that little piece of plastic was kind of a rare thing. I remember getting one was kind of like joining a exclusive club.

By the time I came of age, in the early 90's Credit cards were all over the place, it was no longer exclusive. It wasn't long you heard people in their 20's talk about having credit card debt in the thousands.

Music stores got into the credit thing too, with 0% financing. I admittedly fell into this trap. Buying my 1st PRS(used mind you) in 1995, for $899. $0 down. by the time I paid that off, with all the finance charges, interest, and late fees (No on-line payments back then, so a Check had to be mailed). I think I probably could have bought 2 decent PRS's and a really nice amp. I cringe thinking about all that money that went off into the ether.

Over the years I've seemed to maintain a small amount of credit card debt, from various sources, car repairs, household stuff, etc. Thankfully I have a decent interest rate, and a card that does have a rewards program. But it never seems to get to zero. So I ran the numbers and right now, coming out of the xmas season, I put myself on a strict spending clampdown to get this to zero by June 2017. But you do have to live a little, and budgeting is key for any financial situation.

These days, I budget my music stuff sparingly. I have a separate Savings account at a local credit union, who's ATM card doesn't act as a credit card. Each paycheck I direct deposit $25, it's not alot, but enough to add up over time. My wish list is still pretty long, and expensive, but it has made me prioritize what I spend my money on. If I don't have the money for it cash wise, I don't get it until I do. I've funded a few purchases this way, and the time it takes me to save up the $, gives time to reflect and internally debate any purchases. Some times it's a passing fad of just newness that makes you want something, and in most cases later on buyer's remorse sets in. Now I have to say I have less buyer's remorse, and less stuff/crap.

Every month or so I go into my storage unit, and I find some music gear gadget or gizmo that I grabbed because I "needed" it. It was so important I purchased it, either via cash or credit, and now it's in a closet or drawer and I forgot about it, or serves no purpose. Even worse, it's something that I doubt someone would want to go through the hassle of buying it from craigslist.

The idea of "I need this item to complete my musical vision/project" isn't new. But it is a false statement. I've gotten through alot without getting these items. Yes it could make things easier in one sense or another, but after being in music for decades, I shouldn't need anything over the top to make my music.

I know alot of musicians that got themselves in debt on gear, and regular (over)spending. Even worse was hearing of them selling off their guitars and amps to make rent, in some cases selling off everything to the point they stopped playing altogether.

Now that NAMM has passed, and lot of the goodies that interested me are becoming available. I know my wish list will get longer, and more expensive, but I know I'm going to be reasonable on my future purchases. New gear is cool, but less debit is better.

A look back and resolutions

Now that 2016 is over (good riddance), It's time to hit the reset button in so many ways.

My goals for music is to play more this year, as it was last year. So in 2016, I ended up forming a cover band, "The Inbetweeners". I have to say it was a challenge. I did dabble in cover band situations in the 1990's and it really wasn't fun. I can trace my disinterest at the time to the fact I wanted to write and perform my own music, with my own bands. Of course back then, there were alot more venues to play for original music. Now, in my area, alot of clubs that would welcome original bands have gone by the wayside. There are still some options, just not as many. However alot of new places have popped up that have cover bands. Also, back in the day, the players I was doing cover songs with, really were not the kind of people I kind of gravitated to, personally. They were great musicians, and I did learn alot during that time, but overall, not my ideal situation.

So The Inbetweeners is formed by musicians I like as people, and as musicians. We've been fairly democratic in picking out songs for shows, and it's certainly been an interesting challenge. I'm still working alot of the aspects in a few ways. Figuring out some signature solos like Tom Petty's "American Girl" or trying to work out Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", while trying to create some interesting improvisational solos for some other songs.

Our first show we did the standard electric type sound, while our last gig was semi acoustic. Our drummer played a combination of Cajon, Djembe, snare drum, hi hat. It was a great way to get the feel of drums, but not the standard drum kit sounds. Our singer played Acoustic guitar, and our bass player played electric, as I did too. It kind of opened up things sonically, as no one was clashing with the other. The challenge there was knowing there was no place to hide in the sonics of other instruments. I think this sound format was alot more controllable as well, without alot of the overall "loudness".

Overall it was a success, and I'm looking foreward to new gigs for The Inbetweeners in 2017. Hopefully when the New England weather wont affect things in the spring.

My Original Band The Goodbye Theory, completed our 5th EP this year "We've Got A Bad Feeling About This"

https://thegoodbyetheory.bandcamp.com/album/weve-got-a-bad-feeling-about-this-ep

Of course in the link above, you can listen, and hopefully buy it.

The big challenges there was trying to break out of my standard licks and tricks. Thankfully I had help, as our singer Rob pushed me into really breaking things down. By the time those sessions were over, my callouses were shredded to the point of pain. I'm happy I was pushed into new areas, and it's made me aware of my weaknesses.

So for 2017 I'd like to gig a bit more with The Goodbye Theory as well, again when snowstorms aren't an issue. We did a gig in 2015 after one of Boston's largest snow storms, and had to haul gear over snowbanks that were 4 feet high, and we didn't draw a big crowd.

I have more than a few avenues to enhance my playing. A few years back, my wife got me Mark Tremonti's Instructional DVD. I kind of scratched the surface on it, but I'd like to dive into it some more. This past fall I grabbed David Grissom's Instructional DVD as well, and I'd love to really dig into that.

Recording wise I have a few little projects in the works, I now have a pretty decent rig for home recording. I don't think there will be a Goodbye Theory EP for 2017, but Im sure I'll be doing some recording. I'm up for doing more overall playing, as time will allow. 

The only things I'm looking at are ways to make my rig a bit smaller. Considering I have a MINI coupe, trunk space is at a premium. I've got it down to 2 guitars in gig bags, a Pedalboard in a Hard case, a backpack, and my Fender Hot rod Deluxe.

Ampwise, I did my last Inbetweeners gig with my Hotone Diamond, with an Eginater 1x12.

I've found that Fender has 1x12 cabinets for $199 with a celestion speaker. They are alot smaller than the Eginater. So, my idea is to get a pair of those, and sell my current Eginater 1x12. Ideally I could get another of those Hotone Mini amps, and have a nice micro stereo rig, that would be useful live, at practice, and in the studio. I don't think I would part with Fender HRD, as it is a pretty good workhorse amp. The JHS black box really helps reign in the volume. My pedalboard will be ever changing I know. I'm currently maxxed out power wise, so I may be on the look out for some solutions for that.

I sill lust after a Baritone or a Fender offset, or a Piezo equipped PRS, but I can certainly achieve this years goals with what I have already. Im sure I'll have some pipe dream guitar projects that will try to distract from my actual guitar projects for this year. I still have the goal to modify/configure my existing guitars to be more functional to my needs.

The idea for 2017's resolutions: Play live more, explore more, practice more and record (audio and video) some more. More is better.

So lets put 2016 where it belongs, and get to making whatever resolutions become more action than wishes!

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 12

This has been a pretty interesting voyage tough a pretty narrow topic. Recalling certain pieces of gear, the bands I was playing in, and the music I was playing at the time was interesting.

I don't like to live in the past tho. I know guys that remember some pieces of gear, and go off on how awesome it was, and while I don't argue the fact that it WAS good, there's some new stuff that can do the best of what the old stuff ever could, and then some, with more options and flexability. Inevitably I get the "Naw, there was something about that" speech. Like the gear gods came together in a deux ex machina like event to make this one item, and there was something special, in a circuit board that was meant as a product. Gearheads can live in the amber of time, suspended and preserved in the past, best viewed with rose colored glasses. Gear that can be called "old faithful" is great, when it's faithful, and not just old.

Some of this old gear is just that, old gear, and this effect has it's place. It takes a certain player to develop their sound and make it their own. Eric Clapton shunned the wah wah pedal for years, then did "Bad Love" and brought it back. It's not the use of something that's bad, it's the abuse of something that is bad.

I talked about my current chorus choices and my use of them in the music I make. It's like a seasoning or sauce. I like Sirracha, but on ice cream, I'm sure it's not that great. So I use chorus now for an "effect", not part and parcel of my overall sound. It's a great application of this effect to drive something home, like the chorus of a song. Butch Walker commented that "You gotta have a chorus pedal to play the chorus". Kind of a no brainer statement.

Here's a great video of Butch talking about some of the past, as well as his use of a chorus pedal (around 2:10):

"A chorus pedal can be your friend sometimes" is a great statement. If that's the case I've had a more than a few friends that helped me make music over the years. Thankfully, that's a literal as well as figurative statement that stands true, in my situation. Throughout my musical experiences, I've had growth through the gear that helped me make my sound, and the friends that I've been lucky to play with.

This was a fun romp down memory lane, but as of now, I'm waiting to see what the future brings..in so many ways.

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 11

So What do I use for chorus these days? Well I do have a Keeley restored Boss CE-2, but I did manage to grab one of TC electronic's John Petrucci Dreamscape Pedals, and now that one lives on my pedal board.

It does 2 modes of Chorus, Flanger, and vibrato. One of each is meant for clean guitars, while the other is meant for overdriven guitars. Now I use it for both clean and distorted sounds, so I defaulted to using the distorted modes. They don't seem to do as much processing on the low strings, meaning the bottom end doesn't get washed out. The Flangers and vibrato modes are ok, but I kind of don't like Switching or messing with settings things alot live, or even at practice.

I do however love the sound of Chorus and Delay at the same time, so I have a dedicated loop that has the Chorus and delay. My current delay of choice is the MXR Carbon Copy. When I hit the loop, they both enter my signal chain (chorus first, delay afterwards). This does add some cabling to my board, but the loop's true bypass switch does keep my signal path alot clearer.

Most of the time in my band I play with overdriven sounds. maybe 3 times in a set I engage these two together, usually for choruses of songs, for dramatic effect. In band when I was the only guitar player I used it alot overall to fill out the sound. Since I play in a band with another guitar player, I don't need to fill up any extra sonic space. Plus, that modulation with another distorted guitar can tend to make things mushy at times, so It really only gets used gingerly.

Here's a quick sample of how I use chorus and delay in most of my setup. This 2 minute clip really shows the effect of when both are engaged at the same time. It also kind of keeps the tap dancing to a minimum. The only Pedals that are on in this setup are the TC Dreamscape chorus, MXR Carbon Copy Delay, which are in the loop pedal's loop, and my BBE Sonic Stomp. The amp is a Hotone Diamond, and the cabinet is a Egnater with a 1x12 celestion.

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 10

Line 6 Modulation

So it's either Analog knobs, or fully digital with menus and software? no inbetween? Well there is an inbetween.

I was in this boat years ago, I liked having a leslie simulator, a flanger, a phaser, and a chorus. It unfortunately beat up my tone, filled up space, and made my pedalboard complicated. I went with Line 6's MM4 Modulation pedal.



There were 16 modes of all sorts of modulation. I liked the Tri-chorus & dimension choruses the most. with 5 knobs that covered various parameters that worked on all the settings, once you found a setting you liked, step on one of the footswitches and hold. It saved that sound to that button and with 4 buttons it gave me plenty of options. I think I paid $150ish for mine, and it was great. The only bummer was that you needed to make sure you used a special cable for your pedalboard power supply, as the power was not the standard 9v style. I had 2 chorus modes, a flanger, and a Tremolo set in it, and It's easy to see how one of these paired with one of line 6's DL4 delay units could really make a nice pedalboard, and a very simple setup that still gives plenty of choices, with no option paralisis.

I had this with my mesa boogie MKIII rig, and eventually I went to POD Pro with a power amp. I parted ways with more than a few pedals, the MM4 was one of them when this change occoured, as my POD Pro had all of these modulations built into it already. I don't miss it, but it's one of those things that really gives a ton of bang for the buck. Too bad they don't make it anymore.

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 9

So we've covered Chorus in the form of pedals and racks, mostly with all analog controls, with mostly static settings, meaning, they get shut on and off, not alot of real time tweaking and the like.

In the 1980's, rack gear was the way to go, with multi effects units that could do all sorts of effects at the same time. Some players got tired of paramaters and menus, and eventually went back to analog pedals, or dropped effects entirely, because of the immedacy of getting results with knobs and switches.

But there are tone tweakers that miss that adjustability, and the ability to recall all sorts of variations. Strymon's Mobius is a pretty good example of all that.

Now this does ALOT. Autoswell, Flanger, Univibe, Envelope filter, Tremolo, oh and chorus. The ability to make so many variations (200!), and save them, without the hassle of navigating endless menus. With Tap Tempo, Expression pedal input, and MIDI, it's chock full of Hi-fi chorus goodness. It's not cheap tho, coming in at $450. Even for me this might be a bit much, but the Multi delay line chorus really caught my ears. Besides, Since I usually use chorus WITH delay almost exclusively, this could retire my delay..and my tremolo pedal, and my fliters, and my..well you get the idea.

Here's a great video demo on it:

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 8

Now Yes, Chorus is typically an 80's effect, and when I really came into myself as a player it was the 90's. I'll admit I wasn't much into Grunge or any alternative music from the start. I did like some; Alice & Chains, Soundgarden, but it took awhile for me to shake the influences that were so ingrained in my playing and sound that were so 80's.

Admittedly, I wasn't a big Nirvana fan. I blame it on every time I was in a music store some one was playing smells like teen spirit. It was an easy tune so many bands started to cover it. One night at a battle of the bands, EVERY band played it in their set. I can really appreciate them now, Kurt's approach was very refreshing in guitar playing, and songwriting that really brought a simplicity of what really makes things work in music, and it formed a pretty good foundation for a ton of musicians to build their future on.

Kurt did have a chorus, and like alot of his gear, was a piece that was pretty much relegated to swap meets, and pawn shops. The Electro Harmonix Small Clone.

These things were pretty cheaply made, with a sheet metal casing, a rate control, and a depth switch. It can be subtle, but it's like using a Lamborghini to deliver pizzas. It really does a great leslie, swirling like effect, and almost too much out of tune-ness. Listen to "come as you are", it's all over that. No tap tempo, no stereo spread, it's an effect that when you turn it on, you feel it!

EHX still makes this, in the sheet metal case, and also in a MXR Phase 90 like die cast case. Other high end chorus pedals say they can do this EHX sound, but it's almost like seeing a comedian do an impression of christopher walken, and then you see Christopher Walken in a movie. Nothing beats the real thing.