Sub-conscious tie-ins to GAS

[guitargoalie]

Oh the brain, so sneaky. I'll go months happy with my gear. It covers almost everything. I'm not gigging at the moment although plan to in the future. I don't have tons of cash to blow, and I should be focusing on school. Yet every time I get deep into an artist, I get the ole' GAS again, and different pieces for different reasons. I'm usually pretty rational and come to my senses, but man when the gas runs hot...

Les Examples
- I was really into sammy era Van Halen last year, so I bought a used Axis. The tone is smooth and liquidy. The music of this era was a sort of polished and wet signal, lot of guitar dubs, harmonizer, delays. At the time, I wanted my originals to come out with the same feel.

- Then I got into the stones. Considered getting a tweed deluxe/twin. Why? Because it stood for simplicity, maybe I could write some simple rock tunes if my setup is just a cranked NMV amp

- Then I go back to Eddie. Their latest album used a new 5150 and wolfgang. There were some interesting sounds on that album, stands for one of the last cool rock records I've heard. Maybe if I get a new wolfgang I'll be able to innovate and keep rock music going?

^ My silly train of thought. Do you see how I make these emotional ties to the gear, HOW DO I BREAK THESE

 

[scat7s]

make due.

 

[Feeling Supersonic]

We all have them - they're fabricated 'ideals' in our minds played out in our imaginations.
We believe that gear adds an ingredient of possibility to sounds or even melodies.

It's illusionary. Gear is hyped up way too much.

Although saying this, something like 80% of the brains information is processed through our eyes. So the desire of the aesthetic is a powerful one when association springs up between objects and sounds.

Then there's the 'model'. The person playing it, perhaps they're charismatic, will also play a part in making you want something you can buy.

Being yourself and an individual is the hardest thing we deal with in life. Finding the 'self' is the greatest mental exploration one can undergo. It's where all true wisdom, happiness and philosophy lies.

I'm under the influence of my idols, everyone is. We're all pretending to be something we're not to a degree. The gear is an illusion that we get closer to it. Ultimately they are merely tools. I know it's a cliche, but it's true. Rightly so, there is a lot of emphasis placed on gear, but I just believe too much emphasis is placed on it. This mainly comes from manufacturers selling stuff.

The marketing and advertising juggernaut of commercialism has of course wrapped itself around the instrument industry, and using 'models' to sell everything is the best way. It's just how the human mind works - influence through association.

Of course though, associating with your true inner-self is the hardest thing there is to be done.

What you've explained is the exact same template I have in my mind when thinking about gear and who I want to be when I'm playing.

However many influences I have - Van Halen, Gary Moore, Satriani, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Holt, David Grissom, Nick McCabe, Jeff Beck and Hendrix are the people that influence me the most.

I also love Alex Lifeson too.

This goes beyond gear though - it enters your playing, which seems evan more obvious, but anyway, we delude ourselves 'gear' will assist us with this target we aim at, and it's a wrong one: to try and sound and be like someone else.

Luckily enough, it's not too easy to be exactly like your idols, although it's easy to see when someone's being desperate about. Even so, you'll always end up sounding like yourself ultimately - it just takes a leap of faith to except your style and what comes out when you really let go of all your thoughts.

I need to be myself
I can't be no one else
I'm feeling supersonic
Give me gin and tonic

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I find one guitar I like and then I buy five so I don't run out. It's directly from a fear I developed after the first guitar I truly loved becoming worn out. I wished I'd bought 5 to last all my life.

This idea originated from an article I read years ago about David Gilmour buying a second one of his vintage effects as a backup in case the main one fails.

 

[guitargoalie]

FS, nail on the head like usual. I guess everybody has some emulation to a degree. A good example is slash, used to worship him. Now I plug my regular LP into the DSL and completely satisfied with "close enough".

Vince, are you saying you eliminate the tie ins to another artist by having multiples of the same guitar rather than different models?

 

[managainstcatfish]

Nah, man. You know what gets me? I get bored, & I get on E-Bay. Game over, man. But seriously, most of what I have has been purchased because it serves a purpose. Most of it...

 

[wakjob]

^
Yep. Nothing breaks me outta my rut like a new piece of gear.

 

[guitargoalie]

bumping this. Does anyone else have similar feelings for reasons they want new gear? Or is "I want it" enough?

 

[Redstone]

I love experimenting with new gear. I've always got my go to gear, which is my SG and YJM, but I'd love to have a few other amps and guitar to play around with. Problem is that I'd probably get too attached to them to sell them on

 

[sam marshall]

I got 6 bills and looking for a les paul localy for quite some time now. The chase is fun but i got to find one soon before i spend it on booze and some hussy takes advantage of me.

 

[dreyn77]

I have 'dreams' pop into my head at night where,
I can see that in the next 2 weeks I'm going to buy .....

I end up actually buying it without even trying.
That's REALLY scary!

 

[dreyn77]

I't like I can see into the future! damme.

 

[The Ozzk]

Oh the brain, so sneaky. I'll go months happy with my gear. It covers almost everything. I'm not gigging at the moment although plan to in the future. I don't have tons of cash to blow, and I should be focusing on school. Yet every time I get deep into an artist, I get the ole' GAS again, and different pieces for different reasons. I'm usually pretty rational and come to my senses, but man when the gas runs hot...

Les Examples
- I was really into sammy era Van Halen last year, so I bought a used Axis. The tone is smooth and liquidy. The music of this era was a sort of polished and wet signal, lot of guitar dubs, harmonizer, delays. At the time, I wanted my originals to come out with the same feel.

- Then I got into the stones. Considered getting a tweed deluxe/twin. Why? Because it stood for simplicity, maybe I could write some simple rock tunes if my setup is just a cranked NMV amp

- Then I go back to Eddie. Their latest album used a new 5150 and wolfgang. There were some interesting sounds on that album, stands for one of the last cool rock records I've heard. Maybe if I get a new wolfgang I'll be able to innovate and keep rock music going?

^ My silly train of thought. Do you see how I make these emotional ties to the gear, HOW DO I BREAK THESE

Don't worry, your wife will do it for you.

 

[guitargoalie]

I'm 19 haha. Maybe I need to buy all the gear I can now before I get married

 

[Bflat5]

I'm 19 haha. Maybe I need to buy all the gear I can now before I get married

Yes, get it all now! Now that I'm single again I'm getting antsy for some new stuff. Stuff I wasn't able to do with a woman riding my ass.

 

[StratoMarshall]

I usually GAS for stuff that will serve a purpose. Sometimes needed and sometimes not. Like right now I have two Marshall heads and one 1960A cab. Know where this is going? I also have been wanting to add a Lester to the stable but that one is on the back burner right now because of the prices going around. But I do need a second cab. AND when I get one it would be cool to get a Fulltone DejaVibe (the stereo one) and spread the amps out a bit and listen to that sweetness. Oh yeah, then I will need another E609 mic for the recording setup so I can capture the sound of both rigs at the same time! AND a nice condensor mic to get that nice room ambience! Oh, and another roll of Belden cable and some Switchcraft and Neutrik ends for making up the new cables I'll need, which gives me the excuse to spring for the new soldering station I've been eyeing!
Crap, I'd better stop now or next month's pay is doomed!

 

[chuckharmonjr]

Don't worry, your wife will do it for you.

Amen! After the last 12 months..I am on total gear restriction....lol...no GAS for me! Of course that is always subject to change....I just ordered her a nice new watch..expecting delivery any day.

 

[tubes]

I definitely bought my V largely because of Albert King and Larry McCray.

I only heard Larry McCray in the past few years. He doesn't always play a V but I love the sounds he plays on a V. It's a tight tone that doesn't sound quite the same as any other guitar.
I have no idea what amps he likes.

Well, that's not very "subconscious" - as goalie was talking about. But I do think I might have had a 'barely conscious' attraction to Vs from years ago.
For one thing, me and the V were born in the same year: it's obviously fate at work!

 

[Trower74]

make due.

The due abides

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Here's me:

I need an amp and guitar for every possible tone ever created by a man playing guitar. This requires I own one of every guitar and amp ever created. Then, I must have a second one of each in case I become especially attached to a particular one and it becomes my "trademark" - this way, I'll always have an exact spare. However, achieving this seems futile, and reminds me of this simple saying:

In the words of the Teacher...

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
All things are wearisome, more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

So I have concluded that the acquisition of two of every guitar and amp ever created is futility, and a great vexation.

But heck, I'm not going to let that stop me!