Anyone else suffer a little bit from Imposter Syndrome?

I wonder if wildlife photography enthusiast feel bad when they use their $7000 telephoto lenses to take pictures of deer or backyard birds; thinking instead they should be trekking through a jungle documented never before seen species....lol

im sure less than 1% of high end gear is used anywhere near the performance limit, no matter if we are talking sports cars, racing bicycles, custom golf clubs, musical gear, you name it.

If the number of people who actually needed most things were the only ones to buy them, most companies wouldn’t still be in business. You design it for the 1% of professionals and sell it to the 99% of hobbyist
 
Well, I feel the same sometimes. My dream was to become a pro musician since I was a kid. However, life does not alwas unfold the way we wanted it right?. The Axe was always part of my frustrated musician dreams but I was not able to afford it until I moved to US and started working here. During the last year I was able to buy my AxeIII and 5 or 6 nice guitars. Sometimes I wonder if I deserve them?. The answer is yes, you can say oh I can use the money for this thing or whatever, but during some inspiration times, when you close your eyes, even if playing with a backing track and you forget about everything in the world and it is only you inspired by the music in your head, you can be John Petrucci or Steve Vai, the guy playing on a subway or you. At that moment all musicians are equal because you are enjoying it. Does not matter if you play for many of people or nobody. Life it is hard and we deserve what makes us happy. Period! Now, I can use this post as an excuse and buy more guitars!! Have a nice day everybody!!
 
Admin M@ said:
I don't really believe in imposter syndrome, just overly inflated egos. I myself try to welcome the chance to have my own ego knocked back to reality every chance I get. This never stops me from enjoying life and in fact once I recalibrate I find humility to be an improvement.

Meanwhile, as for what one "deserves" or not, this is quite a big philosophical question that could veer pretty easily into politics and religion, which we don't talk about on this forum.
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I had the almost otherworldly and near religious opportunity to see Steve Morse at the Double Door in Charlotte many decades ago. He looked me in the eyes (instead of the fretboard) and burned whatever ego I thought I had right out. I now consider myself a guitar owner.

In my professional life … I have built preamps for Candy Rat monster players. They are the most kind and personable folks I have ever met in my entire life.

…after dealing with Parkinson’s, a wreck that nearly ripped my left thumb off and broke my back twice (That ended a gig playing 100 shows a year) It’s the relationships that matter! Ego has no place in players that have evolved beyond the typical TGP snarkiness.
which sadly I see a lot of here.
 
Am often surprised at the perception that more novice players don't deserve high end gear, as if somehow not knowing how to play more advanced music somehow stops one from being able to hear the sonic differences between crappy gear and quality gear.
 
“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” - Chesterton

I love this quote, because everything I love doing I started doing badly. Now I do it slightly less badly. And after awhile I become gradually less self-conscious. The road to self-confidence through proficiency is a long and crappy one. Though I put guitar down for a long time due to just hitting walls over and over, I'm really happy to be back at it. I've come to understand that music is a long game, and that long games are the most fun ones to play.

Think of the Axe as ensuring you have infinite tonal headroom + possibilities to grow into.
 
I absolutely love anything guitar related. I've been playing since 1982-ish, so I should be phenomenal. Most people would cringe to hear me play on the horribly expensive gear I have. I don't "deserve" any of it. However, I work my 40 hours a week and have a wonderful wife that supports my obsession, so I get what I enjoy. It's one of the few things in my life that makes me happy. So say you got a FX3, FC12 and a nice set of speakers, maybe you have $3500-ish in it? As far as hobbies go, that's pretty darn cheap. Try boating or getting a Corvette like Justincase said for that kind of money.
 
bikertrash said:
I absolutely love anything guitar related. I've been playing since 1982-ish, so I should be phenomenal. Most people would cringe to hear me play on the horribly expensive gear I have. I don't "deserve" any of it. However, I work my 40 hours a week and have a wonderful wife that supports my obsession, so I get what I enjoy. It's one of the few things in my life that makes me happy. So say you got a FX3, FC12 and a nice set of speakers, maybe you have $3500-ish in it? As far as hobbies go, that's pretty darn cheap. Try boating or getting a Corvette like Justincase said for that kind of money.
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When I had a C5 a set of the cheapest tires was $2500 and they are unidirectional...you get maybe...MAYBE 30K miles out of them. By 30k miles it's actually kind of dangerous to drive it.
 
HuskyInfantry said:
Hey friends, this is just a word vomit of my thoughts, but maybe some of you can relate.

I'm 27, and I've been playing for nearly two decades now. I'm definitely considered a good/advanced musician, but by no means am I something unique or amazing. I've played through budget gear most of my life, despite "outgrowing" a lot it very quickly. But I'm not one to take on the presumption that cheap gear is only for beginners. Of course dream gear is a lot more motivating to play though.

After selling off all of my pedals and amp to fund the AxeIII and FC12, I'm 300% satisfied with my sound and how much power I have at my disposal. I whipped up a great edge of breakup preset with a Dumble and a Klon replica (might as well create the dream ultra-expensive rig, right?).

But I can't help but feel like I don't deserve it. I don't play in a band (as much as I'd like to be), and my jam sessions with buddies only happen a couple times a month. Even at my jam sessions we tend to stick to only one or two sounds.

Otherwise I've just got all the gear set up in my home studio where I record backing tracks and just jam out by myself. I've got a Maschine pad controller, MIDI keyboard, a dozen guitars, and now this Axe-- all for just jamming by myself. I keep telling myself I should tastefully video record some stuff and start posting it to YT, or find some sort of niche thing I can make reviews/tutorials of, but I know I'll most likely be just another fish in the sea.

I'm not unhappy or anything. I love this community, I love my gear, and I love making music, even if that just means I spend an hour playing the same riff over and over again. Sometimes I just catch myself asking, "what's the point of all of this?". It's usually just a fleeting thought, and it goes away once I crank the gain and turn up the volume.
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I have an AXFXIII and an FM3. I don't play professionally, and only gig once or twice a month (obviously in normal times)

I have pretty much the same backline gear as the guy who got me into playing, Phil Collen from Def Leppard,

Why? Because I work my ass off at my job and this gear gives me immense pleasure. I'm not in debt to fund it and it makes me happy to use it. I didn't intend to own both but got on the Fractal train with an AX8 and whilst waiting for my FM3 to get to England saved up enough where I could get a second hand III. As at the time there was no way of knowing when the FM3 would be out

If the gear puts a smile on your face and isn't putting you in debt to own it, then just enjoy it!
 
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