Too Much Gear?

Geezerjohn

Geezerjohn

Fractal Fanatic
I love my FAS gear. The magnitude of what it can do is just amazing. I never would have imagined that i could have so much great tone in a modeler (I have an AX8 for gigging and and Axe FX for recording). These days, I find I really don't spend much time tweaking presets. I have my go-to presets pretty well dialed in, so I just enjoy playing. But that is the point of this thread. I wonder about my fractal friends. Do you find you spend too much time tweaking rather than practicing?

Perhaps I should clarify what I mean. To me, practicing is working on scales, arps, phrasing, etc. Tweaking is a distraction from that. Do you think that your tweaking time has caused your playing to suffer?
 
In the past, when I was first learning my AFX I spent a lot more time tweaking, and to some extent each time I join a new band or have a lot of songs to learn (which is the time to be *most* focused on playing rather than tweaking ;-) But that's also the time to dial in the tones for those new songs... so I just factor that in and expect to spend time both learning and tweaking. And actually I find it helpful, because it gives my mind a break to assimilate the new songs.
 
I’ve done it, especially in my first months using the Ultra. It seemed there was nothing you couldn’t do, and I went down the rabbit hole of trying everything. I had some great tones, but our sound guy told me one night that he was having trouble getting me right in the mix because my tone changed so much from song to song. That was a wake up call that had me refocus on the music rather than the guitar sound, and resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of amps and effects used, settling on one main Fender for most of the night, with a Carol Ann, a Soldano, and a Marshall available for solo variety. It works well, and I spend (most of) my time playing guitar now.
 
With the ultra I was a tweak master!! Spent way too much time tweaking....with the ii there were so many more options and things to tweak....but with the III I just get a great tone in a few seconds and can happily spend the rest of time playing. Ares has made a HUGE difference on the ii as well, because I don't tweak much on that anymore.

I too spend more time switching guitars now to see which sounds best with what patch/amp/cab combo on the axe. It's a VERY fun exercise, sometimes for eg a patch that sounds perfect with a strat sounds lifeless with an 8 string and different with a gretsch. It's a great fun time, but ultimately I may just start weeding them out and keep just the ones I keep coming back to.

Options are nice, but option paralysis is not. Go with what feels best at the moment, and leave it at that. Tomorrow with a fresh pair of ears and the same setup you'll think it sounds terrible and adjust again anyway LOL

That's musicians for you - never satisfied!
 
Same thing as others said. When I had an Ultra, I spent more time tweaking than practicing. Now I hardly change anything. I know there's more I could do with control switches and things like that, but I am very satisfied with the tones I get from using my AX8 as a stomp box.
 
Playing guitar is as much a hobby as is playing with gear, tweaking sounds, building pedals etc. I don't really view one as a mean to the other, nor do I honestly have any aspirations as a guitar player these days. By that, I mean its something I do just for fun; I don't expect to become a rock star, I don't play to earn a living, etc.

As such, I don't feel I "need" to practice scales, songs, etc. There is no end goal, simply playing the guitar, and/or with my other hardware, is the enjoyment and the passion into itself. So... if I spend an afternoon dialing in some crazy effects settings, while maybe just playing the same riff 100 times over, or I spend the afternoon learning a new song, its an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Beats cutting the grass, cleaning the garage etc, know what I mean ?

Now, maybe for others, who are in bands, have to learn songs for gigs etc, and practice time is limited, it can be a bad thing to "waste" a day trying different amps and such. Maybe for some folks you need to have a decent tone and then get on with what you need to get on with.

No universal right or wrong answers. Heck, I have a buddy who likes to build effects, BUT, they don't even play guitar lol
 
I try not to tweak much. My play time is super limited as it is, and I really just want to load a preset and play. It's one reason I check out everyone else's presets, and buy others. The lack of tweak time means I still have very little idea what the hell I'm doing on the magic box.

I thought I'd take Cooper's class at some point, but have no idea when I'll get the time to go through it all.
 
Big picture, this tech caused me to play more guitar - WAY more!

I'm a somewhat old guy so my backstory is like this:

When I first started playing guitar, analog amps and pedals was all there was. Later when I tried some early digital fx units, I quickly came to a conclusion and joined the great 90's chorus of "DIGITAL SUCKS" because, back then, it was true. So very true. Suck!

Years went by, and being in a band gigging most weekends I eventually got too lazy to drag my amp and pedals out and set it all up between gigs. Didn't sound good at low volume anyway, so not worth the effort. I virtually stopped playing guitar between gigs. Well, sometimes I'd grab a guitar and plink at it unplugged and try to imagine amplified sound. Not very satisfying.

Eventually I got curious about digital again. It took a long time after being so firmly convinced that digital sucks. Gateway drug was that cheap little blue Behringer v-Amp, the L6 Pod bean knockoff thing. I laugh now, but at the time I was like WOW, this thing sounds great!

Next thing I knew I was ordering an Axe-Fx Ultra and I've been playing loads of guitar at home ever since, despite probably too much tweaking time.
 
For me, learning how to tweak my tone takes practice too; so some practice sessions are devoted to exploring the parameters within amps or speakers or delays or reverbs, etc. When I'm creating a new preset, I still find myself going back to look at what I did in a previous preset; I just don't have the parameters for each block mastered to even a minimally sufficient level. That's why it was so fascinating to watch the Dweezil Zappa session where he setup a preset. And it's why I have to practice at tweaking blocks.
 
I'm glad that the Axe II is finally finished. No more upgrades. No more tweaking! At first there was a lot of tweaking, but more because I had to learn how to build presets and the X/Y thing then because of sounds. I don't give a rats ass about tones, or copping tones of famous dudes. Give me a Fender for cleans, a Marshall for dirt and a nice Big Muff for leads and I am set. That's basically all my presets in a nutshell. Add copious amounts of FX for seasonings. Once I got what I wanted I hardly even changed my presets from what was it, Quantum 6 to the current Ares? Although I reckon I have tweak the cleans though, its sounding a little gainey now.
 
Preach!!!

Since getting the AX8 my tweaking or chasing tone has disappeared like most of my unused gear. All of my presets and effect blocks have been saved and templates created. More time for practicing and gigging with no worries.
 
Geezerjohn said:
Perhaps I should clarify what I mean. To me, practicing is working on scales, arps, phrasing, etc. Tweaking is a distraction from that. Do you think that your tweaking time has caused your playing to suffer?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say my playing has suffered, but my practice time has.
It's mainly because I enjoy the tweaking. There is so much to explore and I really enjoy it.
Practicing is not as pleasing for me....so I spend more time tweaking.

Didn't have that issue with just one tube amp...but I would never go back.
 
I've tweaked enough to free me up to play. Now I only tweak when I'm seeking out a specific tone. And that becomes fun because it's a new challenge. I'm actually practicing, learning more now than I ever have in my life. But I think the first year is all about tweaking, isn't it? At least for me it was because I've always had 'my tone' in my head. And the AX8 has allowed me to get me 99% there. I'd say 100% but I need to believe there's room for improvement.
 
Not so-much a tweaker, and I tend to keep things simple when I do. Amp, cab, a reverb, a drive - maybe more if the number calls for it, but, that kinda thing. I Never start with presets. I don’t even peruse ‘em. Screwing around with pre-loaded presets never has worked out for me.

But yeah, I have my go-to sounds - clean(ish) Tweeds n’such, otherwise, if I’m working on something new, I’ll just quickly dial in a sound I like hovering around the amp and cab - doesn’t have to be perfect, and stomp on effects until my Wife calls me for dinner. Lots more fun doing that than tweaking under the hood. LOTS! :D
 
I tweaked for about a year after I bought my Axe FX 2 mark 2, then figured out I just like the way it sounds now so I'll just leave it. I basically just got bored of tone tweaking. Now I just play, and I may add in a new effect every once in a while while recording. But that only takes a few minutes.
 
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