bleujazz3
Fractal Fanatic
Sometimes folks feel discouraged when some momentous event occurs (Father's Day, B-Day, etc.) that reminds us our biological clocks are ticking, and we've still got stuff on our bucket lists we've not even begun to explore. There are several reasons we feel this way: 1) we've become complacent with the status quo in our lives, and are looking to learn something new to incorporate into our playing. 2) our tone quest using various pieces of gear has reached a plateau. Or, 3) our financial circumstances in life have required that we downsize our most cherished pieces of gear for less expensive / satisfactory quality pieces.
1) Is internal, and is a natural desire to not settle for what we know currently. This desire is innate to most all human beings; we enjoy learning new things that inspire us and help us recognize more subtle warning signs of our health that might indicate we want too much before we can adapt to learning new things at an an achievable rate.
2) A tone quest plateau is common for many musicians during the course of their career as a practicing guitarist. A plateau can be simply a sign that one's ability to absorb new material has reached a slight impasse. An illustration might be that your learning ability has reached a saturation point, and you're looking to rid yourself of the excess you've tried to incorporate into your practice schedule. It's your mental self-defense mechanism that's telling you your brain is filled with ideas and concepts, but somehow you're waiting for a cathartic moment that will produce a key song riff or melody, etc...the money riff that might be a decent future song. The downside is that it's like writing a term paper for school. When you run out of things to say, your brain takes a dump.
3) Dependent on one's existing financial status, we may have spent a lot of time with our tone-quests hoping to learn valuable life's lessons and really come round full circle since our childhood days when a $400 guitar and $200 amp provided most every basic tone we needed, and our tone-quest focused on building and swapping effects on our effects boards. In order to afford what we desire most, we've stopped collecting, and have begun to downsize, collecting only the best gear at the least cost.
That being said, yes, I've experienced all of these feelings. In 2021 my boutique effects and amp were sold so my FM9 could replace the amp warehouses I'd need to store actual gear. It was a miracle that Cliff builds FAS gear doesn't command much more exorbitant prices. During plateau phases it might be necessary to set the guitar down for several weeks and try some occupational therapy (small DIY home projects, gardening, new meal prep dishes to break the monotony...). Sometimes even some home or auto repair if perhaps your garage houses workbench tools and such. Lastly, unless you've run out of storage space for guitar cases, music room amps and music related items, don't feel obligated to sell off your gear in hopes of acquiring a holy grail piece. Having owned several PRS Private Stock myself previously only means I was among the privileged who could afford high-end gear, and sadly could not justify owning such quality gear with my limited chops.
We will all experience these phases in life as guitarists; it's a natural history of life's events for reach of us on a small scale.
The key towards moving forward despite temporary setbacks or wait times is to realize that sometimes to reach a destination requires taking a detour because of road hazards or construction ahead. Just select an alternate route and your GPS will recalculate your travel and arrival time.
1) Is internal, and is a natural desire to not settle for what we know currently. This desire is innate to most all human beings; we enjoy learning new things that inspire us and help us recognize more subtle warning signs of our health that might indicate we want too much before we can adapt to learning new things at an an achievable rate.
2) A tone quest plateau is common for many musicians during the course of their career as a practicing guitarist. A plateau can be simply a sign that one's ability to absorb new material has reached a slight impasse. An illustration might be that your learning ability has reached a saturation point, and you're looking to rid yourself of the excess you've tried to incorporate into your practice schedule. It's your mental self-defense mechanism that's telling you your brain is filled with ideas and concepts, but somehow you're waiting for a cathartic moment that will produce a key song riff or melody, etc...the money riff that might be a decent future song. The downside is that it's like writing a term paper for school. When you run out of things to say, your brain takes a dump.
3) Dependent on one's existing financial status, we may have spent a lot of time with our tone-quests hoping to learn valuable life's lessons and really come round full circle since our childhood days when a $400 guitar and $200 amp provided most every basic tone we needed, and our tone-quest focused on building and swapping effects on our effects boards. In order to afford what we desire most, we've stopped collecting, and have begun to downsize, collecting only the best gear at the least cost.
That being said, yes, I've experienced all of these feelings. In 2021 my boutique effects and amp were sold so my FM9 could replace the amp warehouses I'd need to store actual gear. It was a miracle that Cliff builds FAS gear doesn't command much more exorbitant prices. During plateau phases it might be necessary to set the guitar down for several weeks and try some occupational therapy (small DIY home projects, gardening, new meal prep dishes to break the monotony...). Sometimes even some home or auto repair if perhaps your garage houses workbench tools and such. Lastly, unless you've run out of storage space for guitar cases, music room amps and music related items, don't feel obligated to sell off your gear in hopes of acquiring a holy grail piece. Having owned several PRS Private Stock myself previously only means I was among the privileged who could afford high-end gear, and sadly could not justify owning such quality gear with my limited chops.
We will all experience these phases in life as guitarists; it's a natural history of life's events for reach of us on a small scale.
The key towards moving forward despite temporary setbacks or wait times is to realize that sometimes to reach a destination requires taking a detour because of road hazards or construction ahead. Just select an alternate route and your GPS will recalculate your travel and arrival time.
