When I started playing over 30 years ago, there were always people who spent more time worrying about gear, swapping pickups, buying pedals, etc, than playing/practicing. That was an issue waaaayyy before TH-cam
Oh, 100%, it was the Musician's Friend catalog, the Guitar Magazines, and even the local music shops! The difference now is that we can hear from people demonstrating instead of just dreaming of how it might be.
@@AlanWEven the forums which have been around since the early to mid 90s!!! We were already exchanging tracks (better quality too), posting pics, asking for advice, copying the stars, comparing schematics… i built my first ever amp I had out of a harp amp. Crazy to think these kids think they’re influencing anyone in the guitar world truly 😂 most stubborn capitalists are musicians
Yes, the guitar magazines , and the guitar shops were the source of gear acquisition syndrome, long before the internet. Especially with guys, the exchange of guitar and effects for car engines or suspension parts, is a common distraction from actual playing.
ive had the same gear/guitars for about 15 years, when my modeler suddenly stoppet working last year. The search for a replacement startet a gas... For me, that brought me to this lovely channel, inspiring new gear, and now im playing more guitar than ever! 😍
"Are there bits of gear that you regret selling?" This is kind of obscure, but back in the mid/late 1980s, before there were modelers, and not many options for cab sims, I got a used Tascam PE-40 for a very reasonable price (I think something like $60 or $70). It's a 2-rack-space unit with 4 channels, each with 4 bands of fully parametric EQ, and pretty good quality. I was a grad student in an apartment, not able to play through an amp, so I used it to massively EQ a direct signal to sort of do cab sim. I eventually got an ADA MP-1 tube preamp and a Red Box cab sim. I still used the PE-40 to tweak the output (kind of the way John uses a high cut on many of his lead patches), but it was overkill for that and I eventually sold it. I currently have a couple better-quality hardware PEQs, but with fewer channels. I can't say I have a definite use for the PE-40, but every now and then over the years it would have been handy, and I've wished I kept it. Nowadays they sell for several times what I sold it for. It's by no means a "vintage" EQ, just a solid workhorse device. I suppose that's the Tascam vibe. I also had two Portastudios (one stolen, one sold), and I miss them in a different way; there was something about hands-on, track-limited recording that was fun in a way that in-the-box recording isn't. Those, too, were not audiophile devices, just solid workhorses that served me well. -Tom
I remember the Porta-Studios! I recorded tons of stuff to one of those old 4-track recorders that used cassette tapes. My band as very young teenager even recorded "demos" using one. I sure wish I could get my hands on some of those old cassette recordings! I bet they're so horrible! 😂
I’ve been watching one of Australia’s best guitarists Peter Northcoate. A while back he used a 100 watt Marshall and a big pedal board. Absolutely took the roof off the venue. Then last week I watched him do the same with a Fractal fm9. Makes you wonder if gear makes a difference.
I actually use it as a barometer in case it goes undetected under the guise of "stress". If I start putting stuff I "like" (on impulse) instead of "need", I need to stop there and then and look inside what is going on.
I don’t get time to play guitar, watching videos and buying gear makes me feel I'm up to date with what's happening - I also noticed people with a lot of gear on a general note are not that great playing guitar, the guys that are really good, don't bother too much about gear - example maybe - Joe Pass - just a guitar and an Amp that's all he needed. 🙂
TH-cam is definitely a double edged sword: its given us so much knowledge on gear and how to use it properly, but its also increased our desire to buy more stuff you don't need. I try these days to watch less gear vids and more lesson and music related content. I love your discussion type videos, lots to think about. And your playing is just incredible. Keep it up John!
Wise words....Guitar players keep looking for the new pedal or multi FX believing that their sound will be better than ever while it sounds exactly the same like 3 years ago 😬
So true. I still use a Roland GP100 in my studio. One of my students asked "How do you get such a great tone?" By using a box I bought in the mid nineties ;)
Just midlife crises. Men over 40 are more or less required to have an acquisitive hobby, be it cycling, photography, music. We’re all about ‘the stuff’.
Had an adult student many years ago who had a new guitar every week. Buying and selling at an incredible loss. To show how long ago it was he sold me his Boss GT-3 for cheap. It was still sealed in the box. That may have been the first I was aware of the obsessive gear buying that was going on. My first guitar I still have and it was my only guitar for 10 years. I borrowed amps for gigs and I had like 3 pedals. I even borrowed a bass for recording. When I reached 40-ish I fell victim to the bug and now own about 90 pedals plus a ton of amps, guitars, keyboards etc.I still have them because I never had the selling bug. I'm now retired so can't justify any more gear but I still see TH-cam videos telling me what a great tone I could have if I had this etc.. My justification became "If I don't use what I have I can't justify any new gear" and that seems to have worked for me. Thanks for being the one to put this out there. It needs to be addressed. One bit of gear I do regret selling is my Roland SH-2 synth. Bought for £100. Sold for £25 now on Reverb well over £1000.
I'm certainly not blaming any of the content creators who are reviewing gear for companies... But if I think about it for a minute, subjecting viewers to what is essentially long-form content advertising, specifically creators who are good at their craft (playing as well as recording and mixing) results in these highly effective ad campaigns... There could be multiple reasons why these are so successful, but I think it comes down to the average guitar player admiring the capability and skill level of many of the content creators that are so beloved on TH-cam. We often want to master our instruments but also want to emulate our Heroes... I don't know anyone who plays any instrument who doesn't have someone they looked up to, someone who they strive to want to emulate. Of course every guitar player will say they want to find their own sound but at some point in time we were all chasing someone else's tone. I think this can be backed up with the proof that we have very specific terms to describe guitar tones so no matter how unique you think your guitar tone is... It can easily be categorized by the it's sonic properties such as clean, crunch, high gain etc. people who fall under the "gear acquisition syndrome" diagnosis are under that spell in part due to their own inability to say "I don't need that" instead they are most likely convincing themselves that this next piece of gear is going to be the missing link that transcends them into the next level! But I think the majority of us realize that is not the case. At the end of the day I think people just need to do what makes them happy, if some people are buying and selling gear more than practicing their instruments so be it. I think it's safe to say that we all know that a good guitar player can make literally any piece of gear sound fantastic... But I don't think we're going to find most guitar brands advertising this information because it wouldn't be beneficial to their brand.
I own 4 guitars now: Fender Tele, PRS Custom 24, Silver Sky and an acoustic. I ordered a Gibson Les Paul Studio last month. And I am not even a pro musician. Talk about GAS😂
A few things: 1) Where does the emotion that drives your need to buy originate? It's important to be sentient of the primal motivations underlying complex behaviours. 2) Don't underestimate the overwhelming power of advertising on the modern world. It's changing every thing you look at and experience. 3) The basic human need to fully engage with and experience the physical world and to be creative is often supplanted by the urge to consume when we are exposed to aspirational media in one form or another. This also applies to feelings of self worth.
I think you're spot on with recommending spending money on a guitar course instead of buying a new piece of gear. Same with singers, when someone asks what kind of vocal processor or something to buy I always recommend investing in singing lessons. They're available online and make such a huge difference for most singers. I know it did for me.
Long list of gear sale regrets. Two Marshall hundred watt JCM heads, one JMP master volume 100 watt Marshall, an old Vox AC30 STR ( head) , a Fender twin ( silverface), a Gibson Les Paul deluxe, a digitech twin tube presmp and foot controller, a pre CBS white rosewood Strat, an American Standard Strat (1990), a Maestro Echoplex, a Holden Tape echo, an Ibanez compressor, Ibanez analogue delay, a Sholtz stereo chorus, a Session solid state 2X12 40 watt combo amp, a Marshall quad (1968) with reconed green backs,etc etc... most of these were sold in order to trade in or buy some new piece of gear, most of which were in turn sold ( majority of the list.)🤔
Honestly over the last 10 years I must've bought (and sold) over 400 pedals. Many of which are worth several £1000s each in today's market. I miss some but only ever keep what will fit on my small board. Doesn't stop me trying more though
Another point to add is that you get the same dopamine response from selling your gear from buying it. I have a friend who is a compulsive buyer/seller. His argument is that selling stuff doesn’t give him the same rush, yet he’ll regularly get in touch to let me know something has gone. His excitement sounds very similar to when he’s found something at a bargain price I hear that the selling is the better of the two, but make no mistake, it’s the same rush. Once you run out of stuff to sell, you buy again to restart the hamster wheel Getting lessons with a good teacher and dedicated practice has been the best balance for me. I spend the money but not too much and the rush comes from my improving playing and my awareness of minutia evolving
I must confess, I too have suffered from major GAS (a.k.a. gear acquisition syndrome) issues most of my long, dopamine addicted, musical life. Long be&ore the intertubes arrived, wayyy back in the stone ages, I acquired the slower moving, yet equally compelling magazine and fellow player’s cool gear driven GAS. Funny thing about GAS is it’s a bit sneaky and can easily find its way into many other areas of one’s life if you’re not careful!
After discovering JC's TH-cam posts and links to available presets, I bought a HX Stomp LX and love it. My big (and expensive) pedal board has not been out of the case in 1 1/2 years and I've played out a lot. On the other hand, after watching Chris Buck's videos, I bought a new Revstar and it hasn't been out of it's case for months. Wanta buy a Revstar? :)
Instruments and gear is pretty good now across the board. Besides the exact sound I want without any words attached, how cool something is to me is more important than the highest-end basic whatever.
I think a handy question to ask yourself is "What problem am I actually trying to solve?" If you can't give yourself a clearly defined answer, then you're probably just looking for a new toy. And new toys are great! But is it worth spending the asking price on a toy? Usually not, but sometimes the answer is still yes!
I rarely buy anything. This year’s things were my first tube amp and a small acoustic board and the necessary accoutrements (cables, DI box). Last year, I got a second tele and then replacement pickups when they died after only a month. That was, admittedly, entirely due to TH-cam and drooling over the finish and neck (J Mascis tele in bottle rocket blue). But my main board has hardly changed for three years and I’m darn proud of that!
It's not because of YT it's simply how we're wired. Shiny.... New.... If anything, in the end YT has made me scrutinize my gear in ways I might not have gotten to otherwise. Back in the day innovative guitarists and engineers were often looking for new sounds, limited as they were, what we have now is simply a product of all that work...
I’m gassing for a gold top. I’ve been fascinated with this guitar from the first time I saw Stuart Mattewman play one on “Cherish The Day” on Sade’s DVD. He is one of reasons I play multiple instruments (He and D’Angelo). I already have two LPs, but I have to have a P90 guitar, right? TH-cam does fuel my desire to own one. Could I sell a bunch of stuff and get it, absolutely. But it’s also the journey, patience and drive to earn the money for it that makes it all fun. And there is always a story behind my quest for these instrument. I practice every single day and put the time into my craft… yes it pays me. Now excuse me, I have more videos to watch about gold top Les Pauls 😂
Only regret I have is giving my son my fender Mexican Strat. Only because he really doesn’t play it anymore. I was going to offer him money for it, but my wife said no. I don’t have a mortgage and my car is paid off.
It’s all just modern-day infomercials. It’s shocking how many people simply do not understand this reality: 1. Guitar magazines have been effectively dead for a few decades, and this was the primary outlet to market for gear manufacturers. This cost *considerable* amounts of money. 2. With TH-cam, gear manufacturers now have access to shockingly cheap marketing (for the price of gear they can reach their actual target audience which in marketing is a *very* inefficient process) 3. Gear makers FLOOD TH-cam with infomercials being delivered by guitar influencers 4. Influencers do perfunctory infomercials on gear, and rarely actually do proper reviews (serious pros and cons, limitations of the gear, gear strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, value, actual ideal target audience for the gear, talk about if it is overkill or excessive for certain types of ppl etc etc) 5. Influencers make a living and get free gear 6. Viewers benefit by being exposed to more gear options than ever before 7. Gear makers benefit by having third-party infomercial contractors be essentially their marketing team 8. All this greatly influences the GAS culture and potentially completely detracts from playing the guitar Its all quick dopamine hits
I think that TH-cam reviews and demo videos really contribute to the FOMO (fear of missing out) fever on a lot of musicians. Even with stuff that is not limited or that you can find later used.
I think it would be a good idea to do a survey of how much viewers spent on gear in the community of this channel. Is the sound you want the universe, religion, or life?
This was an issue at least as long as forums have been around. The thing about TH-cam is that it tricks you into thinking content creators are your friend recommending you gear when they are actually just advertisements you are choosing to watch. This channel isnt as bad about it, but Andertons is just a business trying to sell gear. The videos arent reviews, they are advertisements.
I came back to guitar after stopping for ages. Older and with money to burn i quickly went thru 10ish guitars...6amps...and countless pedals only to realise that the gear really wasnt going to make me better. Its nice to have but i think a good guitar player can get most sounds out of basic equipment.
I blame that John Nathan Cordy ... 😜 As an oldie I started buying in guitars and pedals to have the experience of them before I stop breathing. I Do admit that I have kept more than I have moved on, but perthaps that's a testament to my good taste more than to hoarding ... 🤔 Let's face it. Watching TH-cam is more rewarding than watching telly. So much so that I binned my telly and licence years ago. (Actually I donated my telly ...)
The reality is that like any hobby there are different ways to engage with it. I feel lucky because for me it's all about writing songs, recording and performing. Most of my gear is 2nd hand and I only use a couple of Boss pedals at gigs (although I bought a GT-1000 that I want to get to grips with at some point). But I don't look down on people who just want to sit at home and jam to a backing track, people that like to play around with effects pedals or people that like to collect nice guitars. I think the important things is to be aware of why you are buying gear. Is it because it will actually be used, because you actually enjoy playing around with it... or are you using it as a way to avoid practicing, recording, performing because you're waiting to find the perfect tone. In that case you have a problem. I've only ever sold a couple of things, when I'm really not using it. I'm very considerate of what I buy so it doesn't happen very often.
I'm one of those players that's never been obsessed with gear. In 35+ years I've owned 12 guitars, I still have 9 of them. I could count the amps on one hand. My experience is that after a short acclimatisation period, any guitar will do. They're all a little different but the differences are really marginal. There's also no such thing as a perfect guitar. Chasing that chimera is an expensive folly.
TH-cam CURED my gear buying obsession, all these (good channels) like TPS/60cH/ect have these sets that are just walls of Cool Sht TM, pedal shelves, walls of amp heads. and it got me stressed about owning anything in general. Only thing stopping me from The Great Sell-Off is my local fb marketplace scene being super hawked over by professional flippers
FINALLY....What a great truth....just play with what you have make it sound great you can..Remember!??? How fun it is to really play good be spontaneously creative...just reel it in , gear is fun but you don't need 50 pedals....Holy Shite the pedal business has become the biggest GRIFT going....have fun bring out your uniqueness and jam😊
Agree. People focus on gear cause it’s easy - you just spend money and you sound different. Doing the work is much harder. I guess TH-cam like many things has good and bad sides to it.
My 1969 Bassman Export Amp head and a 'cheap' all black lefty Harmony strat. Sold them over 20 years ago. Haven't regretted anything since. Playing lefties means I tend to hold on to them unless I really can't get on with it or like it. Nothing I own is particularly expensive but is very hard to find if I have a change of heart.
I have an idea for a video. Take snippets from tons of videos where you play dozens of modelers or amps and then ask the viewers to guess which is which. 1/3 of them should just be the helix. You don’t even need an introduction. Just a compilation that lasts 8 minutes and then at the end you just say, “those were 31 pieces of gear. Can you name what’s what?”
I've been having a dilemma about using delay/reverb plugins vs pedals for recording songs. I have two rigs: One Mooer GT-250 digital board that I use for live performances and practice. One analog pedal board and my EVH amp that I use for recording in the studio. For my studio recordings, I have been using reverb and delay plugins inside the DAW. That allows me to use stereo effects and gives me a lot of flexibility afterwards. I sometimes use the reverb from my CaptorX reactive load. My GT-250 has a couple of cool delays/reverbs, but I don't want to add an A2D/D2A with no analog dry in the middle of my signal chain just for that. Maybe I shouldn't be too restrictive. I have been seeing all these cool delay/reverb pedals such as the TC Electronics Flashback 2, EHX Canyon, etc. They all sound cool and fun, but when I think about my workflow, I get discouraged from buying any delay/reverb plugin. Have you felt the same about delays/reverbs?
I'm reasonable certain that the "problem" is bigger than youtube. Long before yt was invented we used to look for gear in guitar magazines. My guess is that it is a psychological matter. We hunt for "the" sound and we want short cuts to sound better than we do; another piece of gear may take us closer? Or maybe we should practise more? 🤔
Now looky here, I did not say I was a millionaire But I said I have spent more money than a millionaire 'Cause if I had kept all of the money I done already spent I would've been a millionaire, a long time ago And women? Great googly moogly - Howlin Wolf
I would say the reason is the welfare society, when you can get nearly brand new stuff for less than half price or even cheaper that is pretty irresistible.
is this your first hobby? TH-cam is definitely not the problem. We just like to own cool shit. I have too many mountain bikes, too many guns, too many knives, too many hotwheels, too many guitars, and I'm going keep buying more of all of them.
I think it's phases of our lives.. I didn't own ANY pedals until about two years ago. I had two acoustics and two electrics..now I have a massive board of Joyo pedals and I don't regret buying any of them (total price of the whole board is like $500usd) Now I have twelve acoustics and I honestly don't know how many electrics..they're just too cheap and good these days. It's not really a bad thing...who I feel bad for are people that own like 3 Les Paul's...because one of their guitars is worth more than a third of my gear but ..I prefer options and playabiltoy over brand names
Buy all your gear before you get a girl or get married, and resist the desire to sell, you cannot buy these things again unless you are rich once you are married
I posted about this on my channel over a week ago. I do believe TH-cam is a tad at fault. Their algorithm is geared towards, well, gear. Or at least consumerism. Case in point: when I post about how to get better as a musician on YT, those videos get very modest views. When I post the exact same videos on TikTok they get thousands and thousands of views. When I post about gear on YT, those are the videos that blow up. It's kind of sad, really. Your milage may vary.
Tik tok is a bit of a strange one in general I've found. But yeh, for me the stuff that people are more interested on youtube is gear related (I think?)
@@johnnathancordy Many people who grew on TH-cam first tell me that TikTok is elusive. The funny thing is that TH-cam keeps trying to compete with the growth of TikTok when it's this exact difference in the algorithm that limits TH-cam (IMHO).
For me Im not really a tone chaser allthough that is of coarse part of it. But the primary goal is convienience. The less work I have to put into plugging in and playing the more Im going to play. As long as Im not sacrificing my tone Im looking for the most convient feature packed device that is not sacrificing tone quality.
tell you what johnny, we all buy gear hoping it would improve anything, you at least can play good, which can't be said for most of us.. so picture the sadness in that
I can attest that it's definitely not TH-cam. Fir me, TH-cam is a relatively new phenomenon. My desire to try, get gear, the invention of GAS as an acronym also way predates the Internet. IMHO, the gas syndrome is mostly driven by not playing enough out in public. If you tour, you want a smSll pedal board and a nice reliable amp ,( ever notice 90 percent of professional players have a fender or marshall ? Even a modeler models one if those most likely...lol). Guitar collection is a different animal though. I don't do it so I can't comment.
I've really cut back on buying gear because, well, gear just doesn't matter for me (once the gear gets above crap/shite). I need to be a better player. No one cares about tone at a bar gig.
@@garrysimmons111 They do care about the tone, they just don’t care that the delay pedal you just spent £250 on, has slightly darker repeats than the £50 one you were using last week 😅
It’s nobody’s business what anybody else spends their hard earned money on, as long as it’s legal, and they are also fulfilling their responsibilities to their family. It’s a pursuit based on an interest in the tools of your creative trade, as far as I’m concerned. Every little detail is noticeable to us, or we wouldn’t do it. This is coming from somebody with a relatively modest set of tools assembled over the course of 40 years, who teaches guitar/bass/drums, repairs stringed instruments, and plays gigs as my livelihood.
I love gear, especially amps for some reason. If I had a lot of expendable cash I would probably have lots of gear. But because of my snobbery I only want the absolute best stuff, and I just simply can't afford it. For example, over the years I've had lots of guitar in the
It’s a status thing. So many hobby forums show people trying to attain the highest status on those forums, and the way they do this is by spending on things.
That's nuts, isn't it? I could never understand it. The collecting of the gear is the hobby in and of itself. I guess there's nothing really wrong with that, it just doesn't make financial sense and I'm more into playing than solely owning gear for it's own sake.
JESUS john .. seriously .. I'm still calibrating my plugins from waking up this morning and your pumping out another video. I welcome the content , but you must need a break on top of gigging all your gear for us.)
I too have spent a small fortune over the last 45 years. Recently tho I’ve actually went back to gear I owned years ago. It made me aware that the ultra modern gear really isn’t that much better than stuff from about 15 years ago. But yea, TH-cam certainly teases you to try out the current products 🫤
Yes but this drives innovation. For example just last night I learned about Barefaced cabs and their design breakthrough. I'd heard the name but was unaware what a game changer they are.
@@johnnathancordy Please do. From what I’ve seen, they’re literally magic. No blast zone, omnidirectional full range dispersion, horn loading efficiency levels - it’s either too good to be true or the only way to go.
Yes you guys on TH-cam are BIG problem... ... . ur wait was that the UPS truck delivering my new PE Black?? Sure the hell is, later guys off to play on my new gear!!!!
Might be my age (50), or the way I'm wired(depressive & melancholic) but I absolutely couldn't care less about gear. To me they are tools and nothing more than tools to serve my songs. All my guitars are within the £300 - £600 price bracket (4 acoustics (standard dreadnought, a baritone, a 12-string and a nylon classical), a baritone electric and a bass) I have two good mic's with one to come for xmas (SM7B & Lewitt 440 Pure), xmas I'm getting a RodeNT2 for figure8 so I can do mid-side recording of my acoustics. My number 1 priority is my emotions and my songs, everything above is 100% in service to those two things and after EQ, compression, saturation, reverb, delay and anything else you wanna stick on a mix to service the song, you're not gonna know what the hell I recorded with (I've recorded dirty distortion guitars with my acoustics, you wouldn't be able to tell on the full song) If you 'need' gear to 'inspire you' to create music, perhaps you might want to focus on the song writing with a song writing course rather than thinking a new piece of gear is going to magically write that next hit (this is not directed at anyone, just putting that thought out there)
I don't think people have any real appetite for songs from unknown folks. Most of what you actually do hear will have been carefully chosen by random chaps in suits and trainers in London or some other city....
So I’ve been using a strategy for this recently, after amassing a man-loft full of used amps and pedals that I rarely, if ever, use. If I want a piece of gear because i believe it will make me sound like a particular record or artist, or give me accessibility to those sounds, I set myself a target to learn a couple of the songs that I expect to be inspired to play through the new gear. Invariably, I realise I don’t find the time to do that, and it then removes the idea that the gear will help me achieve anything. Example. I’ve been lusting after a REALLY nice acoustic. I have a perfectly good mid-range Yamaha but desire a J45 or S200. It’s a huge outlay so I’ve told myself that I can only buy one if I learn all of Going to California, Fire and Rain or The Rain Song. So far I have not been able to do this, so the gear awaits…. If I want the latest Univibe, I have to learn Bridge of Sighs first, etc etc. It returns you somewhat to the importance of playing.
When I started playing over 30 years ago, there were always people who spent more time worrying about gear, swapping pickups, buying pedals, etc, than playing/practicing. That was an issue waaaayyy before TH-cam
Oh, 100%, it was the Musician's Friend catalog, the Guitar Magazines, and even the local music shops! The difference now is that we can hear from people demonstrating instead of just dreaming of how it might be.
@@AlanWEven the forums which have been around since the early to mid 90s!!! We were already exchanging tracks (better quality too), posting pics, asking for advice, copying the stars, comparing schematics… i built my first ever amp I had out of a harp amp. Crazy to think these kids think they’re influencing anyone in the guitar world truly 😂 most stubborn capitalists are musicians
Yes, the guitar magazines , and the guitar shops were the source of gear acquisition syndrome, long before the internet. Especially with guys, the exchange of guitar and effects for car engines or suspension parts, is a common distraction from actual playing.
I'm obsessed with getting the most out of the gear I have. I avoid buying and selling gear, and instead mod my gear if I can.
I came to the conclusion that i just need a guitar and a boss katana + a looper. Does almost everything i would ever need.
ive had the same gear/guitars for about 15 years, when my modeler suddenly stoppet working last year. The search for a replacement startet a gas... For me, that brought me to this lovely channel, inspiring new gear, and now im playing more guitar than ever! 😍
"Are there bits of gear that you regret selling?" This is kind of obscure, but back in the mid/late 1980s, before there were modelers, and not many options for cab sims, I got a used Tascam PE-40 for a very reasonable price (I think something like $60 or $70). It's a 2-rack-space unit with 4 channels, each with 4 bands of fully parametric EQ, and pretty good quality. I was a grad student in an apartment, not able to play through an amp, so I used it to massively EQ a direct signal to sort of do cab sim. I eventually got an ADA MP-1 tube preamp and a Red Box cab sim. I still used the PE-40 to tweak the output (kind of the way John uses a high cut on many of his lead patches), but it was overkill for that and I eventually sold it. I currently have a couple better-quality hardware PEQs, but with fewer channels. I can't say I have a definite use for the PE-40, but every now and then over the years it would have been handy, and I've wished I kept it. Nowadays they sell for several times what I sold it for. It's by no means a "vintage" EQ, just a solid workhorse device. I suppose that's the Tascam vibe. I also had two Portastudios (one stolen, one sold), and I miss them in a different way; there was something about hands-on, track-limited recording that was fun in a way that in-the-box recording isn't. Those, too, were not audiophile devices, just solid workhorses that served me well. -Tom
I remember the Porta-Studios! I recorded tons of stuff to one of those old 4-track recorders that used cassette tapes. My band as very young teenager even recorded "demos" using one. I sure wish I could get my hands on some of those old cassette recordings! I bet they're so horrible! 😂
I’ve been watching one of Australia’s best guitarists Peter Northcoate. A while back he used a 100 watt Marshall and a big pedal board. Absolutely took the roof off the venue. Then last week I watched him do the same with a Fractal fm9. Makes you wonder if gear makes a difference.
I buy what I *need* and can *justify* at my level of obscurity.
I tend to buy top-notch stuff and only once, so I’m not constantly needing to upgrade.
generally the more unhappy I am, the more gear i collect. dopamine is a powerful thing
Is Dopamine a pedal? I need one!! ;)
@@rocketshiptoaltair😂
You ain’t wrong! The worse I feel the more I find myself ogling and ordering gear. If I’m feeling good or happy I’m playing.
@@grimlyfiendish7474 imagine if this entire industry is propped up by depressed men...
I actually use it as a barometer in case it goes undetected under the guise of "stress". If I start putting stuff I "like" (on impulse) instead of "need", I need to stop there and then and look inside what is going on.
I don’t get time to play guitar, watching videos and buying gear makes me feel I'm up to date with what's happening - I also noticed people with a lot of gear on a general note are not that great playing guitar, the guys that are really good, don't bother too much about gear - example maybe - Joe Pass - just a guitar and an Amp that's all he needed. 🙂
Same for Wes Montgomery, B.B. King, Peter Green....
TH-cam is definitely a double edged sword: its given us so much knowledge on gear and how to use it properly, but its also increased our desire to buy more stuff you don't need. I try these days to watch less gear vids and more lesson and music related content. I love your discussion type videos, lots to think about. And your playing is just incredible. Keep it up John!
Wise words....Guitar players keep looking for the new pedal or multi FX believing that their sound will be better than ever while it sounds exactly the same like 3 years ago 😬
So true. I still use a Roland GP100 in my studio. One of my students asked "How do you get such a great tone?" By using a box I bought in the mid nineties ;)
Just midlife crises. Men over 40 are more or less required to have an acquisitive hobby, be it cycling, photography, music. We’re all about ‘the stuff’.
Had an adult student many years ago who had a new guitar every week. Buying and selling at an incredible loss. To show how long ago it was he sold me his Boss GT-3 for cheap. It was still sealed in the box. That may have been the first I was aware of the obsessive gear buying that was going on. My first guitar I still have and it was my only guitar for 10 years. I borrowed amps for gigs and I had like 3 pedals. I even borrowed a bass for recording. When I reached 40-ish I fell victim to the bug and now own about 90 pedals plus a ton of amps, guitars, keyboards etc.I still have them because I never had the selling bug. I'm now retired so can't justify any more gear but I still see TH-cam videos telling me what a great tone I could have if I had this etc.. My justification became "If I don't use what I have I can't justify any new gear" and that seems to have worked for me. Thanks for being the one to put this out there. It needs to be addressed. One bit of gear I do regret selling is my Roland SH-2 synth. Bought for £100. Sold for £25 now on Reverb well over £1000.
I'm certainly not blaming any of the content creators who are reviewing gear for companies... But if I think about it for a minute, subjecting viewers to what is essentially long-form content advertising, specifically creators who are good at their craft (playing as well as recording and mixing) results in these highly effective ad campaigns... There could be multiple reasons why these are so successful, but I think it comes down to the average guitar player admiring the capability and skill level of many of the content creators that are so beloved on TH-cam. We often want to master our instruments but also want to emulate our Heroes... I don't know anyone who plays any instrument who doesn't have someone they looked up to, someone who they strive to want to emulate. Of course every guitar player will say they want to find their own sound but at some point in time we were all chasing someone else's tone. I think this can be backed up with the proof that we have very specific terms to describe guitar tones so no matter how unique you think your guitar tone is... It can easily be categorized by the it's sonic properties such as clean, crunch, high gain etc. people who fall under the "gear acquisition syndrome" diagnosis are under that spell in part due to their own inability to say "I don't need that" instead they are most likely convincing themselves that this next piece of gear is going to be the missing link that transcends them into the next level! But I think the majority of us realize that is not the case. At the end of the day I think people just need to do what makes them happy, if some people are buying and selling gear more than practicing their instruments so be it. I think it's safe to say that we all know that a good guitar player can make literally any piece of gear sound fantastic... But I don't think we're going to find most guitar brands advertising this information because it wouldn't be beneficial to their brand.
I own 4 guitars now: Fender Tele, PRS Custom 24, Silver Sky and an acoustic. I ordered a Gibson Les Paul Studio last month. And I am not even a pro musician. Talk about GAS😂
Great combination - covers it all except for a doubleneck SG!
Been fighting all weekend to forget about an FM9 Turbo Mk II 😖
A few things:
1) Where does the emotion that drives your need to buy originate? It's important to be sentient of the primal motivations underlying complex behaviours.
2) Don't underestimate the overwhelming power of advertising on the modern world. It's changing every thing you look at and experience.
3) The basic human need to fully engage with and experience the physical world and to be creative is often supplanted by the urge to consume when we are exposed to aspirational media in one form or another. This also applies to feelings of self worth.
I think you're spot on with recommending spending money on a guitar course instead of buying a new piece of gear. Same with singers, when someone asks what kind of vocal processor or something to buy I always recommend investing in singing lessons. They're available online and make such a huge difference for most singers. I know it did for me.
Long list of gear sale regrets. Two Marshall hundred watt JCM heads, one JMP master volume 100 watt Marshall, an old Vox AC30 STR ( head) , a Fender twin ( silverface), a Gibson Les Paul deluxe, a digitech twin tube presmp and foot controller, a pre CBS white rosewood Strat, an American Standard Strat (1990), a Maestro Echoplex, a Holden Tape echo, an Ibanez compressor, Ibanez analogue delay, a Sholtz stereo chorus, a Session solid state 2X12 40 watt combo amp, a Marshall quad (1968) with reconed green backs,etc etc... most of these were sold in order to trade in or buy some new piece of gear, most of which were in turn sold ( majority of the list.)🤔
Honestly over the last 10 years I must've bought (and sold) over 400 pedals. Many of which are worth several £1000s each in today's market. I miss some but only ever keep what will fit on my small board. Doesn't stop me trying more though
Another point to add is that you get the same dopamine response from selling your gear from buying it.
I have a friend who is a compulsive buyer/seller. His argument is that selling stuff doesn’t give him the same rush, yet he’ll regularly get in touch to let me know something has gone. His excitement sounds very similar to when he’s found something at a bargain price
I hear that the selling is the better of the two, but make no mistake, it’s the same rush. Once you run out of stuff to sell, you buy again to restart the hamster wheel
Getting lessons with a good teacher and dedicated practice has been the best balance for me. I spend the money but not too much and the rush comes from my improving playing and my awareness of minutia evolving
I must confess, I too have suffered from major GAS (a.k.a. gear acquisition syndrome) issues most of my long, dopamine addicted, musical life. Long be&ore the intertubes arrived, wayyy back in the stone ages, I acquired the slower moving, yet equally compelling magazine and fellow player’s cool gear driven GAS. Funny thing about GAS is it’s a bit sneaky and can easily find its way into many other areas of one’s life if you’re not careful!
After discovering JC's TH-cam posts and links to available presets, I bought a HX Stomp LX and love it. My big (and expensive) pedal board has not been out of the case in 1 1/2 years and I've played out a lot. On the other hand, after watching Chris Buck's videos, I bought a new Revstar and it hasn't been out of it's case for months. Wanta buy a Revstar? :)
Instruments and gear is pretty good now across the board. Besides the exact sound I want without any words attached, how cool something is to me is more important than the highest-end basic whatever.
I think a handy question to ask yourself is "What problem am I actually trying to solve?"
If you can't give yourself a clearly defined answer, then you're probably just looking for a new toy.
And new toys are great! But is it worth spending the asking price on a toy?
Usually not, but sometimes the answer is still yes!
I rarely buy anything. This year’s things were my first tube amp and a small acoustic board and the necessary accoutrements (cables, DI box). Last year, I got a second tele and then replacement pickups when they died after only a month. That was, admittedly, entirely due to TH-cam and drooling over the finish and neck (J Mascis tele in bottle rocket blue). But my main board has hardly changed for three years and I’m darn proud of that!
It's not because of YT it's simply how we're wired. Shiny.... New....
If anything, in the end YT has made me scrutinize my gear in ways I might not have gotten to otherwise.
Back in the day innovative guitarists and engineers were often looking for new sounds, limited as they were, what we have now is simply a product of all that work...
I’m gassing for a gold top. I’ve been fascinated with this guitar from the first time I saw Stuart Mattewman play one on “Cherish The Day” on Sade’s DVD. He is one of reasons I play multiple instruments (He and D’Angelo). I already have two LPs, but I have to have a P90 guitar, right? TH-cam does fuel my desire to own one. Could I sell a bunch of stuff and get it, absolutely. But it’s also the journey, patience and drive to earn the money for it that makes it all fun. And there is always a story behind my quest for these instrument.
I practice every single day and put the time into my craft… yes it pays me. Now excuse me, I have more videos to watch about gold top Les Pauls 😂
Only regret I have is giving my son my fender Mexican Strat. Only because he really doesn’t play it anymore. I was going to offer him money for it, but my wife said no.
I don’t have a mortgage and my car is paid off.
I got laid off 4 months ago and I haven’t thought about buying gear ever since. I’m cured (and broke)!
It’s all just modern-day infomercials.
It’s shocking how many people simply do not understand this reality:
1. Guitar magazines have been effectively dead for a few decades, and this was the primary outlet to market for gear manufacturers. This cost *considerable* amounts of money.
2. With TH-cam, gear manufacturers now have access to shockingly cheap marketing (for the price of gear they can reach their actual target audience which in marketing is a *very* inefficient process)
3. Gear makers FLOOD TH-cam with infomercials being delivered by guitar influencers
4. Influencers do perfunctory infomercials on gear, and rarely actually do proper reviews (serious pros and cons, limitations of the gear, gear strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, value, actual ideal target audience for the gear, talk about if it is overkill or excessive for certain types of ppl etc etc)
5. Influencers make a living and get free gear
6. Viewers benefit by being exposed to more gear options than ever before
7. Gear makers benefit by having third-party infomercial contractors be essentially their marketing team
8. All this greatly influences the GAS culture and potentially completely detracts from playing the guitar
Its all quick dopamine hits
I think that TH-cam reviews and demo videos really contribute to the FOMO (fear of missing out) fever on a lot of musicians. Even with stuff that is not limited or that you can find later used.
I think it would be a good idea to do a survey of how much viewers spent on gear in the community of this channel. Is the sound you want the universe, religion, or life?
This was an issue at least as long as forums have been around. The thing about TH-cam is that it tricks you into thinking content creators are your friend recommending you gear when they are actually just advertisements you are choosing to watch. This channel isnt as bad about it, but Andertons is just a business trying to sell gear. The videos arent reviews, they are advertisements.
I came back to guitar after stopping for ages. Older and with money to burn i quickly went thru 10ish guitars...6amps...and countless pedals only to realise that the gear really wasnt going to make me better. Its nice to have but i think a good guitar player can get most sounds out of basic equipment.
I blame that John Nathan Cordy ... 😜
As an oldie I started buying in guitars and pedals to have the experience of them before I stop breathing.
I Do admit that I have kept more than I have moved on, but perthaps that's a testament to my good taste more than to hoarding ... 🤔
Let's face it.
Watching TH-cam is more rewarding than watching telly.
So much so that I binned my telly and licence years ago.
(Actually I donated my telly ...)
Before TH-cam and the Internet, I bought all the gear magazines, I called my magazine collection, gear porn
You gotta pay the troll toll if you want to get in that gear hole.
The reality is that like any hobby there are different ways to engage with it. I feel lucky because for me it's all about writing songs, recording and performing. Most of my gear is 2nd hand and I only use a couple of Boss pedals at gigs (although I bought a GT-1000 that I want to get to grips with at some point). But I don't look down on people who just want to sit at home and jam to a backing track, people that like to play around with effects pedals or people that like to collect nice guitars.
I think the important things is to be aware of why you are buying gear. Is it because it will actually be used, because you actually enjoy playing around with it... or are you using it as a way to avoid practicing, recording, performing because you're waiting to find the perfect tone. In that case you have a problem.
I've only ever sold a couple of things, when I'm really not using it. I'm very considerate of what I buy so it doesn't happen very often.
I'm one of those players that's never been obsessed with gear. In 35+ years I've owned 12 guitars, I still have 9 of them. I could count the amps on one hand. My experience is that after a short acclimatisation period, any guitar will do. They're all a little different but the differences are really marginal. There's also no such thing as a perfect guitar. Chasing that chimera is an expensive folly.
TH-cam CURED my gear buying obsession, all these (good channels) like TPS/60cH/ect have these sets that are just walls of Cool Sht TM, pedal shelves, walls of amp heads. and it got me stressed about owning anything in general.
Only thing stopping me from The Great Sell-Off is my local fb marketplace scene being super hawked over by professional flippers
FINALLY....What a great truth....just play with what you have make it sound great you can..Remember!??? How fun it is to really play good be spontaneously creative...just reel it in , gear is fun but you don't need 50 pedals....Holy Shite the pedal business has become the biggest GRIFT going....have fun bring out your uniqueness and jam😊
Since I grabbed a helix floor, my pedal insanity went right down. All I have is the helix and a microcosm. Between those 2 I get everything I need.
Agree. People focus on gear cause it’s easy - you just spend money and you sound different. Doing the work is much harder. I guess TH-cam like many things has good and bad sides to it.
My 1969 Bassman Export Amp head and a 'cheap' all black lefty Harmony strat.
Sold them over 20 years ago.
Haven't regretted anything since.
Playing lefties means I tend to hold on to them unless I really can't get on with it or like it. Nothing I own is particularly expensive but is very hard to find if I have a change of heart.
It's a lot easier to buy a new product you think might make you sound better than actually take the time to practice and get better.
Great video. Some years ago, I sold a Fulltone OCD. I should have kept it.
I have an idea for a video. Take snippets from tons of videos where you play dozens of modelers or amps and then ask the viewers to guess which is which. 1/3 of them should just be the helix. You don’t even need an introduction. Just a compilation that lasts 8 minutes and then at the end you just say, “those were 31 pieces of gear. Can you name what’s what?”
TH-cam killed music. Low audio resolution with compression.
The coked-out record company idiots killed music long before TH-cam came along.
I've been having a dilemma about using delay/reverb plugins vs pedals for recording songs.
I have two rigs:
One Mooer GT-250 digital board that I use for live performances and practice.
One analog pedal board and my EVH amp that I use for recording in the studio.
For my studio recordings, I have been using reverb and delay plugins inside the DAW. That allows me to use stereo effects and gives me a lot of flexibility afterwards. I sometimes use the reverb from my CaptorX reactive load.
My GT-250 has a couple of cool delays/reverbs, but I don't want to add an A2D/D2A with no analog dry in the middle of my signal chain just for that. Maybe I shouldn't be too restrictive.
I have been seeing all these cool delay/reverb pedals such as the TC Electronics Flashback 2, EHX Canyon, etc. They all sound cool and fun, but when I think about my workflow, I get discouraged from buying any delay/reverb plugin.
Have you felt the same about delays/reverbs?
I'm reasonable certain that the "problem" is bigger than youtube. Long before yt was invented we used to look for gear in guitar magazines. My guess is that it is a psychological matter. We hunt for "the" sound and we want short cuts to sound better than we do; another piece of gear may take us closer? Or maybe we should practise more? 🤔
Now looky here, I did not say I was a millionaire
But I said I have spent more money than a millionaire
'Cause if I had kept all of the money I done already spent
I would've been a millionaire, a long time ago
And women? Great googly moogly - Howlin Wolf
If your not fd up in debt, married, don't cheat, don't do drugs anymore, you end up buying shift* 😅
*insert Spiderman pointing meme*
I was addicted to drugs, but then I joined the cartel and I spend no money on them now so problem solved!
People blame this platform for their inability for self control all the time. Hell I blame ASMR for cheating on the wife....
I would say the reason is the welfare society, when you can get nearly brand new stuff for less than half price or even cheaper that is pretty irresistible.
is this your first hobby? TH-cam is definitely not the problem. We just like to own cool shit. I have too many mountain bikes, too many guns, too many knives, too many hotwheels, too many guitars, and I'm going keep buying more of all of them.
As I gig in pubs for a living now, I'm always skint so can't afford gear I don't need. I suppose thats a silver lining....maybe ;)
I personally don’t see an issue. If you have the spare money and want a new piece of gear then why not?
I think it's phases of our lives..
I didn't own ANY pedals until about two years ago. I had two acoustics and two electrics..now I have a massive board of Joyo pedals and I don't regret buying any of them (total price of the whole board is like $500usd)
Now I have twelve acoustics and I honestly don't know how many electrics..they're just too cheap and good these days. It's not really a bad thing...who I feel bad for are people that own like 3 Les Paul's...because one of their guitars is worth more than a third of my gear but ..I prefer options and playabiltoy over brand names
Buy all your gear before you get a girl or get married, and resist the desire to sell, you cannot buy these things again unless you are rich once you are married
It can be, but I'm currently selling about 70% of my gear, despite being on TH-cam daily.
I posted about this on my channel over a week ago. I do believe TH-cam is a tad at fault. Their algorithm is geared towards, well, gear. Or at least consumerism. Case in point: when I post about how to get better as a musician on YT, those videos get very modest views. When I post the exact same videos on TikTok they get thousands and thousands of views. When I post about gear on YT, those are the videos that blow up. It's kind of sad, really. Your milage may vary.
Tik tok is a bit of a strange one in general I've found. But yeh, for me the stuff that people are more interested on youtube is gear related (I think?)
@@johnnathancordy Many people who grew on TH-cam first tell me that TikTok is elusive. The funny thing is that TH-cam keeps trying to compete with the growth of TikTok when it's this exact difference in the algorithm that limits TH-cam (IMHO).
Gear has a bit of a Nostalgia factor in some Cases.
For me Im not really a tone chaser allthough that is of coarse part of it. But the primary goal is convienience. The less work I have to put into plugging in and playing the more Im going to play. As long as Im not sacrificing my tone Im looking for the most convient feature packed device that is not sacrificing tone quality.
tell you what johnny, we all buy gear hoping it would improve anything, you at least can play good, which can't be said for most of us.. so picture the sadness in that
I can attest that it's definitely not TH-cam. Fir me, TH-cam is a relatively new phenomenon. My desire to try, get gear, the invention of GAS as an acronym also way predates the Internet.
IMHO, the gas syndrome is mostly driven by not playing enough out in public. If you tour, you want a smSll pedal board and a nice reliable amp ,( ever notice 90 percent of professional players have a fender or marshall ? Even a modeler models one if those most likely...lol). Guitar collection is a different animal though. I don't do it so I can't comment.
Amazing intro playing.
The problem is I don’t have the time to play guitar. Therefore, watching videos and buying gear is the next best thing.
That vid time couldn't be plat time... ok
@@jimicunningable there’s one in every crowd🤣🤦🏼♂️ I travel for work
@@jbbourbon178 So did I, as a SE textbook salesman & Intel soldier. Stienberger then, Traveler now.
Space is what tempers GAS.
I've really cut back on buying gear because, well, gear just doesn't matter for me (once the gear gets above crap/shite). I need to be a better player. No one cares about tone at a bar gig.
@@garrysimmons111 They do care about the tone, they just don’t care that the delay pedal you just spent £250 on, has slightly darker repeats than the £50 one you were using last week 😅
YES.
Yup I have gotten that bug it sucks hard habit to break
I have the addition but not the money
Self licking icecream?
It’s nobody’s business what anybody else spends their hard earned money on, as long as it’s legal, and they are also fulfilling their responsibilities to their family. It’s a pursuit based on an interest in the tools of your creative trade, as far as I’m concerned. Every little detail is noticeable to us, or we wouldn’t do it. This is coming from somebody with a relatively modest set of tools assembled over the course of 40 years, who teaches guitar/bass/drums, repairs stringed instruments, and plays gigs as my livelihood.
Who says the gear we are obsessed with has to be legal?
@@johnnathancordy I guess it would be the law, by definition. So, Judge Dredd, The King? 🧐
I love gear, especially amps for some reason. If I had a lot of expendable cash I would probably have lots of gear. But because of my snobbery I only want the absolute best stuff, and I just simply can't afford it. For example, over the years I've had lots of guitar in the
It’s a status thing. So many hobby forums show people trying to attain the highest status on those forums, and the way they do this is by spending on things.
That's nuts, isn't it? I could never understand it. The collecting of the gear is the hobby in and of itself.
I guess there's nothing really wrong with that, it just doesn't make financial sense and I'm more into playing than solely owning gear for it's own sake.
As a beginner you thinks you need everything 😅
Later that day (checking on bank balance) you figured you do not need everything 😅
Lovely Intro❤
JESUS john .. seriously .. I'm still calibrating my plugins from waking up this morning and your pumping out another video. I welcome the content , but you must need a break on top of gigging all your gear for us.)
I'll take a break when I've earned one!
I too have spent a small fortune over the last 45 years. Recently tho I’ve actually went back to gear I owned years ago. It made me aware that the ultra modern gear really isn’t that much better than stuff from about 15 years ago. But yea, TH-cam certainly teases you to try out the current products 🫤
Yes but this drives innovation. For example just last night I learned about Barefaced cabs and their design breakthrough. I'd heard the name but was unaware what a game changer they are.
Craig! They actually asked me to do a demo...What do you think?
@@johnnathancordy Please do. From what I’ve seen, they’re literally magic. No blast zone, omnidirectional full range dispersion, horn loading efficiency levels - it’s either too good to be true or the only way to go.
Solution is being poor. Just like me.
Yes you guys on TH-cam are BIG problem... ... . ur wait was that the UPS truck delivering my new PE Black?? Sure the hell is, later guys off to play on my new gear!!!!
Lease fee? Rationalise much?😂
Telecaster
Youre a fool if you think GAS started with TH-cam.
Might be my age (50), or the way I'm wired(depressive & melancholic) but I absolutely couldn't care less about gear.
To me they are tools and nothing more than tools to serve my songs.
All my guitars are within the £300 - £600 price bracket (4 acoustics (standard dreadnought, a baritone, a 12-string and a nylon classical), a baritone electric and a bass)
I have two good mic's with one to come for xmas (SM7B & Lewitt 440 Pure), xmas I'm getting a RodeNT2 for figure8 so I can do mid-side recording of my acoustics.
My number 1 priority is my emotions and my songs, everything above is 100% in service to those two things and after EQ, compression, saturation, reverb, delay and anything else you wanna stick on a mix to service the song, you're not gonna know what the hell I recorded with (I've recorded dirty distortion guitars with my acoustics, you wouldn't be able to tell on the full song)
If you 'need' gear to 'inspire you' to create music, perhaps you might want to focus on the song writing with a song writing course rather than thinking a new piece of gear is going to magically write that next hit (this is not directed at anyone, just putting that thought out there)
It is easier to do gear reviews then just work on songs in a long term format.
I don't think people have any real appetite for songs from unknown folks. Most of what you actually do hear will have been carefully chosen by random chaps in suits and trainers in London or some other city....
So I’ve been using a strategy for this recently, after amassing a man-loft full of used amps and pedals that I rarely, if ever, use.
If I want a piece of gear because i believe it will make me sound like a particular record or artist, or give me accessibility to those sounds, I set myself a target to learn a couple of the songs that I expect to be inspired to play through the new gear. Invariably, I realise I don’t find the time to do that, and it then removes the idea that the gear will help me achieve anything.
Example. I’ve been lusting after a REALLY nice acoustic. I have a perfectly good mid-range Yamaha but desire a J45 or S200. It’s a huge outlay so I’ve told myself that I can only buy one if I learn all of Going to California, Fire and Rain or The Rain Song. So far I have not been able to do this, so the gear awaits….
If I want the latest Univibe, I have to learn Bridge of Sighs first, etc etc.
It returns you somewhat to the importance of playing.
Buy some lessons, not another overdrive or guitar.