Should I Buy Guitar Stuff?

[zourtney]

A few weeks ago, I dragged out my old guitar stuff. I have a cheap electric guitar and a decent-quality bass, for those who forget or did not know (that's you googlebot!)

Anyway, ever since then, I have been kneading in my mind the idea of buying some simple guitar stuff. Mostly just stuff that I have lost or broken. You know, simple, necessary stuff like a tuner! And a distortion pedal. I have a pretty sweet amp, but the lowest volume it is capable of is "acoustically shred the neighbor's cat." And it only gets louder from there. I was looking for something with a headphone jack.

But I don't like spending money. Besides, musical equipment is certainly one of those things where people pay large sums of money to get into, and then they let it sit for years. So maybe I'll hit up craigslist for someone's "work good, never use it"s.

[Nick]

Craigslist is a good idea. Or buy a friends used stuff. Not mine though, I still intend to learn how to whale out some sick tunes. Or something to that effect.

[zourtney]

I have this problem. Recently it has been called "A.D.D." Classically, it has been called "dumb," "unable to focus," or "scatterbrained." You see, I hear some cool guitar part, and want to play that. So I pick up my guitar.

But I quickly forget about emulating other people's music. I start inventing chords and doing other bad sounding things. There is a whole band in my head but they don't play well. And thus: the cycle of why I can't play any songs.

[Nick]

If you do that enough you might start your own genre of music. "A.D.D Rock" perhaps

[zourtney]

  yeah...

So, I dragged my amp out of the closet last night. There is a very fine line between "too quite" and "too loud for an apartment." Nonetheless, amplified sound from that old guitar was inspirational (I usually just play unplugged, which never does an electric guitar justice).

[zourtney]

I just made one of the surprising, loudest, and deafening squeals I have even heard out of my guitar. It would seem that my amp volume got bumped from about "0.75" to around the "2" mark. And that 100w amp has some kick. I was sitting < 2ft from it.

Feedback loop! Ouch.

It is time to find a low power, headphone compatible amp and a decent pair of headphones.

[zourtney]

So, I have fallen into my normal trap and over-researched my quest for a small amplifier. I found a relatively cheap amp, the Peavey Vypyr for $100, and will probably be less than satisfied with other options, because I'm dumb like that. Unfortunately, I can't find a single one on craigslist...not even other models in the same line.

I sent one guy an email about a different amp, but he was only willing to sell it for $5 less than list price (though he claims it is still unopened). But, as multiple people have said, "Random dude has no return policy." So, unless I come across someone actually willing to sell their used equipment for a substantial discount, I think I'll make a run to a guitar shop some time this month.

Yippee 

[zourtney]

I'm pretty sure I just got a guitar amp. Eve is up in Portland and I accidentally, half-jokingly asked if she wanted to pick up an amp for me. I think she did.

..! 

[zourtney]

I most certainly got an amp yesterday. It is a Peavey Vypyr 30, which is one model up from the base model "15." I had intended to get the smaller one but internet reviews and "go bigger" mentality prevailed. It has lots of fun buttons and knobs and effects and stuff. Most importantly, it has a headphone jack, so I won't be accidentally blasting out my neighbors like I did last week. Anyway, it is fun, but I still suck.

Fancy amps can't make one a better guitar player. (Though in the grand scheme of things, it is not a fancy amp.)

[Brad]

Fancy amps can't make one a better guitar player. (Though in the grand scheme of things, it is not a fancy amp.)

I think you'll find that distortion can indeed make one a better guitar player.

[zourtney]

I think it's actually that distortion can make a bad guitar player still sound cool. My fingers are sloppy and inaccurate. Fortunately, it's in style.

[Brad]

Sound cooler = better guitar player for anyone who isn't a guitar player.

[zourtney]

I think some time in the near future I will make a Randomland Review of my new Peavey amp. I like it quite a lot. It's easy to get weird sounds from it. On the other hand, I'm having trouble finding a good "normal" sounding distortion. I haven't really tried finding a clean channel...

[Nick]

Do it!