3wks in... feels weird, but good (fighting G.A.S.)

[alexdingley]

"...Hi, I'm Alex and I'm a gear addict..."

So, this might seem comical, cliched, or just silly... but I decided about a month ago that my gear purchasing (and associated web browsing) had become fairly similar to a true addiction. For the last 15+ years, I've had a near photographic recall of what's for sale in my local Craigslist music page, and I found myself on eBay far too often... I also used to constantly sift through the for-sale posts on this board / gear-slutz / harmony-central... you name it. Once I signed up for Reverb.com I was on that app constantly. I wasn't buying so much that I couldn't pay the bills... this time... (I did have a gear-induced chapter11 back in my early 20's)... but I started feeling like it was really getting in the way of... well, using the gear that I actually have.

So in the last 3+ weeks, I have avoided CraigsList / Sweetwater / Reverb / any ForSale message boards / the facebook marketplace / I've disregarded any Uaudio.com coupons... and I'm starting to see the pay-off.

reading:
I've quickly read Zen and the Art of Mixing (good read, btw)... and I'm part way through Are We Still Rolling?

creating:
I've put a few of those hours not spent browsing back into my band & just creative work in general... each week. This weekend, I just spent a few hours playing with the minimoog... Giving yourself some dedicated creative time with no expectation of any output is insanely valuable. I ended up with a couple of great-sounding bass-synth patches... plus I learned a few little tricks by watching some Moog-programming youtube videos.

Tech work:
I got around to troubleshooting some issues with some gear & have vastly improved the headphone mix in my home studio.

Spring Cleaning:
I went through the closets / bins / basement shelves... and ended up selling nearly $500 in old gear & accessories that I haven't touched in 5-10yrs. So I've been on eBay, but in a profitable way.

I'm just posting this because... well, because I'm sure I'm not the only one of us who's let gear-lust turn into obsession, and who's let that obsession get in the way of the actual passion. I can't say that I won't ever fall back into this bad habit... but I'm literally using some twelve-step methodologies... (avoiding people/places/things that trigger the behavior... / Taking it one day at a time / one decision at a time).

The two podcasts I've been listening to lately (Working Class Audio & Recording Studio Rockstars) have actually been huge contributors to the realization & subsequent decision to make a change. I keep hearing guest after guest (all of whom seem to be doing great work & have some great perspective) talk about "you can make great recordings with lots of different rigs... don't let the magazine ads fool you into thinking 'you can't make great music without xyz piece of gear.', and it finally started sinking in."

[drumsound]

I look at ads often, but really don't buy much. I think the only thing I've bought this year are two under $100 plugins. I did buy a set of in-ears for gigs, but that's more about need as one of the bands I'm in put a system together and we're all responsible for our own monitoring and mics.

[losthighway]

I read a lot of reviews for things. That definitely soaks up some time.

But I kind of went through all the "amazingly useful for under $500" pieces in the mics, compressors, multifx slots. Now I'm more of a save and wait for the expensive but right tool. This kind of keeps me off of craigslist/ebay/reverb looking for a steal on a weird mic, which saves time and headspace. Although sometimes I catch myself looking without even having the intention of buying anything which is weird.

I'm in a longterm, delayed gratification holding pattern. The plan is first a monitor upgrade (Dynaudio LYD 48's probably, maybe Focals if I can hold out longer and if summer sessions are more lucrative), then later a pair of Coles 4038s, and eventually a Bricasti verb. I've been really into the idea of waiting to get some of the "best" stuff now that I'm lucky enough to have a lot of different (and nice) stuff that works.

I definitely have 3-4 pieces in my place that I almost never use and could probably get a few hundred bucks for if I got motivated to clear them out. I like that you did that.

[drumsound]

I have a few things getting little to no use that I really should jettison. I could probably net an AA mic if I did.

[kslight]

I’m guilty for watching Craigslist and FB marketplace, and to a lesser extent...Reverb/eBay/etc...for those rare deals and or rare things that I’ve been eyeing. I try not to buy anything that I haven’t had a strong itch for a long time...it’s usually pretty thought out but not always do they show up at a good price/condition/local... I feel like I’m pretty set in my studio (I know), given the exception that something pops up on my unicorn list at an incredible price and I happen to have money that day.

Honestly I would even sell a lot of my own gear but some things are big and others are just frustrating trying to find the buyer. I’m not big on selling with eBay/etc, I prefer to deal local when I can...

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I go though phases with this. Lately I’ve been on a spending spree because I’ve been super busy this year and and finally have some disposable income. Not a huge amount of gear purchases though. My spending has been more focused on fixing broken stuff that I got a great deal on because it was broken but then it sat on a shelf for a year because it was broken.

I do try very hard to clear out the clutter every few years. There’s stuff that I’ll never get around to fixing (looking at you $20 SPX90 with a bad rectifier)and other stuff that hasn’t been used in years (like the OS9 laptop I kept around because I used it to edit samples on the ancient Roland sampler that i sold years ago).

At this point there’s really not a hell of a lot that I need. I’d love to have a U47 clone and would still likely jump for cheap old ev mics but I don’t really want for anything. I have been lusting after a Tascam 238 but the money they fetch these days is insane. Maybe I’ll buy a broken one and let it age in my store room like a fine wine.

My biggest purchase this year will be upgrading the power service in the house so I can upgrade the power in my detached garage and finally move the home studio out there.

[vvv]

reading: TapeOp, and the odd bio-type thing. I currently have the Gang of Four book pending, and I'll download whitepapers and owners manuals and stuff to my tablet for on the train.Also, a friend subscribed me to Guitar Player and I have a bunch I haven't gotten to - they are good in the throne room.

creating: Constant, see links below. I currently have a 10 track album awaiting my band's guitar player's overdubs (he's on vaca), a project going with a guitarist outta CA where we did 3 and have two awaiting his surgeried hand to heal, and a project going with a keyboard/saxist outta London awaiting his workload to ease. Plus, I do my Vlayman stuff ...

Tech work: Well, I posted elsewhere about some repairs I gotta make, a pedal to build, and a buddy just gave me a small mixer to fix.

Spring Cleaning: I'm not a pack-rat hoarder because I don't just buy shite to pack or hoard. That said, I seldom get rid of anything. "Spring cleaning" is a conceptual waste of time for yo, with 40 some guitars and 15 some amps and 20 some outboards in my little ranch house ...

Alla that and I check out the Ebog mebbe every other day as I keep about 30 things I'm looking for on watch, what causes me to check Reverb and C/L before I do buy in the event I can get sompin' in better condition or better priced ... I'm also on here everyday and so check out the shite for sale.

[markjazzbassist]

yeah i'm always looking for stuff the benefit i have is i work IT by day so i'm on the computer all day so i get to look at it then and it doesn't cut into my music time/family time at night. i don't keep gear i don't need/use, i'm a minimalist in every sense of the word so if it's not used it's sold and something else comes in that will get used. so i don't have a stack of gear. that being said i do like to buy broken gear and fix it up and flip it, so i have that stuff coming in regularly which then the proceeds help me to acquire new stuff for the small studio i have.

i don't see it as a problem, i found a way to make money off it.

[alexdingley]

i don't see it as a problem, i found a way to make money off it.

That's awesome, Mark! I'm halfway decent at fixing up certain things... so I've had that good fortune once in a while. Recently, my 90's Synth/Workstation nostalgia got the better of me, and I bought a used Kurzweil K2500XS for $100... it was posted on Craigslist, about 2mi from my house... and i saw it on my lunch break... emailed the guy and left the house immediately — total snap decision. I knew it had some issues, but I thought I could fix them... turns out, it was just beyond my ability to fix it... thankfully, I resisted it on CL and sold it for twice what I paid — just dumb luck. The guy who bought it from me runs a fix-up shop, so he's confident (and I believe) that he can get it back to 100%.

I'm trying to complete my purge of unused gear this summer... gotta figure out how to get rid of 2 rolling ATA racks & a couple misc items.