Talked to a session guy at a bar about his pedalboard and it flipped my whole approach

I was grabbing a beer after a show last Saturday and this older guitarist saw my shirt from a local shop. He asked what I was building and I went on about my 4-knob fuzz clone with a silicon/ germanium switch. He just laughed and said "you're overcomplicating it man, pick one good tone and play the hell out of it." That hit different because I realized I spend more time switching transistors than actually playing. Has anyone else had a moment where a pro just made you feel dumb about your whole build philosophy?

2 comments

2 Comments

emmam321mo ago

Stop worrying and just play the damn thing already. I had a similar crash out when a buddy who tours constantly told me he uses ONE overdrive pedal and a tuner. No buffer, no switcher, no nothing. It made me realize I was treating pedal building like a science project instead of music making. You nailed it with that imaginary perfect fuzz comment, that thing is a ghost we all chase but it doesnt exist. Sometimes the best tone is the one that makes you want to play loud and not stop.

andrew6461mo ago

Four knobs and a switch is barely complicated man, I have built pedals with 12 dips and trimpots inside. But the session guy has a point even if it is kind of obvious advice. I think the real question is do you actually sound bad with the switch or are you just chasing some imaginary perfect fuzz that doesn't exist.