Planar_Being
Active Member
I offer this story as a cautionary tale to any young bucks who go to sleep at night dreaming of their next pedal purchase. It can turn into a viral plague upon your house. Here is my story. Your mileage may vary -- but probably not a whole lot -- if you set out on this lost highway, and pretty soon it’ll be too late to pray when planetary destruction looms.
Buying pedals became more than an addiction for me. It cost me 7 marriages, innumerable back injuries requiring fusion of several vertebrae, and the break-up of 14 bands — to name the least of the hardships I endured.
In the end, even I realized that I needed help and started to downsize.
The next iteration worked so well that I was persuaded by MOMA to lend my rig for a semi-permanent, traveling display. To date, it’s been viewed by close to 12 million souls and travelled to 27 cities, across 5 continents. (And I haven't seen one thin dime.)
As a result of my over-zealous (some say misguided) philanthropy, with all my pedals gone, I started from scratch with a modest setup that worked well enough in my bedroom but not so well for the stadium gigs. Fabricating my own amps took up all my spare time (along with another spouse or 2) and I’m still not sure if it was worth the heartache.
Many’s the time I think of the good old days when real men made their own effect boxes and played just for the sheer love of the music and not for some few paltry millions of dollars per tour.
I’m back home at the moment and setting up for tonight’s gig, even as I speak. To he honest, the cartage fees are sucking the life out of things now. How the business has changed. My old buddies have been switching to plug-ins. I wouldn’t say I’m a luddite, but you can’t beat the great vibe of the traditional gear. Bob Dylan offered to convert his bus for my use, but I know he'd regret it later and resent me for it.
Buying pedals became more than an addiction for me. It cost me 7 marriages, innumerable back injuries requiring fusion of several vertebrae, and the break-up of 14 bands — to name the least of the hardships I endured.
In the end, even I realized that I needed help and started to downsize.
The next iteration worked so well that I was persuaded by MOMA to lend my rig for a semi-permanent, traveling display. To date, it’s been viewed by close to 12 million souls and travelled to 27 cities, across 5 continents. (And I haven't seen one thin dime.)
As a result of my over-zealous (some say misguided) philanthropy, with all my pedals gone, I started from scratch with a modest setup that worked well enough in my bedroom but not so well for the stadium gigs. Fabricating my own amps took up all my spare time (along with another spouse or 2) and I’m still not sure if it was worth the heartache.
Many’s the time I think of the good old days when real men made their own effect boxes and played just for the sheer love of the music and not for some few paltry millions of dollars per tour.
I’m back home at the moment and setting up for tonight’s gig, even as I speak. To he honest, the cartage fees are sucking the life out of things now. How the business has changed. My old buddies have been switching to plug-ins. I wouldn’t say I’m a luddite, but you can’t beat the great vibe of the traditional gear. Bob Dylan offered to convert his bus for my use, but I know he'd regret it later and resent me for it.