The hallowed Paul Cochrane Timmy pedal. I've GAS-ed for one for many years, having read the reviews, watched the videos, and heard the audio clips. And when the right person came by with the right price, I pounced on it. I still remember peeling back the box and beholding the pedal in my hands for a while, before plugging it in and powering it up for the first time. It was audio bliss. Every chord, every single note line, every pinch harmonic, every slap harmonic--every technique I threw at the Timmy just made my playing sound so much better.
Intense, huh? All that extra expense in an attempt to achieve "boutique" tone.
The Wet Blanket in me was very quick to pull me back to earth. Let's face it, no one's really going to be able to tell the difference between a Paul Cochrane Timmy and a Boss SD-1. No one's going to come up to me and comment how the Timmy made all the difference in making my guitar tone sound good (and the opposite is true; no one's going to come up and complain that the reason my tone sucked was the SD-1).
After-thought:
No offense to SD-1 users, of course. I've played with that pedal before, and it just didn't work with my rig, and hence, the example. I know fantastic players who have great tone using that pedal.
You're likely going to hear generic comments after a session: "Your playing was nice" and "I liked that tone" for the supporters, with perhaps an equal number of "your playing sucked" and "I hated that tone" from the haters.
As a musician friend of mine commented (or perhaps lamented) before, the only person who can really tell the difference is yourself, or a fellow guitarist who has a good ear for tone. Our pursuit of tone is a pursuit of personal satisfaction, which I think isn't necessarily a bad thing. If a guitarist feels hampered, or is in constant lament over how bad his tone is, he's not going to be focused on being creative with music. He's going to be distracted by how his gear doesn't measure up to his personal expectations.
My suggestion for those who are beating themselves up all the time: save up, spend it, get it, use it. Acquire gear to the degree you have been called as a musician, be it a hobbyist or a full-time professional. Once you put a cap on how much you'll spend (and get), you'll start focusing on making your music sound good.
As a musician friend of mine commented (or perhaps lamented) before, the only person who can really tell the difference is yourself, or a fellow guitarist who has a good ear for tone. Our pursuit of tone is a pursuit of personal satisfaction, which I think isn't necessarily a bad thing. If a guitarist feels hampered, or is in constant lament over how bad his tone is, he's not going to be focused on being creative with music. He's going to be distracted by how his gear doesn't measure up to his personal expectations.
My suggestion for those who are beating themselves up all the time: save up, spend it, get it, use it. Acquire gear to the degree you have been called as a musician, be it a hobbyist or a full-time professional. Once you put a cap on how much you'll spend (and get), you'll start focusing on making your music sound good.
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