So i have a big problem with the QC. I love it and love most of the sounds i get out of it but everytime i power it on and plug in, I cant stop myself from tweaking settings, or finding cool new amps/fx and downloading them. I am happy with all the amps i already have but i just keep adding more and more!!!
By the time i am done tweaking and downloading, I play my actual guitar for 10 minutes then i am done, lol.
How do you tell yourself, Enough is Enough with downloading and Tweaking? and to just enjoy the massive collection you already have?
I keep telling myself, I just want 10 awesome amps and thats it but then i go looking on the cloud and end up downloading 10-20 each time.
I can seriously relate to what you are saying. I just got this as a gift from my wife for my 62nd birthday. I play at church most weekends and am an intermediate player. It is 10 percent a tool for me and 90 percent a toy. So to look at it backwards I should be practicing 90 percent of the time and 10 percent of the time playing with my new toy. Last week I got a preset from Worship Tutorials on the web. It is a 63 Fender Bassman. I love it. I used it last week. I knew it was going to work for me. Previously I was using a setting of a Princeton Chorus on my Pod Go. So part of what I do is find one Preset that sounds like my ideal sound and suits my playing and don’t move around too much from it… you get the drift. Enjoy your new toy and I am glad you are here. God bless.
I try to limit myself to just one new amp to play around with per day and that sets the tone (literally) of what I play. Unless I’m recording, I go with a model/capture I’m familiar with. Sometimes lol…
I get your plight and have to check myself all the time to focus on playing, not tweaking.
If I’m distracted by the gear, I just stop practicing now. Just completely switch over to gear mode and fix whatever is nagging me in the hope that next time I pick up the guitar, it’s all ready to go and I can focus on creating.
I’ve noticed this in my other hobbies. There are guys that got really good while running setups that were considered less-than-ideal simply because while everyone else is trying to dial their shit in, they’re out there getting it done.
I think the answer is to know what you want from your gear before you get it. For me, I wanted to use it to capture & replicate my rather sprawling studio setup in a low-maintenance, low-fuss & portable package - while also giving me a few alternative/contrasting tonal options. With that in mind, I captured my gear & created a preset containing those captures, I then made three more presets containing alternative amplifier models (each preset dedicated to a certain style) & that’s how it’s stayed since (save for setting up the much-needed hybrid mode & also updating the improved devices following the Core OS 2.0 update). I haven’t downloaded a single capture made by somebody else & I really feel no need to do so. If Neural provide the Bogner Shiva lead channel or some Fortin amps in a future update then I’ll probably check those out but, other than that, I’m happy.
I was making important changes to the amps and effects after gigging it and at this point in time I have reduced my changing it up to just output tweaks to match output gains between channel changes.
I have to force myself to dive into the options. Maybe once or twice a week I check new things (and I play every day, sometimes morning and afternoon, if I’m not gigging).
I generally always use the same preset. I’m still refining it, but most of the time, I just play.
Strict boundaries of how you use your time. If you plan on practicing, having a strict plan for how you will use that time. Practicing certain skills, learning parts of specific songs, prepping for an upcoming gig, etc. Then stick to it, even if the sound you are using is underwhelming; that’s not the point of practice. Then set aside times to do nothing but experiment with captures, etc. I’d even go as far as to pick a particular amp that I want to experiment with and do nothing but try and coax a good sound out of it. I’ve found that I’m better able to find stuff I like if I make myself stick with something and make it sound great, rather than search for something else.
