OT: Purchase Rationalization

[ProfD]

Alright, you cats see my posts and either nod in agreement, roll your eyes in disdain, laugh or whatever. I'm fine with that.

 

I enjoy hanging out here, reading your threads/posts and trying to help others in their pursuit of the ultimate keyboard, sound system, etc. That is the reason for my KC omnipresence.

 

To the point, I think I am still a muso. However, something is changing. If there was a keyboard I liked, I bought it-period.

 

My dilemma is not, "I play in a zydeco band and need a good accordion patch in a $100 keyboard". You all know me better than that, I hope.

 

No, I have to see a point in buying a new board. When did that ever make a difference? What is happening to me?

 

Hello, Eric???

 

Don't get it twisted, I still love music more than Peter loved the Lord. I still enjoy firing up my board and blasting off except when the drummer starts talking.

 

I'm just trying to ascertain why I can no longer pull the trigger the moment GAS starts percolating. There are some hotties on the showroom floor. Is there music store Viagra?

 

Has anyone else gone from a GAS specialist to a content minimalist?

 

Sincerely yours, I want to buy a real clavinet and Rhodes but why do I REALLY need them.

 

[retrokeys]

Prof, I feel for you but what I think is happening might be maturity. Happens to us all. I too used to buy the gear I wanted, assuming I could make a buck with it. Every new sound had the promise of making me sound better than I was and unlocking some new creative possibility or so I believed. That's what the ads used to say. Perhaps it was a blessing but in trying to get an academic career going, starting a family and all that other "grown up" stuff I quit playing out for 20 years. In that time I still played the piano and kicked the Hammond around at home and in the process started to figure out that I was always going to sound like what I sounded like regardless of gear. I got comfortable with it and when the time came that I could go and gig again, I knew what sounds I wanted and bought the gear to get 'em. I still like to cruise the music store and play with the toys but I can go home empty handed and not feel too bad. BTW, if you want to have a clav and Rhodes to use as reference for your other stuff go ahead, but if you plan on taking them out be prepared for maintenance headheaches and back problems. Been there, done it, don't miss it.

[Bob Rinker]

ProfD -

 

I also have slowed down with GAS attacks, but I think it has more to do with the Visa card being maxxed out! :grin:

 

- Bob

 

[ProfD]

I still like to cruise the music store and play with the toys but I can go home empty handed and not feel too bad. BTW, if you want to have a clav and Rhodes to use as reference for your other stuff go ahead, but if you plan on taking them out be prepared for maintenance headheaches and back problems.

 

Me too! I can play on THEIR boards for hours and go home feeling great and relieved--empty bladder, er, I mean handed.

 

The maturity part kicked in about 10 years ago. Guess I do not see enough beauty in the new runway models to take one home right away.

 

Maybe it is glaucoma, cataracts or hearing loss.

 

The clav and Rhodes would be a nice compliment to the furniture in my basement. I'd probably take them out on occasion, only if they promised to behave i.e. stay in tune and not break a string or tine.

 

 

[MikeT156]

ProfD:

 

I think Retrokeys is onto something, maturity! Hopefully, we all become more mature in how we manage our money (or lack of it). Also, KB's have improved since the old days. Remember when you had to buy an instrument for ONE sound? An electric piano, a clavinet, an organ, etc. When the Mini Moog came out we were in heaven, it had more than one sound!

 

These days you can buy one KB that can cover just about everything. Sure, some individual KBS can do some of the sounds better, but who wants to carry 4 or 5 KB's around anymore? New models usually take baby steps, so why replace what you have if it sounds good?

 

Capabilities have gone up and prices have come down. Still, we complain.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[delirium]

what's wrong with GAS? I don't get it, you buy new toys to have more fun in life which is too short anyway to cut on pleasures.

If you don't want it anymore you can sell it, not big deal.

 

So I guess I'll mature after I die, on cemetery...

 

[ITGITC]

what's wrong with GAS? I don't get it, you buy new toys to have more fun in life which is too short anyway to cut on pleasures.

If you don't want it anymore you can sell it, not big deal.

 

So I guess I'll mature after I die, on cemetery...

 

 

Yeah, What's wrong with GAS?

 

Me? I'm just running outta space. Plus, I'm living my Gear Aquisition Syndrome pangs through the likes of eric and BluesKeys.

 

Life is short. Plus, if memory serves, it was a helluva lot more fun when I was a kid with less responsibilities and stuff. Maturity? I haven't got time for it. I'll have to side with Mr. Delirium - I'll work on that after I'm laid to rest.

 

The only difference is, I'll leave the preacher a tip... so maybe he won't spit on my grave.

 

 

 

 

[MidLifeCrisis]

PD,

 

You have to step back and think about what is causing your GAS?

 

If its to fill a need (i.e. there are several tunes on your set list which are in dire need of better sounds) then you need to rationalize the purchase. Will the new board bring in additional $$ to justify the purchase.

 

It its for self fullfillment (i.e. I've always wanted an XK-2 and it would just thrill me to own one and play it regularly) then rationalization goes out the window. Simply go for it. Life is too short not to allow yourself to partake in life's simple pleasures. In another thread I talked about dropping $5k on dentist bills without batting an eyelash. Why not drop a grand or two to make yourself happy?

 

[SilverDragonSoun]

Let me play the devil here.

 

Ok first off don't buy into all this maturity crap. If you wind up believing that it will suck all the fun out of your life.

 

Just chalk it up as a phase your going through. Right now its just the calm before the storm. Yamaha, Korg and Kurzweil are releasing new toys for us to gas over and Roland has something now GT V synth and stuff in the works, new workstation. Maybe a good old dose of GAS will hit you once these new toys become available. If GAS doesn't happen maybe your getting everything you need from your current gear and can't justify trading it off for something else.

[eric]

I love GAS with a passion and I love buying new gear. I have, however, slowed down considerably in the past year or two. Particularly when it comes to buying and actually KEEPING the high-dollar items. I've come to a point where most all new GAS targets must somehow justify themselves in my live rig. They must "pay for themselves," for lack of a better term. If I buy new gear and it ends up sitting at home, 9x out of 10 I will sell it. I do enjoy the thrill of the hunt and enjoy checking out lots of new gear. But I have slowed down. I've had a rock steady live rig for quite some time now and nothing much has changed with my core rig.

[ProfD]

You have to step back and think about what is causing your GAS?

 

There are plenty to blame. Having grown up in the midst of the keyboard revolution, I'm drawn to the sight and sound of those shiny new toys.

 

A certain magazine *ahem* carried full page ads of the latest boards. They even had the nerve to do contests where some lucky so and so could win a $20k set-up.

 

Well, those days are behind us, however, with the internet, NAMM and the local music store, musos can get up close and personal with the toys.

 

We have forums where a bunch of like minded cats can discuss their deepest fantasies and episodes with a box of wood, metal, plastic and silicon chips.

 

I head over to the local music store. When I pull up the EP and grab a handful of notes to form an Etta MuMajor chord, I'm immediately thinking of new tunes and the possibilities of what I can with that particular instrument.

 

So, my GAS is caused by the manufacturers who strive to get it right and every last one of you who play this instrument from vintage to new jack; only to turn around; talk about and lust over it.

 

If its to fill a need, bring in additional $$ to justify the purchase and self-fullfillment

 

All of the above. I have no problems getting an ROI. But, it is mostly because I want versus need it. I'm already an over-thinker. It has gotten worse.

 

Let me take a look in the mirror. Maybe my 32 need tending too. Maybe I'll wander over to the Pro Sound department.

 

What do they call that? Diversifying interests. Yeah.

 

Happy Friday gang!

 

 

[burningbusch]

"I play in a zydeco band and need a good accordion patch...".

 

For accordions, I highly recommend the Tyros 2. The arrangers do a much better job with accordions. I guess it's more of their market. Hell there's even a dedicated accordion button. Harmonicas are also included in that category and they too are sweet. In fact one is called Sweet Hamonica. If you ever need pedal steel, the Tyros 2 is your baby. It has a mode where if you play a chord it only bends the lowest note. Awesome.

 

Busch.

[ITGITC]

Happy Friday gang!

 

 

PD, don't think too much about it.

 

Music is cool. Life is short. Buy what you want and enjoy it.

 

 

 

[delirium]

besides what to spend money for?

for food? it's silly and waste since you return it anyway...

for education? you can go to library and read at will for free...

for girls? come on, you're married...

for beer? ok, that one can be justified but usually goes together...

[RABid]

I'm to the point of wanting a basic piano/organ and ROMpler/VA double stack. For a small job I am perfectly happy with just a 76 key ROMpler. I need to get rid of a closet full of rack units.

 

Robert

[ProfD]

RABid, how did you manage to hold on to those rack units this long anyway?

 

Speaking of racks, the following are offered for less than $1.5k:

 

Motif ES rack

Fantom XR

Kurzweil PC2r

 

[Cue up the spaghetti western music]

 

Many years ago, the landscape was cluttered. Increased polyphony killed them off. D*mn.

 

 

[DanS]

Prof, what the phoque are you talking about?

 

Yesterday, I would have (re)bought a Roland XV-5080 with an exp card in it for $600, it was sold. One of the reasons? I dumped a lot of my rack gear to buy my Fantom X, and now my rack looks empty!! One of those items was my lovely XV-3080.....

I have a tonne of rack gear in my Items Watched listing in My Ebay.....

 

Tomorrow I'm going to the local store to look at NI's Massive & Battery.

Do I need 'em? (actually, I don't have a decent SS drum app).

 

Happy Easter everyone, go to church on Sunday, you'll be glad you did.

 

[Clifton]

PD, don't think too much about it.

 

Music is cool. Life is short. Buy what you want and enjoy it.

 

I can agree with the 'life is too short' mentality, but at the same time, GAS worries me personally when I end up worrying more about the technical stuff than the important stuff (like er, the music).

 

Endlessly striving for great sound is perfectly reasonable, but you have to think of all that time you spend researching and trying and buying and LEARNING to use that gear (which lord knows can take time), and for those like Jordan Rudess, programming all those hideously complicated series of setups...would you not be better off spending that time practicing?

 

I'd rather play damn well with an 'OK' piano sound than vice-versa.

[Clifton]

...which isn't to say that you can't play the hell out of your ideal live sound, of course.

 

But yknow, you can never practice too much.

[ProfD]

Prof, what the phoque are you talking about?

 

Tomorrow I'm going to the local store to look at NI's Massive & Battery. Do I need 'em? (actually, I don't have a decent SS drum app).

 

NI Battery is a really nice SS drum app. Of everything I have purchased recently, I feel best about that one. Go figure.

 

Racks, eh, unloaded the last of mine a few months ago. Redundant in my case.

[BluesKeys]

PLEASE no hoots or hollers.

 

First let me preface this I am only gassing to create a second rig as good as my first rig, only different.

 

 

NOW... I went for almost three years without a GASeous moment because my rig covered everything I needed and still does. I love my boards and even the RD700sx with much better pianos didn't sway me to sell the RD700. No need for the Motif es because I only use a smidgen of the Motif6 power.

 

I think if you are happy with your gear the new improved doesn't make the impact and there for do not create the GAS. It's all good because GAS is like a virus it WILL return, you just never know when. But at some point your rig will start to sound old and the new girls will look better and play sweeter and well there you go.

 

The only problem is Gas Begets GAS. Once you upgrade one thing then everything else needs to be upgraded. I used to own a carpet store and loved hearing how people had just painted a room and now the carpet looks bad. Same concept/ different drive.

[DanS]

A great way to curb software GAS is to visit the forums of the app in question. Although I was going to go have a look at Kore, Massive & Battery, a quick peek over at the NI forums is all I needed to make me rethink my pri-midi-al urges.

[delirium]

I think GAS for gigs is different. You can get away without frequent upgrades especially if you play some classic stuff like blues or rock. In loud night clubs you'd not notice big differences from newest gear anyway, not to mention giging gear takes great deal of abuse.

But if you have a studio, do some recording and you want to stay current I guess GAS is necessary thing.

[SilverDragonSoun]

A great way to curb software GAS is to visit the forums of the app in question. Although I was going to go have a look at Kore, Massive & Battery, a quick peek over at the NI forums is all I needed to make me rethink my pri-midi-al urges.

 

 

DanS - This is true and sometimes the opposite is true as well. I visted the Rolandclans site, did some browsing and it started a whole GAS thing and now I have Fantom X and V synth, not that I regret it

[DanS]

Hey SDS, yeah, when I first visited the RolandClans, I had a JunoG, now I have an X7! :grin:

[realtrance]

Dan have you dl'd and tried out a demo of Massive? I'd imagine it might complement your new Fantom-X quite nicely.

[MikeT156]

Quote by Clifton:

 

"Endlessly striving for great sound is perfectly reasonable, but you have to think of all that time you spend researching and trying and buying and LEARNING to use that gear (which lord knows can take time), and for those like Jordan Rudess, programming all those hideously complicated series of setups...would you not be better off spending that time practicing?

 

I'd rather play damn well with an 'OK' piano sound than vice-versa"

 

Quote by dilirium:

 

"In loud night clubs you'd not notice big differences from newest gear anyway, not to mention giging gear takes great deal of abuse".

 

I agree with both Clifton and Dilirum's points. Finding enough time to PRACTICE is my most important priority. I've been working a part time job (5 days a week, but part time hours) and I have to discipline myself to practice as soon as I get home, and sometimes after I make dinner and clean up the mess. Weekends that I don't have a gig, I spend as much time as possible practicing to keep my chops sharp. As a OMB, I have to have my act together, or I won't be at the top of my game. So I won't get many jobs.

 

I have a live gig setup that gets moved around, so its going to get small scratches, be in a cold trailer, sometimes overnight. I handle my stuff with kid gloves, but the only way to keep equipment in like new condition is park it in the music room. Not going to happen if I can help it.

 

As far as new sounds on new KB's, I don't think that the audience really knows the difference. Certainly not in bars and night clubs. My rig sounds great for what it is and what I paid for it, and I'd like for it to pay for itself.

 

Now the only time I replace gear is when it is not dependable or it is clearly obsolete.

 

 

Mike T.

[eric]

Here's some more food for thought as I think about the gigs I play in which most of what I'm doing is simple piano/EP/clav/organ. I had a rig for several years which was a Roland RD600 + Hammond XB2. This was a killer rig (I had XB2s for almost 10 years in my rig). I spent a lot of time using it and sounded great.

 

But as new things started to emerge in the clonewheel space and also improvements in the digital piano arena, I set aside gig money to fuel my emerging GAS (which only became a daily thing for me in about the year 2000 or 2001). Since then, I've cycled through so many stage pianos and clonewheels (not to mention other synths, FX, different Leslies and sims, etc.). In retrospect, if I had never done a thing, I could still be making use of that RD600 + XB2 rig to this day.

 

It's a tough call to balance a purposeful rig with GAS for the next best thing. I'm certainly one of the poster boys for GAS on this forum, but in all honesty, I do put some serious thought into what stays with me in this long road towards gigging gear nirvana. Sometime in the past I said that if I just turned off the internet and KB Mag subscription, I could probably just use my S90 + Electro rig for the next 20 years and never need anything else.

[ProfD]

Sometime in the past I said that if I just turned off the internet and KB Mag subscription, I could probably just use my S90 + Electro rig for the next 20 years and never need anything else.

 

Dude, I know how you feel.

 

In the meantime....

 

I have considered the Nord Stage as a single board solution especially for those mainly rely on B&B sounds.

 

Eric, what limitation(s) kept it from replacing the S90/electro rig?

 

The quest for a streamlined, portable solution continues...

 

[DanS]

Dan have you dl'd and tried out a demo of Massive? I'd imagine it might complement your new Fantom-X quite nicely.

 

Actually I loaded up the demo yesterday and it was a lot of fun. I heard it was a real CPU monster, but my Athlon64 didn't seem to be having too much trouble with it. Still, for $300Can, I find it pricey. I still have only scratched the surfaces of Absynth 2 & 3, and just bought the online upgrade to 4 for $60 yesterday afternoon, so for now I'll content myself with that. The new version of Kore2 is supposed to have sounds, and a step sequencer as well, so that may be a better value than Massive when it comes out.

 

BTW, NI's downloads of their products are great for those with spousal units who keep tabs on acquisitions. :grin: