BillWelcome Home Studios Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 This just isn't true. I don't want to start getting into my personal finances, but (again) I find it offensives that people assume everyone has the same finances as they do. Some folks are not able to save at all as they don't have any extra money. After bills are paid, you are broke. Others may have $10 or $20 a month extra. Saving $10 a month to save up for a $2000 amp would take 17 years. At that point, it would probably be worth far more then $2000... Starting to see where I'm coming from? Myself, I don't eat out, I don't drink or smoke, I don't own a car. After bills are paid, I'm holding around $20 a month. To suggest that my not saving for an amp is lack of discipline is presumptuous and ignorant. I don't assume anything about anyone's finances. I've been a starving artist/musician. I've been realtively well-off. And I've been at most places inbetween. (shrug.) So it is not like I've always had cash to burn or anything. My point: that if you can save X you can save n times x over time: is true. The fellow that has nothing left after expenses can't save, because there is nothing left. I've gone through a couple of major changes in my life in the last couple of years, and they have not all been good or financially advanageous. But I still find ways to save a little. Like you, I don't own a car. I seldom drink, don't smoke, don't have cable TV or read the newspaper. When times have been really bad, I didn't buy anything. When times were really good, I could buy whatever I wanted. But most times, like now, I can buy cheap in a hurry or better if I am patient. Most people fall into that category. There are always extremes to either side of the median. Were I on the distaff side of that line at the moment, I would not comtemplate buying anything like a new amp because to me, the way I was raised, it would be considered frivolous. If I cannot afford it I shoud not have it. There is another point to consider in this conversation: I brought it up at the begining of my post which has been the genesis of this.... and it had to do with your goals. Inherent in that statement is a desire on the part of the player to be a musician. If you are going to be any sort of a craftsman, you need good tools. A weekend warrior can do alright with tools from Harbor Freight, a professional carpenter will want better. By the way, in my area there are music stores that cater to the poor musician buy selling them gear on hire-purchase. By the time you pay off the piece you will have paid list price for it, but it is a lot easier for students and struggling musicians with only a few gigs a month to buy quality gear on time. Wish they had been around when I was starting out. Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumblyfingers Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Hmmm yeah makes sense on one level and not at all on another. If that were the case we would all be driving BMW's or Mercedes Benz's. That is not going to happen. I have been both those things you mention Bill a professional musician and a motorcycle mechanic. Quick story. I arrived in the USA and lived in Bloomington Indiana for a year. I had a bogus lawyer tell me he'd get me a green card as a musician.... about a year into it his paralegal called me and told me on the side there was no way,what else could I do..I mentioned that I was a qualified motorcycle mechanic she said that's it get your ass to California or Florida. I came to California. I arrived here with $250 to my name. I looked and looked for work and called almost every shop in the book nothing....I was down to $20 and a 1/2 tank of gas left and FINALLY I got a job based on I must have tools. I did not know that was expected...all the shops where I came from used to provide. So I borrowed $100 and went to Pep Boys and bought a wrench set 10mm-19mm, some pliers, a screwdriver set and a hammer and a fishing tackle box to put them in. When I walked in the guy was looking outside to see where my truck was so they could go help me with my tool box. He said "where are you tools" I held up the tackle box "Right here" I said to which he replied...." I thought that was your lunch" Boy you shoulda seen the eyebrows raise. I got my green card at that shop, I eventually bought $1000's of dollars worth of tools and I still have most if not all of those Pep Boy cheapie tools. They were a means to an end as cheap and nasty as they were. You are correct in that it is optimimum to buy the best of anything one time, if you can afford it...from every respect...quality, sound, durability and resale etc etc. But priorities, as relate to low income, will prevent it every time. Saving pennies is not going to allow you to buy the nicest amplifier out there when all they are going to do is help towards paying a bill you could not before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Well, I am pretty much in the same position as Craig: until my tee-shirt empire takes off and my ship comes in, I'm not earning any income at all. So there's no new gear on the horizon for me either. HOWEVER... if I HAD money to spend, I can see the logic of Bill's argument that a cheap amp is, in the long run, a false economy. I had never seen things that way before, and it's certainly worth pondering... assuming I can ever afford an amp again! But because the original thread WAS about buying an amp, we can only presume that the poster has some money to spend and is willing to spend it. So I guess Bill and Craig are both right. And Lister, too, is right. If I needed an amp straight-away, then I too, would have to scramble for whatever sounded the least worst for the lowest possible price. And do the best possible job I could with it. But again, the original thread was about CHOOSING an amp, which presumes that speed is not necessarily of the essence. Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtail Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 i have already ruled those out. there are tons of complaints about the fenders crapping out after 2 weeks, the marshall doesn't have the tone i want. the only out of these i am still considering is the vox. i like the idea of the fender hot rod I've had some persnickity things happen to my Fenders but overall, I'm happy with them. A lot of people don't like the "Fender gain" though, opting for a more "Marshall crunch" tone. The thing about the Hot Rod Deluxes is that they're tons of them out there and you can probably get a used one for a decent price as was aleady pointed out. As for me, I like my HRD and love my Twin but I'm hoping for either a Marshall as my next amp or a Rivera something or other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 I've had some persnickity things happen to my Fenders but overall, I'm happy with them. A lot of people don't like the "Fender gain" though, opting for a more "Marshall crunch" tone. The thing about the Hot Rod Deluxes ... As for me, I like my HRD and love my Twin but I'm hoping for either a Marshall as my next amp or a Rivera.... See, with that kind of thinking you end up like me... %5Bimg%5Dhttp%3A//img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/ampleft2.jpg[/img] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/ampcenter3.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/ampright4.jpg Most of these amps are gone now, but ti sure was easy to collect them, and that was not all of them at that time! Yeah, Fenders, Marshalls, Ampegs, Voxes, Silvertones... they ALL sound good!!!!! Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MILLO Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Hmmm yeah makes sense on one level and not at all on another. If that were the case we would all be driving BMW's or Mercedes Benz's. That is not going to happen. I have been both those things you mention Bill a professional musician and a motorcycle mechanic. Quick story. I arrived in the USA and lived in Bloomington Indiana for a year. I had a bogus lawyer tell me he'd get me a green card as a musician.... about a year into it his paralegal called me and told me on the side there was no way,what else could I do..I mentioned that I was a qualified motorcycle mechanic she said that's it get your ass to California or Florida. I came to California. I arrived here with $250 to my name. I looked and looked for work and called almost every shop in the book nothing....I was down to $20 and a 1/2 tank of gas left and FINALLY I got a job based on I must have tools. I did not know that was expected...all the shops where I came from used to provide. So I borrowed $100 and went to Pep Boys and bought a wrench set 10mm-19mm, some pliers, a screwdriver set and a hammer and a fishing tackle box to put them in. When I walked in the guy was looking outside to see where my truck was so they could go help me with my tool box. He said "where are you tools" I held up the tackle box "Right here" I said to which he replied...." I thought that was your lunch" Boy you shoulda seen the eyebrows raise. I got my green card at that shop, I eventually bought $1000's of dollars worth of tools and I still have most if not all of those Pep Boy cheapie tools. They were a means to an end as cheap and nasty as they were. You are correct in that it is optimimum to buy the best of anything one time, if you can afford it...from every respect...quality, sound, durability and resale etc etc. But priorities, as relate to low income, will prevent it every time. Saving pennies is not going to allow you to buy the nicest amplifier out there when all they are going to do is help towards paying a bill you could not before. +1 "Without music, life would be a mistake." --from 'Beyond Good and Evil', by Friedrich Nietzsche My MySpace Space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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