Taking a breather

[gordo]

i've spent a ton of time binge-building for a while now and less time actually playing the damn guitar so I dragged a few old magic boxes out of the closet. I'm down to Line6 modelers (DM4, MM4, DL4) which cover a lot of territory. What they lack in analog goodness they make up for in real time flexibility and ease of use in a live setting.  All driven by an Afterlife when needed. Anybody else get burned out like this? It's getting harder to get any real time on the bench with job pressures and stuff around the house.

How's everyone else deal with it?

[Luke51411]

I've been feeling like I need to take a break lately and refocus my life to have more balance. I've been enjoying playing my guitar more lately and taking more time to get to know a few pedals and the amp I just picked up. I've also been going through a rough time in my life and I focus on pedal building to avoid thinking of unpleasant realities. Sometimes I just want to turn my brain off though I'm not sure building accomplishes that just changes the focus. As it gets nicer out I'm more inclined to do outdoor activities as well.

[rumbletone]

I hear ya. For the next 2 months I have 3 rehearsals a week (in the evenings, with 3 different bands at 3 different rehearsal spaces so I have to load in/out 4 times each rehearsal), 2 young kids (enrolled in 6 different weekend sports/arts classes), and a busy job - and then I need to find the energy to fire up the iron and build. Oh and I just counted - I have 25 songs to learn in the next 2 weeks. Shit, I'd better get back to work now .....

[rumbletone]

I've been feeling like I need to take a break lately and refocus my life to have more balance. I've been enjoying playing my guitar more lately and taking more time to get to know a few pedals and the amp I just picked up. I've also been going through a rough time in my life and I focus on pedal building to avoid thinking of unpleasant realities. Sometimes I just want to turn my brain off though I'm not sure building accomplishes that just changes the focus. As it gets nicer out I'm more inclined to do outdoor activities as well.

Yeah - when I have the time and energy, pedal building is a great way to clear my head from work/family stress. That's part of the reason I don't build for others very often - it's more stressful if there's a deadline. When I build for fun there is no deadline, no pressure - it's just me and the electrons, and they never give me grief.

[billstein]

Took almost a year off. Life got busy plus I just couldn't be bothered with it all when I did have the time. About a month ago I became interested again and have been building a lot lately. It's fun again. If it's just a hobby do it when you feel like it and will enjoy it. No pressure.

[Willybomb]

Not so much burnt out, but certainly pretty much done.  I've built pretty much everything I wanted to build and I still have a couple that need boxing but aren't overly important in the scheme of things.

I'm on a quest to put together a couple of pedalboards now..  One 9v grab and go, and one hardcore 240v mains powered board with the "elite" pedals...

[peAk]

I took about 6 months off and came back refreshed....almost like I felt when I first started.

That said, pedal building, for me at least, doesn't compete with playing because they require different moods and one doesn't necessarily fulfill the other.

That said, I do agree that at some point you feel like you have actually built everything you wanted/needed to.

DAWs and plugins can do the same thing to you. You end up getting burned out there too. Feel like all you do is mess with new plugins. So it was kind of nice coming back to analog pedals and real hardware synths.

[micromegas]

I've been almost a year without actually building anything but a rub-a-dub... time and space, you know....
breadboarded a few things and soldered a bunch of pcbs, but no boxing.

The thing is  that I usually play with borrowed gear or on a semi-acoustic set with only delay/reverb.

[dropanchor812]

I've only been building for 3 years, but every year I have given it up for lent to kinda refocus.  It's amazing how much attention my brain gives to tiny aluminum boxes that make my guitar sound different.  There's so much talent around here and so many productive builders here its easy to get caught up in feeling like you constantly need to be producing something.  And with respect to playing, I've found that band members are amused by these things for a few seconds before practice, but if my chops aren't cutting it during practice then the tiny aluminum boxes are pretty irrelevant.   

[GermanCdn]

I, err, haven't built a pedal since December.  Not that I don't want to, I just haven't had the time, between moving, job, getting new house setup, etc, etc.  I don't think I'll get any building done til this Fall.

It's good to take breaks, be they planned or otherwise.  When I do start building again, it will be binge building, as I keep buying new boards when they come out.  So, one week I'll populate 20 boards, and it will be like I never left.

Biggest problem I have when coming back off of a break is remembering some of the basics, like pot lug numbering.  I know the middle lug is 2.  3 and 1 I generally get mixed up at least once when I come off a break.

[jimilee]

Sure, I've taken time off a few times. I have things I've been working on sparingly, and I don't worry about it. It's a hobby, relax and get to it when you get to it. I have recently (since dec) been playing guitar in my living room with zero pedals at all.


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[muddyfox]

what they all said, basically...

i'm on a building hiatus as we speak, i mostly lurk around here and buy stuff that's on offer to be used at some point. i know i'll be back and i actually enjoy not knowing when it's gonna happen

[flanagan0718]

I have been taking a break for about a week or so after every build. That tends to keep me a little more grounded. It also allows me to catch up on a few house things and feed other vices (video games and actually playing guitar).