Building pedals instead of practicing. Ugh.

[EBK]

Anyone ever bomb at a gig because you spent your practice time building and designing pedals? That was me tonight (forgot how to play one of our songs). 
At least my pedals didn't let me down. 

[diydave]

There's just not enough hours in one day 
It's a mental battle: practicing vs making a new awsome fuzz or amp

[Mark Hammer]

About 8 years back, former forum member Andy Harrison contacted me and asked if I had any silver mica caps.  He was teching for Sheryl Crow's band at the time and they were coming to town.  As luck had it, I did have some on hand, so we met at the venue before the show.  I was impressed as all get-out to see guitarist Peter Stroud (who you may also know from a bunch of Pro Guitar Shop demo videos) disassemble his amp, install the new cap (on the bright switch), and re-assemble, a mere 90 minutes before stage time.  Since the cap change allowed him to achieve a more piercing tone when the band did the Zep tune "Rock and Roll" as an encore, I like to say that was the night I saved rock and roll. 

But my point is that eventually one can arrive at a level of expertise where there is time for it all: building practicing, playing.

[karbomusic]

Anyone ever bomb at a gig because you spent your practice time building and designing pedals?

TBH, not really. I have things fairly well prioritized at this point. I agree with Mark, it can all work together with good time management. I do think it is possible that 'learning to play guitar better' while 'learning how to build pedals' can conflict. IOW, already knowing how to play (in its entirety) and just learning material for a gig, is a lot different than practicing to get better at playing AND learning material for a gig. I hope that make sense. Not saying that is the case for you, I just wanted to make that small distinction because it may be relevant for some.

[stallik]

Sad to say that in my last band, I knew all the songs backward. Unfortunately, on stage I just couldn't associate the name of the song with the tune. Nerves I suppose but I was constantly asking the other guitarist which one this was and how it started. When he said "you should know - you start the thing" I new I was in trouble.
I never actually missed an intro or played in the wrong key as it came back to me at the very last second but I slowly stopped enjoying the space between songs

[dbp512]

"give a man a fuzz, and he'll play for hours. Teach a man to build a fuzz, and he won't play for days"

[jimilee]

We're supposed to play through these things??? Well dammit, I thought we were just building. I did recently begin playing more though,


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[cnelsonplumber]

I am at the beginner stage of learning guitar and TBH I have left it quite late in life. I need a release for the times when I would like to throw my metronome out the window  So, I decided to learn electronics from scratch 

[thermionix]

About 8 years back, former forum member Andy Harrison contacted me and asked if I had any silver mica caps.  He was teching for Sheryl Crow's band at the time and they were coming to town.  As luck had it, I did have some on hand, so we met at the venue before the show.  I was impressed as all get-out to see guitarist Peter Stroud (who you may also know from a bunch of Pro Guitar Shop demo videos) disassemble his amp, install the new cap (on the bright switch), and re-assemble, a mere 90 minutes before stage time.  Since the cap change allowed him to achieve a more piercing tone when the band did the Zep tune "Rock and Roll" as an encore, I like to say that was the night I saved rock and roll. 

But my point is that eventually one can arrive at a level of expertise where there is time for it all: building practicing, playing.

Pretty sure Mr. Stroud is the guy behind 65 Amps.  He SHOULD be able to swap out a bright cap without much trouble!  Cool story for sure, though.  Personally, I save rock and roll every time I roll outta bed.  At least in my mind.

[Mark Hammer]

Stroud is one of the partners involved in 65 amps, and the amp in question was a 65.  Not sure how involved he was in their design.  Could have been as little as asking someone "Could you get it to do more of X?" or could have been more than that.  But he knew his way around it, that's for sure.