Sad times / not bothered

[trad3mark]

I've noticed a rather unpleasant thing lately.

I seem to have completely lost the drive/ambition to make pedals. It's not that I don't enjoy it, believe me, that feeling of a completed build is awesome, and it's not that i don't have the parts or anything. It's as if the drive to go and make a pedal is gone. I've 3 unfinished projects I would like to finish out, but it's as if i'm just not arsed. I don't seem to take pride in it anymore. I'm not sure where this came from, but it is a sad state of affairs. I'm just curious, has anyone else come across this before? Is this writers block but for effects?

Times are bad.

[soggybag]

You know I get this feeling periodically. I just seem to lose interest. Then after awhile, all of sudden I get inspired to make a new Fuzz Box, or Ring Mod or something else.

[Taylor]

Since "not arsed" (or even the presumed American equivalent "not assed") is not a term in use where I live, I'm curious if it's one of those phrases which has only a negative version.

In other words, if you were totally excited to make pancakes for example, would you say "I am arsed to make pancakes!" or would that be ridiculous, like saying "I am rather gruntled this morning," "RG is quite ept with electronics," "these examples are particularly ane."

(disgruntled, inept, inane)

[Pablo1234]

he ment arise with the end being D to imply past tense, either a typo or a mistake. If you can't identify the context your as inept as him.

[chi_boy]

For me it comes in waves.  Sometimes the waves are big, and sometimes they are small, but they always keep coming.  

I just try not to fight it too hard and try to avoid distractions that are in a totally different direction.  I mean I play guitar, build pedals and shoot pistols.  (for me pistol shooting isn't a HUGE time consumer)  The temptation to get back into video gaming is big, but I resist it because I know it will pull me away from where I really want to be and suck up way too much time.  So if it was me, I would learn some new songs, or maybe go to the range, but still keep moving in the same general direction.  Soon the wave would come and the urge to build would return.

Good luck and keep strummin'

GP

[akc1973]

I've noticed a rather unpleasant thing lately.

I seem to have completely lost the drive/ambition to make pedals. It's not that I don't enjoy it, believe me, that feeling of a completed build is awesome, and it's not that i don't have the parts or anything. It's as if the drive to go and make a pedal is gone. I've 3 unfinished projects I would like to finish out, but it's as if i'm just not arsed. I don't seem to take pride in it anymore. I'm not sure where this came from, but it is a sad state of affairs. I'm just curious, has anyone else come across this before? Is this writers block but for effects?

Times are bad.

My pedal building goes in cycles...at the moment I'm playing a lot of guitar and writing a lot of songs but I still keep up to date with this forum...I tend to find that after playing guitar for a few months I'll crave new sounds and that sends me back to pedal building...

[Taylor]

he ment arise with the end being D to imply past tense, either a typo or a mistake. If you can't identify the context your as inept as him.

No, "arsed" is British English slang.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arsed

But it is only used in phrases like "can't be arsed", never "can be arsed". I wasn't making fun of him, I'm merely interested in expanding my understanding of language.

There's absolutely no need to call people names here, but if you must, please make sure you are right first. 

[Strategy]

I had a few failed builds all in a row. Definitely like having your team go on a losing streak. I nearly lost the desire to DIY, and I did step back from it a bit, remembering that I have to do things like make songs and albums as well as gear. But, I quickly returned to it because the process is quite rewarding in spite of occasionally troubling results; soldering is very strangely meditative for me and gets me into a silent space where I'm just concentrating.

It could be knitting, it could be Sudoku, I guess for me it's soldering. What's strange is I tend to do better work and be happier with the pedal in the end if I'm less focused on the product and just feeling the process.

Ok, that's enough "zen and the art of pedal DIY" for one night!

- Strategy "almost always arsed/gruntled enough to DIY" Dickow

[Taylor]

S, your post reminds me of the time I thought I'd move up in the world, from Radio Shack solder to a eutectic Kester solder.

For an entire month everything I built didn't work. I was getting pretty furious, going insane with debugging. Finally, I realized that the solder I bought had conductive flux. This stuff is meant for automated processes which wash the board after soldering. I never cleaned my flux, so I was just shorting every part to every other part.  It's amazing that I even got sound out of some of them...

The end result is that I've never bought anything but Radio Shack solder since.

[zambo]

I use ratshack solder as well! My pedal building along with everything else I do is sporatic and manic at best. The good news is I have a lot of different hobbies to bounce to and from as the mania hits. Latley its been amps ( again ). Next week it may be quadricycles or hydrogen powered jelly makers or fencing ( again ) . People are fickle so dont let a little burn out bum you out to bad. Take your best overdrive to a blues jam. A couple at a boys usualy put me back in the swing of building..for what its worth. Good luck. G

[jkokura]

Nope, I never get that way with building. I go through spurts yes, but the only thing slowing me down these days with building is money for parts. Actually, money for enclosures and PCB's is more like it, because they're far more expensive than the parts.

But I do get that way with actually playing guitar. In fact, since becoming a DIY pedal and amp guy in the last couple/few years, my guitar playing time/practice time has seriously nose dived. I sold my recording gear (in the nick of time, before the dreaded 'recession') to buy parts to really dive into building, and that whole thing was a little like you guys describe - I was really into recording, and piled up a whole bunch of useful gear to record with, but never really seemed to do anything with it, and ultimately it was a waste of time and money. I'm probably still paying for it somehow, or at least I wasted way too much money on the stuff with very little to show for it. However, with building pedals and stuff, the value is soooo there for me. I've found a niche for myself, and I perhaps love it as much as I did the guitar back 10 or 12 years ago when I really dove into the guitar and guitar gear world.

I'm a quintessential gearhead when it comes to guitars really - I know tonnes about the gear, and am familiar with a huge number of brands and lines - but I can't play like I wish I could! Ask me to build an amp or pedal and I'll find a way to do it though.

I probably shouldn't say I'm not a good guitarist, because I'm likely well above average compared to all the frat boys who own guitars out there, but I'm nowhere near the gigging ability I used to have. I'm an average singer songwriter now, maybe a great church guitarist, or an above average coffeehouse player. In reality, my ability with singing is probably what sets me apart though. I can play guitar quite well, and I can sing quite well with a very large range, so that bumps me up perhaps in the grand scheme of things...

Wow. That post got away from me this time boys. What were we talking about again?

Oh yeah - Trademark, I'm gonna send you a PM.

Jacob

[anchovie]

never "can be arsed"

This is used, but still implies reluctance:

"I'll clean the cooker this evening, if I can be arsed."

[markeebee]

Priorities change, I think. Sometimes I like to make pedals, sometimes I just like to sit and count my nose. And then maybe I'll build another pedal some other time. If we did the same thing every time, well, that's called a job.

I guess the trick is to not feel bad about the stuff you've stopped, and celebrate the arseworthiness of what you've started. Enjoy what you're doing, even (especially) if you're not doing anything.

Blimey. Can we talk about arse again now?


EDIT:
Ow, just read that back.  Sorry, didn't mean to sound so patronising or whatever, I was aiming for supportive.  Often it is me who is the arse.

[deadastronaut]

oh, i cant be arsed!...

[FiveseveN]

Can we talk about arse again now?

I feel another Scarlett Johansson pic coming. That'd surely lighten the mood 

[trad3mark]

right, i'll clear up the whole "not arsed" thing first. I'm not inept, it's slang for not having the desire to do something. If i was planning on going to such a formal forum, i'd @#$% off to some where boring, like politics, finance, or the paint drying association. In anycase, Scarlet Johannsen's arse isn't the #1 arse out there.

well im glad to hear that there's other people on this forum whos desire to build pedals also goes in a cyclical manner. I'm guessing this will be cyclical, cos i definitely want to build more pedals in the future. As was mentioned, maybe my priorities have shifted. Uni is particularly busy at the moment, and there's only so much of a connection between effects and architecture. Still, hopefuly i'll get going at some stage in the next few weeks. Cheers for the support all.

[jasperoosthoek]

The desire to build pedals comes and goes. As a kid I was extremely interested in electronics and always wanted to have some James Bond type of gadget system. A hundred knobs and switches controlling everything. Then at the age of 13 I got into computer programming which I did in a compulsive way for about four years.
At the age of 18 I realized that these hobbies had never had any purpose apart from the hobby itself. Right them I started playing guitar, even more obsessively. For the first time I had a hobby that IMO could help you be someone. Play in a band, hang out with others instead of soldering or programming in my little room.

But after a year of playing my acoustic guitar I got an electric guitar... Guess what, I can make pedals and amps!
But the feeling of spending time on 'useless' things never went away. Even though for the most part my guitar practice didn't lead anywhere. It took me nine years to feel good enough to play in a band.
So I've built about 3 tube amps, 12 pedals over the years. I dread the fact that it takes time away that I cannot play. I do have a passion for electronics but my new passion has taken over. I spent much more time learning and reading about them then building. All my effects are in unmarked white boxes. As soon as they work I loose all interest in finishing them. Respect to everyone who takes the time to make his or her little gem but it's not me. Basically I'm only interested in how they work and sound. I couldn't be arsed about the rest .

Lately I've been involved in some projects on this forum. I have to force myself to start breadboarding. When things work my inquisitive mind is satisfied and I have already moved on. In some way I'm either lazy or have a different set of priorities.

I've been quite active on this forum for the last months even though I'm not really into building pedals! At least not in the traditional way.

[nelson]

There are more important things in life than building pedals. I've taken about a year long break from building anything. Life has its ups and downs. I Rarely visited this place or other places. Strangly, I still bought stuff, fully intending on experimenting. I'm getting back into it now and I have an insane backlog of projects.

I think I'm mainly doing it cause I'm emigrating in three months and want to feel I've not wasted so much money.

I do need to do something with all this electronics stuff I've accumulated. Plus, selling pedals can go towards the emigration fund.

It's totally fine to concentrate on other areas of your life. Pedal building isn't exactly the primary route to being happy and content.

Let it take a back seat and come back to it when the drive returns. It most likely will.

It is for me after a long time away.

[Hides-His-Eyes]

Since "not arsed" (or even the presumed American equivalent "not assed") is not a term in use where I live, I'm curious if it's one of those phrases which has only a negative version.

In other words, if you were totally excited to make pancakes for example, would you say "I am arsed to make pancakes!" or would that be ridiculous, like saying "I am rather gruntled this morning," "RG is quite ept with electronics," "these examples are particularly ane."

(disgruntled, inept, inane)

You could say, for example, "If you can be arsed", but you would not say "I can be arsed".

It's a direct substitution for 'bothered'.

[deadastronaut]

definitive example from wikipedia:

i can't be bothered (arsed) to look at scarletts arse.

or :

i really want to see scarletts arse, but she cant be bothered (arsed) to show me!..

oh sod her then, if she's going to get arsey about it....