CHAIN REACTION

A recent GAS attack has resulted in me owning a stunning D’Angelico, I couldn’t be happier with the guitar and I can’t believe that it has taken me so long to own a hollowbody, but there’s a problem.

So radically different is the semiacoustic tone, with the extra bass and different attack, that almost every setting on my usual amp and pedals has to change. Yes, I know, it is not too much hassle to spend some time readjusting, but sometimes you just want to plug in and play, especially when precious practice time is limited.

Newton states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. My purchasing action now has me questioning everything in my previously sorted effects and amp chain, and is exerting the opposite reaction that I am no longer happy with my existing gear and need to buy more stuff! I already have my eye on a new drive pedal, so I can have tones matched to specific guitars and I think I need a second amp so I can have two preamp channels: one dark and one bright to switch between.

So there it is, the ultimate caveat emptor. As a buyer you need to beware of the impact new gear will have through the whole signal chain. Be prepared for the change in equilibrium – and have some funds available for new pickups or the new compressor you now can’t live without. Whatever deal I got buying the D’Angelico is definitely going to end up costing me in other ways. But am I complaining? Of course not – it’s what all the fun is about isn’t it? Alex Myers, via email Thanks Alex. How many of us, confronted by the timeless question ‘but why do you need another one?’ have delivered an explanation – possibly involving diagrams – worthy of a physics lecture to a bemused loved one. Joking aside, the question of how a new piece of kit influences the performance of the rest of your rig is really important. For example, Tube Screamer-style overdrives famously pair well with Fender amps, because they plump up the midrange that’s naturally lacking in many Fender amps. In other words, no piece of gear is an island and each item in the chain either adds or subtracts something from the overall tonal balance.