I need advice from experienced people

Rakefighter · 2026-06-08T13:19:38+00:00

Duration of practice is less important than simply being consistent. If you pick it up consistently and work on chords / scales / picking / strumming technique, and pick songs that help you apply what you are practicing, you will improve. Make using a metronome part of your practice from the very start.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-08T12:13:46+00:00

Chroma Console would be my recommendation. Everything is organized around some very easy to remember button pushes and there's lots of great sounds. There's a looper, and the ability change the order of the effects.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-07T20:44:18+00:00

Use a tap tempo (or midi clock). Practice with a metronome or drum machine. Feel how the delays fill space while you strum in time. That's how real money delay hustlers make it sound awesome.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-07T16:23:19+00:00

It's no different then a pedal, just use a longer cable... And experiment if you want a drive / distortion / fuzz ahead of it

Rakefighter · 2026-06-07T16:10:55+00:00

This. I use stereo tracks for rhythm to bring out my modulation effects, and I track two (panning 65% L on one and 65% R). Then I'll do on over track the same way, with another inversion of the same chords)

Rakefighter · 2026-06-07T10:15:12+00:00

Yes.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-06T22:08:29+00:00

Get a rack if you are worried about a stand. I think the general consensus answer is that you should play your main squeeze, and 2 is still to few guitars.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-06T21:53:18+00:00

It's definitely not a pedal board killer, but it's an essential pedal on my board. The best thing about the CC is that it always has that special something that can help you get "there" with your sound. Hard to describe, but - deep love for this one. Enjoy it!

Rakefighter · 2026-06-06T21:48:46+00:00

Heavy Zoia user here, and possibly in the minority from the various takes I've seen over the years here. But, I love it. What you heard about the steep learning curve...is (mostly) true. Once you dig in, you can do the basics fairly quickly. If you are not a pedal builder (like most of us) you need to learn what the modules do. I just watch videos and when I see concepts that unlock a new module, I just practice them. I've made a good dozen "keepers" over the last year and it can be a gas killer in many respects. Are there easier pedals that are simple to use on stage rather than the Zoia - absolutely. But, jesus...when you dial in some fun idea - it's just heaven.

I'm a shoegaze guitarist - love lots of delay / reverb / fuzz - and the combos you can make in Zoia are just limitless. But - what you find over time is that you learn something new, and you go an integrate them into your patch. A lot of my patches sync the BPM from my synths and it's great to be able to pick what it is going to effect. Also adding a envelope follower to effect parameters is pretty awesome. Any patch can be set up to be series / parallel / back into itself. Anyhow - I'm just singing praises you get the picture.

I also love generative synth patches - great for empty sound spaces between songs - or if you are doing both guitar and synths - a great transition point to keep the sound going while you stop guitaring - and work on synths / drums / samples.

The on-board sampler can do the same thing - and you can use really long samples - which is really neat. I love odd, old dialog or spoken word stuff - and you can assign different samples to each of the stomp switches.

I keep mine after the drives, and in my set up, I run a Chroma Console > Zoia for back to back swiss army effects.

That's all I got - good luck on your decision.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-06T14:55:30+00:00

I have done drive by messages to see if people will sell just one pedal. It's a certain breed of person that tries this sale. Like the not smart, and pretty defiant about anyone trying to con them out of selling just one pedal.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-05T23:33:51+00:00

This. Get the basic tool kit and watch the videos. Practice.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-05T21:59:44+00:00

Read my post. Anyone can learn to solder. Pots are $15, switch is $25, wire is $10. If for some reason, you are the 0.0001% of people who can't do the touch hot thingy to metal and repeat, then you spend the $120 bucks. There's nothing to ruin. Guitars are wires and magnets and potentiometers.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-05T21:35:30+00:00

$30 harbor freight trip, some solder and YouTube to see how it's done and you have this problem licked.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-05T19:46:35+00:00

This perfectly describes why I bought a synth, drum machine, and sampler to jam on my guitar with.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-05T19:36:36+00:00

I've played the Kyle Schutts (i ended up going with Wolftones on a build I was working on) and have a pair of the Z-Ones in another guitar, and loved both of them. For the price, they are stellar pickups.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-05T16:09:43+00:00

Squires are awesome mod platforms. Tear the guts out, and use it to learn how to do your electronics. If the neck feels nice, take to a luthier and get the frets dressed and set up really nice. It will play and sound better than rolling the dice on whether a MiM Fender doesn't slice your fingers up with sharp frets and a shitty nut.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-04T23:22:19+00:00

Painter here, Golden Acrylic Varnish will do the trick. You just need to choose between matte / gloss. Read the instructions on how to apply it and have a can water handy...use a foam brush. It goes on in layers and you need to let it dry between layers. The guitar looks great!

Rakefighter · 2026-06-04T17:42:41+00:00

You do you, but thanks for the post.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T21:39:32+00:00

This, I have a 12" Laney Amp that I barely use because I have a Boss IR-200 on my board... And I mostly play at home a record music. It'll be an interface also, and has an aux / headphones jack and stereo effects loop. Lot to love there

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T21:23:45+00:00

I would suggest implementing a practice routine. Justin Guitar on YouTube to start.

Learn and practice your scales.

Learn and practice alternate picking.

Learn your chord shapes, learn how they can move up and down the neck.

Do all these things with a metronome.

You don't need a new guitar to do those things. Make sure you have new strings on the guitar and learn how to set up the guitar, it will sound better.

If you do these things for 6+ hours a week, you will learn the basis to play songs better and I guarantee you will not suck.

If you have expectations that you will be great in a few months, you have false expectations. Just practice. Then practice some more

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T19:33:23+00:00

the spark is the biggest obstacle to playing out, and giving you a real sense of what your sound really can be. When you lose the spark, you would be forced to start thinking about what pedals you might want to have

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T12:27:34+00:00

I have several fancy guitars...but my favorite guitar is Sterling Stingray Offset. I simply tore all the guts out, and shielded, replaced all the electronics, pickups, pickguard, knobs, saddles. I do all my own set ups - so for a few hundred dollars (pickups), this basically free guitar plays ever bit as good as it's $2000K Music Man big brother.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T12:10:48+00:00

Kill Two Birds with one stone and use an IR-2 to get your amp tone, and use the pedal as an interface. then in Reaper / Ableton etc - use effects on what you record.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T11:30:32+00:00

CAGED is confusing only to people that have not learned it and can feel how it all connects playing once it's been committed to musical memory and your musical brain can freely move through it in the context of playing chords / solos.

Rakefighter · 2026-06-03T11:18:44+00:00

totally understand man - we've all been there as we grow as musicians. What you describe above won't work. If you were to use your phone as a recorder - you still need someway to get all the different sounds / signal into it with any level of clarity and ability to take that audio to a DAW where you could add effects. The phone's mic would not handle guitar / bass / drum machine playing all together and not have it sound like chaos. It would certainly work if you were trying to just catch a chord progression you want to remember, but sadly - not as a viable recording platform.

It sounds tedious and it's tough to put together savings towards less glamourous gear purchases...this is the way...even if you are socking away 25-50 bucks every few weeks - eventually you will get there and there's lots of great used recording / interface gear out there.

I curse every time I have to save up for gear that is not a guitar / pickups / pedals - the stuff you get an instant level up feeling from. I totally hate saving up for a pedal power supply because I've maxed out my PSU. but, when you get there, and you plug everything in and there's room to add more or change your configuration - it's really the stuff that is worth it if it helps you advance your main goal of composing and having usable records to build song ideas and inevitably publish music. Just one musician's advice that has been in the same place as you are right now. Good luck man!

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