🔥 Change Is Imminent

Firstly, goodbye old friend! Finally sold away this trusty acoustic guitar. Ever since I bought this guitar 3 years ago, it has never let me down once. I've used it so many times on stage that I lost count. Wonderful and beautiful instrument.

I gave this guitar to my brother for him to learn acoustic since I now have a Yamaha one. He has been learning it well until the tuners kinda started giving us problems. So we sold it for $100. Severe loss in costs but these 3 years of experience was worth it.

With that in mind, the next biggest thing that is gonna happen in my music journey is my pedalboard overhaul. And by overhaul I mean completely change everything. Everything. I'm literally selling more than half of my gear to fund the next new piece of equipment:

Line 6 Helix Floor

Ok this thing is a tone monster. It can emulate tons of cabs and amps, function as an audio interface, do recordings (including vocals), MIDI controls other equipment, do direct-in/out with XLR functions, have a few hundred different effects, load 3rd party IRs, download people's patches, hook up analog pedals, do headphones out and much more. My point is, this thing can essentially replace my whole rig (other than my guitar).

I stumbled across this modeler when looking at picking up a Line 6 HX or HD500 for backup. People are going crazy over this new modeler that came out in 2015. I've seen reviews where people replace their thousand-dollar cabs and amps, and push aside entire pedalboards. I have personally asked a particular Facebook group and they are 100% sure I am going to dump my Fulltone OCD if I ever get a Helix.

Ok, but I don't think the OCD is leaving me anytime soon, even if the Helix is literally heaven in guitar world. The Helix Floor retails at various Singapore stores for $1999 new. Quite a steep price but then again, my analog board alone is worth that much anyways. I was hesitant to make this jump because this is not something that I can buy before I sell everything away.

There will be a period of time when I will be stuck with like 4 or 5 pedals before I get the Helix. I am speaking like I already made the decision, and I have. Listed half my pedalboard on Carousell already. Timeline is going, POG is going (heck I don't even use it), SP Compressor and Volume JR are going, Ditto X2 is going, maybe even the Tech 21 Blonde is going. I shall wait till the Helix arrive before considering if the Focusrite needs to go as well.

All of the above is still not gonna make up for the cost of Helix, which is why I have to sell one of my guitars. I have personally seen my new house and yes, one less guitar will make my parents happier anyway. There was one point in time when I almost sold my Telecaster but after hearing how sweet it sounded I took the listing down. The Stratocaster is a firm staple on my team. Leaving the PRS a "want", not a "need".

So much for upgrading the PRS guitar a few weeks back. Turns out that I can't really justify bringing the PRS over the Fender Strat on stage. Versatility wise the PRS has no match at all. Hope I get at least earn back the equivalent value I paid for the PRS. That will in turn pump me enough to reach the price of the Helix.

If you are following well, there's a bunch of pedals that I haven't put on Carousell yet: My 3 drives, the HoF 2 and the Polytune. These are gonna be transferred to a PT Nano so at least I can retain some analog feels. I can't really let go of my drives anyway. The sale of the PT JR with the Mono case and PP2+ will go into funding for a PT Nano and a Cioks DC5.

I can even hook the PT Nano up to the Helix for the added versatility. Meanwhile, I'll still be keeping my Yamaha THR10C for home practice and that's basically it. I am changing out a whole bunch of gear and it's gonna be at least a few months worth of Carousell. I got plenty of time to do this anyway.

Edwin Ang
7th May 2018