Mmmmm eating chickiknobs in the plebelands.

I totally feel the GAS issue, (lol that sounds bad). In high school and college I totally got away with a budget setup like you described: cheap guitar, used amp, laptop, a couple of effects pedals, some cables and I was in solid shape. I recorded A LOT! Hell, some of my best work was done with that budget setup. Audio quality wasn’t the best but it didn’t matter to me, just for fun.

As soon as I got out of college and had more than two nickels to rub together, my gear setup had gotten out of hand. Multiple guitars, amps, midi controllers, mixing boards, usb interfaces, studio monitors, full pedal boards, multiple mics, electric drum kit, cables cables cables. Just insane, thousands of dollars. I still do plenty of recording and playing but not nearly as much as my budget days. Some truth to less is more I guess. I have so many toys I don’t know what to do with my hands.

The upside to having more gear is I can host karaoke at parties, jam sessions can be recorded live in very high quality rather than relying on cheap hand recorders, and my own records are much higher quality. Plus, lots of toys, so I can never be bored.

I will say though, I much prefer a minimal setup. It keeps everything tight. It’s very hard to avoid all the novelty of having new toys to play with. But it’s true, playing guitar can be a very cheap hobby!

Sorry, I had to double take when I saw the crystal left of your center speaker. I thought I was trapped in another “find the dildo” moment.

lol, the offer is pay $200 starting fee to your upline before we send you to brainwashing “training” sessions. “Before you know it you’ll be raking in millions!” I had a buddy of mine fall into an MLM after failing to sell his handmade creams. I think he’s still trapped in it while his wife works her ass off to make ends meet with their two kids. Feel bad for her more than him. But more angry at MLMs, truly scummy.

Being on the applicant side, you almost will never hear from or speak to a human. There is no way of validating what the result of the job wound up being. Was it filled, cancelled, did the company die? Likely filled, but often you won’t even get an automated response for 6 months. I haven’t been on the applying side in almost a decade, but I recall submitting something like 50 applications a week. I’d usually get a call back for a role or two every other week, and out of the 12 or so interviews I landed, 5 went to second interviews, and I received 2 offers. I was still fairly early career then but the hoops I had to jump through just to land a call was insane! Don’t get me started on hiring processes now, my company requires video resumes for outside applicants. It’s so unnecessary! Sorry for the word wall!

Man, I want to get back into this game, I never beat it either. But some of the boss battles are like intricate dances. Don’t even get me started on the path of pain.