Buying the same gear twice

This post was first published in June 2014 at projectstudiohandbook.com/PSHforum

Such is the power of digital marketing, we are often made to feel that the equipment we own is inferior, and if we upgrade we'll get exactly the sound we're after.

So we fire-up eBay, and before we know it we've sold the deficient device to help pay for the new, and at a huge loss of course, when you take into account eBay's and PayPal's fees (don't get us started!). The new device arrives and is indeed shiny and different, and even perhaps better.

But then, when listening to an old recording, we discover that we can't quite get that killer sound with the new device. What to do?

Looking around our studio, we have the following gear which we have sold in the past and had to buy back again ..

- Boss PSH-3 Phase Shifter. The authentic and lovely MXR Phase 90 we bought to replace it does't quite give us the flexibility we need.
- Yamaha Rev7. We hated this when we couldn't afford a Lexicon. But now we have a Lexicon we found the Rev7 was much missed for percussion.
- Yamaha DX7. Why did we ever think that the superior sounding and more flexible NI FM8 would be better?
- Drawmer DS201 noise gate. Nothing can replace the feel of those knobs and the analogue vibe.
- Fender Frontman solid state amp. The Hot Rod Deluxe valve amp we bought to replace this is in every way better, and yet .. what else can create those hard edged 70s guitar sounds?
- Akai sampler. Well, a software sampler isn't really a sampler, is it?

We know many studio owners who never sell anything. Inevitably this means piles of redundant gear cluttering up their spaces (ADATs, DAT machines, drum machines anybody?), and yet .. every one of those devices has a unique vibe and sound. And some of the great musical leaps forward have been made with cheap second hand gear discarded by so called "pros" (Acid, Chicago house, hip-hop etc etc).

It makes you think, doesn't it?

Thanks for reading.
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