Not to be misogynistic, because I know there are at least a couple of female members here, but I'm curious about those of us who are fortunate enough to be married/co-habitate and what your partner thinks about your hobby/obsession. My wife has finally come to respect how much time I put into pedal stuff, but it was a long time coming. She still has no idea what I do, really, but she likes the pedals (or 'boxes', as she calls them) I make. But beyond that, she has absolutely zero interest in it so I don't really discuss it with her very much (beyond a cursory explanation of what I'm working on). Anyone here have a partner that actually engages with you in your hobby in some way? Or, do you like having it just be "your thing"?
My wife of 20+ years has been totally supportive of my "habit" since day one. Actually, she has always been interested in my guitar/recording related hobbies going back to college. She doesn't know what makes all the little boxes different from one another, but she likes pretty things and likes for me to have a pastime that I enjoy. She only asks that the dining room table be cleared off of projects for Thanksgiving and Christmas.....
My wife has also come around. You can't stay married for 20 years without learning how to communicate (well, you CAN, but I tried it and it SUCKS!), so we have established some routines that help:
Daddy gets "Time to play with his bits" when family is otherwise occupied. Generally, burning solder while the family is at home and awake is discouraged.
Daddy gets to stay up late in the garage, but makes an effort to go to bed with Mommy at least 2 or 3 nights a week, reserving, however, the option to drink a big glass of water before bed so when nature calls he can go back to the garage.
Daddy researches pedals and circuits and shops for the BOMs when Mommy is watching QVC. ;D
Daddy runs Wilbur Enterprises on a Paypal account, and PP sends transfer confirmations to the home email account. I can buy and sell whatever I want, but we keep no secrets.
About once a month, I will play my latest build, so she can see what I'm working on. And whenever I build something with lots of pretty caps or clipping diodes, I show her and she feigns interest and oohs and ahhs for my benefit. ;D
My wife calls it "Tinkering". She's ok with it as long as it doesn't take too much time away from her. I usually do it on my lunch hour or when she is running errands (aka shopping). As far as budget goes, I try to sell just enough stuff to keep funds flowing for my builds. I used to build golf clubs, now I build pedals.
My wife has been very understanding and supportive. She's actually been helping me with a new enclosure graphic and labeling technique. She calls the populated pcb boards "little cities" with skyscrapers and such.
Yesterday before I drilled an enclosure for my wolfshirt she helped me laying it out so I can use the pedal either perpendicular or parallel to the other pedals. This is only my third build but for some reason I always try to push the envelope with jack and knob setups to make it more user friendly. Such as top mounted jacks and power in a 1590b, plus battery! Luckily this build is a 125B, so I have more room to play.
What my ex thinks or feels about my hobbies no longer concerns me :)
My wife is pretty cool about my hobbies. She doesn't really understand the amps and the circuits and such but then again she doesn't have to worry about me being face down in some bar somewhere. :D
QuoteDaddy gets to stay up late in the garage, but makes an effort to go to bed with Mommy at least 2 or 3 nights a week, reserving, however, the option to drink a big glass of water before bed so when nature calls he can go back to the garage.
I'm not married but I'm putting this one in the bank!
I love my wife (who wouldn´t ?).
She loves to hear about my projects, and gives suggestions on how to finish them. She even likes to hear how they work.
Every once in a while I´ll be downstairs and I´ll hear this incredibly loud, whining, howling, screaming sort of noise coming from upstairs (and it´s not the neighbor visiting). She´ll be playing with everything that can make weird noises and oscillate.
She even buys me a pedal every year for our anniversary.
Two weeks ago I was on a 5 day tour and had some time to visit a music store in cologne, germany. Found this great playing Epi Les Paul SC with two p90´s, it was hard to leave the store without it but I did. Later that day I told my wife about it from the hotel. 4 days later I´m home and there´s that same guitar staring at me.... ;D That´s what I mean, who wouldn´t love my wife....?
First of all.... I'm not dead :) Sorry for my lack of a presence here. I've been crazy busy traveling for work (out 23 days in September alone). And due to the saving for a down payment for a home, all my (and my wife's) hobbies have been put on the back burner :(
Anyway, my wife has been awesome with this hobby. At first I was spending WAY too much time over at FSB, but now that I'm actually building stuff and spending a little less time on the computer she's been great! She gives me her opinion on the artwork and layouts and paint colors and everything like that. So it's been a fun road to be on!
Good to see you're still around, Ian! I figured you were traveling a lot these past couple of months.
yeah, august and september were absolutely crazy for me as far as traveling for work goes, but it's slowed down a little for the rest of the year. and just to keep this on topic.... it's great to be home for a while to build some pedals and spend a lot of time with my wife :)
my girlfriend (soon to be fiance) and I live 6 hours apart. I have lots of free time, and will until about 2 years from now when we will move back together again. At which point I will probably have to re-evaluate and establish some rules for myself... I've already been told I can have a music room, I just need to get it in writing...
Austin is here! Cool!
My wife I think tolerates this. Generally she's fairly positive about the pedal building, and occasionally she likes to listen to what the various builds do. Actually, once in a while she pipes up when we're listening to music and asks what effect is being used on the guitar there, and sometimes she can hear what it is for herself. She likes that it adds dimension to what she's listening to. She can easily hear a Tremolo or a Whammy pedal now.
But she wishes I didn't spend so much time on the Computer with this stuff. She feels sometimes like she's got competition for my attention. I think most women feel that way, but they are able to respect our man cave time and she likes that at least I'm not wasting my time with stuff that completely wastes money. At least with this, every once in a while I sell some pedals to pay for parts for new ones. As long as I'm not spending too much money she's happy.
Jacob
hey jacob! yes, I'm a lurker. I learn a lot from looking over madbean's layouts. Good techniques and such.
My wife is in the "humors me" category some of the other folks mentioned. I pretend to care about her ramblings on history for a few minutes and she pretends to care about my geeking out for tone. We are both supportive of each other's passions, but it does not mean we need to share them all.
The trick I have learned over the years is to ensure it is not a competition as someone else mentioned. If I spend all my time with my hobbies and none with the wifey things will not go well. Wives need to know they are #1.
My wife likes to paint (and I don't). Recently, I got her to start swirling pedals for me. I gave her dragonfly's tutorial and some guidance on what I wanted. Here is my BSIABII. I have three other pedals she has painted that all look great, but need to be clearcoated this weekend. Next up is a magic mushroom I am going to provide zero input on and let her do whatever she wants rather than a swirly - should be interesting.
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_24LLfdpAlaw/TJYq0Mlbt0I/AAAAAAAAAEA/y06IBN7AXc8/s400/IMG_0388.JPG)
that paint job looks fantastic!
artsy! ;D
Great Swirly!
I wish everyone was married to my wife...Well, er.. one like mine ;D
She designs and applies the graphics, prints out the pcb transfers and plays thru a few of my pedals and the whole time is completely into to the whole deal. I just bought her a $3500 Taylor so I am in good graces for the moment. Love you Rosie :-*
Everyone now wishes they WERE your wife! :o