Have you ever cancelled a pre-order?(GAS crisis)

The last two things ive preordered i’ve cancelled. Its becoming a habit. I think im just Gassing and researching too much. But its worse. I think im buyibg to get it out of my system. Then cancelling as the dust settles. Wasting everyones time. Its not the money. Its just the thrill of buy now and releasing the Gas. Should i continue? Is this a solution to GAS?

4 Likes

Hi!

If you do research, limit yourself onto gear you have.
Just watch videos only from those thingies and learn to use this things.
If you suffer from gas you have a ton of synths, and barely know them.

Only buy if you sell a thing. Without any exceptions.

I had 2019 a blast, and bought everything. My home looked like a store.
Then I sayed to me, no gear in 2020, no mather what.
I’m weak so I settled to the point that I just don’t buy new stuff without selling 1-2 two old ones.

That worked for me so well, I sold nearly all of my gear. I only have a few synths I really love left.

To your question: I preordered a yellow td-3, and cancelled it the next day. Because I realised it would be just another one that lays around.

4 Likes

Yes I have done several times on Kickstarter. It’s very easy to get sucked in and to surrender to GAS only, with the benefit of time, to realise there will be issues, It’s not what you need, delays, etc.

I’ve still got an Osmose on preorder though. I swither over that too but sticking with it for now.

I find a time delay useful… A self-imposed month minimum of wanting something. Surprisingly little gear has met the criteria since this policy started

6 Likes

Yep. Cancelled that Osmose keyboard from Expressive E. As cool as it was, I realised that this added depth of control wasn’t what was lacking in getting shit done for me.

3 Likes

Used to be Gassing over everything and anything that is released, I’m not sure what happened but I’m finally content with my setup and the itch is gone. Maybe I’m loosing interest in synths or maybe I’m just getting old.

We’ve all been brainwashed into these super consumers from birth so it’s no wonder the Gas takes hold. Just realize that the next new shiny thing is not going to make the music for you, it’s not going to solve any problems it’s probably just going to scratch the itch until the next new shiny thing. So work with what you have and be happy knowing that your learning your stuff instead of scratching that itch.

5 Likes

No … since it seems to make you uncomfortable, why continue?

In a way yes and no. At least it prevents buying things, which might only collect dust or end as a door stop … but why keep doing it?

I haven’t got good advice against GAS. But what saves me from time to time is that I have decided only to get new gear, if it definitely will make a difference, gives me something I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise, and that I strongly believe that I will use it regularily. TBH it saved me sometimes not every time :wink:

3 Likes

The problem is, if you have serious GAS you will tick all these boxes even if you know it’s not the truth.

3 Likes

Yea … maybe I am lucky and I have a mild infection of GAS only … there are only rare moments, when I see something and hit the button after some minutes … last buy like this was jumping on the train for the Pittsburgh Voltage Research Laboratory after watching an interview with Richard Nicol. Well … never regretted it, love this synth and it will never become a door stop … lucky me :smiley:

not everytime … there have been some great machines in the recent years, which didn’t make it to the shopping list, or have been scratched after some thinking. I tried hard to understand what I would be missing, if I would not get them and then … :thinking: … well … “nice to have” but not “must have” …

1 Like

You have to ask yourself whether you are buying gear to casually play with and talk about, or to make music with. The rest will follow from that.

11 Likes

yeah, I’ve done this a few times with Kickstarter…
I always have the intent to go thru with it, though sometimes if I’m ‘rushed’ into a decision - e.g. because I want to ‘lock in’ an early bird deal, then later I have reflected and pulled out.

I’ve pre-ordered Osmose, and have no intention of cancelling that,
but that said, Im hoping to try it at Superbooth, and if it’s not living up to expectations then I’d reconsider. (assuring this is within the cancellation period still)

but generally, I don’t pre-order stuff (outside crowd-funding), and wait to hear some ‘user feedback’… which also gives some time for the hype (and associated gas buzz) to die down a bit.

1 Like

Yes. Roland SE-01 and TD-3, coincidentally on the morning it arrived in stock.

I totally agree with the thrill of the purchase. Then I end up remembering that these new synths flood the used market and retailer sales for so much less that I would be foolish to pay full price

1 Like

I am open to pre-order, if there is already some information about it … like a prototype at NAMM or Superbooth and a decent team supporting the project. Sometimes something makes “click” and I know … or at least I think I know that this would be something for me … and sometimes it takes ages until I make a purchase … :wink:

I do from time to time when i recognize that i don’t NEED new kit, i need more time with my hardware.

I preorder awesome things but sometimes cancel right before it’s released.

I did some good in passively making the kickstarter look desirable, there’s always some attrition, it’s not a “cure” for GAS but a method of dealing with it.

Never feel guilty about canceling a preorder, but use it to interrogate how many preorders you sign up for.

Thanks you guys. I thought it was my negative personality trait kicking in. Being self defeatist. Its strange how after a few months of waiting you start to see things differently and think “Do i really need this or will it just get in the way”. But having pressed the BUY iT NOW button its like an emotional vent of frustration that is released. Then after is has been vented a feeling of calm. It sure is a curse lusting after equipment.

There’s worse things to lust after.

2 Likes

Simply put…yes.

Ordered something due to gas. Had time to think about it. Realized that getting said item really won’t benefit in any meaningful way…order cancelled.

2 Likes

Yes. This is GAS. You’ve identified it. Now you can take corrective measures. You are not alone.

2 Likes

I don’t pre-order gear because I generally don’t buy new stuff (unless it’s cables or similar odds/ends). partially because I like vintage synths but also because you get more for your money with used.

so mostly I don’t lust after new stuff when it comes out. I just go “wow, that’s pretty cool. maybe once they’ve worked the bugs out and people have decided they wanna move onto the next hot sh*t thing, I’ll grab one…” this also helps keeps GAS down a bit. sure you still want that gear. and if it pops up for a good price, you’re tempted. but you learn to kinda keep it bubbling there, just under the surface. I mean you already passed on it when it was announced, so what’s a little more time waiting, right?

it also helps to have a studio and musical output that you’re generally happy with.

2 Likes

I know this feeling well.

I may not be entitled to say this … but the best cure in that case of frustration could be to try to overcome the reasons of such frustration in the first place.