William Blake's famous mixed metaphor gave birth to an even more famous book and a VERY famous band: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite."

I bring it up in a gearhead context to remind those of us who love music (and the tools of its creation) that we must beware of false perception while evaluating gear.

Have you ever been so moved by a song on the radio that you just had to call the DJ to see what it was, only to be told it was on some record you already have in your collection? ... a record you haven't listened to in 15 years? A record that you dismissed as boring and unoriginal?

I, myself, have been embarrassed in this fashion many times, probably because I simply was not ready to receive the music in question when I first heard it. 

Maybe I was not mature enough to "get" the artist's message, or perhaps I simply lacked the context to process it at that time. Maybe I was just in a lousy mood and would have thought ANYTHING was boring.

This can also happen with guitars, amplifiers, and pedals.

A good gearhead will give a new tool of creation an honest test by using it in various contexts and situations, and with a variety of other devices: for example, testing an amp with several guitars and pedals, and try it on the gig as well as in the house. 

This is a good start, and a good way to avoid the distorted perception mentioned above. All I ask is that we all take such evaluations to the next step by evaluating OURSELVES while testing gear: give yourself an attitude check first. Then you will be less likely to sell something that you will miss terribly later, when production has long since ceased and the little paperweight has become an unaffordable, unobtanium collectors' item.