Hot take: that fade I did 2 months ago vs my fades now - is it really practice or just better tools?

I pulled up a picture of a fade I did back in January and compared it to one I finished yesterday on a regular client. The difference is wild, like the lines are cleaner and the blend actually looks natural now. Part of me thinks it's just me putting in more reps, but I also swapped my clippers from a cheap Wahl to something with a better lever. What do you all think makes the bigger difference - getting more hours behind the chair or upgrading your gear? Has anyone else noticed a big jump after switching tools?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameronrivera1mo ago

In my experience the gear upgrade made a bigger difference because better tools just let your existing skills shine through cleaner.

jana_henderson521mo ago

I swapped out my old factory strings for a nice set of Elixirs on my acoustic and suddenly my fingerpicking sounded way cleaner without me changing a thing. Gear can definitely polish what you already know how to do.

park.adam9d ago

Jana's point about gear polishing what you already know is spot on, but here's the thing nobody's saying - old strings are basically fighting you with every note. Swapping to fresh Elixirs doesn't just polish, it removes that layer of dirt and dead tone that makes you fight harder than you need to. Sometimes the clean sound comes from stuff like smoother string surface letting your fingers glide instead of snagging on rust.