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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
 Posted - 05/26/2007 : 16:32:18
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I just relearned a valuable lesson today..i have the house to myself and i was playing my guitar through my rig out in the back,at the start i thought everything sounded great but then after a while i thought the sound was a bit 'thin' so i started messing with guitar leads ,trying different guitars,using one amp at a time,changing settings.. etc...and was getting more and more pissed off with the sound when i heard the brother in law shouting through the letterbox...i hadn't heard the door bell...!! so anyway i stopped for an hour or so and we had lunch and i noticed that my ears were ringing a bit,he headed off so i was doing a bit of work in the house i decided to plug the tele in one more time to see if i could get it to sound good...the minute i plugged it in it sounded great....so did the pedals and the amps...so sometimes before you start ripping the pedalboard apart(i'm speaking from experience.. )or putting gear up on evilbay...give it a break for a few hours and let you ears recover.... |
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Vim Fuego
Gold Member
Denmark
566 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2007 : 20:49:47
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Good advice   |
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ronster
Gold Member
Australia
645 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2007 : 15:50:15
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Yeah, nice.
Ringing ears always spoils that great guitar sound!
You gotta look after those ears. Otherwise playing your favourite guitar could become really really quiet.
cheers
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Edited by - ronster on 05/27/2007 15:51:07 |
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redundant
Silver Member
Turkey
247 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2007 : 23:09:55
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| Noticed this several times 1/2 way through the second set - everything sounds worse as your ears get tired. Now, learned to just leave it alone (or play shorter gigs). Same goes for mixing - work more than two hours and it starts jumbled. |
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StratoSphere
Double Platinum Member
Canada
2232 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 13:37:56
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yup i notice this all the time. if im having a bad sounding session, ill just shut down the rig and do something else for a while. usually when i come back im ready to rock!
no sense playing when you sound shitty right |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 16:56:32
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Hi FRANZONI
This is a great topic, but I feel it's probably beyond, mostof the members, here on the forum, to explain properly?
This must be the same Psychoacoustic Fatigue that I get, after medium to long sessions, with distortion & overdrive pedals.
Sometimes it just happens, if I've had a hard & tiring work day as well.
I have written about this before in another thread.
Some days, I feel like I have finally, found "The OVERDRIVE" sound of a lifetime, and then a few hours later, or the next day or so;
The same settings & pedal sound like a pile of 
Or in a similar fashion, the pedal that I played today, & couldn't get any decent sounds out of, becomes "The Pedal or settings" that I have searched for for the other part of a lifetime.
I used to put it down to being tired, maybe it is listening fatigue? Any Psychologist, amongst or members?
Here are a few links I found, that may be interesting to some members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_reflex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_masking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emission
http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_3110/psycho.html
And slightly left of center,
but with references to Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest)
http://www.helium.com/tm/293860/movie-spinal-guitarist-titular
Regards Dr. Bob  |
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redundant
Silver Member
Turkey
247 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 18:56:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Bob
Hi FRANZONI
Or in a similar fashion, the pedal that I played today, & couldn't get any decent sounds out of, becomes "The Pedal or settings" that I have searched for for the other part of a lifetime.
Regards Dr. Bob
exactly - don't go messing with your settings in the middle of a gig |
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zestystrat
Silver Member
USA
283 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2007 : 21:17:03
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I would say this piece of advice is HUGE when it comes time to mixing.
I would never book an 8-hour mixing session about 4 hours in you'd be throwing your money away.
You need time away for the ears but also to get a fresh perspective on the music. At one point we would book mixing sessions weeks apart just becasue we has worked on the same songs for a while and the only way to have a fresh perspective was to not listen to it for a while and then come back to it. |
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mattoqua
Silver Member
Canada
438 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2007 : 04:04:31
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very true
I remember one time I was playing in my bedroom, and I was changing some settings on my board. I started playing, and it was just what I was looking for. I was so happy just playing for hours just loving the sound. After about 3 hours, I stopped feeling the same about my new sound, so I changed some settings to try to find something even better. I ruined it completely. I couldnt find anything that was good enough anymore. I started taking pedals out, rearanging some, changing settings, but nothing. I could never find the same sound again though 
If you ever find something that just sounds perfect, either leave it for a couple days to try it out thoroghly, or at least write down all the settings and order |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2007 : 12:15:44
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quote:
Originally posted by mattoqua
very true
I remember one time I was playing in my bedroom, and I was changing some settings on my board. I started playing, and it was just what I was looking for. I was so happy just playing for hours just loving the sound. After about 3 hours, I stopped feeling the same about my new sound, so I changed some settings to try to find something even better. I ruined it completely. I couldn't find anything that was good enough anymore. I started taking pedals out, rearranging some, changing settings, but nothing. I could never find the same sound again though
If you ever find something that just sounds perfect, either leave it for a couple days to try it out thoroughly, or at least write down all the settings and order
Hi mattoqua
Don't feel too bad, we've all done it at one time or another
Regards Dr. Bob |
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StratoSphere
Double Platinum Member
Canada
2232 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2007 : 18:44:49
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i think the big thing is that its not even so much your gear, but more your ear!
it could actually be just the way youre playing.
the same thing happened to me with finding the perfect tone. i found it and everything was good one day. the next day it wasnt so good. day 3 was complete shit, and the day after that it was awesome again. i think its just a combination of everything; your current mood/physical state/even time of day maybe.
and i also beleive what they say about most of the tone is in the hands. ive seen players with a Les Paul through a Orange stack with boutique true bypass pedals and they sound like shit. then sometimes theres dudes with a korean strat knockoff just rocking the place.
i guess thats where owning a lot of gear can come in handy. if you sound bad one day, just swap the OD-1 for a HM-2 and play metal. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2007 : 11:48:17
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i very interested with the replies..thanks everyone...keep them coming...its great to see that this is worldwide phenomenom...i thought i was losing it big time for a while........
p.s ..has anyone any thoughts on closed back over open back guitar cabs and the difference in sound.....??... |
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giving your ears a rest......
