Jack-Flash-Jr
And I'm pretty sure I already posted about this before... but my ears hear different things at different times... sometimes my eye-gouger sounds great, other times lifeless or worse - completely out of tune (even though my tuner says otherwise). Same with my tele. Been looking at investing in a ts-808 (Reinhard ahoy) because I'm not happy with my od-2, but then I plug it in and it's fine. Next day same settings and it sucks. Why does my bridge pickup sound country twang one day and sitar the next? Could it be blood sugar level? Mood? Ear problems?
DonovanB
cable?
amp?
could be a number of factors. why not go through your gear one by one, maybe you'll find the fault.
Manfred-Klose
It could be ear fatique and your mood at the same time.
Everywhere you go there is noise around, tracffic, kids yelling, cellphones........
Try and narrow out your options, taking notes of what time in the day you play, is it before supper? or when you just came from work? compare the notes of the good jams compared to the bad jams.
I to have days where my guitar sounds better than anything else, and otherdays i just cant get it to sound good, i found that it was the mood i was in when playing.
Manfred-Klose
P.S: This is signs of extreme GAS kicking in, your brain is trying to convince you to buy more gear.
Gearhead
Just to add one thought: if you want to write down everything like Manfred suggests, go measure the mains voltage and note that as well...
Keira-WitherKay
Jack Flash Jr wrote:
And I'm pretty sure I already posted about this before... but my ears hear different things at different times... sometimes my eye-gouger sounds great, other times lifeless or worse - completely out of tune (even though my tuner says otherwise). Same with my tele. Been looking at investing in a ts-808 (Reinhard ahoy) because I'm not happy with my od-2, but then I plug it in and it's fine. Next day same settings and it sucks. Why does my bridge pickup sound country twang one day and sitar the next? Could it be blood sugar level? Mood? Ear problems?
i doubt theres anything wrong .... you just 'being human" ............. depending on our moods/fatigue we deal with certain auditory input differently...........
great example is working in a studio......... you mix a song after a long day and feel it's waxed, then next morning with fresh ears and a rested brain it sounds totally different ............
the out of tune thing i don't get . but the rest is quite normal.......... and btw electronic tuners especially the cheap ones are not always accurate either ............ thats why having good ears or investing in a good tuner is essential also the intonation on certain guitars is way off... where they will be in tune to say 9th fret then drift after that ............so tuning to open strings will be in but anything higher up will be out ........... tune by checking upper harmonics and open tuning
Bob-Dubery
Jack Flash Jr wrote:
And I'm pretty sure I already posted about this before... but my ears hear different things at different times... sometimes my eye-gouger sounds great, other times lifeless or worse - completely out of tune (even though my tuner says otherwise). Same with my tele. Been looking at investing in a ts-808 (Reinhard ahoy) because I'm not happy with my od-2, but then I plug it in and it's fine. Next day same settings and it sucks. Why does my bridge pickup sound country twang one day and sitar the next? Could it be blood sugar level? Mood? Ear problems?
What changes?
What can change?
I know that some days I think my guitars sound OK and some days they sound fabulous (even the Morgan, which is a really good guitar), but the guitars aren't changing, can't change, so it must be something in me or my perceptions that is changing.
OK... I'm not a plugged in guy so it could be that the mains voltage is not that stable, or even that the frequency isn't always 50 Hz.
Start with the things that can change (you being one) and then whittle away at that list. Some kind of intermittent problem is always possible with anything electronic, but those kinds of problems can strike at any time, not always on a day and for the whole day.
Manfred-Klose
Just to add one thought: if you want to write down everything like Manfred suggests, go measure the mains voltage and note that as well...
lol gearhead, yes i lost my marbles a long time ago..........
Jack-Flash-Jr
Thanks for the inputs... think it's mood related, all other things being equal. I suppose it's the same as a song killing one day and grating the next...
Squonk
You're pretty normal Jack(I dont know if this is a compliment for a muso ?)
I sometimes get the whole out of tune thing as well. But it's generally when I am exhausted or have a cold or similar ailment.
I will try and tune with my ear and eventually pull out the tuner.
I have the problem with my Line 6 pocket Pod, get goosebumps with the tone one day and think of advertising it on gumtree the next day.
Ray
Dont know if it's the same ailment that I've got. Anyway, I pull a bottleneck over the strings from time to time. Not very elegantly and actually it's just to see what sounds will come from all sorts of different amp and pedal configs. You know, one day I will set something up and heck it sounds so grand hey. And the next morning I'll fire up exactly the same config and I cant believe that such a sound can possibly be allowed. And I want to sing. Oh boy! I really want to sing. But most days it sounds so scary to me. Then on a day it seems OK and I skeem but maybe I can sort something out here. But it doesnt last long. Not out of tune - just so vogon or something. Now, someone tell me about intonation and the voice.
singemonkey
Time for an MRI scan. There's probably a tumour in there the size of a goose egg ?
[deleted]
Have you considered that it might be the quality of your playing that will differ from day to day. You can make the same instrument sound pretty different depending on how much effort you put in. Just something I've found with my own guitar.There are so many factors, left hand and right hand technique will influence it, the weather, if your hands are cold. Whether your nails are not the right length, if you had a good meal, had a long day at work, you get the point.
I noticed this quite acutely when I started recording. I had to learn to play for the mic and be consistent in the sound I produce. And that's when I noticed the myriad of ways to play something, and thus affect the "tone" of my guitar. Projection plays a big role too, where do you imagine your sound to be going. Also if your mind is relaxed you pick up the sounds you like, if you're being critical you'll pick up sounds you don't like. It takes me a long time to relax in front of the microphone, the opportunity to be critical is enhanced because I can listen back to my mistakes over and over, but that makes the practice all the better, because I remove that critical, impatient element and become a little music robot.
Jack-Flash-Jr
I like the idea of projection... sometimes it is the playing though, but often I'm just tuning with harmonics and it all sounds off. Too subtle to be a goose egg in my head though.... i hope ?
[deleted]
I was actually going to add something about tuning that I've noticed. Firstly, tuners seem to not really be that accurate. It'll show that you're one the right note, then suddenly move to sharp, then flat, I guess that means the string is still settling in to it's tension (shot in the dark), or the note some how changes pitch due to how hard you've plucked it.
To complicate things even further I think I have some preconceptions about what certain pitches should be, kind of like the exact opposite of being pitch perfect. I sometimes have the idea that the top E should be ever so slightly flat, to give it an old fashioned sound. Oddly enough I was listening to a recording of another classical guitarist and his guitar was also slightly out of tune in the same way that I sometimes have it. What I've learnt to do is to go against my idea of whats right and to really just listen. I find my ear works better than my tuner now.
[deleted]
I also wanted to add something else about the capabilities of your instrument. If you're having problems getting the sound you want, but you have once before achieved it on your instrument, then I would say the fault is down to your playing. But if you're having a lot of problems making a wooden spoon banging on a pot sound good, you might want to look at a branching out.
Oh and one more thing, it really makes a difference to the sound if your fingers are dirty, believe it or not.
Jack-Flash-Jr
Viccy wrote:
I also wanted to add something else about the capabilities of your instrument. If you're having problems getting the sound you want, but you have once before achieved it on your instrument, then I would say the fault is down to your playing. But if you're having a lot of problems making a wooden spoon banging on a pot sound good, you might want to look at a branching out.
Oh and one more thing, it really makes a difference to the sound if your fingers are dirty, believe it or not.
While I do occasionally have Sticky Fingers I'm not sure they contribute to an electric sounding dodgy?!
