Happens to me quite often Marnold. Some days I can find good tone in seconds, others I seem to spend more time tweaking that than I do playing. Those days I often just grab the acoustic and play that instead.
Does anyone have this happen to them besides me? A couple of days ago I was playing and really enjoying both playing and my tone. Life was good. Yesterday I played and couldn't seem to get a decent tone out of my ampf to save my life. No knob tweaking or pedal additions would help. Everything sounded like garbage. I can't really define how. Needless to say, it was very frustrating.
Axen: Jackson DK2M, Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster, Reverend Warhawk 390, Taylor 914ce, ESP LTD Surveyor-414
Amphen: Jet City JCA22H and JCA12S cab, Carvin X-60 combo, Acoustic B20
Effecten: "Thesis 96" Overdrive/Boost (aka DVM OD2), Hardwire DL-8 Digital Delay/Looper, DigiTech Polara Reverb, DigiTech EX-7 Expression Factory and CF-7 Chorus Factory, Danelectro CF-1 Cool Cat Fuzz
"I wish Imagine Dragons would be stuck in an Arcade Fire for an entire Vampire Weekend."--Brian Posehn
Happens to me quite often Marnold. Some days I can find good tone in seconds, others I seem to spend more time tweaking that than I do playing. Those days I often just grab the acoustic and play that instead.
"I happen to have perfect situational awareness, Lana. Which cannot be taught, by the way. Like a poet's ... mind for ... to make the perfect words." - Sterling Archer
This sounds like a job for Duhvoodooman!!!! Sumi
Guitars,Warmoth Tele,90's Fender Strat Plus/Fender CV 50's Tele/Parker p-36/Fretlight/Custom Strat(Fender body/warmoth Clapton neck,tonerider pups)Larrivee L03 mahogany acoustic
Amphs/66 Super Reverb/60's Bandmaster head and 2/12 cab/Blues jr//epi valve jr/supro super/ ZT lunchbox/Mahaffay Little Laneilei 3350/Pignose g40v
Pedals/Voods Rodent/MXR carbon copy/Duncan Pickup booster/Ts9/Rat/ts10/Line 6 tone port uk2
Line 6 M13
It's some kind of voodoo that happens to all us.
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
Voltage sag in the main transmission lines.
It won't just happen on different days but at different times of day based on the area draw and whether or not anything has kicked in to compensate for the voltage change.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Usually when that happens to me, it means I've forgotten to turn off my wah pedal.
"When I play, I express my feelings very fast." -Yomo Toro
I go there every now and then, but I wonder if it's more of a lack of inspiration on my part than a "tone" problem. When I have a real fire in my belly to play, my rig always seems to sound great.
Guitars: 2008 Gibson SG Classic, 2006 Gibson Les Paul Standard LE, 2002 Gibson SG Supreme, 2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio Plus, 1996 Les Paul Studio Gem, American Deluxe Double Fat Strat, Bluesville "Super" Strat Copy, MIK Fender "Limited Edition" Tele, JD Bluesville "Night Pilot", Yamaha AES 820, Steinberger Spirit GT Pro, Taylor 355CE, Ovation 1897 Adamas, Ovation CC057 Celebrity
Amps: Axe FX centered rack rig, Mesa 4x12 cab. Germino Club 40, Johnson JM150 Millennium, Johnson JM250 Millennium, Gibson Titan Medalist Frankenstein.
Effects: Tonebone Trimode, EH Holy Grail, Boss CH-1, Dunlop Crybaby Classic, Framptone Amp Switcher, THD Hot Plate, Yamaha AG Stomp Acoustic Processor, Boss BCB-60 Pedal Board.
Probably a bad case of ear wax or worse yet... toe jam:
Or, you ate too many jalapenos.Originally Posted by Plank_Spanker
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
Originally Posted by Robert
Guitars: 2008 Gibson SG Classic, 2006 Gibson Les Paul Standard LE, 2002 Gibson SG Supreme, 2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio Plus, 1996 Les Paul Studio Gem, American Deluxe Double Fat Strat, Bluesville "Super" Strat Copy, MIK Fender "Limited Edition" Tele, JD Bluesville "Night Pilot", Yamaha AES 820, Steinberger Spirit GT Pro, Taylor 355CE, Ovation 1897 Adamas, Ovation CC057 Celebrity
Amps: Axe FX centered rack rig, Mesa 4x12 cab. Germino Club 40, Johnson JM150 Millennium, Johnson JM250 Millennium, Gibson Titan Medalist Frankenstein.
Effects: Tonebone Trimode, EH Holy Grail, Boss CH-1, Dunlop Crybaby Classic, Framptone Amp Switcher, THD Hot Plate, Yamaha AG Stomp Acoustic Processor, Boss BCB-60 Pedal Board.
Originally Posted by Spudman
I always forget about that. It always seems to me so "Ray Bradbury" to think of the effects of electricity flow. But I guess it would definitely exist. I guess that makes the case for those power conditioner things.
Before I read your reply, I was going to say it happens to me too, and it must be our own ears, or brains perceiving things differently on different days.
Steve Thompson
Sun Valley, Idaho
Guitars: Fender 60th Anniversary Std. Strat, Squier CVC Tele Hagstrom Viking Semi-hollow, Joshua beach guitar, Martin SPD-16TR Dreadnought
Amphs: Peavey Classic 30, '61 Fender Concert
Effects and such: Boss: DS-1, CE-5, NS-2 and RC20XL looper, Digitech Bad Monkey, Korg AX1G Multi-effects, Berhinger: TU100 tuner, PB100 Clean Boost, Line 6 Toneport UX2, Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff Pi, DuhVoodooMan's Rabid Rodent Rat Clone, Zonkin Yellow Screamer Mk. II, MXR Carbon Copy Delay
love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart. . .
- j. johnson
If that's the case, just wait 'til TOMORROW, if you think you have problems now!!Originally Posted by Robert
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
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I sometimes get the "Garbage Ears"... sounds like crap to me but everyone else says sounds fine to them.
Maybe that's what you're experiencing.
Kidding aside, I think this is exactly what happens. Some days, the problem is what's between our ears, rather than what's going into them....Originally Posted by Rocket
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
DVM's Gear Photos
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You beat me to it. Ear wax. Just clean your ears and try popping them open with a big yawn or by holding your breath and blowing out and closing your nose.Originally Posted by M29
Guitars/Bass - MIM Fender Classic 50s Strat, MIM Fender Standard Strat, Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Epi '56 Gold Top Les Paul, Martin DSR acoustic, Sigma Martin Auditorium electric/acoustic, Squier Jazz Bass.
Amps/Cabinets/Modelers - Model 2558 50 watt Marshall Silver Anniversary Jubilee combo w/ Celestion Vintage 30s, 4x12 Marshall cabinet w/25 watt Greenback Celestions, Fender Blues Junior w/ a couple of Billm mods, Line 6 POD 2.0, Roland Micro Cube
Pedals/Effects - Cry Baby Classic Wah, Boss TU-2, Boss NS-2, Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Ross Compressor, MXR Micro Amp, Danelectro FAB Echo, Danelectro FAB Chorus, Danelectro Chicken Salad, Marshall Guv'nor Plus, Marshall Echohead, Duhvoodooman's Zonkin' Yellow Screamer, Digitech Digiverb, Digitech Bad Monkey, Dunlop Fuzz Face, Homemade Loop Bypass pedal, Duhvoodooman's Sonic Tonic (Maxon SD-9 clone +), Voodoo Labs Superfuzz
Whatever the case, I'm glad it's not just me. I didn't think of a power situation, although I don't know why usage would be high around this time of year with no one running A/C. The thing that really threw me is that my EX-7 usually sounds really good through my AD30VT. I was trying to play "Unchained" with the A/DA flanger model and it gave this most horrific metallic (as in iron, not Dio-secret-"Satan"-sign metal) twang. I'll have to try it again--although I really don't want to.
Axen: Jackson DK2M, Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster, Reverend Warhawk 390, Taylor 914ce, ESP LTD Surveyor-414
Amphen: Jet City JCA22H and JCA12S cab, Carvin X-60 combo, Acoustic B20
Effecten: "Thesis 96" Overdrive/Boost (aka DVM OD2), Hardwire DL-8 Digital Delay/Looper, DigiTech Polara Reverb, DigiTech EX-7 Expression Factory and CF-7 Chorus Factory, Danelectro CF-1 Cool Cat Fuzz
"I wish Imagine Dragons would be stuck in an Arcade Fire for an entire Vampire Weekend."--Brian Posehn
Spud had an excellent example, I often wondered what effect the line voltage fluctuation had on our amps sound. It would be cool to see a demo of that.
M29
I experienced it nightly at a local gig a few years ago. The club was close to the transformer station and at peak times like after work the juice just wasn't happening and my amp sounded like (technical term) poop. I even disassembled my pedal board looking for a bad connection. This was an on going issue for a few weeks until I figured it out. I simply couldn't get my Crate VC5212 to sound and perform the way it usually did. My effects lagged as well. Around the end of the first set everything would mysteriously return to normal. I was baffled.Originally Posted by M29
One day while talking with merchants in the same area they mentioned that for years they have had electrical problems and the guys working for the utility company told them what was going on. I don't know if I ever would have figured it out if I hadn't heard from those other people what was happening in that area.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Oh - I just thought that Spud was pulling our legs with a little technical/electrical voodoo talk (apologies to DVM...)
"GAS never sleeps" - Gil Janus
"Now you got to pay your dues. Get that axe and play the blues." - Spudman
Gear: Epiphone Sheraton II, Epiphone Wildkat, Epiphone Emperor Joe Pass, Fender MIM Strat, Tacoma DR-14, Johnson JR-200 resonator; Fender Super Champ XD amp