Members MattSkibaIsGOD Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 I had one today. I could not for the life of me coax a pleasing sound out of any of my guitars. I got started on 3 pieces but other than that, everything sounded like angry mud.
Members Cripes Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Nope, never. Not me. I'm always spot-on my game. C'mon, man, we all do. It comes and goes. There are also days when you absolutely wish you had set up your recording gear. When you do the moment of brilliance dims back to 15 watts.
Members outdoorgb Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Yesterday:mad: Today was better...I found a way to strum a song I like and the family noticed.
Members Sparhawk Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Absolutely, but only on days when I wake up. :-} I find if I don't wake up, everything sounds GREAT! Unfortunately I'm still waiting for the day I get to sleep instead of work...... man, if I could only play what I hear in my head! Somehow, when I wake up, it never sounds like it did in my head......
Members Hudman Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Yes, but I think it's more mental than physical. It's not like you can forget how to play overnight.
Members Mavesicles Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 I get them. Some days I hate my tone.
Members Treborklow Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Yea, it happens. Atmospheric pressure or something. I don't know if it affects my ears or my guitars.
Members flip333 Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 This is why I am careful not to judge a new guitar in a store too harshly. Its also why I don't automatically buy the most wonderful sounding guitar in the world on the spot. I like to stabilize and retry later. flip
Members simplygoodmusic Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 This is why I am careful not to judge a new guitar in a store too harshly. Its also why I don't automatically buy the most wonderful sounding guitar in the world on the spot. I like to stabilize and retry later.flip Clever, need to remind myself of that. And yep, everyone gets it, where EVERYTHING sounds bad.
Members VintageToneGuy Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 I had one today. I could not for the life of me coax a pleasing sound out of any of my guitars. I got started on 3 pieces but other than that, everything sounded like angry mud. I certainly do and sometimes I make the day worse because I'll try to find the 'offending peice of gear' be it a pedal or instrument or amp and go and throw it in 'The Bay (ie, Ebay) before I even can think straight. :mad:What I'm trying to learn to do when those days come is to remember the basic rule that "tone comes from me and not necessarily my instrument or gear". I remember buying a book several years back called something like "Guitar Rigs of the Stars",.... I couldn't wait to hear what all my hero's played and how they got their tone. I opened the book and read the introduction by the authors and it blew me away. They said that real tone comes from your fingers and from within. They went on to say that all the stuff beyond your fingers are 'extras'.... That irritated me when I read it and I really didn't enjoy the book after that because I realized it was true. A bad day , a angry mood , or a day where things have altered my attitude just effect my playing ability!!!This was illustrated to me once again at my local Guitar Center last week (but this has happened several times). I was in the Acoustic Room meddling around and I heard this 'dude' out there just wreaking havoc on a guitar and amp. I mean, it sounded good. This always happens at GC; I go and finally get the nerve to pick up a guitar and strum it and here comes Mr. Prodigy and sits on the stool next to me and plays everything I wished I could play! Anyways, I finally had to go to the door at the Acoustic Room to see who this was and a kid was sitting there with his back to me and he was holding a Strat and plugged into one of the Line 6 Amps. When I went out I looked back and he had a Squier Affinity Strat and was plugged into a $100 Spider amp!! He was playing flawlessly through about $300 worth of gear!!! Like I said, this has happened and been a reminder to me several times that tone is more dependant on me than my gear.Here's an idea: I think that I need to focus more on 'how to have a good day and a great attitude' than I do the gear.vtg
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Don't feel bad man...it happens to me quite often, usually when the "record" button is engaged. On a related note....I was at several music shops yesterday...I went early in the morning before all the metal head/emo/punk kids show up. Anyhow...the last place I went to was my favorite vintage used music shop. They had this extremely beat up old Fender plywood acoustic for $40 that actually didn't sound bad!!! This other customer comments to me about my playing ability and maybe it was me making the guitar sound good? He then proceeded to ask me all kinds of questions about what I think "makes a good acoustic guitar". He told me he had just started learning on a really cheap classical...and he said it was hard for him to make chords and such. Poor guy. However, I think I might have sold him on a nice new Samick OM model with solid top for $249... If that old $40 Fender acoustic hadn't needed a $500 neck reset I would have bought it cleaned it up and given it to one of my friend's kids for something to learn on.
Members riffmeister Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Yes, but consider it a good thing. It means you are really tuned into your guitars and your music. And something good is probably lurking right around the corner.
Members Samilyn Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Absolutely. Those are the days when I walk away from it and do something non-git, maybe even non-music. To sit there and try to coax out the music on a bad day is an exercise in frustration - something I can certainly do without in my already-too-stressful life. Come back to it a day or two later, and everything is fine. We all have those "off" days. Sometimes you just need to take a break.
Members rjoxyz Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 It's not like you can forget how to play overnight.:cry: Are you sure?
Members Scodiddly Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Frustration tends to parallel learning, it seems. To me it usually means that I've learned to hear (or see) something that I hadn't noticed before, and I'm frustrated by trying to make my fingers actually do it properly.
Members Cripes Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 There are some very good points about ear and skill training made here. The better they are, the more demanding a person becomes. Also, if there's a change in the weather and it affects RH you will discern that immediately.
Members daklander Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Soitenly! At home, studio and gigs. May be strange but once in a while at gigs when I think my sound is horrid I get great reviews.
Members Hudman Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Soitenly! At home, studio and gigs. May be strange but once in a while at gigs when I think my sound is horrid I get great reviews. No, it doesn't sound strange. You are the only one that hears it, you sound normal to everyone else. I am 100% convinced that it is something to do with our mood that day or maybe plugged ears. It has little to do with the actual guitar.
Members Cripes Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Could be right, Hud. I know when my guitar is over-humidified, though, and I won't bother playing it. Otherwise, yea, probably just a false impression of suckage setting in.
Members Hudman Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Could be right, Hud. I know when my guitar is over-humidified, though, and I won't bother playing it. Otherwise, yea, probably just a false impression of suckage setting in. I agree on the humidity issue. My guitars sound like they are stuffed full of cotton when the humidity climbs above 70%. They sound bad when the humidity is in the 40% range when I'm having an off day. It usually happens when I'm really tired, sick or in a bad mood.
Members MattSkibaIsGOD Posted January 20, 2008 Author Members Posted January 20, 2008 Yes, but consider it a good thing. It means you are really tuned into your guitars and your music. And something good is probably lurking right around the corner.I certainly hope you're right.
Members Fred Fartboski Posted January 20, 2008 Members Posted January 20, 2008 Guitar won't tune Fingers won't play Ear and voice can't find the notes Yup
Members RizinRico Posted January 21, 2008 Members Posted January 21, 2008 ya mean to say that there are days when you think that you sound good? what a concept!! now I have hope in my heart once again!!!
Members ChaseA17 Posted January 21, 2008 Members Posted January 21, 2008 There are certainly days like this. Especially playing acoustic, because when playing electric you can have so many options and reach to another pedal or just completely distort something out to make it so you cant hear every little mistake made. I always have my acoustic by my side because i feel it is the purist way to yourself interacting with the guitar. Whenever i am struggling with getting new material or even just playing things correctly i will either switch to electric or classical or better yet just put it down for a few days and come back....rejuvenated.
Members Samilyn Posted January 21, 2008 Members Posted January 21, 2008 ya mean to say that there are days when you think that you sound good? what a concept!! now I have hope in my heart once again!!! I have days like that. Pity they're so few and far between.
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