Frustrating gear day today. Sometimes nothing seems to work

[Stone]

Well Shit, man i think i just got Tinnitus of late, not sure I just sometimes hear a hiss in my ears (more correctly my head), this never happened to me before, ok im gettin on in age but im wondering if its more related to Stress and High blood pressure, cause this job is riddled with grief all day long maybe this is causing a sudden oncoming of tinnitus

 

[metropolis_4]

Have you tried playing around with the dynacabs? That might help alleviate the madness that comes with auditioning IRs.

I have and generally I like them and typically use them, but sometimes they feel like more of a hassle than just pulling up Mix 1 of a favorite York pack.

I never struggle anymore. Seriously. Sorry.

Getting out of my own way and not OCD'ing over tonal minutiae has been one of the
most significant psychological manuveurs I have made in the past few years. It's literally
almost never the gear these days. For me. It's a shitty day. Stress. Work. Fatigue. I am hangry
and need a sammich. Or I haven't gotten laid in an hot minute.

All of those things have way more impact on my perception of tone than what gear I do or
don't have.

I wish it was that simple and I could just choose not to hear things, but it’s not that simple. I can’t make my ears not hear what they hear. I might as well pretend the sky is pink

Broken record, but if I'm working on a song and need a specific tone, I can usually get it in under five minutes and I'm usually pretty happy and everyone seems to give good feedback. If I'm just aimlessly trying to dial in a tone, there's no end point and it will go on for years.

I wonder if that's where @metropolis_4 (and myself too) would benefit from having two rigs: the super flexible rig that you use when you are trying to do a very specific thing (like his theater gigs), and then a minimal no-fuss rig for practice and jamming.

This is something I’ve really been thinking about. I think this is something I’m going to seriously consider doing

 

[creative360]

I call it tone creep. It happens to me and to everyone I know, including big touring acts. My solution, to everything, is to try and drill down the variables. That way when these doubts or ambivalences or frustrations inevitably come back around, the response won’t be to go down all kinds of rabbit holes searching for solutions to a problem that isn’t really there. With amps, yes the variables are usually a bit more static which makes the discipline to not do much a bit easier, but I basically have the same mindset with the Kemper, and daw amp sims too. Mind you, “correct” mindset or not, no, those aren’t fun days.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I can’t make my ears not hear what they hear. I might as well pretend the sky is pink

Can you train you brain/body to respond differently to it, though? Your worst tones have always sounded great to me. Either you and I have very different hearing, or we respond to small differences in what we are hearing differently (or, most likely, a little of both).

 

[three_eyed_otter]

I wish it was that simple and I could just simply choose not to hear things, but it’s not that simple. I can’t make my ears not hear what they hear. I might as well pretend the sky is pink

This is why I save anything I dialed in previously & liked...Sensory reception is inextricably linked to emotion/feelings which are tied to thoughts/perceptions. By saving something I previously liked & recalling said preset, I accept it as good whether in that moment, I believe it is. It's the notion of, "Sometimes 54% is your 100%..." even though you honestly know it's not. Well, today it is or it has to be. Digital technology allows us to reject so much that we'd otherwise have to accept due to physical world limitations. A sculptor only starts with so much stone, not so in the digital domain.

Now if anybody can tell me why for the past two days I've been getting some great high gain tones from my BOSS GT1KCORE when it's the reason I have other modelers believed to be better, I'd be grateful...

Have a good one,

3EO

 

[metropolis_4]

Can you train you brain/body to respond differently to it, though? Your worst tones have always sounded great to me. Either you and I have very different hearing, or we respond to small differences in what we are hearing differently (or, most likely, a little of both).

I would bet it comes down to different responses to hearing things slightly differently.

When something in the sound nags at me it’s kind of like a fly in the room. I might barely be aware of it at first, but the longer it’s there the more aware of it I become. And the more aware of it I become the more I fixate on it and the more it bothers me.

 

[dronerstone]

I would bet it comes down to different responses to hearing things slightly differently.

When something in the sound nags at me it’s kind of like a fly in the room. I might barely be aware of it at first, but the longer it’s there the more aware of it I become. And the more aware of it I become the more I fixate on it and the more it bothers me.

Sounds like tunnel vision...

I do try and take a different point of view once that happens. Not always a solution tho.

 

[metropolis_4]

Sounds like tunnel vision...

I do try and take a different point of view once that happens. Not always a solution tho.

For me that has the risk of falling into option paralysis. Falling down the amp model rabbit hole, or obsessing about the rest of the signal chain.

Usually stepping away from it for a while and coming back with fresh ears is best for me. If I come back and I’m still hearing the same problems, then it’s time to make changes