A frustrating evening

[DuncanCE22]

So I thought I'd share my frustrating evening with you all. I set up my gear this evening to have a decent long session just practicing a few tracks and generally noodling away, however I found myself spending nearly two hours messing around with various different settings, pedals and guitars and I just couldn't find the sound I wanted! I mean I'm normally pretty bad for messing about with the EQ settings on my amp changing the sound so often but I've never struggled to find something that I can play all night and not love. I just couldn't get the sound that was in my head (perhaps ironic as I was using a blackstar amp and there slogan is "the sound in your head"). any way i eventually got frustrated and put the guitars down for the night.

Does this ever happen to anyone else? the feeling that just all your gear sounds crap, or perhaps I just sound crap.

Anyways, I'll pick back up again tomorrow in the hope that I just plug in and play and it all sounds terrific.

 

[The Viking Gangster]

Yep, and I usually end up looking to buy new equipment.

I think it's a mental state too. Why using the same settings the day before and loving it can't be recreated the next day. Humans are quirky....well at least I am.

 

[shupe13]

My issue is what seems to be the greatest tone ever sounds like **** the next day. You know the tone. The tone that inspires a nonstop jam.

Nothing changed. Same guitar, same room, same tuning, amp settings!

Frustrating as hell!

 

[shupe13]

Yep, and I usually end up looking to buy new equipment.

Amen.

 

[alantig]

Yep. And I've learned (most times) that I'm best served walking away and coming back later. The strange thing is the next time is usually tons better, even if I don't change a thing.

 

[jfb]

I don't tend to have problems with getting a sound. This is primarily due to the fact that I use guitar/cord/amp with all the knobs set at noon regardless of what amp I am playing. I do sometimes fail to get in the zone or feel disconnected from what I am playing. Both I find very frustrating. It usually ends up in me putting the guitar down and moving on to something else.

 

[veinbuster]

I keep a cheat sheet with some go to settings. If things go ragged, I just go back to a baseline I know works for me and just play. Then fiddle with knobs another day.

 

[vchizzle]

I usually don't have any issues with this in getting a tone. I don't fiddle with my settings much. Very minor if I do. My tone stays very consistent at home. At our rehearsal space, which is a much larger room with less consistent conditions(temp, humidity, etc), I hear more variance. Not to mention the other musicians, PA, etc. I also use a lot more stuff in my chain there. Even so, I don't go from awesome sound to sounding like crap.

Like Jesse, I do fall into a state of discontent with what I'm doing at times. Or hitting a wall while writing. The key there is just to walk away and not force anything. My problem is I end up being most creative at inopportune times. Like when I have to leave in 15 minutes. Or at work when I don't even have a guitar. Come up with stuff in my head, then poof...gone, when I finally have a guitar.


I think it's key to find "your sound", whatever that is. Not always be hunting. Once you have that, it becomes much easier. I do explore on occasion, but it's good to have what works in your back pocket at all times.

 

[veinbuster]

Sounds like Vaughn and I have a lot in common. I've gotten up in the middle of the night to try to write down an idea - but I try not to really wake up so it can be hard to read in the morning.

 

[László]

Guys, if your only musical problem is not getting your tone, count your frickin' blessings!

You have no idea how lucky you are!

Because of nerve damage following a surgery, every time I play, I notice that my fretting hand is a little weaker, a little less coordinated, and a bit less able to do the simplest, most routine and intuitive things that I once took for granted, and was able to accomplish without so much as a thought.

I, who once could play any chord, can't get my fingers to even land on an open E chord. Barre chords have been impossible for weeks.

Tonight after dinner, I went to practice, and my fretting hand was so rubbery and uncoordinated that I finally had to accept the inescapable facts: my playing days will soon be over. Same with keyboards. It's a somewhat depressing thought.

So you want to talk about a frustrating evening? Welcome to my nightmare.

Don't worry about your tone. There are worse things.

I see a surgeon tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to salvage some function, if he feels that he can do something. I was distressed enough tonight that I took a tranquilizer (yes, I have a scrip, smarta$$).

As Joni Mitchell said:

"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone..."

 

[gush]

There is a bar we play that causes my rig to sound horrible. The first time we played it I was convinced there was something wrong with my amp.. it made me angry the whole night.

 

[László]

There is a bar we play that causes my rig to sound horrible. The first time we played it I was convinced there was something wrong with my amp.. it made me angry the whole night.

I have a solution for you:

http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=P-1800PFR

I was skeptical as hell with this thing because I do not believe in "power conditioners." I find them generally useless, unless they incorporate a true isolation transformer that includes voltage regulation.

But this one does something a little different: it incorporates a 45 Volt power reserve. So your amp doesn't starve for power when it needs to draw current from the AC.

It makes a difference in my studio - with some amps, quite a big difference. It's worth looking into.

 

[Kazz]

Guys, if your only musical problem is not getting your tone, count your frickin' blessings!

You have no idea how lucky you are!

Because of nerve damage following a surgery, every time I play, I notice that my fretting hand is a little weaker, a little less coordinated, and a bit less able to do the simplest, most routine and intuitive things that I once took for granted, and was able to accomplish without so much as a thought.

I, who once could play any chord, can't get my fingers to even land on an open E chord. Barre chords have been impossible for weeks.

Tonight after dinner, I went to practice, and my fretting hand was so rubbery and uncoordinated that I finally had to accept the inescapable facts: my playing days will soon be over. Same with keyboards. It's a somewhat depressing thought.

So you want to talk about a frustrating evening? Welcome to my nightmare.

Don't worry about your tone. There are worse things.

I see a surgeon tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to salvage some function, if he feels that he can do something. I was distressed enough tonight that I took a tranquilizer (yes, I have a scrip, smarta$$).

As Joni Mitchell said:

"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone..."

You're right, Les, being physically unable to play is terrible. I've had to deal with that before, but only for a few weeks with the knowledge that I would be able to pick it up again. If I were in your situation...I'd probably be pretty depressed about it.

I don't know if it might help you look at things differently or if it would just seem like trivializing the issue, but your situation reminded me of an episode of MASH where a pianist/soldier with a damaged hand was dealing with what felt like the end of his musical life. I hope you don't feel like I'm not taking your situation seriously by bringing that up, I just hope that you realize even if your surgical options don't repair your hand, you don't have to give up on making music.

Maybe you won't be able to play guitar one day...maybe eventually I won't be able to either...but there is a *lot* you can do with one hand, a keyboard and the right software. Or even with just software and a mouse. Maybe it would give you more excuses to collaborate with your son or friends on guitar parts, or maybe you'd figure out something I haven't thought of that suits your needs and desires better.

I really hope that the surgeons can help you, but whatever happens I hope that you won't give up on yourself or your ability to make music. Good luck man.

 

[Mixstar]

Most definitely yes. Sometimes I practice a tune or a solo that I know well and sounds correct most of the time only to find it sounds like crud. As above, same guitar, same gear, same place. I don't know about you but my pitch sense is pretty damn good (I can hear it it doesn't necessarily mean I play it) but on those odd occasions the tune sounds wrong although I've played it like that for years.

I just put it down and drink, that seems to sort it out

 

[alantig]

I don't know if it might help you look at things differently or if it would just seem like trivializing the issue, but your situation reminded me of an episode of MASH where a pianist/soldier with a damaged hand was dealing with what felt like the end of his musical life. I hope you don't feel like I'm not taking your situation seriously by bringing that up, I just hope that you realize even if your surgical options don't repair your hand, you don't have to give up on making music.

You have no idea how many times I've thought about that episode as Les as described his situation.

Not to mention other times. That Winchester quote goes through my head so often (or at least as I remember it) - "I can play the notes. I can't play the music."

 

[Mixstar]

Or to quote a very funny man "I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order." - Eric Morecambe

 

[FantasyMetal]

Finding my tone is never a problem for me. My problem is that some days my playing sounds terrible to me no matter what I do and I'm convinced I'm the worst guitar player alive. Those are the things that make me put down my guitar.

 

[László]

I don't know if it might help you look at things differently or if it would just seem like trivializing the issue, but your situation reminded me of an episode of MASH where a pianist/soldier with a damaged hand was dealing with what felt like the end of his musical life.

That actually was inspired by something that happened during WWI to a well known pianist, who then learned to play the classical repertoire with one hand. Composers wrote pieces for him to perform with the one hand.

But...in my 60s...I'm not re-learning how to play guitar with my feet, or piano with one hand.

I love playing music - it's been a huge part of my life.

I'm headed out to see a hand surgeon in a few minutes. I guess I shall see what the future may hold.

 

[veinbuster]

I'm headed out to see a hand surgeon in a few minutes. I guess I shall see what the future may hold.

Good luck Les.

For what it is worth, after some medical procedures my mom couldn't play piano for an extended period. This was bad for her because it was the heart of her social life: church, weddings, etc. For 6 months her fingers just didn't feel right, then it started improving very slowly. For another 6 months, she started doing some of the things she had before and after a year her fingers still didn't feel quite right, but she could play piano again. It was a very long haul, but her fingers came back.

 

[László]

Good luck Les.

For what it is worth, after some medical procedures my mom couldn't play piano for an extended period. This was bad for her because it was the heart of her social life: church, weddings, etc. For 6 months her fingers just didn't feel right, then it started improving very slowly. For another 6 months, she started doing some of the things she had before and after a year her fingers still didn't feel quite right, but she could play piano again. It was a very long haul, but her fingers came back.

Thanks! It's good that hers came back!

For me right now, it looks like ulnar nerve transposition surgery. They want to run one more test just to make sure before making the final decision.

Apparently, muscle wasting won't be much improved, but feeling can return, and they think they can stop further damage. So there's that! I'm hopeful.