It's funny, because one day the CU24 sounds a bit dark to me, but then the next, it's pretty much perfect. Of course, I know that can be the perceptual problem with various guitars—along with how well I feel I'm playing from day to day—but still, I just notice this see-sawing a bit more with this guitar.
You are so right with the observation that our perceptions are somewhat variable when it comes to tone!
I realize that we’re all a little bit different in what we physically hear, how our brains interpret that, and even how desirable certain tones are or aren’t in the first place.
One thing I do in the studio is set up the amp(s) I’m using for a session fresh for each guitar every time. I do know many players who sort of do “set and forget” with their amps, but it’s always a good idea to start with the amp fresh. Here are some reasons why (maybe I’m preaching to the choir, here?):
Louder frequencies tend to mask less loud frequencies; the frequency response can be quite similar once the amp is EQ’d for each guitar, or it can be varied quite a bit, depending on what one wants to accomplish. EQ is good at unmasking a nice treble tone simply by reducing the bass, lower midrange, or midrange, for example.
Also, some amps compliment a given guitar, and others don’t. I’m personally not a fan of, say, a Fender Twin with a Les Paul style guitar. But run that same guitar through a Plexi, and wham! It’s good. There are ten zillion examples of this kind of thing, but you get the idea I’m sure. Matching guitar, pickups, amp and speakers (not to mention pedals) is important because the sum of the parts is a system.
Also, the room you’re playing in matters. People underestimate the room sometimes. But in a room, we’re hearing not just the speaker output, we’re hearing the reflections and absorptions coming off the floor, walls, ceiling, furniture, etc. A dark sounding room gobbles up treble frequencies, and gives everything a bass-heavy tone. A bright room can make the most reasonably set treble sound screechy.
These reflections not only deal with absorption and accentuation of various frequencies, certain frequencies are subject to phase cancellations in every room. Just as with mic placement, even where we stand in the room (or sit) matters.
Not to repeat myself (too much!
), but it never hurts to cut the bass if you want to hear a better balance with the highs, or to mess with the presence and treble controls.
Finally...there is the matter of cable capacitance, cable length, whether the pedal chain is buffered, etc. Most cables and pedal chains are long enough to negatively affect high frequencies. Anything longer than a few feet will start to roll off the high end, absent a buffered signal.
I know, blah blah blah, I do tend to go on and on. Sorry!
