My III sounds different day to day...?

Dvenci said:
How do you suppose that would contribute to how it feels though? Like I mentioned, it feels as though the preset is harder to play... almost like the gain has been dialled way back when it hasn't.
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when we play electric guitar, the physical strings don’t change when we change different tones. So “feel” is dependent on what we hear. That’s the only place something is changing.
 
chris said:
when we play electric guitar, the physical strings don’t change when we change different tones. So “feel” is dependent on what we hear. That’s the only place something is changing.
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You're kind of blowing my mind... the thought that what I'm hearing, negatively or positively, can influence how it physically "feels" under my fingers is crazy.
 
Dvenci said:
You're kind of blowing my mind... the thought that what I'm hearing, negatively or positively, can influence how it physically "feels" under my fingers is crazy.
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Do you think the strings are physically changing when it feels good vs bad?
 
If I knew, I wouldn't be here. I didn't know if there was a possibility of a power issue/electrical issue that was causing the fluctuations. I know zero about volts, watts, ohms, etc., so I'm guessing, at best.

I read that getting a voltage regulator would keep the voltage to the amp consistent and thus the tone would be more consistent. Is that the issue? Not a clue. Could it be?
 
Dvenci said:
I read that getting a voltage regulator would keep the voltage to the amp consistent and thus the tone would be more consistent. Is that the issue? Not a clue. Could it be?
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what amp are you referring to? The studio monitors?

chances are it’s your ears changing day to day like everyone of us. The axe is a digital modeler and it is consistent from day to day.

even if some electrical issue is happening, the guitar strings aren’t changing and that’s the only thing you literally “feel” when playing guitar. So if the guitar seems harder to play, but you know the guitar isn’t physically changing, the only thing left that can change is how we interpret what we hear.
 
Dvenci said:
If I knew, I wouldn't be here. I didn't know if there was a possibility of a power issue/electrical issue that was causing the fluctuations. I know zero about volts, watts, ohms, etc., so I'm guessing, at best.

I read that getting a voltage regulator would keep the voltage to the amp consistent and thus the tone would be more consistent. Is that the issue? Not a clue. Could it be?
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It's your ears. It happens to all of us.
 
chris said:
what amp are you referring to? The studio monitors?

chances are it’s your ears changing day to day like everyone of us. The axe is a digital modeler and it is consistent from day to day.

even if some electrical issue is happening, the guitar strings aren’t changing and that’s the only thing you literally “feel” when playing guitar. So if the guitar seems harder to play, but you know the guitar isn’t physically changing, the only thing left that can change is how we interpret what we hear.
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When I said "amp" I meant what I read... they were referring to typical tube amps. I read that changes in voltages coming from the outlet could cause inconsistent tone. I totally get the Axe is consistent, day to day, but could other circumstances, like the voltage thing, contribute to it sounding differently.

I disagree about your explanation about the strings. It feels like the gain is getting dialled back, big time, so it "feels" harder to play. Obviously, the guitar isn't changing but that doesn't mean that things don't feel different.
 
FractalAudio said:
It's your ears. It happens to all of us.
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Oh, I'm not saying it's not. I'm just trying to understand why it feels different and how it's related.

If it's an ears thing, can that literally make a high gain, lead tone with gain and sustain, feel like the gain got dialled way back... Picture a lead line that feels really effortless to play but the next time the same preset feels like the gain got dialled way back, making the same lead line tough to play.
 
Dvenci said:
When I said "amp" I meant what I read... they were referring to typical tube amps. I read that changes in voltages coming from the outlet could cause inconsistent tone. I totally get the Axe is consistent, day to day, but could other circumstances, like the voltage thing, contribute to it sounding differently.

I disagree about your explanation about the strings. It feels like the gain is getting dialled back, big time, so it "feels" harder to play. Obviously, the guitar isn't changing but that doesn't mean that things don't feel different.
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How do you judge if the gain is lower or higher when playing guitar? With your ears.

Turn the Axe output all the way down. You should only hear your guitar itself. Now go to a low gain preset. Again, the axe volume should be down. Nothing should change as you still only hear your guitar itself, no axe. Now change to a high gain preset. It should be exactly the same.

Since you’re not hearing the axe signal, you can’t tell if the gain is changing and therefore the feel isn’t changing because it depends on what you hear.


Dvenci said:
If it's an ears thing, can that literally make a high gain, lead tone with gain and sustain, feel like the gain got dialled way back... Picture a lead line that feels really effortless to play but the next time the same preset feels like the gain got dialled way back, making the same lead line tough to play.
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Yes.

Though a bad cable is much more likely.
 
Dvenci said:
I totally get what you guys are saying about hearing and all the conditions that fluctuate that affect our hearing. I don't disagree, at all. How do you suppose that would contribute to how it feels though? Like I mentioned, it feels as though the preset is harder to play... almost like the gain has been dialled way back when it hasn't.
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It's all you. We're messy meatbags. See above: record a reamp signal and use it as a reference day over day with the same preset. It'll send identical every time. You're the variable. If it feels harder, maybe your fingers are tired? Maybe you have a head cold? So many reasons, but they lie within you.
 
It's not just guitars either - countless other things feed us sensory info that affects our perception of something. The feedback of the accelerator to your foot can affect how fast a car feels. The feel of a baseball bat affects how far we think we hit the ball (independent of how far we actually did). Even the sound of the ball hitting the bat - whether a high pitched clink or a lower pitched thud. How a hiking pack rests on your shoulders and hips affects how much you think it weighs.

Some are more obvious than others, but there's always an interaction (or more likely, many!) occurring on a subconscious level that impacts our perception.
 
Dvenci said:
The only thing is when it "sounds choked" it also feels a lot different under the fingers. It's not as easy to play, if you know what I'm saying... So, if it was an ear issue, why would the feel change? When I'm not noticing it, I feel like my playing is fantastic but the times when I notice it, it's hard to get into a good rhythm and I get that "I suck" vibe lol! I totally acknowledge it could be subconscious... it just doesn't seem like it.
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I know exactly what you mean. I'm not sure if it's an Axe FX issue, but I would like it to be, lol
 
Dvenci said:
If it's an ears thing, can that literally make a high gain, lead tone with gain and sustain, feel like the gain got dialled way back... Picture a lead line that feels really effortless to play but the next time the same preset feels like the gain got dialled way back, making the same lead line tough to play.
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I have this happen all the time. I'll be playing a super thick hi-gain 5150 block and just totally vibing on it for riffing and leads, and the next day... without changing a thing... it feels completely laid back and low-gain and desaturated.

The explanation is still "It's your ears". Your ears are probably the most inconsistent sense you have. The frequency response they have varies from day to day, based on all sorts of stuff... the amount of loud noises you've heard today, your body temperature, hunger / thirst levels, even your emotional state can all have a physical effect on how your ears perform. The best way to convince yourself of this is (as another poster put it), remove your self and your ears from the equation: record a dry signal, and reamp it day to day and diff the results. You'll see that the sounds are identical (after accounting for the non-linear characteristics of amp modelling).
 
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