Why are so many people not relying on their ears anymore?

[sprint]

Are you really Buddy Guy!!!!!????

If Buddy has tinnitus like mine, he may well hear his screaching tone as warm and a little rolled off lol!, though even I can't take the shrillness if a strat's bridge pickup wide open into a Fender amp (still battle with my strat regularly to get a sound I like out of it (maybe painting on some polkadots would help) - I much prefer humbuckers).

 

[Rock Chalk]

All I know is, if you can’t get a great tone that you’re happy with in short order using the Axe III, something’s bad wrong.

Aint nothing wrong with asking for help though…….YMMV

 

[JWDubois]

I use my ears a lot, but I've also learned a lot about tweaking amps and effects by reading the manuals, wikis, Yek's guides, and posts here and other online resources.

There are far too many variables in the amp - cab - effects chain to rely solely on trial and error, which is basically what "relying on your ears" amounts to.

 

[AJ Vargas]

Because people on TGP said...

 

[Feflicker]

Some people say that tone doesn't matter as much as performance. I think performance is
important, but who wants to listen to a great performance that has an underlying tone that
is unpleasant? Not me.

As someone who has obsessed about guitar and music (like a lot of others here) I believe that
tone is paramount. I can count on less than my 10 fingers the players (local or national) that
I felt had amazing tone live. That's not many.

Seen a lot of great performances, but those with a tone that was loud, present,. and also fit the
context of the music, but was dialed in to be just perfectly balanced (neither tubby, hollow in the mids,
nor shrill) are few and far between.

I'd rather listen to someone with amazing tone, than someone with just fleet fingers.

Yeah, but you realize people who care about guitar tone are probably .0001% of music consumers right?

 

[la szum]

That wasn't my point, though. My point was that tone matters greatly in how long
people will attend to someone and listen---whether it is speaking, playing a guitar,
a piano, or any other kind of instrument. Those who forsake sounding good for the
pursuit of playing good miss a HUGE element of the overall process. Ideally, someone
who cares about their craft will cultivate both.

 

[la szum]

If Buddy has tinnitus like mine, he may well hear his screaching tone as warm and a little rolled off lol!, though even I can't take the shrillness if a strat's bridge pickup wide open into a Fender amp (still battle with my strat regularly to get a sound I like out of it (maybe painting on some polkadots would help) - I much prefer humbuckers).

Johnny Winter, too.

Turning up the treble to compensate for what
they have lost, but maybe their audience hasn't.

 

[Feflicker]

That wasn't my point, though. My point was that tone matters greatly in how long
people will attend to someone and listen---whether it is speaking, playing a guitar,
a piano, or any other kind of instrument. Those who forsake sounding good for the
pursuit of playing good miss a HUGE element of the overall process. Ideally, someone
who cares about their craft will cultivate both.

I hear you. I jist think as long as youre in the balkpark the only ones who would even think about it are the guitarists in the crowd.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Johnny Winter, too.

Turning up the treble to compensate for what
they have lost, but maybe their audience hasn't.

Johnny played loud and proud when I saw him in 1984....

 

[laxu]

Hey yall,

first of all, each to their own, i know that.

But i am just curious why so many people want definitive awnsers or specs or whatever for things instead of just trying something out,
and use it if it sounds good.

If it sounds good, it is good. Isnt that part of the fun, happy accidents and everything, maybe not anymore?

I dont know, maybe its just me and see it wrong^^

Best
Johnny

Most people don't know how to work their gear. Having some starting points to work with helps and Fractal gear if anything is pretty daunting to start with because you could spend a lot of time with most effects blocks to truly learn to work them well. So having someone say "do this and that to these knobs to get what you are looking for" really helps those people out.

I feel like I still learn new things and I've been playing for a few decades now. I would not claim I know how to effectively use many Fractal blocks but I do get results that satisfy out of my gear.

 

[macfly]

Hey yall,

first of all, each to their own, i know that.

But i am just curious why so many people want definitive awnsers or specs or whatever for things instead of just trying something out,
and use it if it sounds good.

If it sounds good, it is good. Isnt that part of the fun, happy accidents and everything, maybe not anymore?

I dont know, maybe its just me and see it wrong^^

Best
Johnny

So I will echo a lot of what's been said...relative tones, being 60 and my hearing is bad, etc. However, I think the overlooked part of the OP's message was the notion of "happy accidents." I had one today that sent me back to this thread. Experimenting with creating a FreqOut in the AxeFX, I took some advice from a "Wish List" thread and starting tinkering with pitch and synth blocks, separately...making a freqout first with one, and then the other. At a point I placed the pitch AND synth in parallel, both set to create an octave up "feedback," and the result is that soloing with both on is essentially an Octavia that works all over the fretboard. I'm no genius so please go easy on me if this is something that's easily done in another block (I wasn't looking for that sound and haven't explored other ways to do it besides briefly playing with the Octavia in the drive block months ago). If it helps it to make sense, it sounds like an Octavia rather than a pitch shifter. It may not be a stroke of genius, but for me, a relatively new/green digital guitarist with little common sense about computers, its pretty cool.

In addition, the "starting point" thing has been really important for me...I think I was pretty good at getting my JCM800s to sound great in the analog world, but it's taken me a minute to figure out how to get this thing to sound great both in my IEM and in FOH. I started with an AX8 a few years back and went back and forth between that and amps for a few years...never able to feel great about the sounds I was getting from the AX8 (tho now I go back and listen and they were pretty good!). Before buying the AxeFX, I was using a Quad Cortex, and with very little "starting points" from Neural presets and nothing really from the "community." I struggled...shit always sounded great at home and well, like shit on the gig. In hindsight my excitement over a small powerful modeler (FM9 wasn't out yet) blinded me to the notion of how important a community like this is. I've learned a LOT in here!

I've now figured out what works for me...I start with an amp/cab made by someone that knows what they're doing, and then use studio monitors, a PA wedge and IEMs to tweak to my liking. So, I'm learning...how to get good tones that fit in a mix, as well as what my own limitations are in terms of trusting my ears to get them.