Why Can't I Make the Axe Sound Like I Want it to Sound?

Rex

Rex

Dignified but Approachable
This is for everyone who's ever struggled to get the tone they want from their Axe-Fx.

Sound check was over. I'd just finished using my go-to clean preset. It was nice and all that, but I just felt something was missing from the tone. I walked off the stage and headed to the sound booth to work out a few details for the show. As I walked, I wondered: why isn't the tone round enough? Where is that chime I'm looking for? Why can't I get that last bit of sweet thump?

While talking to the sound guy, I heard a wonderful, clean guitar tone. Chiming and round, with the perfect combination of sweetness and attitude. Why couldn't I get that tone with my Axe? There are a million choices in there, after all.

I headed back to the stage, my eyes on the floor in front of me, listening to that happy tone, and lusting after the gear that was making it. When I got to the stage, I looked up. It was our other guitarist. Playing my guitar. Through my rig. Using the same preset I'd left it on.


Sometimes, all it takes is a change of perspective.
 
RoshRoslin said:
Just goes to show you, it's all in the hands.
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That's some of it, but a big part of it is the rig. This was a guy I'd played next to for a couple of years. I know what his hands sound like. I figured it was him playing, but I'd never heard him sound like that before. I wanted to know what new gear he was using. And—this is the kicker—I'd completely forgotten that he didn't have any gear at all. He was playing bass that night.
 
smcrosby said:
In other words, sounds like your stage monitors were lying to you?
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That's another part of it, but not the whole story. I've heard my rig from FOH many times, and I (thought) I knew what to expect.
 
unix-guy said:
In this case, I think it's all in the head!

I've been there many times... you get your tone right where you want it only to come back the next day and NOTHING has been changed but things "sound" different :(

I try to get over it quickly because next time I plug in it'll probably sound great again :)

Kevin
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But it's not just axe... I had that with my previous amp too...
 
I have experienced playing through my current rig, and old rigs, and even the red bean, having a decent tone, hand my guitar to a friend and it sounds nothing like what I was getting out of it. Could be his pick, could be how he mutes things, where he picks on the guitar, vibration from the guitar, etc.
 
It just happens over and over again. Even before I had AXE, with other processors and modellers, I would make presets that would sit only after a while. Like, I would experiment with a preset and wasn't that satisfied but after a few days when auditing all the presets I would come to that one again and would be surprised how good it sounds suddenly. Maybe it was ear fatique or I would catch the vibe (like someone above mentioned) right from the start and adjust my playing. That's nothing new at least to me.
 
I think folks are reading into this a bit too much. I'm sure that the OPs tone was also great, but much like hearing your own recorded voice, playing through your own rig and being the "tweaker" often messes with your head and psyches you out.

I mean, phrasing and accents, and envelope are all pretty much up to the player, but I think a lot of times we're just too critical of our own performance/"tone" to just find our happy place when listening to ourselves play. For example, this video (it's metal, but the point is made):

 
Speculum Speculorum said:
For example, this video (it's metal, but the point is made):
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the problem with this video is 1) it's a crappy tone to do the test with 2) the players aren't revealing their personalities

if they had done the test with a medium gain tone and asked the guys to play some single note phrases that included string bending and vibrato, i think you would notice much greater differences...not only in their techniques, but in the tone as well.

i can always tell when someone is a beginner...not from their technique necessarily, but from their tone. it's quite subtle, but the shape of each note, from it's attack to it's decay is formed by how the player's hands interact with the instrument. a lot of beginners also press too hard, which affects intonation and also note shape. people get confused by the word "tone" in this context. it's not the underlying basic sound of the guitar and amp, but the interactions between the players hands and the instrument and how that affects the fundamental properties of how the notes are produced. just thrashing on some chords with a high gain sound isn't going to reveal much of that, imo
 
simeon said:
i can always tell when someone is a beginner...not from their technique necessarily, but from their tone. it's quite subtle, but the shape of each note, from it's attack to it's decay is formed by how the player's hands interact with the instrument. a lot of beginners also press too hard, which affects intonation and also note shape. people get confused by the word "tone" in this context. it's not the underlying basic sound of the guitar and amp, but the interactions between the players hands and the instrument and how that affects the fundamental properties of how the notes are produced. just thrashing on some chords with a high gain sound isn't going to reveal much of that, imo
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I'm glad you live far away from me so that I never have to worry about you being in the audience when I am gigging... ;) Seriously though, at every gig there always seems to be a couple guys in the back who stand against the wall with their arms crossed and stare at me. As an OCD introvert, they used to bother me but I've learned to live with it. After reading your post, I can no longer ignore the fact that they might actually be knowledgeable enough to KNOW that I'm a poser... :)

Back to the OP, remember that when we are sound checking, we are in a different listening mode where we are actively looking for flaws. I think that radically affects how our brains are interpreting the sound.
 
simeon said:
the problem with this video is 1) it's a crappy tone to do the test with 2) the players aren't revealing their personalities

if they had done the test with a medium gain tone and asked the guys to play some single note phrases that included string bending and vibrato, i think you would notice much greater differences...not only in their techniques, but in the tone as well.

i can always tell when someone is a beginner...not from their technique necessarily, but from their tone. it's quite subtle, but the shape of each note, from it's attack to it's decay is formed by how the player's hands interact with the instrument. a lot of beginners also press too hard, which affects intonation and also note shape. people get confused by the word "tone" in this context. it's not the underlying basic sound of the guitar and amp, but the interactions between the players hands and the instrument and how that affects the fundamental properties of how the notes are produced. just thrashing on some chords with a high gain sound isn't going to reveal much of that, imo
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This is a big part of why great guitar players can play crappy gear and sound amazing.

They adjust their technique for the instrument and amp. That can do just as much to create good tone than the basic amp settings.
 
i also think the phenomenon that rex experienced in the original post was probably due to the quality of the foldback monitors (always terrible, in my experience) and his position relative to the main foh speakers. i don't think it had that much to do with the fact that another person was playing through his gear. i think he should be happy that his sound is great out front and just enjoy the gig :)
 
unix-guy said:
In this case, I think it's all in the head!

I've been there many times... you get your tone right where you want it only to come back the next day and NOTHING has been changed but things "sound" different :(

I try to get over it quickly because next time I plug in it'll probably sound great again :)

Kevin
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I agree, been there many times!!!
 
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