Want to know how good/bad your rig sounds? Stop playing for a while.

[5E3]

The holidays, a new keyboard and new job had kept me away from playing my guitars & amps for several weeks. This was after playing/practicing seven days a week for over three years. During that three year stretch I experimented with several guitar/amp/pedal combinations (doesn't everone? ).

Yesterday I plugged my stock American Series Strat into my modded DRRI. A touch of the onboard reverb and occasionally kicking on some delay or the Timmy. Wow, sounded fantastic!



I really believe the weeks away from the gear gave me a fresh impression of the excellent tones.

Has this or something similar happened to any of you?

 

[dspellman]

It's one of the reasons I have multiple guitars rather than just one. You develop an ear "fatigue" hearing the same thing over and over. Something like eating steak every single day. Change is good.

 

[5E3]

^^^^ Excellent analogies

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

this is the reason i have a practice amp and switch up the guitars i play when i practice.

 

[JimmyR]

I just got back from 5 weeks away with no guitars and love how my gear sounds. For now (!) it has cured any gas I might have had.

 

[rob2001]

I often go days, weeks without really playing. I agree that staying away can be fine, sometimes a good thing, but I don't like to get too far away from the physical conditioning of my hands. I have to keep my callouses, and if I don't stay up on my bent vibrato's they become weak.

 

[5E3]

I often go days, weeks without really playing. I agree that staying away can be fine, sometimes a good thing, but I don't like to get too far away from the physical conditioning of my hands. I have to keep my callouses, and if I don't stay up on my bent vibrato's they become weak.

If I hadn't been more or less pushed into the time away from playing, I never would have stopped for the reasons you state above. I'm not recommending anyone stop ... just pointing out an unexpected side effect

 

[rob2001]

... just pointing out an unexpected side effect

Right, I didn't mean to imply anything negative...

 

[5E3]

Right, I didn't mean to imply anything negative...

I didn't take anything negative from your post. BTW, did I mention I had lost my fret finger calluses and my hand hurt like hell after that time off?

 

[musicofanatic5]

It's one of the reasons I have multiple guitars rather than just one. You develop an ear "fatigue" hearing the same thing over and over. Something like eating steak every single day. Change is good.

Yes, having a buncha gtrs and amps, dunno if I have one "sound". That, coupled with I take time off for "healing" (tendonitis, sore hands) and lotsa work as a bass player, results in maybe re-inventing my rig/sound every time I have a gtr gig.

However, I would like to try the "Steak every single day" thing if I could get some funding for such a project!

 

[gkoelling]

I have more guitars than I need but still find myself eating peanut butter 7 days a week.

 

[Sizeofanocean]

This is true! Also, when I listen to my favorite albums, the guitars sound at best as good as my setup does to me, that's quite sobering to me. It's just something that you easily get drawn into thinking your sound could be better if you did/bought this and that, but when you listen with 'new' ears you realise that your sound is amazing as is, especially when you're in a spirited mood and playing effortlessly, you can make a lot of gear sound great. But that's a whole different point I guess...