Horrible Tone....

[BobK]

Morning y'all,

 

Yes, an impossible question to answer without being there but....watched a video clip of last weeks gig. My guitar tone was quite horrible. It sounded flat, grinding, no sparkle, no life. Using a Blackstar HT valve amp with stock tubes

 

Looked at settings and they seemed sensible/normal and fairly usual for me. Treble up high'ish, gain, bass and mids just below 12 ish.

 

Jeez, do I always sound like that!? Pretty sure I don't....tube issue? This make sense?

 

Bob

[sparquelito]

Bob,

 

The short answer is that your guitar tone probably isn't all that bad.

It is much more likely that the recording you listened to was of an inferior quality.

 

Recording bands live is a tricky science. Most recordings from bars and clubs are on iPhones and smart phones, and not proper audio/video equipment.

Even a recording made on a quality digital camera (say, a Canon or Nikon, using the video mode) can sound terrible, considering the fact that the audio mic in those (admittedly high-quality cameras) was made to capture the sound of puppies and kittens and children laughing, not a band blasting at full stage volume. The camera mic simply becomes overloaded.

 

The best recording you can do, especially considering all the variables of room size, room shape, stage volume, and PA cab placement, is where you feed the sound to your camera via cable directly from the mixing board.

This means mic'ing your amp, of course.

AND this means that a proper mix for recording may not equate to a proper mix for audience enjoyment.

 

 

Anyway, I ramble on.

If your audience, band-mates, and friends like your guitar tone, but it sounds lousy on a poorly-recorded video, chances are your tone is just fine.

:)

[rct]

Morning y'all,

 

Yes, an impossible question to answer without being there but....watched a video clip of last weeks gig.

 

 

How was the crowd?

 

My guitar tone was quite horrible. It sounded flat, grinding, no sparkle, no life. Using a Blackstar HT valve amp with stock tubes

 

Looked at settings and they seemed sensible/normal and fairly usual for me. Treble up high'ish, gain, bass and mids just below 12 ish.

 

Jeez, do I always sound like that!? Pretty sure I don't....tube issue? This make sense?

 

As the only guy in the room that cared or cares about your "tone", you'll have to figure out how to get past it. Some days I sound like the best guitar player in the world, other days not so much. It's what we do.

 

rct

[kidblast]

If you and your band mates thought you sounded like you.. then..

 

Trust

Your

Ears

 

it's most likely an artifact of low quality recording.

[BobK]

Phew.....thanks guys. No booing, so I reckon I was OK!

[kidblast]

I think you'd be the first one to know if your tone during the performance was suffering.

 

I know for me, I seem to hear stuff no one else does.. sometimes, that is not a good thing.

[Rabs]

Yeah I find that a lot of recoding devices these days have bass or general noise suppressors on them.. that can really screw up the sound of the final recording cutting out certain frequencies which can lead too a real tinny, flat or hollow sound.....