Amp sounds good one day - the next day not so good?

[Cornfordcrunch]

Humidity level can greatly affect how you hear things.

 

[Mailman1971]

You talking about those pesky tube gremlins?? Somebody has to do something about those guys...

Yup........Lynch mentioned them in an interview before.......

Gremilns.....

I really hate when this does happen though......

 

[petejt]

Bad electricity, inconsistent voltage.
A good voltage regulator on a tube amp is key

Yup.


Pity they are pricey....


Just last night I was talking to a mate who said his friend is a sparky- so hopefully he can sort something out and get the house wiring fixed up and even better a discount on a voltage regulator.

 

[just42dave]

Yup. It is your ears and line voltages. I bet a lot of people here have sold off amps due to it... Once they think the amps sounds like shit, they get it in there mind that they need to sell it.

been doing it for 5 yrs sell selll selll sellllllll

 

[locoed]

Tubes,mind set,one of those days you don't wanna practice but
you do anyway,not into it,seems it sounds like shit when it's just
your mind set.
This has happen to me many times.

 

[EXPcustom]

Has anyone else ever experience this? Most days my amps sound great - other days they sounds like shit! I've had this experience with every tube amp I've ever owned.

The more I look at Cameron CCV clips on Youtube the worse my amps sound to me.

 

[needtopractice1]

Ear fatigue maybe?

Has anyone else ever experience this? Most days my amps sound great - other days they sounds like shit! I've had this experience with every tube amp I've ever owned.

 

[rottingcorpse]

not me. every time i walk into the amp room, i am just stoked to be there. i hit the power switches, and pick out a guitar. i then mix myself a nice drink, take a nice long slug, and hit the standbys.

my playing, however, can be somewhat frustrating. some days your on, other your not.

 

[primeholy]

This happened to me the other day when I was playing my new Gibson Les Paul Standard. I was thinking it was way to trebley compared to my studio. It is a bit brighter, but I think that day my ears were fucking with me. I made two vids with my zoom q3 comparing them. Not very structured at all, and one vid is way too long I just couldnt quit playing I need to figure how to make the audio louder from my q3 cause it is always really low.

 

[rafterman1969]

It's frustrating to say the least. When I first started playing guitar, I used a Peavey "Backstage" amp. Being that it was a SS amp, I never noticed any difference in the tone one day to the next. I've changed from 6L6 to El34, but the phenomenon continues... It doesn't matter which one of my amps I play out of either. One day it's one of the greatest amp in the world - the next day it's a candidate for an ebay sale.

Axe-FX is no good for me, as I can hear the digital "chop"! It's the best digital so far IMO, but it's not even close to the tone of a real tube amplifier. Not to me anyway...

 

[cyndicate]

Yup. It is your ears and line voltages. I bet a lot of people here have sold off amps due to it... Once they think the amps sounds like shit, they get it in there mind that they need to sell it.

This.. One day I was playing and thinking my builds sounded like shit and that I should just sell it all and buy a channel switcher, then I played them another day and was thinking hey it actually sounds good

 

[rafterman1969]

I purchased a Cornford MKII last month, and it's one of the best sounding amps I've ever owned. I still get those days where things just don't sound right. I'm learning to just put it down, and then come back to it later. One thing that has helped (I think?) is that I converted the "Corny" 4x12 cab to a rear-mount speaker configuration. I also use a Variac, so I can't really see where it would be the line voltage? I'm usually running at 118 VAC at 36 mv bias. If I want a hotter bias, I increase my voltage up to 120 VAC.

Maybe I'll just pick-up a TECH 21 amp for those "off" days?

 

[rafterman1969]

Sometimes it's the guitar. Check your tuning and setup. Things shift with humidity changes and I think tube amps are more transparent and really bring out those changes.

Maybe it's the tubes themselves?

 

[jerrydyer]

only when I owned boogie mark 111. Killer one day not so much the next.

 

[droptrd]

Yeah its the gremlins

 

[mortega76]

I get this even with the Axe-fx... when the practice room is cold, it sounds one way... if it's fucking hotter than hell it sounds another way... using a SS power amp to drive the Axe-fx into two 4x12 cabs. Very weird and very annoying!

 

[rafterman1969]

I get this even with the Axe-fx... when the practice room is cold, it sounds one way... if it's fucking hotter than hell it sounds another way... using a SS power amp to drive the Axe-fx into two 4x12 cabs. Very weird and very annoying!

Well, if you're getting the same thing with an Axe-FX then it has to be the speakers. I'm thinking "out of the box" here - but what about electromagnetic fields?

I was playing around with an EMF application on my iPhone, and was getting some really strange results. In one area of our bedroom (upper corner), I would get a huge spike! Some times it's there, other times it's not? This mass of EMF seems to move to different areas in the house. Sometimes it's in the living room, other times in the bathroom... I always know when it's in the bedroom, as it screws-up the function of the TV remote.

Maybe EMF fields screw around with the speakers voice coils?

 

[jerrydyer]

sound waves are affected by by temp.

 

[rafterman1969]

sound waves are affected by by temp.

We keep the house at 76 degrees constant during the day - 72 at night.

 

[Bob Savage]

Your ears...

You're winking but I am of the opinion that ears/perceptions change far more day to day than an amp/cab does.