Humidity and Tone.. Psychological?

scottosan

scottosan

Well-known member
the last few times that it’s been really humid, the tone is just not happening. Can’t tell if it’s psychological or real.
 
i used to make jokes about needing a weather station to document temp, humidity, barometric pressure, earth axis tilt degree on optimal tone days and what we can do to combat our problems if conditions are not ideal.
 
RaceU4her said:
i used to make jokes about needing a weather station to document temp, humidity, barometric pressure, earth axis tilt degree on optimal tone days and what we can do to combat our problems if conditions are not ideal.
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Eric Johnson must have been driven half insane every time he toured the deep south! :giggle:
 
scottosan said:
the last few times that it’s been really humid, the tone is just not happening. Can’t tell if it’s psychological or real.
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Yes, and the cold will mess with your ears. I played in bands for 10 years, and every time it was cold my other guitarist, and I would say "Does my amp sound like shit?" to one another.
 
paulyc said:
Being speakers are paper the more humid it is the heavier the cones get. I think that’s part of it.
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It's treated paper so the cone itself is not taking on moisture but the air it's trying to move
back and forth is.
 
Today I was messing around with something and had Youtube playing in the background. This video came up, basically he was explaining how in hot conditions the pickups DC Resonance will increase (up 1.5k in extreme) and the tone will be warmer. Opposite for cold environments. I guess you figure in other components and it can add up??

Fast forward to 3:25 to hear him explain it. Not sure but I guess it makes a little sense. Interesting anyway
 
Relative humidity believe it or not actually plays a large role in sound. High frequencies are absorbed considerably by humidity, so much so that DSP systems in large pro scale PA systems processors compensate the high frequency drivers output depending on the humidity. Same applies here , think of humidity like a "blanket" over the cab, more dense air being the blanket absorbing high frequency and sorta slowing things down.

Colder and thinner air , being brighter and faster.

Look up a guy named Dave Ratt, he's a smart guy and has some videos about this.
Check this out


Nick-
 
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A solid answer to that question is to play out
with your gear with a full band in the Florida summer humidity.
Do a long soundcheck!!
Right out of the cannon, the speakers feel thunky..like they sound like they change shape.
The mix gets raunchy also.
Guitars..start either playing slightly sharp or flat at times to compensate for the boeing'.(whatever the hell works at that point)
The bass guitar can take sometime to punch through the swampy air but eventually smooths the grooves.
It's a firefight up there man!!!
 
Dino 939 said:
A solid answer to that question is to play out
with your gear with a full band in the Florida summer humidity.
Click to expand...
On the flip side, once had to jump right on stage after arriving late to a gig
on one of those insanely cold New England winter nights. All the gear had sat in
a freezing van for an hour right before. Inside the club was easily 70-80 degrees
warmer than outside.

I seriously thought my freaking guitar neck was going to snap during the first song!
Same goes for the drummer and his heads! Sounding like shit was a given that night.
 
You’d think by now modelers and even tube amps would have a “forecast” knob or an algorithm that senses undesirable conditions and adjusts accordingly and allow the performer to perform with a clear mind. “Summer south swamp ass” or “Wisconsin winter” type modes. Then again, Hendrix never cared when his tone would change by the song with those germanium fuzzes heating up, he just said fuck it and rocked. That’s really probably the way to go
 
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