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Topic: Can you trust your ears? |
Bill Miller
From:
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 7:00 am |
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Have you ever noticed that it seems to take a really long while to evaluate new equipment? A new guitar, amp, preamp...whatever, comes on the market and there will be a flood of opinion from amateurs and pros alike about its merits. Someone will say a certain guitar sounds more like a push/pull than any other all pull they've ever heard or someone else will embrace a new preamp as being head and shoulders above its nearest competitor. And a lot of us, myself included depending on the source, will take these formal or informal endorsements aboard and maybe plan future purchases around them. But then many moons pass and one day a discussion will surface that reveals that the originator of the glowing endorsement no longer uses the gear in question. Or said equipment will turn up in the 'for sale' section. The reviewer has gone back to his old gear or has found the new gear to be lacking in some unspoken regard and moved on to something else.
I don't think people are being insincere or fickle with these turn abouts. We just seem to need more than days or even months to really take in and evaluate the sound of new gear. Our ears often seem to equate different with better at the outset, but over time we begin to hear very subtle things that grow in importance to the point of being at least, less favorable, and worst intolerable. Even the very best players don't seem immune.
For my part, I've been on the brink of buying a new guitar several times but one reason I'm reluctant to commit is that basic mistrust of my own ears. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 7:16 am
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Hi, Bill, most excellent post, and very well stated.
With so much gear available, we need to rely on the input of others for some insight into whether it might be of use to ourselves, and it is hard to see through the "this is the best guitar I've ever played or owned" review from someone who may have owned very few...
I know for me it's taken a lot of experimenting to find the gear that suits me personally, and it's an ongoing search. I've noticed many players who say they won't buy a guitar unseen, without playing it, and that's one way to ensure that gear "fits".
I don't live near any manufacturers or steel stores, and with amps and guitars, I've had no choice but to just buy long distance and try 'em out. (I've yet to order a new steel for that reason.) I've run across a few dogs, but I've gotten some real great gear that way, and learned a whole lot about what makes me comfortable and happy as a player.
It does take evaluation time, for sure.
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 8:17 am
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| Have you also noticed that the more an item costs, the more profuse is the praise regarding the item. It's almost as if the purchasers of the expensive thingy-bobs have to convince them-selves that their money was well spent. |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 8:37 am
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Yes Bill. Been there myself. It's due in part to the excitement generated from new gear acquisition I think.
In my case, I guess I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer as I find I have to live with a new guitar or sound equipment for quite a while to shake out my true evaluation.
I once bought a guitar and although it looked and played just terrific, I absolutely hated the sound of it when I first acquired it. Buyer's remorse to the point of nausea. I offered to sell it for a tremendous loss just to get rid of it. Good thing it didn't sell, it turned out that I came to love the tone and response and now consider it to be the best sounding instrument I ever owned.
I bought it sight unseen from a steel guitar dealer based on what I had seen and heard from the guitar in others' hands and having briefly sat one at the St. Louis show.
I suppose it works in just the reverse too.
I envy those of you that can strum strings, play a few licks and make an instant decision or evaluate other gear in a flash.
I can do that on some things but mostly I need some time.
That's why I always tell people, try to find what's right for YOU. What someone else likes and recommends might not suit your needs at all.
It's easy to get caught up in the "grass is greener" syndrome but sometimes I think we become complacent with what we already have and only realize how much we really liked it after it's gone. |
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Ford Cole
From:
Texas
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 10:06 am
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| Hey Jerry...methinks your observations could apply to people as well as gear. |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 10:09 am
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No, you cannot trust your ears. Human hearing is hugely subjective, and is significantly affected by fatigue, food and drink.
A number of scientific studies have determined that, for better or for worse, people hear what they are listening for, and it does not always reflect the actual sounds in the air.
Here's a youtube clip that illustrates this point with some humor...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTlN6wjcvQ |
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Bill Miller
From:
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 11:31 am
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Mark van Allen said:
| Quote: |
| With so much gear available, we need to rely on the input of others for some insight into whether it might be of use to ourselves, and it is hard to see through the "this is the best guitar I've ever played or owned" review from someone who may have owned very few... |
Yes, I need to depend on other people's impressions too. But the sand keeps shifting and even some of the heaviest hitters seem to be caught up in a never ending quest to find their sound. That's not a criticism in any way, but rather it shows me that with guitars especially, you really have to live with them a long while to be sure they're a match. Much trickier than women. |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 11:39 am
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| I can honestly say that I trust my ears completely. I know exactly how to get the sound I want with the equipment that I know will deliver it. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 12:46 pm
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By way of illustration:
Some years ago, (pre-internet!) I had been playing a wonderful Emmons S10 through a crappy Earth Tube Twin copy. When that amp gave up the ghost, I took every cent I could scrape and bought a Webb, because I had heard nothing but raves... I had it dialed in to sound incredible to me in the studio and on stage, but from the first gigs, people in the audience were telling me my tone had crapped out, was thin and painfully cutting out in the room. If I'd had endless bucks, I would have dumped the Webb right there and moved on... but I realized it must have a beaming characteristic and sound differently in the room than on stage. After tweaking and dialing it in, I loved and played that amp until it fell apart.
I'm not really sure that Webb was really "me", but I'd spent so much on it that I had to make it so.
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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