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Guitar Players with harsh tone!

#21
So, no one in your band goes out front to take a listen during a gig? No monitor of your out front sound without FOH help is a no win. You are blindly playing from the stage then. As for your guitar player. Tell him to knock his stuff off. That's not the time to noodle and it's annoying and unprofessional. As far as tone, neither of my guitar players sound alike, similar but not alike, we like it way. Maybe you need to discuss you problems with the guitar player. That's what I would suggest.
 
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#22
51PRI said:
I know that guitar tone is a very subjective thing but the guitar players in the band I'm in both have different, but equally harsh tone, IMO. When they're warming up before a gig it actually hurts my ears. And one of them warms up a BUNCH at full, or nearly full, volume. And they both have good, top notch equipment, so I know that equipment isn't the problem, and that the sound they're getting is the sound they WANT to get.

I play guitar, too, and I like a pleasing, warm, round tone when I play, not a harsh and stinging tone.

What kind of earplugs are best?

:cool:
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I don’t even have to hear it to know the problem.

They need to turn down their treble and roll off their tone.

Most guitarists don’t seem to know how to use their EQ.

I’m not an expert, but I can at least stop my ears from bleeding.
 
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#24
Five or Six said:
So, no one in your band goes out front to take a listen during a gig? No monitor of your out front sound without FOH help is a no win. You are blindly playing from the stage then. As for your guitar player. Tell him to knock his stuff off. That's not the time to noodle and it's annoying and unprofessional. As far as tone, neither of my guitar players sound alike, similar but not alike, we like it way. Maybe you need to discuss you problems with the guitar player. That's what I would suggest.
Click to expand...
Fair point. I may just be a picky jerk but when there's 20 minutes of loud soundchecking and warming up (where it almost inevitably just becomes obvious at some point that the set has actually started) it sorta deflates things a little
 
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#26
Marko 1 said:
I've heard that guitar players who play loudly, after a while they lose the ability to hear certain frequencies first,

so they boost those frequencies until it sounds right to them, resulting in a harsh tone to those who have normal hearing. :)
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I can attest to that. I've lost much of my higher frequency hearing due to being to close to drummer's cymbals without protection for years. I dabbled in making drum and bass music for a while but people always complained that my hi hats were ripping their ears of.
 
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#28
micguy said:
Your guitarists probably aim the speakers on their amps at your ears. If you can get them to aim them at their own ears, your problem will be solved - they will hear how bright they sound, and fix their tone rather than deafen themselves. But.... it's tough to get guitarists to do that - they seem to think that having their sound hitting the back of their knees is somehow normal.

This is a very common problem.
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Agree, they should try monitoring themselves in the direct beam.
Not do - just try a single time, to let you guys have an informed discussion on the output from the amp.
The next excuse could be that i sounds harsh, and they don’t like the sound of the direct beam.
If they don’t understand the problem then, I don’t think there’s much you can do.
Of course, you yourself should also be prepared to work with the eq and direction of your own amp.
 
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#29
Raenil said:
Of course, you yourself should also be prepared to work with the eq and direction of your own amp.
Click to expand...

You pointing your beam at them, and not your own ears is the source of "the bass is too loud" comments. This is also how most volume wars start - "I can't hear myself" = turn up, and you're off to the races.
 
#30
micguy said:
You pointing your beam at them, and not your own ears is the source of "the bass is too loud" comments. This is also how most volume wars start - "I can't hear myself" = turn up, and you're off to the races.
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Yes.
Everyone should start with their own monitoring needs (and point their amp towards their own head), then discuss with the rest of the band if more volume is needed.
Often, no more volume is needed. It really isn’t rocket science. The hard part is to get them to accept this. Often, it’s just not possible, and the two remaining options might be to cut your loses (leave) or live with it.
 
#34
51PRI said:
I know that guitar tone is a very subjective thing but the guitar players in the band I'm in both have different, but equally harsh tone, IMO. When they're warming up before a gig it actually hurts my ears. And one of them warms up a BUNCH at full, or nearly full, volume. And they both have good, top notch equipment, so I know that equipment isn't the problem, and that the sound they're getting is the sound they WANT to get.

I play guitar, too, and I like a pleasing, warm, round tone when I play, not a harsh and stinging tone.

What kind of earplugs are best?

:cool:
Click to expand...

Not sure if this is true in your case, but the number of guitarists with hearing loss that I've met is not small. High frequencies get lost to them, so they end up with a harsher sound as they turn up treble to compensate. To them it may sound nice and mellow...
 
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#35
micguy said:
You pointing your beam at them, and not your own ears is the source of "the bass is too loud" comments.
Click to expand...

Yep. Once I started using this:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

with a 410 pointed at my head, I began getting requests to turn up. But to me it sounded loud already. Not to mention "better" too.
 
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#38
20190823_114550.jpg


Get them something similar to the above: a 1x12" tilt back cab. Put it next to the monitor and mic it. Typically, when they aim their speakers at their own heads, volumes tend to come down and EQ gets adjusted to something more pleasant. I'm in the "your ears aren't behind your knees" camp on this.
 
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