Has this ever happened to anyone - Same tone settings sound different?

[SirMjac28]

Me: " Finally after forty minutes I have my sound just the way I want"
My Pedals: " OK he went to the kitchen you guys know what to do"

 

[rtslinger]

It happens playing life a lot because as more and more bodies hit the floor the acoustics of the room changes there is always tweaking going on because of this. I will assume your hearing of the tone changes as the assault on you ear drums progresses through time.

 

[greenduke]

It's called complacency syndrome, both physiological and psychological. Overtime the human ear and brain can become desensitized after exposure to similar harmonics, volume levels, etc.
Same thing is very common when working in the studio on mix-down and remixes and why it can up to a year/years to get things just the way you want them.
Typically, you can't just sit down and cram-rush the process. You have to walk away and come back fresh to get a new fresh unbiased perspective.
The digital age has helped regarding advancement in tooling aspects but most people actually want more of an analog sound...Go figure!

 

[chadds]

Psychology does play a part in it, and so does ear fatigue. Always best to judge different tones with fresh ears.

Are those for sale in the classifieds?

 

[Josh Gone]

I've always wondered how much humidity has to do with this? I've had a fantastic sound dialed in, and left everything alone, only to come back the next rehearsal to hear something completely different. I had always thought that the difference in atmospheric conditions or humidity must be the culprit, since nothing else had really changed.

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

Happens all the time. Planet alignment, position of the stars, movement of the Sun and Moon, or maybe my ears ringing differently at different times. LOL. Could be anything. Even standing in a different location from the speaker.

Just trust in the law of he averages, that it usually sounds right set there. And don't become a fanatic knob twister. Had guitarist that every time they'd turn on a pedal, have to bend down and move that knob again, almost every song. Drove me crazy.

I come from the school of "set it and leave it". If you're always fiddling with knobs maybe your playing suffers so much as to make more difference. At least that's what I noticed from some players.

 

[nilorius]

I think it's more like your imagination, because in real world - this can't be.

 

[PDGood]

You didn't mention what you did during the 30 minutes and that can make a difference. Mowing the lawn, or just watching TV is still sound input and gives you a different frame of reference. And just getting away from sound for awhile can change how you hear it when you return.
And yes, most of us have had this frustrating experience.

 

[Xandrell]

Ear fatigue. That's why our band starts playing low volume so to not freak people out and increases the more songs we play. By the end of the night we're pretty loud, but we would never start with that volume. Producers and engineers take a break and leave the room while mixing long hours to invigorate their ears.

 

[tfer]

Psychology does play a part in it, and so does ear fatigue. Always best to judge different tones with fresh ears.

Agree completely.

Ear fatigue in my experience, is a much bigger factor.

 

[Inconnu]

Other then ear (or finger, or general) fatigue would be the angle in which you face your amp. I once thought I was going crazy because I detected less punch and definition in my sound... the source of the problem was simply the difference between standing and sitting in front of my amp!