Why does my steel sound like crap?

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 2 Jun 2011 4:30 pm

Yesterday I couldn't get a decent tone out of my steel to save my life. The steel sounded dull/lifeless/muffled no matter what I did to the tone controls of the amp. All the connections from the guitar to the amp were fine/normal. I double checked my tuning and made sure that was not the issue. (I was very tired yesterday and playing was a chore.)

Then, this morning, without touching any controls on my amp, the steel sounded great. The brightness and life of the steel was back. (Today I am feeling fine; not tired.)

I think my equipment is just fine and it's my body that is fluctuating. Good thing I wasn't shopping for gear, or considering selling gear, yesterday.

Have you ever experienced such off days? Can one's ears vary that much?

Bill Miller · Post by **Bill Miller** » 2 Jun 2011 6:13 pm

Have you ever experienced such off days? Can one's ears vary that much?

I find that happens to me quite often and fatigue is a big factor. I always sound better to myself when I'm rested. If I'm really tired I'm invariably digusted with any sound I can coax out of my gear. I know better by now than to fiddle with amp settings and stuff. It will sound sweet again after a good nights rest.

Roual Ranes · Post by **Roual Ranes** » 2 Jun 2011 6:54 pm

My problem seems to be that nut on the seat.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 2 Jun 2011 7:23 pm

If you have voltage fluctuations in your area it will effect your sound.

Billy Tonnesen · Post by **Billy Tonnesen** » 2 Jun 2011 8:17 pm

Low voltage will make any Steel and Amp sound bad.
This happened to me a lot when playing outside gigs where the line was run a long ways to the Band. Is your electricity generated from a Hydro-electric Dam in your area ? It could be generators have ups and downs in the Power they produce.

Glenn Uhler · Post by **Glenn Uhler** » 2 Jun 2011 8:22 pm

Your ears can get tired, just like the rest of your body. You know it when your eyes get tired after looking at the computer all day. Same with your ears. They can get tired after hearing noise (any unwanted sound) at a level just loud enough to interfere with normal speech.

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 2 Jun 2011 8:48 pm

How does one check the voltage in their house, without buying expensive test equipment or burning the place down? Also, what should the voltage be (110 I presume here in USA), and how low does it have to go to start to be a problem (I'll know it when I hear it, right)?

I still think it's me, but if it's simple to check the voltage, I just might.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 2 Jun 2011 8:49 pm

This morning I had tone of gold, this evening it was tone of AKKK!

Torben Koch · Post by **Torben Koch** » 2 Jun 2011 9:16 pm

Hi Paul
i have been playing steel for more than 35 years and still on the road. sometimes things are going on that we have no influence on. I remember I had the same problem as you many years back, I found out that it had some thing to do with my inner man. We are human beeing made of flesh and blood with a mind that has influence on us. If we were machines we could play the same every day, but we aren't.

I'm still practising every day but the days are different.
Feel welcome to visit my mebsite www.myspace.com/torbenturbo you can hear some music, go to my block you can see more than 125 different constalations I have been playing in for the last 13 years
Just relax and play - If you have a bad day stop playing the next day will be better

Torben

Zumsteels D10 9/7 my gear the best you can buy

Georg Sørtun · Post by **Georg Sørtun** » 2 Jun 2011 9:54 pm

Paul Sutherland wrote:I still think it's me, but if it's simple to check the voltage, I just might.

110VAC -10%/+15% should be fine for all but the lousiest amp. But, as you (and others) are already onto: check what you have been exposed to and what shape you are in, before checking voltage condition and settings.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 2 Jun 2011 11:31 pm

As Billy mentioned, we have Niagara Falls power here, and I pretty much always know when the power fluctuates, which it does routinely. Also, I have experienced this at many clubs and outdoor gigs. If you have anything digital in your chain it will be one of the first things effected.

Ray McCarthy · Post by **Ray McCarthy** » 3 Jun 2011 2:19 am

I've been fighting with this tone thing for years. After changing every single peice of equip. in my arsenal, I've come to the conclusion that it's mostly my own ears/sinus condition/brain/mood/fatigue, ETC. When it sounds great I'm happy. When it's a train wreck,

I let it go and try again tomorrow.
The guys in the band always say I sound great. I've decided to believe them

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 3 Jun 2011 6:02 am

For me, sometimes, I just need to clear my ears (like what scuba divers do). Learn how to do it safely, however.

Ronnie Boettcher · Post by **Ronnie Boettcher** » 3 Jun 2011 6:53 am

Paul, I have been a union construction electrician for 46 years, and started in the 11th grade. Retired now, but your question on voltage. Most normal voltage in the USA seems to be regulated at 117 volts, plus or minus. The power companies do regulate it depending on the demand. If you want to check your voltage, and if you have a Harbor Freight store near you, or on the internet, you can get a very inexpensive tester for around $5. They are called multi-testers. Just set the dial to the source you want to read, and plug the two probes into your outlet. Also most residential houses, are fed with 117/240 volts. Some areas might have what they call 3 phase,4 wire. You still should get the 117v, but the 240v might be as low as 208v. But you don't have to be concerned with the higher voltage for your standard outlets. that is only for ranges, dryers, and AC units. Hope this can help you.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 3 Jun 2011 7:33 am

If the barometer is changing due to a weather change, the effect on your ears can be noticeable. I second the "clearing the ears" suggestion in that I've found that just going up and down the hills while travelling to and from work can impact my hearing.

Try chewing gum to equalize the inner and outer ear pressure.

I've also noticed, over the years, that for big outdoor events with sound columns, higher humidity can suck the life out of them.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 3 Jun 2011 8:21 am

I'm surprised it took this long to mention humidity, and only for your ears - the relative wetness of the paper in speakers has a huge effect, as does the sound transmission through the air. If you've found amp settings that sound great when the humidity is in the 30's, it's very likely they'll sound awful if you try to play through the same settings with a humidity even in the 70's, much less the 90's. I live in a swamp, trust me on this.

I try to stay away from that little ol' "treble" knob, but it's the only thing that can save you sometimes. Everybody knows how much difference a club full of people makes towards your sound, and people are pretty much just big wet bags of skin - the air counts too.

Kirk Eipper · Post by **Kirk Eipper** » 3 Jun 2011 8:42 am

I know that when I spend hours on end in the studio my hearing gets "fatigued". This could be partly to blame. Also I believe that Bobbe Seymour had an inexpensive device that you plug in to the ac outlet to see just what current that plug has so maybe it's a combination of things.

Gene Turner · Post by **Gene Turner** » 3 Jun 2011 9:40 am

If line variation is indeed a problem, you might consider trying a "stable power source," such as a Monster Power Pro 2500. It also helps eliminate "hum" created by line variations when your equipment is plugged into more than one circuit (which can happen, even if all the plugs are in the same room).

But a good night's sleep also helps!

Matthew Prouty · Post by **Matthew Prouty** » 3 Jun 2011 11:51 am

Roual Ranes wrote:My problem seems to be that nut on the seat.

Mine too!

Alfred Ewell · Post by **Alfred Ewell** » 3 Jun 2011 4:04 pm

When I started reading I thought "new strings", but you mentioned fatigue and - not only are your ears/auditory brain tired, but the fretting gets a little off, the picking a little off... Yea, what everybody said. A little re-invigoration changes the whole world!

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 4 Jun 2011 10:30 am

Ronnie,
Thirty years ago I had a house gig at Johnny's Hideway, on a crossroads South of Kent. Couldn't figure out why my '56 Pro Amp didn't sound good. Finally took out my VOM and measured the voltage. 87 volts! Bwaaaa!

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 4 Jun 2011 9:01 pm

That's what I'm talking about. Seen it many times.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 4 Jun 2011 10:51 pm

A couple of relevant facts to note here:

1) Everything we eat or drink, as well as stress and fatigue, affects our hearing on an hour-to-hour and day-to-day basis.

2) The muscles controlling the ear's dynamic response - those muscles that tighten up when it gets loud - are the first part of the entire human body that is affected by alcohol, and with enough alcohol in a loud enough situation the noise frm the overloaded hearing system can make the brain literally mad.

3) The acoustical environments we play in are so diverse, from a basement studio to clubs and stages large and small, even large outdoor venues can differ immensely from an acoustical standpoint, and what our amps can deliver at a given gig is very much dictated by the space it has to work with.

I played a big outdoor stage yesterday here and could never get past the "clack" of my picks on the strings. The sound crew had a SM57 on the amp and I did have to ask them to zero out the channel before we set levels but there was just a lot of high end in the monitor system so what are you gonna do but soldier on and dig as much music out of there as you can anyway

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 8 Jun 2011 11:38 am

Voltage can cause amps and effects to do strange things. With hot weather and surges on the power lines with large Air Conditioners can do it also. I played a place one night where a so call eletrician had took one leg of 120 volts off a supply line for a 240 volt deep fryer in the kitchen to save wire. There was a light on stage that fluttered every little bit. I got plugged into a outlet on the same circuit. It locked my tube effects till I had to send it back to Peavy to get it back in service. What did you do to make you tired?? Was there a lot of vibration, weedeating, mowing running hand grinders. Or long hard pulls with your fingers like mechanic work. When I played out I had a rule not to mow the yard or weed eat the day of a gig. One night the lead Guitar player on stage played like he had 5 thumbs on both hands. When we got off stage he said he had broke my rule. He had weed eated the bank above his house. It sure showed in his hands. Could this been it???? GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY STEELIN

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 8 Jun 2011 12:21 pm

On the recommendation of Ronnie B. I bought an inexpensive Digital Multimeter at the local Harbor Freight. I've been testing the wall current for the last couple days and so far all readings have been 120 to 123 volts. My steel has sounded fine to me during this time period. I'll certainly check the wall current the next time my steel sounds like crap and report the results.

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Why does my steel sound like crap?

Why does my steel sound like crap?

Tired ears

Popyour ears, maybe?

Why does my steel sound like crap