A question of acoustics and perception

[Prawnik]

Does anyone have any guitars that seem to sound different if they have not been played for a while?

I have two Strats and a 335 that seem to sound somewhat "dead" if they have sat for a few days, and only come to life again after they have been played a bit.

Or is my imagination at work here, as I suspect it is?

[adem]

It's possible, though could quite literally be anything causing it, from the guitar strings warming up if you have a particularly cold room to your fingers warming up and therefore playing better, but it's more likely that your hearing is adjusting to the sound. Our hearing is constantly adjusting because of changes in dynamics of frequencies and we can quite quickly get used to sounds that others would consider not so good.

It's a common thing whilst mixing and mastering tracks to take regular breaks or you'll find your ears adjust to the sound so much that what sounded awesome last night could sound like cr@p the next morning!

[BigB]

Does anyone have any guitars that seem to sound different if they have not been played for a while?

I have two Strats and a 335 that seem to sound somewhat dead if they have sat for a few days, and only come to life again after they have been played a bit.

Or is my imagination at work here?

Even well dried, wood is still very alive. So yes, a guitar (or violin or etc...) that is not played tend to not "resonate" as well as if it's played. Now this is probably more obvious for acoustic instruments, and anyway I'm note sure "a few days" of inactivity should make a great difference.

What I noticed for sure is that even if I played it on the day before, any of my guitar needs a few minutes "warming up" - just like I need these few minutes myself. Also, now I'm a rich guy with 3 guitars (lol), I also noticed that I needed a few minutes "adapting" when I switch from one to the other.

But well, I guess in both cases it's mostly me warming up and "getting the feel" (touch, tone etc) of this particular guitar, and eventually a little bit of the guitar itself waking and warming up too

[AndyR]

Yeah, my guitars find they need to get the player warmed up a bit before they can really start sounding good :lol:

I used to feel exactly the same as you, and BigB with the adjusting to different guitars thing, but reading this thread has made me realise that this has changed for me over the last year or so.

If a guitar is physically cold to touch, yeah, I can feel some obvious differences until it warms up a bit. But tonally, they don't seem to improve on me anymore.

I tend to have days where I switch guitars a bit. If the first one I pickup, guitar A, doesn't do it for me, I put it down and play another until one of them jumps out at me or my wife tells me it's time to do the washing up or something... But on another day, maybe even weeks latter, and no-one has played it, I'll pick up that original guitar A, and it's blissful from the first moment.

So, ummm, yes, I do think it's mostly our imagination, and like adem says, our ears are part of it, but I really would like there to be something happening in the instrument as well (otherwise, on those days when ALL of my guitars sound dead, it would mean it's my fault!! :lol:)

[MDV]

It is said that it takes a piece of wood a decade to realise its a guitar, and theres good support for that in the mechanics of vibration and how it changes the internal structure of the wood (slowly breaking inter-grain bonds, weakening grain and so on at points that the wood is 'trying' to vibrate at, but isnt), but after 'a bit' of playing, and doing it over and over again with days in between? No. Thats you warming up, your ears aclimatising, that manner of thing.

[dave_mc]

most of my guitars haven't been played for a while... :lol:

[Philly Q]

Some of mine haven't been played for years... and they've never been played well.   :|

Anyway, I agree that guitars seem to sound different some days than they do others.  But I think it's down to the player, not the instrument - the musical equivalent of a bad hair day.

[MDV]

Some of mine haven't been played for years... and they've never been played well.   :|

Anyway, I agree that guitars seem to sound different some days than they do others.  But I think it's down to the player, not the instrument - the musical equivalent of a bad hair day.

:lol:

I've had a bad hair life, so I'm not sure how I'd tell a bad hair day from any other, but yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes you just have, as a mate of mine once described his playing after going back to electric after a year of acoustic "dicks for fingers", and sometimes pissy old women for ears too. The mojo aint there.

I try to just play through it, it normally comes eventually, but sometimes it just doesnt wanna happen.

[gordiji]

Prawnic, everything is constantly changing, costantly in flux so your guitars will seem to vary but for me it's the mind
and it's faculty of perception that is the biggest variable.Your moods are always changing and with them your perception.Play loud hard rock in the morning and it will seem different to the same on friday night.
Naturally if you're really in the mood to play, you'll probably make nicer music as your mind is more attentive and therefore more sensitive.
If you play in the same room at home say, then this is probably what you're noticing and it's good that you notice
it.

[dave_mc]

my ears change all the time. If i was playing, say, my tokai strat the previous day (or more likely, a couple of days previously :lol: ), my humbucker guitars would sound really warm etc.

[Searcher]

Does anyone have any guitars that seem to sound different if they have not been played for a while?

Yeah, they sound out of tune.

[Prawnik]

It's a common thing whilst mixing and mastering tracks to take regular breaks or you'll find your ears adjust to the sound so much that what sounded awesome last night could sound like cr@p the next morning!

Why I like having someone else mix tracks, try them out on different monitors, etc..

What sounds good to one person at one time through one set of earphones may sound like hot buttered dooky the next day to a different dude through different speakers.

I think the forum consensus is: You are hearing things, Prawnik that aren't really there. I would have checked into the looney bin already, but I know violinists talk of something similar, and claimt hat an instrument can even get "seasick."

[AndyR]

I would have checked into the looney bin already, but I know violinists talk of something similar, and claim that an instrument can even get "seasick."

Yip, I've even slept wi, sorry, met one... many years ago, my memory is playing tricks, etc..

Anyway, she was well flippin looney, so you're not exactly in good company... :lol:

[BigB]

Does anyone have any guitars that seem to sound different if they have not been played for a while?

Yeah, they sound out of tune.

:lol: