All Of A Sudden My Tone Is Muddy

[Curtis P]

OK, all of a sudden, my tone is muddy, nothing has changed on my amp, my stomp box dont use batteried, i plug it in, the only thing i did was turn the volume on the amp from 2 to 2.25 just because my bro had loud music in the next room, and now its gone all muddy, changing the volume didnt make a difference either!! i put it back to 2 and its still muddy

***

I dont know what to do, I cant play with a muddy tone, and i dont want to mess with my settings as i just finally, "finally" got it dialed in for a great sound

Curtis

[jnewman]

What kind of amp is it? Is it possible one of your tubes is giving up the ghost? Did your guitar volume get turned down? Are you sure none of the settings have changed?

Edited April 27, 2005 by jnewman

[westhemann]

it's a peavey bandit.speaker probably just crapped out

[lovekraft]

...speaker probably just crapped out...

That'd be my first guess. If the speaker's OK, check your cables - a dying shield can really suck the high end out of your signal. Finally, how long has it been since you changed your strings?

If worst comes to absolute worst, you could always turn up the treble or cut some mids orsome bottom. Believe it or not, some of us adjust all those little knobs every time we play!

[GhO$t]

Are you sure its the amp? if the pickups on your guitar are active you may need new batteried in it, that happened to me recently

[Curtis P]

Peavey Bandit, no tubes, guitar is passive, i changed my strings umm, 3 months ago?? maybe longer, i played around with the GRD button on the amp and went from + to - a few times and it came back to where it was...... ok thats weird, maybe the amp is just getting to tired, i dont want to get on stage and my amp go all muddy and i have to stop playing and fool around with the GRD button

Curtis

[1nf1d3l]

TAKE THE FOOTSWITCH OUT!!!

i have a bandit, and thats what causes ALL my problems, is the footswitch...

otherwise, i have it set up as a tone machine.

[Daniel Sorbera]

i changed my strings umm, 3 months ago?? maybe longer

Even if thats not causing you muddy problems I would change those guys out. Since the tone goes done slowly you don't really notice it until you put on a new set and your guitar jumps back to life. I never let my guitars go more than a month and a half before changing out strings.

[crafty]

It's probably one of two things:

1. Bad volume pot on the amp

2. A ground has loosened up somewhere in the amp

I'd bet it's the bad volume pot. Same thing happened on my old Peavey Audition a couple of years ago. I just called Peavey (the call center is actually in Mississippi) and ordered a new pot and a new Re'an input jack while I had the amp apart. I think the whole thing may have cost me $5 to repair.

[Curtis P]

It dont have a foot switch

I am buying a set of strings tommorow

and i think i might have got it figured out, the gnd switch or whatever, i left it in the - thing, so when i toggled it between + neutral and - it cleaned it up, and i put it back into neutral, and so far its been working like charm, so unless it craps out again, i aint going to spend any money on it

Thanks for the help

Curtis

[Maher]

3 months!

i try to change my strings at least once a month, i hate playing with old strings.

[westhemann]

3 months!

i try to change my strings at least once a month, i hate playing with old strings.

←

depends on how many guitars you have....3 months is about what i go as well.only because i play so many different guitars,they last a bit longer.if i only had one guitart i would change them about once every 3 or 4 weeks,like you say.

i buy dean markely though,and they come at like $35 a case

[Mickguard]

.

[westhemann]

3 months!

i try to change my strings at least once a month, i hate playing with old strings.

←

I have to change strings pretty often because I break them otherwise. Even though I put string savers on the guitars I play a lot, I still manage to break strings. And not just the high E ...in fact, I break a lot of G strings...must be where I slam things the hardest I guess...

←

you know,that's a mystery to me...i used to break strings likenobody's business,but now,even though i pull more bends and use the trem heavily,i rarely break one.

i have not broken a string in maybe 2 years of heavy playing.maybe it is because my picking has improved,or maybe i set my guitars up better now.but whatever it is,i don't know...i still use the same brand and gauge of strings

[Guitarfrenzy]

you know,that's a mystery to me...i used to break strings likenobody's business,but now,even though i pull more bends and use the trem heavily,i rarely break one.

i have not broken a string in maybe 2 years of heavy playing.maybe it is because my picking has improved,or maybe i set my guitars up better now.but whatever it is,i don't know...i still use the same brand and gauge of strings

←

Yeah no doubt your doing a better setup on your guitars now. I used to break strings like they was going out of style, and it ended up being the bridge both times. So I reslotted the LP's bridge and it hasn't broken since and on the Fender I replaced the bridge and problem solved. It's usually the E string that will get you though since it's so thin. It's all in the way the guitar is set up, that will determine if your strings will break prematurely. Like I said, it's most of the time it's where the string travels over and contacts the bridge. That point needs to be smooth and free of any sharp areas.

[Maiden69]

You know what I found to be the cause of string breaks other that poor equipment. Poor maintenance. I use not to clean my strings after playing and I started getting corrosionCorrosion on a string over the saddles is like a razor on a hair. After I learn how to take care of the guitar, and started cleaning my hands before playing and wipping the strings, no more breaks and longer string life.

[Curtis P]

i changed my strings today, it sounds so amazing now, so much thicker and heavier

Thanks for the replies, I plan on changing strings often now, as it has greatly improved my sound

Curtis

[silvertonessuckbutigotone]

another reason for string breakage is if you change the tuning a lot, from like standard to d, or drop c, stuff like that makes ur strings pretty muddy, if not breaking them. Atleast I've noticed that on my guitars.

[AlGeeEater]

another reason for string breakage is if you change the tuning a lot, from like standard to d, or drop c, stuff like that makes ur strings pretty muddy, if not breaking them.  Atleast I've noticed that on my guitars.

←

That can go either way man. I've had a set of Ernie Ball strings on my EVH ever since the day i've assembled it. I have been playing it everyday, switching to all different tunings for slide, metal, and blues.

Still havent had tone or string problems. What kind of strings do you use?

[silvertonessuckbutigotone]

I use whatever I find, I don't have a set brand, I've used elixir, ghs boomers, dmr, gibson britewires, and the ones I've noticed that go muddy the fastest so far are the gibsons. They just arent alive as much as the others after about 2-3 weeks.

Edited May 1, 2005 by silvertonessuckbutigotone