Gear Burn In?

[Yngwiestein]

Call me crazy but gear that I have had for a number of years sounds better than the same thing new. Not only does it sound better but it seems to settle better on the settings I normally use. It's as if there is a burn where after warming up/cooling down, warming up/cooling down etc. the electronics start to break in.

I can't prove it except that gear I own for a long time sounds different than the exact same gear new. I would speculate if that is the appeal to vintage gear for most people who are into that sort of thing except that I would rather break in my own gear because it seems to settle in on the settings I use most often. I can only describe it as part of the gear mojo.

My JCM800 head took a few years to develop some sweet spots. Now it feels like the amp likes to settle in on those settings. My tube screamer is the same. I have tried new ones exactly the same and they don't sound the same. The knobs on my tube screamer stay around 11:30 except for the level which I keep on 1:00. On those settings my ages old tube screamer blooms nicely. I set my Les Paul tone controls down to 8 so now between 8-10 they have a sweet spot. I can plug in a new Les Paul and it will not sound broken in from 8-10 but more even across the tone range.

I want to know the physical reason why this happens to older gear and if there is a way to speed up the burn in of new gear.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Gear Burn In?

I think it's a combination of actual factors and psychological ones. Speakers and tubes do break in. In your example of amp heads, each one sounds a little different naturally with all the component variances, and you get used to the way it sounds, and end up preferring it.

That's my theory at least.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Gear Burn In?

Certain components age and thus affect tone over time. Speakers, tubes, even the pickup's magnets age. Certain capacitors age differently depending on material. While there are parts that age and change tone over time, I also think that a great deal of the difference between vintage and new is placebo effect. In the guitar world the attitude of "it's old and therefore good" has gotten way out of hand.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Gear Burn In?

Old is good...depending on what kind of old we are talking about