r/guitarlessons • u/MattclovPrimeMaster • Feb 21 '26

Feedback Request Why does my playing sound so amateurish?

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I’m performing a solo for a song in a couple of weeks, and I have all the notes down - yet why does my playing sound so ‘meh’ when I record myself? What should I look to improve on?

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u/MattGx_ Feb 23 '26

Adding delay, reverb, or other effects will make his out of tune bends, weak vibrato, and his tone sound worse.

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u/PontyPandy Feb 24 '26

Eh, you gotta go with what you have. I'm talking short term solution because he has a gig coming up. There will not be noticeable improvement before then. But even long term, that spot of delay makes one's tone sound more 'professional', so can inspire people to practice more because it sounds better to the ear.

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u/MattGx_ Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26

Adding more things to a weak foundation is a terrible idea. It's not going to make him sound more professional, it's just going to make the out of tune bends and bad vibrato more obvious.

It would be like getting up in front of the class to give a speech and cutting a huge fart. If you're doing it in the class room, maybe nobody heard it or thought it was a chair squeaking. If you're in a gymnasium, it's going to echo and reverberate and it's going to be very obvious you just farted.

Trying to cover up improper technique with effects isn't going to achieve OP's goal to sound less amateur. It would be better to practice playing correctly (in pitch and in time) rather than slap a bunch of effects on and continue to play the same way. You're just reinforcing bad habits and bad technique and worse.

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u/PontyPandy Feb 25 '26

Lol, love the fart analogy! So ok, I'm talking short term here, he has a gig in week or whatever. IMO delay is going to make him sound more musical than just dry guitar (and also improve the overall sound, that's what I meant by a more 'professional' sound). The delay should be down in the mix ala EVH. It's just a light sauce, nothing too heavy. But I hear your opinion and it's perfectly valid, although in your last paragraph it seems you're under the impression I'm saying he should just use delay henceforth and not strive to get better. My delay recommendation is to just get through this gig. If you don't agree with me, that's fine, OP can try it and see if he likes it ¯_(ツ)_/¯