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previous: IanR A Fuzz Face has 9 components on the... -- 8/29/2000 6:28 PM

Re: Chaos Theory and Parts Assembly Order

8/30/2000 6:16 AM
Hi	Re: Chaos Theory and Parts Assembly Order Some thoughts on this thread: 1) We obviously have reached an impasse on the search for quantitative data about the order in which parts are installed in a device; 2) As far as guitarists deciding that the "order-sensitive PTP" version sounded "better" than others is just the usual subjective stuff (after all, as we've all gone on about Eric Johnson may or may not be able to actually hear a difference in which end of the fuse is inserted into an amp, but as long as he does or thinks he does he's going to do it whichever way sounds "better" to him); this is like my contention that I can tell the difference between alkaline and carbon batteries in some types of fx boxes, or some types in proximity to others, but no difference in other boxes- I can hear the differences because I use the same gear over and over, I probably couldn't hope to tell about others' gear, and might not be able to tell with my own if I were listening to a recording of my gear at a later time, in other words, subjective ideas of what sounds "better" are just not (at least at this point in time) scientifically discernable; 3) chaos theory isn't about randomness, but the non-randomness of apparently random patterns. So I'm prepared to believe that the concept of what order components are put in a device might have some effect, and some people might like one version's sound "better" than another, I just think it probably doesn't, and if it does it's too much to worry about. IanR's post makes that pretty clear; if we're gonna worry about exactly which order to do the components in a stompbox are going to be soldered in, well hell, that's just more crap to worry about (even worse than "which of the 10,000 aftermarket strat pickups will make me sound BEST?!?"). If jacque and his friends can tell a difference, or THINK they can, more power to them. He obviously has a LOT more loose time on his hands than I do! Hi

8/30/2000 6:16 AM

Re: Chaos Theory and Parts Assembly Order

Some thoughts on this thread:
1) We obviously have reached an impasse on the search for quantitative data about the order in which parts are installed in a device;
2) As far as guitarists deciding that the "order-sensitive PTP" version sounded "better" than others is just the usual subjective stuff (after all, as we've all gone on about Eric Johnson may or may not be able to actually hear a difference in which end of the fuse is inserted into an amp, but as long as he does or thinks he does he's going to do it whichever way sounds "better" to him); this is like my contention that I can tell the difference between alkaline and carbon batteries in some types of fx boxes, or some types in proximity to others, but no difference in other boxes- I can hear the differences because I use the same gear over and over, I probably couldn't hope to tell about others' gear, and might *not* be able to tell with my own if I were listening to a recording of my gear at a later time, in other words, subjective ideas of what sounds "better" are just not (at least at this point in time) scientifically discernable;
3) chaos theory isn't about randomness, but the *non-randomness* of apparently random patterns. So I'm prepared to believe that the concept of what order components are put in a device might have some effect, and some people might like one version's sound "better" than another, I just think it probably doesn't, and if it does it's too much to worry about. IanR's post makes that pretty clear; if we're gonna worry about exactly which order to do the components in a stompbox are going to be soldered in, well hell, that's just more crap to worry about (even worse than "which of the 10,000 aftermarket strat pickups will make me sound BEST?!?"). If jacque and his friends can tell a difference, or THINK they can, more power to them. He obviously has a LOT more loose time on his hands than I do!
Hi

Replies:

jacques Re: Chaos Theory and coffee -- 8/30/2000 8:49 AM