Such change in perception is almost inevitable. I suffer from the exact same thing - record something today, feel ecstatic about it and a month later it sounds like crap.
The main reason for this to happen is due to our mindset. When I listen to the guitar tone of an album done by the big guys they always sound fantastic, even if it's the Judas Priest 'Rocka Rolla' album. But my stuff, I can't praise them long enough.
Human psychology can be a b**** at times. I know I'm an amateur in the sound engineering field, and my mind's always telling me that I'm learning. So subconsciously, as time passes by a layer "skepticism" gets embedded into my mind. The result: my work in the past turns inferior to my work in the present. Like attracts like. When I believe that I'm gonna improve I'm subconsciously embedding the fact that my previous work is gonna suck a while from now. It's obvious - when we make something better the previous stuff turns inferior without us even knowing. Ponder upon this and it'll make sense in the long run.
Now about the mystery why the guitar tones produced by the big guys always seem fantastic no matter what - It's simple. When I look upto them as if they are Gods, my perception would never change. To me, that's the ultimate tone. My mind isn't really attracting any "change of perspective" when I listen to them.
Do this: Pop in Trivium's Shogun. At first you may think that the tone is perfect. But listen to it over and over again. Literally meditate over the album and think to yourself, "Hmm, the guitar tone lacks the bite" and truely believe in what you said. You'd be surprised soon. I experimented on that, and now I think the guitar tone is way too smooth. *I do regret it, though*
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Now for the solution (never 100%, but enough to keep you satisfied). Use reference material. Limit your reference materials to the genre you are working on. Make up your mind of what kind of a tone you really want. If you want an Old-Skool Heavy Metal sound, would it be really wise to go for anything other than the Marshall JCM series or similar? Why the hell would you wanna use a Dual Rect for it? *Unless you're looking for a different sound. But really, now is not the time*
1. Choose the correct tone before tracking. But keep the pre-processing really really mind. No more than a 4 band EQ (mild!), and maybe some compression/gate. But this should be just the tone you want. Basically, follow the "simplicity is the best policy" rule. Guitars are such instruments that don't LIKE major tweaks, especially in rock/metal music.
2. After tracking, use hipass and lowpass EQ according to taste. I wouldn't suggest that you keep anything below 80hz and above 12khz. But then again, your taste is what's important here.
3. Record 2 or 4 tracks. Never post process before you actually have 2 or 4 tracks lined up.
4. Solo the tracks, and use a spectrum and stereo image analyzer (Like the Waves PAZ Analyzer). See if the guitars are wide enough. And DEFINITELY look for
spikes. What you need to do now is get rid of HUM, HONK and FUZZ. Getting rid of these are mandatory for anything ---->
Use a good EQ and notch the spikes out by -12db with a Q of 6.5.
>Below 250Hz. Try to get rid of 3 to 5 spikes in that region. That would get rid of hum that would otherwise make your tone muffled.
> Look for about 1 or 2 spikes around the 900hz area. Notch them out, and that would give your tone much more clarity, reducing the honk.
> Above 4khz to 11khz. Notch out around 4 or 5 spikes in the region to get rid of fuzz.
> Terminate everything above 11khz
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Now, that was more of a production hint rather than a "music psychology" hint- But it's related if you take a bird's eye view - it's all for helping your mind develop and hold subconsciously the fact that You are a great sound-engineer. Of course, it's gonna take some time. Keep on working this way. Oh and yes, experiment, experiment and experiment. Be the God of your own mind.
Best of luck and let me know when you notice a difference, and I'm gonna inform you when I do.
Cheers!
p.s. The f****** plectrum matters. Trust me. I typically use plectrum of either 0.99mm or 0.96mm. And of course, play as clearly as possible. A sloppy pick hand would generate noise which the mind would eventually interpret as being "part of the tone"
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Something that happened recently:
I had an old crt monitor (6 yrs old) that started flickering and making a really irritating hiss. I could never work in the room. It seemed as if it was driving me mad. 2-3 days later I could still hear the hiss but it seemed normal to me. In fact, when I'd turn the monitor off it would seem as if something's missing :S
Later, a few friends of mine came by for a visit and they couldn't stay in that room
They told me they felt as if someone was poking them with a needle into their ears.
Basically, I got used to it. heh!
The human mind can be a b****.
Oh well, I threw it away anyways.
And no, I didnt damage my hearing. I turned it on again before throwing it away, that too after a week of not using it. And I felt irritated again
