Originally Posted by: Andrew Sa
I dont know what it is, there is some subtle aspect to my playing that just makes what I play sound slightly worse than when someone else plays the exact same thing...if you get my meaning?

Yeah man - it's called the mind. I feel the exact same way as you whenever I play with another guitarist, and I think you'll find that this is the case for a good number of other players. We musicians are our own harshest critics (except, perhaps, for Ted Nugent :p), and we have a tendency to assume that the subtle differences in our playing styles are fundamental faults which we need to fix. More often than not, it seems, these differences are so subtle that we ourselves are the only ones who know that they're there!
Don't get me wrong, though - I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to improve. If there are aspects of your playing that you're not happy with them, see if you can try to work on them. Don't worry about them too much, though, is all I'm saying. :)

And I apologise if what I've said just now is patronising or you've heard it all before. :o