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Post by hammeroff on Jul 31, 2007 23:47:15 GMT -5
Ahh, the great journey we're all on. Even the people we idolize are still on this search. Take for example Stevie Ray Vaughan or Joe Satriani; both of them have way different tones compared to the early days and their most recent performances.
So, I thought it'd be kinda fun to chat about this.
I first realized how cool good tone was when I played on a buddies rig. Our guitars played about the same, but I really liked the sound coming out of his amp better, and I seemed to play better because of it.
That's probably where it started for me. Since then I've spent a lot of money and time dialing in "good" sounds.
The only real progress I've made is to worry about one or two things at a time. Like, find the sound you want from you guitar, then adjust your amp to find the best sound from just those 2 pieces of gear.
Then hold those 2 pieces constant and adjust a third piece, like a wah pedal or an overdrive unit.
I dunno, anybody have any advice or experiences to share about their great quest?
--Matt
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Post by mlrpa on Aug 1, 2007 0:41:31 GMT -5
With me, I alway felt that the the tone that Robert Fripp had with the early King Crimson was the SOUND. So naturally I tend to use that in my quest.
First it starts with the guitar. If I need something with sustain, I grab for my Electra X155. Warmth? My Epiphone Genesis. Or whatever the sound is I'm shooting for. Then the Behringer V-Amp with compressor. Then the distortion, or whatever effect I'm using.
It all starts with whatever the sound in my head is. I have enough guitars, 23 or so, to get that sound, and I know my effects well enough to be able to sit and "dial in" what ever my mind hears.
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Post by gfxbss on Aug 1, 2007 5:36:38 GMT -5
woah, people think im over indulgent cause i have 8....
at any rate, my tone experience has been with rewiring the guitar more than anything else. the varitone has been one of my favorites. i just look at some of my buddies who are still using overwound pups and a super heavy distortion pedal and then think about how they have no tone.
Tyler
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Post by mlrpa on Aug 4, 2007 19:38:16 GMT -5
For your ears, they have no tone. To them however....
I try not to judge other peoples tones. That nasty distorted strat that worked for Jimi, I hated. Other people think it's the voice of the heavens. Go Figure...
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Post by gfxbss on Aug 4, 2007 19:47:45 GMT -5
well, thats fair enough. i am not much of a fan of pedals. i was at one point. but lately i just feel as if they are to much of a hassle for me to want to deal with. i prefer a nice sounding natural guitar and my technique. but for me and what im trying to express in my music, that is all that is needed.
Tyler
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Post by jkemmery on Aug 4, 2007 22:28:39 GMT -5
That nasty distorted strat that worked for Jimi, I hated. Other people think it's the voice of the heavens. Go Figure... I worship at the altar of Hendrix ... but I suppose we need to be accomodating to those of various faiths ... |
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Post by Ripper on Aug 7, 2007 7:32:00 GMT -5
Im on the fence about Hendrix...
He came up with wild riffs, and no doubt he was a master of the fretboard, but I think "Live" he sounded terrible. Lets face it fellas, he was booed off of the stage at the end of his career.
I know, as we all know that the sound studio can really make you sound better then you really are.
* I know im gonna take some hits for this one* hehe!
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drummer
Apprentice Shielder
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Post by drummer on Aug 7, 2007 8:03:47 GMT -5
"The Sound" for me is that of Alex Lifeson of Rush on their 2112 album, just listen to the begginning of "A Passage to Bangkok" and you'll understand  |
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Post by ux4484 on Aug 7, 2007 9:10:15 GMT -5
Amazingly, Lifeson's sound is quite easy to emulate with the multitude of multi-effects pedals out and about. Digitech has it pegged almost perfect in the included "packaged" sounds they ship with their stomp boxes.
I'm not so much about a tone as a style. What I do regularly as a player is not what I necessarily prefer as a listener....mainly because my ability is not at the level of those I admire.
I've always loved the style of David Lindley, especially the stuff he's done for Jackson Browne. We saw JB with Lindley over a decade ago, it was one of the few concerts where I was truly mesmerized by the solo's (especially his slide solo's).
I'm also partial to the stuff Jude Cole did for John Hiatt, they were a perfect mix.
Lastly, and this is not just as a guitarist, but as a producer of other guitarist's sounds, T. Bone Burnett. The guy is a genius.
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Post by dunkelfalke on Aug 7, 2007 9:28:01 GMT -5
the sound i personally worship is gilmour's sound on "marooned.
it is just like singing of angels.
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Post by jkemmery on Aug 7, 2007 10:55:28 GMT -5
Well, not exactly, and it wasn't for his playing. His live performances, many of which I have heard on bootleg, while not note-for-note perfect, he would miss notes from time to time, but, considering his touring pace, that was to be expected, were still pretty danged amazing. He was booed when leaving the stage because he had abondoned smashing his guitars and causing havoc, which the fans had come to expect. books.google.com/books?id=VbwXAfa8YKcC&pg=PA272&sig=03J_o7LSELb9lFeW8TzVJADyTNg#PPA197,M1 Still, I suppose taste is just that, a personal thing ... Now, I've got a little monologue about SRV's tone and the infamous Abigail Ybarra wound Fender pickups ... If you check out concert videos, such as Live at Montreaux, or Live at El Mocombo, you will notice Stevie playing a variety of guitars, in particular one yellow Strat that has chrome covered pups, which are obviously not those famous pickups everyone tries to duplicate ... and guess what, same basic recognizeable SRV tone ... another axe, which is obviously not a Fender but a custom Strat style guitar that is a sunburst body with binding and has "Stevie Ray Vaughan" inlayed in the fingerboard ... still the same basic tone. My point is that tone has at least as much to do with the rig beside the guitar itself as well as the guitarist himself or herself. So don't fall for some schtick about how a certain guitar, or a certain set up pups are "guaranteed to nail SRV's tone" or whatnot because there are several other factors involved. Not that it's not a worthy quest ... but I'd say spend as much, if not more time working on your chops as you do seeking that tonal nirvana. (I'm wondering now is someone will chime in on Kurt Cobain ...  ) |
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Post by wolf on Aug 8, 2007 0:02:01 GMT -5
Like gfxbass, I have shied away from pedals and guitar effects in general. I used to build special effects boxes, usually based on a Craig Anderton schematic. It's a lot of work (and expense) to build an effect from scratch and found it is not worth the effort.
Let's face it (especially since this is GuitarNuts), the greatest changes in tone are made right at the source - the guitar itself.
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Post by Ripper on Aug 8, 2007 9:15:17 GMT -5
jke...
What youve said about SRV just proves, I think what we all know...or should know.
I could play SRV's numbr one Strat, use his rig...the whole nine yards etc...
I still wouldnt sound like him.
Im going to get this put on a T-shirt in bold letters....
"TONE IS IN THE HANDS!"
True, I bought an SRV Stratocaster because I love his tone. But I am wise enough to know that though I may have some Stevie-like moments when I play, ill never come close to his genius.
"Talent does what it can, genius does what it must."
hmmmm?....another T-shirt??
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Post by jkemmery on Aug 8, 2007 10:33:27 GMT -5
I love it!If you print them up, I'll buy one. +1 dude. In college, I took a classical guitar class. It's striking how much your tone reflects your personality and mood. Confidence and agression, and likewise unsuredness and timidity can be heard when you play, which I could tell by listening to the others in the class. That and Malaquena are two of the things I learned in that class, besides the fact that I liked to "study" guitar much more than say ... doing resaerch for that sociology paper.
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Post by sumgai on Aug 8, 2007 19:36:42 GMT -5
deep, Bugs Henderson did say it best, in a song (naturally)...... ....... The man hit the stage, draggin' that ol' tweed box. The kid said "That won't get it", and the man said "We'll see". The man was gettin' down, he really had that sound. The kid said "What is it, I've got to have that tone!" The man said "Don't you get it kid, I'm the tone." And the moral of the story is it ain't the rig..... it's the man behind the pick. While I can't claim to have been there as a witness ( ), I can attest to the fact that it's all in one's soul. I've seen spastics play better then any non-Gawd level player, and when viewed dispassionately, it was because they were playing from their heart, not from the book (or the instructional video). The tone was what welled up inside of them, and came bubbling out with no regrets. You know it when that happens, regardless of who's playing what, a $50 Squier Affinity or a D'Angelico New Yorker. My T-shirt is gonna say "I'm the man behind the pick." People need a good laugh, and after hearing me, and seeing me have the nonnies to wear such a shirt, they'll laugh all right! ;D sumgai |
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Post by gfxbss on Aug 8, 2007 22:22:24 GMT -5
well, i do know how to screen print.......
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Post by hammeroff on Aug 8, 2007 23:48:14 GMT -5
I have a theory that having the right electric sound is as important as tuning your axe.
When you try playing a certain way and what comes out of your amp is way too distorted, reverbed, treb-boosted, etc, it just won't sound right, just like when you're outta tune.
Then again, I probably spend 5 minutes of every hour I play dinking with some control or another.
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drummer
Apprentice Shielder
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Post by drummer on Aug 9, 2007 12:04:29 GMT -5
Well, thats understandable we all love to fiddle with the controls! |
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Post by sumgai on Aug 9, 2007 13:58:24 GMT -5
I'm bummed, my guitar player won't let me fiddle with her controls!  sumgai |
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Post by quarry on Aug 9, 2007 15:59:15 GMT -5
Then again, I probably spend 5 minutes of every hour I play dinking... For a moment, I thought we had the same habit...  Then I noticed you wrote "dinking", not "drinking"...  |
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