What do you value most

[ptrallan01]

for giving you the best tone?

I don't have any special tone but since so many seem to be chasing it down what gets us there?

Thanks for the insights. Hopefully no incites! :D

Peter

[MrMike]

I remember reading an interview with Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam's guitarist/producer). The interviewer asked him what his tone secret was. His reply was, "It's simple. You take a great sounding guitar, plug it into a great amp, put a great mic in front of it, and record it with great gear." I think great tone is the result of the entire chain. Each link in the chain matters. If you plug a nice Les Paul into a cheezy solid state amp, you're probably not going to get the best tone. That said, our producer is fond of saying, "It's the boys, not the toys". He did a jingle with a cheap guitar, a POD and 250 bucks worth of software that wound up in a national ad campaign (he wouldn't tell me what it was). It's not just the tools, but how you use them.

[kewlpack]

A good musician can make good sounding music with whatever you stick in their hands (assuming they have hands!).

Great poll!
~A~

[Teleguy]

A good musician can make good sounding music with whatever you stick in their hands (assuming they have hands!).

Great poll!
~A~


Ditto!

[Old Believer]

It's the player. There are great players who one can recognize, no matter what instrument, amp, effects, etc. they are using.

[MrMike]

No matter what I play or plug it into, I find that, despite my best efforts, I always sound like me.

[Surfcaster]

I said musician, but I'm guessing it may be for a different reason than most of you. The reason I say it's the player is because of the way each individual hears things. Each individual will tweak the equipment they have in a way that gets them closest to their ideal tone...which is likely different for each of us...perhaps only in subtle ways, but different nonetheless.

I think it is obvious that overall tone is going to sound different with different equipment, but I will probably tweak it differently than someone else, so there is something uniquely "ME" about the settings that will be present no matter what I'm playing. However, if I play a $100 Jay Turser Strat-alike through a solid state Rogue amplifier and then turn around and play a Gibson Les Paul Supreme through a Diezel VH4, anyone listening would hear a difference. In fact, the rigs need not be as different as that for even the uninitiated to hear the difference. I may be able to coax a good, or reasonable good tone from each setup, but each will definitely be different, and everything in the chain contributes to that difference, including, but not exclusively, the player.

[kewlpack]

Oh ya! Something to keep in mind as we quest for tone:

(Edit: The first most important component of a person's tone... PRAYER! Give your will, talents, and desires to the Lord. Then listen to His answer. If the Love of God isn't in your tone - "it is clanging brass and jangling cymbals".)

The second important component of a person's tone is... BUDGET! How much do you really want to spend to get there? We can't all afford Dumbles or Two Rocks or Les Paul Supremes (well, I can't anyway).

The third important component of a person's tone is... RESEARCH! Study the tones you're after and find out how to get there within your predetermined budget (sometimes you can get there too, sometimes you can't).


Just wanted to offer those thoughts fer ya.
~A~

[Old Believer]

Oh ya! Something to keep in mind as we quest for tone:

(Edit: The first most important component of a person's tone... PRAYER! Give your will, talents, and desires to the Lord. Then listen to His answer. If the Love of God isn't in your tone - "it is clanging brass and jangling cymbals".)

The second important component of a person's tone is... BUDGET! How much do you really want to spend to get there? We can't all afford Dumbles or Two Rocks or Les Paul Supremes (well, I can't anyway).

The third important component of a person's tone is... RESEARCH! Study the tones you're after and find out how to get there within your predetermined budget (sometimes you can get there too, sometimes you can't).


Just wanted to offer those thoughts fer ya.
~A~

I have to agree about being prayerful when one plays. Prayer brings out our best for God.

BUDGET is important. I am very fortunate to have the gear I have, and it came at a cost. My dad died from cancer last year, and left me a small inheritance. He told me to spend the money on things I had always wanted. So I bought the Lester, and the Taylor. And a few months ago I was able to get the Mark IV. It's funny, I like my tone, and others have said my sound is good. However, I was not quite happy with my Vox AD120VT. Something just wasn't right. I really do think tubes do make a significant difference in tone. It's just unclear, to me, why. I guess it's all just subjective.

RESEARCH - That's another key. I learned from a very wise luthier/teacher that I had to study the works of the masters to actually be any good at guitar. So that's what I did. He also said to seek out a variety of styles. I learned some bluegrass, some Delta blues, some electric blues, and a lot of Rolling Stones, early on. Later I advanced to learning Thin Lizzy, and Allman Brothers types of music. I think we are all better players if we stretch out our boundries, and play outside the box.

[stephen]

I selected "other", cause I think it is a combination of things.

1) Prayer
2) Fellowship (the band, P&W Team)
3) Your heart: In the right place, for the right reasons.
4) Giving it your all, no matter what your level of musicianship.

I think an awful lot of ones tone is in their own fingertips. An example: EVH. He's changed equipment over the years, yet his tone is still similar. What hasnt changed? Eddie.

just my 2 cents werth.

[Teleguy]

I think our ears push us to set up an amp a certain way, pick a certain way.
The attack of the picking hand is probably infinitely variable, and we each fall into certain approaches to it, and habituate our attacks.

I know I used to be pretty heavy handed. Not much nuance.
Now with louder amps, and a Tele with quite a bit of cut through ability, I know I use more flesh of the thumb and less pick a lot of times.

[refin]

I've read all the posts here,and I think everyone has pretty much nailed it.I think it's important to be "instant in season and out of season" when it comes to equipment.There are two rules of thoughts here:
(1) A workman is only as good as his tools
(2) A good player can make anything work

Gee....let's add a third one.
(3) A workman with good tools can go to town!

This is no judgement call,but would you rather hear Neil Young on a D'Angelico New Yorker or Chet Atkins on a Silvertone?
I like Neil as a writer,don't get me wrong....that's his strong point.
Now,Chet on a New Yorker......Yipes! :shock:

When you are truly playing your heart out to the Lord,it frees you up from the entanglement of life and inspiration is abounding.I've had great days of playing with a fairly bad rig,and lousy days with my cream of the crop stuff.The heart truly is attached to the fingers.

[Micter]

I'll agree that as Christians it is very important to be lead by the Spirit but there are plenty of fantastic guitarists that aren't remotely interested in God. (That ain't a good thing) I say it is a combination of Guitar, amp, and talent. Tonewood does matter, the amp does matter, and if you don't have talent no matter how you try to sound good you won't be able to. I'm no guitar virtuoso by any means.

[TheViking]

when it comes to praising the Lord, you can sense someone playing, moved by the spirit or inspired by God. To me this doesn’t necessarily have to do with the quality of the tone or sound, but more what is behind the music. This aspect is spiritual.

When it comes to an actual sound, there is a wide variety of factors kicking in. I tend to choose electric guitars that sound good acoustically. Then I experiment with different strings in different gauges to find what in my ears sounds the best, and gives me the best playability. Then I want pups I know can pass on the acoustic qualities. Then I want an amp able to enhance the “sound” so I can make my final adjustments on bringing the sound to the audience. To me this is a process, based on prior experience and good advice from people with more knowledge and experience than me. These aspects are physical, although they have to do with taste as well.

However, it doesn’t help me a bit to have the greatest tone in the world, if my heart is not filled with Jesus. Twang, crunch or meaty blues sound aint gonna get me inside those pearly gates, Jesus is. But while I am here, I am gonna see to it that I am improving my sound and my tone, to give glory to God. When I am praising the Lord, I want it to be a joyful noise, not a pain in the ole butt kinda noise.

[Surfcaster]

I plugged my Surfcaster with the new DiMarzio p/ups into my Mesa F-50 before I came into work this morning for just a few minutes of jamming and I'm absolutely loving the tone. It just sounds incredible...these new pickups really breathed new life into that rig...not that it sounded bad before, but it's just SOOOOO good now.

Interestingly the difference, while noticeable and in a good way, is not as remarkable with the Vox Valvetronix. This just sort of reinforced the fact that it's not any one single piece of equipment that makes your sound, it's the combination of all of them. So, instead of seeing a certain piece of equipment as being the bomb, it's more of seeing what pieces of equipment will complement each other. Who knows, in another guitar and/or with another amp that JB might have been just the right pickup.

The scary thing about that is that there are so many different pieces of gear out there that there are at least thousands, and most likely millions, of possible combinations. Makes me feel lucky that I've found something I really like after only a dozen or so equipment changes.

Anyway, as some of you have been saying, in the end, God won't really care about my guitar tone, but I'm thankful to Him anyway, for the blessing of finding something that brings me joy.