Tone is everything <fight starter>

[mykee99]

Yea...dude!

yap! i totally agree wif u,man!that's why i said it is the whole aspect that a guitar player made of...but in the other hand,if you play Malmsteem licks onto Ibanez JS Series guitar using Peavey Amp that will not make your tone like Malsteem, it might sound Malsteen but not the tone...and it's happen in the reverse. So Tone in IMHO is the very base character of someone playin the guitar.Tone is not limited to a Electric guitar only but to acoustic too which is dun need a whole million bunch of expensive stuffs. i've heard PG and Phill Keaggy Master Of Acoustic guitar direct live playin without any cables it is just a acoustic guitar...n it's totally different!they play the Kansas Old Tune Dust In The Wind and play just the exact compositon,and i wander why that can be differents? Of course...it is different because they just two different character!
So For those who out there,let your character comes out and show them!dun be a copy but create the new master print for others...he he he

Keep the Blast Licks Running,dude =)

 

[Musicology]

Tone definately comes from the gear and of course after that the touch. Tone is the sonic characteristics of the sound.

I believe Jimi's tone is somewhat special with lots of guitarists trying to emulate it today. His Roger Mayer octavia and Vox univibe and his Vox wahs are all either being reissued or built through schmatics. The magical twang and nuances in the tone from his sound engineers is really very unique.

It would be quite unfair to say a tone "suck" just because you have a distaste for it. Most of the tones of popular artists are not "plainly wrong" (in case there's too much distortion or bad frequency response or it doesn't fit the mix etc). You might not like it but you have to be able to at least appreaciate it.

 

[thor666]

it's difficult to emulate Jimi's sound. u'd need his custom effects, a reversed guitar (depending which side u're playing) and a relic'd or similar guitar with that kind of nitro & paint processed.

and of course, big hands to make the bends and vibratos well.

 

[wangdexian]

Tom Delonge sounds nice! I guess got to be his fingers!

:lol:

His sound is pretty nice, but with his Boogies, everything's gonna sound nice.
I'm a fan and I do think he sucks at playing. LOL. :twisted:

 

[wangdexian]

And a few people's tone that I like:
Eric Clapton
Ritchie Blackmore
Vai

And no, I ain't no guitar player. :?

 

[Musicology]

Don't forget the most popular of all guitar tones:

BB king.

 

[Vaiyen]

most popular? haha where did you get that from.

 

[cereal]

Tone that i like :
Jimi Hendrix
Pat metheney
Steve Vai
Paul gilbert - If only i can play like him juz by installing the humbucker from hell...heh heh

I tink u can never replicate someone else's tone. U can get close by getting the gear, but never totally replicate it. Its also all abt the perfections and imperfections from playing ur instrument tht forms the unique characteristics.

 

[vernplum]

Actually it's hard enough to replicate your *own* tone!

How man of you have sounded great one night and sucked another?

 

[Pulse_ironica]

Eric johnson!! kick ass tone man..

 

[pooo]

Actually it's hard enough to replicate your *own* tone!

How man of you have sounded great one night and sucked another?

Lol. Happens once in a while to me. I still think its got to do with the mood, setting.

 

[audio]

i always feel that i sound great.. :wink:

 

[cereal]

I still think its got to do with the mood, setting.

and also doesn't help if you got a nasty hangover.

 

[Musicology]

most popular? haha where did you get that from.

Can't think of a distinctive guitar tone more popular than bb's lucille. Maybe samtana ya?

 

[ChanMin]

BBking has great "feel".
and he sounds really warm despite being on a solid state amp.

SANTANA!!! now we talking... that guy has got great tone man.

 

[metallibeast]

Tones I really like

Vai
Eric Johnson
John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra
BB King
Jeff Beck

-Beast

 

[vaisms]

Hmm nobody likes Steve Morse? I think his live tone is really amazing..I don't know how he gets such warm and smooth tones from the 5150s when he plays with Deep Purple. I'm not dissing the 5150s but they are always known for their harsh tones and not to mention 'less than perfect' clean sounds. His setup is pretty simple..but his sound is enormous..esp his killer volume swells and clean delay tones...Hard not to believe its all in his fingers n soul..

 

[Timex]

Hendrix and Clapton. And they can both sing too

 

[Silk]

Ah tone. The topic that I seem stuck with now.

After reading the many replies to this topic, I realised that there were more contradictions than anything else. Replies which seemingly agree with one another contained a lot of said and unsaid 'buts'. It just brings the discussion onto a whole other track.

I have been thinking, ever since being claimed to have 'non existent tone'. What is tone? How do you define it?

However, that is not the point nor the what I will ask. It will just generate a whole new boom of replies.

This I question, in the same context, but a different manner:
How do you go about looking for this thing called tone?
How do you determine whether a tone is good, bad, sucky, or non existent?

 

[ShredCow]

How do you go abt looking for tone?
Use your ears. Whatever appleases you.

How do you determine whether a tone is good, bad, sucky, or non existent?
A couple of points.
1) When your ears tell you so.
2) When your tone is not clear/defined. Muddiness is never a sign of good tone.
3) When your tone interferes with other instruments in a band. i.e. Maxing your bass when you are the guitarist and your bassist is just overpowered.
4) When your tone is not consistant with the genre of music you are playing. Eg. playing jazz with death metal distortion is just wrong but playing jazz/metal fusion would be interesting.
5) When you go to an amp and throw everything on max. Never met anyone who does this other than new guitarists.

I hope this helps you Silk.