charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 We all hear about, and talk about, and chase (constantly) "Great Tone!" But, what IS "Great Tone," anyway? I know, I know...some of you are (probably) rolling your eyes, thinking "he's off his med's, AGAIN!" But, there's are billion dollar industry based around "Great Tone," So...it might be interesting to figure out, what it is...if that's even possible? Are there parameters, for "Great Tone?" Is one person's Great Tone, another person's trash tone? If so, why? Do you need only a guitar, or in the case of electric guitar, just a guitar, cable, and amp, to get "Great Tone?" Or, do you now require a plethora of pedals, interfaces, computer hardware, and multi-linked amps, to get "Great Tone?" GO!! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 It just sounds good to me. A good amount of mid range, some low and hi range and a moderate amount of gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Great tone is when you wouldn't change a thing. And then you do. Because you're a guitar player, and have access to screwdrivers and wrenches. And then you have to start again. Something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 It just sounds good to me. A good amount of mid range, some low and hi range and a moderate amount of gain. I agree, deeman...but, my "great tone" seems to change, almost daily! LOL It's like getting a new pedal, or amp, or even guitar, and "loving it," for a time...then, for some reason, it SEEMS to become less intriguing. So, I/We go for something else. Then we (often) re-discover the one we had abandoned, as "again" having "Great Tone!" So, I'm not sure, what "Great Tone" is, anymore. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Great tone is when you wouldn't change a thing. And then you do. Because you're a guitar player, and have access to screwdrivers and wrenches. And then you have to start again. Something like that. Yeah, we get it, (or, think we have)...then (nearly) immediately, "change it!" LOL CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Jimmy Herrings sound. 1.37 - 2.07 and 4.05 - 4.46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 It almost seems like "cooking," in that one needs the right ingredients, in the right amounts, at the right temperature, for the right duration, to achieve "Great" dishes. Yet, how many of you (that cook) have done all that, only to have it turn out, slightly different, every time? IS it really "Different," or just perceived to be, do to our mood, or circumstance (location, different brands of ingredients, than we're used to, cooking with glass, or stainless steel, etc., etc.. etc.), much like with "Great Tone?" What started this, was a recent concert I attended, where the guitar player had (what I thought of as) Great Tone, and he was using a Fender Twin Reverb (cranked), a cord, and his ES-335! It sounded "Awesome" to me, and there were no pedals involved, at all, save his tuner! Most of the music I grew up on, was made that way. IF there were any "pedals" it was only a "Fuzz box" and/or Wah Wah...that was it. So, maybe(?) I'm prejudice, to that sort of minimalist approach to "great tone," as opposed to having what are now the all too familiar pedal boards, and rack systems, to achieve "Great Tone." Or, is it merely great technique, that results in the best kind of "tone," regardless of "gear?" That's why I'm curious, as to what you all think, and how you approach it. Thanks, CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Charlie, man, you should have seen the amount of time I've put into my Epi LP PlusTop Pro. It sounded SO good out of the box/in the store. I've played guitar on and off for like 30 years, and this was love at first chord. I was expecting a shxt copy and got this gorgeous rich tone. But for whatever reason, Epis are set up with ridiculously high action. I eventually lowered it from medium (where it sounded amazing) to just a hair below medium which is where I want it. It took ages to get the tonal sweet spot back. One thing I read on I think Gibson.com is that the perfect pickup-to-action ratio makes the guitar have a natural vibrato. Subjectively,to me, it sounds more like it talks to me when it's just right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 The 335 and a cranked Twin will do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Charlie, man, you should have seen the amount of time I've put into my Epi LP PlusTop Pro. It sounded SO good out of the box/in the store. I've played guitar on and off for like 30 years, and this was love at first chord. I was expecting a shxt copy and got this gorgeous rich tone. But for whatever reason, Epis are set up with ridiculously high action. I eventually lowered it from medium (where it sounded amazing) to just a hair below medium which is where I want it. It took ages to get the tonal sweet spot back. One thing I read on I think Gibson.com is that the perfect pickup-to-action ratio makes the guitar have a natural vibrato. Subjectively,to me, it sounds more like it talks to me when it's just right. Well, I'm sure that all makes a difference. But, what IS that "perfect" pickup-to-action ratio??? And, won't that vary from person to person, even guitar (model or brand) to guitar? There feels like there's so many variables, that finding a consistent "Great Tone," is nearly a "tail chase!" LOL CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 The 335 and a cranked Twin will do! [thumbup] Yeah, a great guitar, and a great sounding ("cranked") amp, always seems to do it, for me! At least, that's where it starts! Everything else is coloring...IMHO. But, there's a lot of truth in the "Tone is in the fingers" and hearts, of the player, as well. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 For me there's no single definition beyond: Great tone is when your hands, your head, and your guitar all come together, propelling you forward and feeding your imagination... And the moment you're in, is the only moment you really give a crap about. Frustrations with day to day challenges we we all have, are no where to be found... you're free from it, .. that is until the jam, the gig, or even the song, is over and THAT my friends, is my Zen thought for the day peace, out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 For me there's no single definition beyond: Great tone is when your hands, your head, and your guitar all come together, propelling you forward and feeding your imagination... And the moment you're in, is the only moment you really give a crap about. Frustrations with day to day challenges we we all have, are no where to be found... you're free from it, .. that is until the jam, the gig, or even the song, is over and THAT my friends, is my Zen thought for the day peace, out! Yeah, then the challenge is, to be able to achieve that, over and over, and over again? CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Decent guitar players using decent guitars into decent amps all get good tone. Everything else is bullsh1t that people lap up because it means they won't have to practice to sound good. You do. Lots. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 CB: indeed it is. One thing I learned this last tail chase: fiddle with the gain. Factory spec pickup height with gain rolled back sounded better than full gain and lower pickup height. Then again, I found that an inbetween-setting works best. Long story short, this is what I mean when I say you have to get the pedal if you get the Blackstar TVP200. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody78 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Great tone? All subjective. I recall when I was a kid and had been listening to Slash and Angus Young all the time and I thought they had fantastic tones, then I discovered Led Zeppelin and I must admit, when I first heard Page I thought he had an awful, hideous, shockingly bad tone! I soon got used to it, but shows how subjective tone is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 ...and I must admit, when I first heard Page I thought he had an awful, hideous, shockingly bad tone! We called that "normal". rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Harmonics and harmonic distortion surely have something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 In a sense I think RCT kinda nailed it with: "Decent guitar players using decent guitars into decent amps all get good tone. Everything else is bullsh1t that people lap up because it means they won't have to practice to sound good. You do. Lots." Acoustic players, steel or nylon, will be pretty much the same sorta thing. I'd really emphasis the practice to sound good, too. My reasoning on that is my solid belief that "tone" can vary significantly by intent by a decent player of any style. I'm convinced the fuzz pedal actually was a way somehow to achieve a saxophone or "dirty trumpet" sort of sound. I've used a Leslie and emulators for a B3 sound when I thought it was appropriate, although it wasn't always... So again it comes back to decent equipment and solid technique - and sound-shaping "toys" when it seems appropriate on occasions. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I'd really emphasis the practice to sound good, too. My reasoning on that is my solid belief that "tone" can vary significantly by intent by a decent player of any style. Absolutely. You are attempting to convey something. The guitar and amp will only convey it if you will them to convey it, they have to be told what to do. A note played 6 different ways can convey 6 very different things depending on how it was played through the very same gear. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 RE: In that Joe Walsh used a Fender Champ on the James Gang recordings and there was a bit of tone in those songs .......... touch and technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 All valid points, and observations. I think the reason I loved the sound of just a good guitar and good "cranked" amp, was that it was always the basis, for what I considered, at least at that time, Great Tone. But, it was also very dependent on excellent technique, and "taste," in how things were played, regardless of any particular "gear," or genre. All the other stuff, is either "Marketing," and/or additive coloring, for any particular sound, beyond basic "Great Tone!" IMHO, as always. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 It's good if you like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 ...but, my "great tone" seems to change, almost daily! L Clearly there are many great tones.... the quest is not the find "the" tone, but rather all the great tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Clearly there are many great tones.... the quest is not the find "the" tone, but rather all the great tones. Too True, Surfpup! Each guitar and amp, and combination, has their own "Great Tone!' Just being able to constantly tap into it, is enough, I guess?! Trying to manage the eventual dissatisfaction, that always seems to come, for awhile anyway, is part of why I/We change gear or at least combinations, huh? Trying to keep it "fresh," yet familiar and pleasing, as well. The one thing I realize, now, is that the SG is "my" guitar, these days. No matter what amp I use, or other guitar, I always seem to gravitate back to my SG's. Odd, as I didn't even own an SG, for DECADES (since the '60's)! But, I DO play ALL my guitars, for various periods...then, back to the SG, and always the Ric-12-string, and a Fender (Strat or Tele), is never far away, either. (Heavy Sigh!!!)...I'm hopless! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.