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Does tone come from the guitar or the amp.

Basshole

By Basshole
in Gibson USA

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RichCI

RichCI

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You do realize that he recorder many many songs with a tele' date=' don't you?[/quote']

 

Yes. You do realize that's my point, don't you? For an example, listen to the solo in "Stairway to Heaven" on Zoso; it sounds like Jimmy Page playing a Tele. Why didn't he use a Les Paul for that solo? Because he wanted the sound of a Tele.

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RichCI

RichCI

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No shortage of opinions here so I'll throw my .02 in as well. Given the choice of only guitar or amp which was your question' date=' my answer would be the amp. I've heard very good guitars sound terrible in a bad amp and I've heard cheap guitars sound great in a good amp.[/quote']

 

+2

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Guitar slinger

Guitar slinger

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Yes. You do realize that's my point' date=' don't you? For a late example, listen to the solo in "All of My Love"; it sounds like Jimmy Page playing a Tele. Why didn't he use a Les Paul for that solo? Because he wanted the sound of a Tele.[/quote']

 

Very interesting. I did not realize what you was talking about. What about Led Zeppelin I? Or stairway to heaven solo? Most people thought it was a Lester... tough i can hear it's a single coil...

 

But what I think people are saying here, is that you'll still recognize that is Page. And all those other examples like SRV, Clapton, Beck... The tone might change when they change the gear, but it will sound like them.

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Guitar slinger

Guitar slinger

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And to give an really stark example' date=' there is no way that this sounds like Jimmy Page playing a Les Paul.

 

White Summer/Black Mountain Side

 

That does NOT sound like the tone he had on

- same concert.

 

Again, why did he switch guitars? Different sound.

 

 

I bet you would tell it's him if you heard that on the radio.

The one thing that could mess my argument is that different guitars inspires us in different ways - so much we can change our playing. I feel that every guitar I pick (acoustic, electric, whatever) makes me play something different.

 

Then I say it was both things. He switched guitars both to sound different and to play differently.

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RichCI

RichCI

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I bet you would tell it's him if you heard that on the radio.

The one thing that could mess my argument is that different guitars inspires us in different ways - so much we can change our playing. I feel that every guitar I pick (acoustic' date=' electric, whatever) makes me play something different.

 

Then I say it was both things. He switched guitars both to sound different and to play differently.[/quote']

 

Dude, there is no way that he has the same tone on both of those songs; if you're using crappy sounding PC speakers, I can understand why you might not hear as drastic of a difference but I assure you that they sound very different. I have a pretty nice speaker setup on this computer and I also own the DVD where those YouTube clips were taken from. The tones he was getting on those two songs are radically different. Period.

 

Sure, you can identify his style of playing no matter what rig he's using but that's where it ends; different gear gives different sounds. You're absolutely right about different guitars inspiring different playing; I go for different ones partly for that reason too but the other reason is that I want a different sound.

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Bram

Bram

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Oh, definately; different guitars for different purposes!

 

I like Les Pauls in almost every aspect, but I don't think they're always the best. Sometimes I'm missing the clarity, attack and woody tone that Strats or Tele's tend to have...

 

Actually I LOVE digging Strats for that woody, bluesy tone. Does it change the person behind the instrument? No...Does it change your personal feelings in music? No...Does it change the way you play? Yes, a little bit. A Strat/Tele sounds more 'acoustic'/woody to my opinion, so you have to work harder to get the tone you want. The notes don't blend together like on a LP.

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Guitar slinger

Guitar slinger

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Dude' date=' there is no way that he has the same tone on both of those songs; if you're using crappy sounding PC speakers, I can understand why you might not hear as drastic of a difference but I assure you that they sound very different. I have a pretty nice speaker setup on this computer and I also own the DVD where those YouTube clips were taken from. The tones he was getting on those two songs are [b']radically[/b] different. Period.

 

Sure, you can identify his style of playing no matter what rig he's using but that's where it ends; different gear gives different sounds. You're absolutely right about different guitars inspiring different playing; I go for different ones partly for that reason too but the other reason is that I want a different sound.

 

Dude, you overreacted lol

 

I didn't say it was the same tone - they are ENTIRELY different :)

I said you could still tell it was him. You're right, is the style, the lcks, riffs, phrases...

Sure he switched guitars to change the tone.

By the way, I'm really not using my AKG headphones now (they sound good to me) but the speakers of my imac are more than enough to hear the tone differences - you can miss it, even with terrible PC speakers.

 

I have a SG, a Tele, a Strat, 2 tube amps (tough one is SS rectified) and I've been playing for 10 years and listening to music for my whole short life - just 20. I spend whole afternoons in guitar shops talking and playing with different gear.

 

I'm telling you, I know different gear sounds different, otherwise I would have one guitar, one amp and one pedal, perhaps...

 

If you understand my last 2 or 3 replies you'll see that I AGREE with you =)

 

Best regards, mate

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RichCI

RichCI

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That's exactly it, Bram. You grab the right tool for the job.

 

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm ranting but, dammit, if some people don't think that different guitars will sound different in the hands of a given guitar player, why the **** did they spend all that money on a Gibson in the first place? If "it's all in the hands," they should have saved themselves a bundle of money and bought some POS guitar at Walmart because they obviously don't appreciate the difference that a Gibson guitar makes. Okay, the POS Walmart guitar won't feel the same, but your audience doesn't know any better and, apparently, neither do these guys.

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surfpup

surfpup

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I agree that most of the tone (not just note choice but actual "tone" comes from the player) My buddies will plug into my amps and twist a few knobs until they sound like themselves. I plug into theirs, and I do the same. It seems to me when we say tone is in the fingers, we mean it's the brain too. It's a ... "This is what I hear in my head" ... kinda thing. Toss in vibrato, phrasing, and attack and you've got the major component of a player's tone "in the fingers".

 

So maybe Tone= 50% player+20% guitar+20%amp+10% pickups/effects etc?

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RichCI

RichCI

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I agree that most of the tone (not just note choice but actual "tone" comes from the player) My buddies will plug into my amps and twist a few knobs until they sound like themselves. I plug into theirs' date=' and I do the same. It seems to me when we say tone is in the fingers, we mean it's the brain too. It's a ... "This is what I hear in my head" ... kinda thing. Toss in vibrato, phrasing, and attack and you've got the major component of a player's tone "in the fingers".

 

So maybe Tone= 50% player+20% guitar+20%amp+10% pickups/effects etc? [/quote']

 

Well, if you and they are twisting knobs on the amp, then that's not really coming from the actual playing; that's adjusting the amp.

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electricguitarist805

electricguitarist805

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i agree that it comes frm the player but........with my personal experience if u played a song on clean with a crappy amp and crappy guitar it will be horribl but do the vise versa alot better and to answer your question wat better guitar or amp its definetly the guitar bcuz i have a gibso les paul and it snds fine on my 10 watt but thats only if u stay in clean add in effects and thats a tottaly different story especially DISTORTION.....................and its not the hair or pick guard ehh its the..........costumes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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surfpup

surfpup

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Well' date=' if you and they are twisting knobs on the amp, then that's not really coming from the actual playing; that's adjusting the amp.[/quote']

 

Turning the knobs on the guitar would be part of the playing wouldn't it? Seems to me adjusting the amp is part of the playing too. It's all part of getting the tone you hear in your head. Why can 10 guys sound different through the same Marshall, Fender, whatever, setup? Because the tone comes from the player (or knob twiddler if you prefer).

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