charlie brown Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Ironic, isn't it(?), that those "holy grail" tones, that folks chase, with "just the right amp, guitar, and pedal board," were (originally) done (quite often) with minimal, to even "spartan" like equipment. And/Or, "in the board," when recording. Yet, folks will spend thousands of dollars, sometimes over and over, with multiple guitars, amps, pedals, to achieve what one guitar, into one amp, by a really talented player, did, on his/her own. I did the same thing, too often, as a kid... But now, I'm back, where I belong, to using minimal gear, to "play out," again. Yeah, I own lots (too much) of gear, still... but, I could easily pair down, most of it, quite substantially, and not really suffer much, if at all, tone wise. Why do we do it, really? Brainwashed? Ego gratification? What IS it? CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 To me variety is the spice of life and I wouldn't be content with one guitar and amp no more than I would with one pair of shoes,or pants or one type of food. I love having an arsenal of tones at my disposal and I'm always looking for not the perfect tone but another one that I find captivating-for a while lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Buying gear (musical) is fun!! I enjoy my guitars but it's time to start selling some bits off!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Yeah, we're all a bit fickle, tone wise, I think. And though, I'm all for "variety," it just seems kind of "silly" after awhile, changing "stuff" all the time. I mean, how truly different, can several (of each) "Strat's, Les Paul's, SG's, or ES guitars really sound, from on another. And, why would we buy any, but the best of them, in the first place? Never mind, the plethora of pedals, that do the same thing. But, that may be my (somewhat cranky) old age, "Devil's Advocate," speaking! LOL CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavsrock08 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I have never been that intrested in matching someone's tone. The three guitars and two amps I own now all serve a different purpose. I remember hearing the Edge from U2 state that the reason he has so many different guitars (and I would assume effects as well) is because they all sound different. Do we as guitarist need more of a reason than they all sound different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 I have never been that intrested in matching someone's tone. The three guitars and two amps I own now all serve a different purpose. I remember hearing the Edge from U2 state that the reason he has so many different guitars (and I would assume effects as well) is because they all sound different. Do we as guitarist need more of a reason than they all sound different? Well, it's a good excuse/rationalization, anyway. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 To me variety is the spice of life and I wouldn't be content with one guitar and amp no more than I would with one pair of shoes,or pants or one type of food. I love having an arsenal of tones at my disposal and I'm always looking for not the perfect tone but another one that I find captivating-for a while lol. That sums it up. Fortunate that we get bored and seek a change, really. What's good is when you recognise it on a recording or at a concert and your ears perk up - good tone is like food, and it's a complicated subject because it also involves the style of playing, IMHO...the right tone for the right part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I have never been really chasing a specific tone, I am more into variety of tones, whatever sounds good to me. As for a tone that I could call my own I know exactly what I like and how to get it from my gear...still I prefer and try to play with variety, I played my Strat today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich W Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 folks will spend thousands of dollars, sometimes over and over, with multiple guitars, amps, pedals, to achieve what one guitar, into one amp, by a really talented player, did, on his/her own. well said CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Well, believe me, I ask Myself, these questions, all the time! So, I'm not picking on anyone, about this. Just find it curious, and interesting, too. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 If I could afford to then I'd want to have the tone i can hear in my head. As it stands, I will have to make do with what Ive got (Until I get a job) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-poland Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Ironic, isn't it(?), that those "holy grail" tones, that folks chase, with "just the right amp, guitar, and pedal board," were (originally) done (quite often) with minimal, to even "spartan" like equipment. And/Or, "in the board," when recording. Yet, folks will spend thousands of dollars, sometimes over and over, with multiple guitars, amps, pedals, to achieve what one guitar, into one amp, by a really talented player, did, on his/her own. I did the same thing, too often, as a kid... But now, I'm back, where I belong, to using minimal gear, to "play out," again. Yeah, I own lots (too much) of gear, still... but, I could easily pair down, most of it, quite substantially, and not really suffer much, if at all, tone wise. most certainly! thats why I like that marshall major you had! now to plugin a LP into that and find a volume number that just WAILS!what more is there? well maybe a place to play? cb is 200 watts toooo much?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Yep. It's a fat crock of ****. I'm not really a "tone chaser". I get something that works for me and stick with it. I GAS like anyone else, but I like to think I'm not totally senseless anymore haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I never got into the chasing other peoples tones and buying gear to replicate their sound. I like my own sound and when I get new gear it's simply to add to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57classic Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I'll always look for some cool instrument, amp or pedal but I came to the conclusion long ago that it's in the fingers and I'll never sound like Peter Green or any other iconic player. I've got a sound which is all mine for better or worse regardless of what guitar I pick up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneakerpimp Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 a quality instrument, the right amp and one dirt pedal are all i need and i'm satisfied getting 'close enough' to my guitar heroes' tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavestate Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Why do we do it, really? Brainwashed? Ego gratification? What IS it? Brainwashed, so... Don't believe the hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Ah yes, the quest for tone... Well... It keeps us busy and off the streets It's something to spend our money on that is legal and not lethal It gives us something to talk about It creates inertia... Even if it is somewhat imaginary it give us something toward which we can work Plus, there really is something to that extra 10%. Yeah most Strats, Pauls, Plexis, Deluxes, Twins, PAFs, Fuzz Faces, Tube Screamers, EL34s, etc sound 90% the same... but that extra 10% really is the sh*t. The average person might not hear the difference, but who cares? We hear the difference, and searching for it is what we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morkolo Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I've been chasing "that tone" in an acoustic for years now and though I love the sound of Gibson's Advanced Jumbos and J45s it's the sound of a flat picked Martin dreadnought that does it for me the most. The bad part is I hear people play them on record, cd, cassette, youtube, etc. and it's always that wonderful tone... yet when I pick one up in person it's never what I'm looking for. The closest I ever came was with a Blueridge BR-180 that I owned for a short while but had to return because everything under the sun went wrong with it. Besides what would I do with my money if I didn't buy a guitar? More than likely just blow it on something else that will end up in the trash in a few years time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 I've been chasing "that tone" in an acoustic for years now and though I love the sound of Gibson's Advanced Jumbos and J45s it's the sound of a flat picked Martin dreadnought that does it for me the most. The bad part is I hear people play them on record, cd, cassette, youtube, etc. and it's always that wonderful tone... yet when I pick one up in person it's never what I'm looking for. The closest I ever came was with a Blueridge BR-180 that I owned for a short while but had to return because everything under the sun went wrong with it. Besides what would I do with my money if I didn't buy a guitar? More than likely just blow it on something else that will end up in the trash in a few years time. That's because the "acoustic tone," on record/cd/dvd, has been augmented, even altered, to sound the absolute best, it can. Compressed (too much so, at times), as well. I admit, one of the nicest acoustic tone, I've experienced for myself, was strumming, and finger picking a Martin 000-28EC. God, what a lovely tone, and sustain, it had! Just wish I would have had the funds, to pick that one up! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 For me personally I buy gadgets and boxes because in the band I am in we play other peoples material. In those cases I want to at least sort of come close to those sounds even if it is not a tone I would dial in naturally. Then there is my personal sound that I like and use for original music or where I feel that tone would fit well with a cover tune. When I play/practice at home I almost always go straight into the amp. In my band I have 6 pedals that I use and there are 2-3 more that would help me reach some other tones. One other thing is that sometimes our choice of tone can change - what I like today may not be the same as 2 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valeriy Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 A variety of guitars this is partly the result of searching of guitar manufacturers to get a good sound often by means of the same traditional way. And indeed herewith different kinds of wood (and processing, drying etc) do affect and create a different tone sound. Because traditional pickups (with a magnet and coils) give a quite weak signal, it is not much more than the signal from the microphone, therefore, this effect (from body, wood on the sound) is sufficiently large. And we, of course, as usual consumers, buy these different guitars because we feel that different sound. If guitar firms learn to get good sound by means of the pickups and active electronics into the guitar, and thereby reduce the impact of body, wood, I think the variety of guitars can be reduced to too a few basic models (Les Paul - humbuckers, Strat - singles, semi-acoustic etc ). Because the component of the sound from the wood will be negligible compared to the strong signal after the pickups and the electronics. By the way in this case, the problems of the Gibson with federal raids confiscating expensive types of wood will be much less :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 For me personally I buy gadgets and boxes because in the band I am in we play other peoples material. In those cases I want to at least sort of come close to those sounds even if it is not a tone I would dial in naturally. I remember those day. Playing cover tunes live and trying replicate the what they did in studio. Buying more and more pedals to try an emulate what was going on the CD. I guess I'm a purist in that regard. A little delay / echo and some overdrive would be my preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I remember those day. Playing cover tunes live and trying replicate the what they did in studio. Buying more and more pedals to try an emulate what was going on the CD. I guess I'm a purist in that regard. A little delay / echo and some overdrive would be my preference. When ever possible I try to get the artists' live sound because there is so much more you can do to perfect the sound in the studio. But, yeah for my personal stuff I prefer to go straight into my dumble clone which really doesn't even need reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinner 13 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 a quality instrument, the right amp and one dirt pedal are all i need and i'm satisfied getting 'close enough' to my guitar heroes' tones. I have gone both ends of the spectrum over the years, and I too have come to find simple is better, at least for good raunchy R&R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.