Vestapol Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 We all live the mythic tone-quest. :( Where does your tone come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuaLeaD Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 I time-travel to 1980 on the weekends and take lessons with Randy Rhoads...He's been showing me some bombass licks!! \m/ \m/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestapol Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 I time-travel to 1980 on the weekends and take lessons with Randy Rhoads...He's been showing me some bombass licks!! \m/ \m/ Thanks, Dual. If I follow you, I'm doing something similar with Hubert Sumlin. But dual lead practice with Randy...wow. But here's the question: To get Randy's tone, is it the make & model of your guitar? The wood? Yer strings? The pups? Or is it yer amp settings? Yer pedal(s)? What's your key to gettin Randy Rhoads' tone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 To get Randy's tone, is it the make & model of your guitar? The wood? Yer strings? The pups? Or is it yer amp settings? Yer pedal(s)? What's your key to gettin Randy Rhoads' tone? The key to Randy Rhoads' tone...is Randy Rhoads. -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuaLeaD Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The key to Randy Rhoads' tone...is Randy Rhoads. -Ryan Ryan is right, but a Les Paul Custom, Vintage Marshall tube amp, and Altec speakers is a good start.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazytrain513 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Ryan is right, but a Les Paul Custom, Vintage Marshall tube amp, and Altec speakers is a good start.... randy used celestion i believe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 randy used celestion i believe? No. Most of His cab where equipped with Altecs. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamrockGuitar Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 My fingers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Thanks, Dual. If I follow you, I'm doing something similar with Hubert Sumlin.... But here's the question: To get Randy's tone, is it the make & model of your guitar? The wood? Yer strings? The pups? Or is it yer amp settings? Yer pedal(s)? What's your key to gettin Randy Rhoads' tone? The key to Randy Rhoads' tone...is Randy Rhoads.-Ryan +1 for Ryan. Randy would have sounded like himself given any decent guitar with approximately 6 strings attached. What made him sound the way he does is his technique, his phrasing and his choice of notes - all combined into the final result. Similarly Hubert Sumlin sounds like Hubert Sumlin for precisely the same reasons. You can emulate him with a cheap Jap LP copy going through a $40 s/s amp and, if you play the right notes with the right feeling, it will sound great. "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." Concentrate on the fingers. The tone will follow. We all live the mythic tone-quest. :( Where does your tone come from? I'm 100% certain the 'Tone is in the fingers and the picking technique' is the answer. It certainly accounts for about 95% of what I consider to be of value. I've pretty much triumphed in my personal tone-quest. I'm very happy with my sound. Apologies (sort-of-but-not-really) if that sounds far too smug. P. (AKA Mr. Smug). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy60 Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 my tone mostly comes from my gear. when i use other gear, i can still tell it's me playing, but it doesn't sound as good as when i'm playing through my own heavily-modded rig.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertAndersson Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 With my precious LP Custom, I can create a greater range of tones than ever before. It responds faster and more distinct to my fingers than any other guitar I've played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I find all this "Tone" discussion sometimes a bit odd really. I think I do know what people mean by it but it still sounds odd to me. If I play midi through guitar then the tone - whatever "patch" (unless it is a guitar patch) it is sounds completely different from me playing guitar. Sometimes the guitar patches will sound different but that is mostly down to tracking issues. But of course I also change my style when "playing" other instruments. When people talk about "tone" do they (sometimes) really mean style? Of course, for guitar I do have settings on amp and effects that I tend to use a lot and that - in conjunction with my style (such as it is) - goes to make in this more generic reading - my "tone". However, when I listen to other guitarists what stands out for me rather than any amp or particular sound that is associated with the person, is the style - phrasing, picking, chord play, solo constructions and so on. To me, if BB King played a trumpet he would still sound like BB King. Now whether he would call his trumpet Lucille is another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertbluesman Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 My tone comes from my head, my fingers, my long time love of electric guitar, aided by the instrument, the pickups, the strings and the amp/speakers I use, all of those have a little something to do with tone. I have/had a range of guitars from Les Paul's, SG's, to Strats, Tele's to Ibanez RG's, and Ibanez Artists, a Gibson ES345, a Gibson Firebird, a Philip Petillo Custom made, and a homemade tele/strat hybrid with Duncan pups, and I can get similar tones from all of them with EQ adjustments and a boost for the single coil (Noiseless pup) instruments. The tone comes from the study of tone, and the love of playing. (my humble opinion & my $.02) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuaLeaD Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Look, I'm gonna be the party-pooper here and say that tone has NOTHING to do with technical ability other than "Are your hands making sure those strings are vibrating at their full potential?". Obviously, if you're tripping over frets and chords, the guitar will not sound the notes correctly. Having said that, it is almost entirely GEAR-related. Just about all of the trash at Guitar Center will make my $7,000 1965 Custom Shop Firebird VII sound like trash as well....Same with my Les Paul Supreme, or any of my Rickenbackers.... So as much as I want to agree with you guys and say it's the player, TONE in the most pure definition of the word, is 90% about gear in my opinion. The question was not what makes a great guitarist, but where TONE comes from...and if it's about the sonic quality of the notes, then you have got to look at the gear. I have had not so great guitar players play on my axes and they sound pretty decent. All the guitar prowess in the world is not going to compensate for **** pickups, improperly setup guitars, and people that don't know how to dial in their amps correctly on some Line-6 garbage heap.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertbluesman Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Look, I'm gonna be the party-pooper here and say that tone has NOTHING to do with technical ability other than "Are your hands making sure those strings are vibrating at their full potential?". Obviously, if you're tripping over frets and chords, the guitar will not sound the notes correctly. Having said that, it is almost entirely GEAR-related. Just about all of the trash at Guitar Center will make my $7,000 1965 Custom Shop Firebird VII sound like trash as well....Same with my Les Paul Supreme, or any of my Rickenbackers.... So as much as I want to agree with you guys and say it's the player, TONE in the most pure definition of the word, is 90% about gear in my opinion. The question was not what makes a great guitarist, but where TONE comes from...and if it's about the sonic quality of the notes, then you have got to look at the gear. I have had not so great guitar players play on my axes and they sound pretty decent. All the guitar prowess in the world is not going to compensate for **** pickups, improperly setup guitars, and people that don't know how to dial in their amps correctly on some Line-6 garbage heap.... I do agree that tone has a lot to do with the equipment, knowing which equipment to use is part of the tone experience. However one time long ago this guy came into a jam with the rattiest looking strat I ever saw, one pickup and wires hanging out all over the place, he plugged into some awful solid state amp (I am talking late 60's here) and when that guy started playing everyone in the room just jaw dropped at the sound he was getting outta that bunch of junk. So tone is also a matter of knowing what you got, and knowing how to use it. I have had the very best of the best instrumentation and amplification over the years. And when I worked for a living I did very very well, and could afford anything I wanted, especially after my kids were grown. Now I play cheap guitars into cheap amps, and I can truthfully say my tone has never been better, because nowadays I listen to what I am putting out there more than trying to play a million notes a minute. I did take lessons from Emily Remler and Bob Aslanian (Bob was one of Al DeMeolas guitar teachers) What I got from Emily was "flavors" how to listen to what I was putting out there as if I could taste it, before that I was just playing scales over changes, she also taught me a bunch of theory, Bob was much more educated musically, and much more technically advanced he played Bach fugues on the guitar, and could sound like a whole Orchestra all by himself. Both were amazing musicians, one dripping with feeling, and the other one astounded with technique. But tone in my humble opinion is at least half skill and half equipment or thereabouts, No offense amigo however, differing opinions make for better debates. I do agree tone is definitely related to your gear. I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp when out jamming, and an Epiphone Valve Jr head for daily practice. I can get amazing tones from my 99 buck Valve Jr head. Of course I need pedals to get that done. The Hot Rod Deluxe was at best a mediocre amp when stock and the tone was rather lousy when I bought it. But I upgraded the speaker to an Eminence Tonespotter, and put in JJ tubes from Bobbo at Eurotubes (I have no financial or busines interest in Eurotubes) and what a difference. I do have to use a tube overdrive stomp into the clean channel of the HRD, as the drive channel is still a little tinny sounding, but it sounds way better than any amp I ever owned, and I have had them all from a Marshall Plexi in the late 60's, Black Face Deluxes, Black face Bassman, Peaveys, Twins, Pro Reverbs. Mesa Boogies (3 of those) and my HRD blows them all away for pure beautiful tone..... I did have this amp one time called a Fender 30 (I think it was Rivera era) and that amp rocked, I miss it big time but I gave it to my kid when I got my first Boogie and never saw it again. I think that one was a real tone monster if I can remember it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 My mood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I think the different answers reflect the music under consideration by the individual posters. I don't doubt that many shredders might get much of their tone purely from the choice of kit used but other styles of play - such as that of B.B. King - rely almost exclusively on touch. I'm not putting down shredding, BTW - I certainly can't even get anywhere close to that level of exactitude - but perhaps tone is of secondary importance to digital dexterity? IDK. Joe Bonnamassa recently had a jam with Clapton in rehearsals at the Albert Hall. Clapton is his idol - he wore out the 'Beano' learning his craft. When Clapton plugged his Strat into his Fender amp JB swears he sounded exactly like he did when playing his LP and Marshall combo. Kit is important up to a point - but depending on your style of play, touch is much, Much more important. IMX. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 It hit me yesterday night: I sound the same on my Classic Custom as on my Tele. Difference is purely how bright or dark one or the other guitar naturally sounds. So I have to agree: fretting fingers and picking attack are mostly responsible for tone. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 It hit me yesterday night: I sound the same on my Classic Custom as on my Tele. Difference is purely how bright or dark one or the other guitar naturally sounds. So I have to agree: fretting fingers and picking attack are mostly responsible for tone. Cheers... Bence One thing you might try which I have found quite fun (pointless, but fun nontheless) is seeing how close to your Tele you can get your LP to sound and vice versa. With a bit of care, different pick-attack and some judicious amp-fiddling it's almost (but not quite)possible to recreate a Strat's o-o-p sound with a (regularly-wired) Lester... Go on; try it. You might surprise yourself ! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauloon Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 To me, if BB King played a trumpet he would still sound like BB King. Now whether he would call his trumpet Lucille is another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 One thing you might try which I have found quite fun (pointless, but fun nontheless) is seeing how close to your Tele you can get your LP to sound and vice versa. With a bit of care, different pick-attack and some judicious amp-fiddling it's almost (but not quite)possible to recreate a Strat's o-o-p sound with a (regularly-wired) Lester... Go on; try it. You might surprise yourself ! P. Hello Pippy! Been there already! The Tele with both pickups in serial sounds just like a Les Paul's neck pickup, while the CC, - with Wah used as filter - sounds quite like the Tele out-of-phase in parallel. This is great fun, indeed! I enjoy playing with all the settings and effects. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestapol Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 Hello Pippy! Been there already! The Tele with both pickups in serial sounds just like a Les Paul's neck pickup, while the CC, - with Wah used as filter - sounds quite like the Tele out-of-phase in parallel. This is great fun, indeed! I enjoy playing with all the settings and effects. Cheers... Bence My 1965 Mustang...when I play both pickups out of phase, tone all the way off...sounds almost exactly like a goose. Tone's not comin from these deft fingers, friends.B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 My 1965 Mustang...when I play both pickups out of phase, tone all the way off...sounds almost exactly like a goose. Tone's not comin from these deft fingers, friends.B) Hello Doug! I am quite sure it still sounds like You. I can add an Octave pedal to the line, but no way I am going to sound like Bootsy Collins... Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 My 1965 Mustang...when I play both pickups out of phase, tone all the way off...sounds almost exactly like a goose. Tone's not comin from these deft fingers, friends.B) ...or so you think.... (J/K, BTW.....) Vestapol, I'm sure we are each talking about quite different things when we use the word 'Tone' in this thread. It goes without saying that there is bound to be a basic SOUND which will be the result of the equipment being used. That's what you are describing in the above statement. Unfortunately (from the viewpoint of 'clarity of discussion') the word 'Tone' can also be used to describe the very same thing. What I and others have been writing about is how each of us can extract a different character of sound even if we were to use exactly the same set-up. Gary Moore as opposed to Peter Green, perhaps? If Bence, say, was to play my LP through my amp he would not sound like me. He would sound like him. It is this character that I consider when I'm talking about 'Tone'. Think about it; if you use a different pick-attack you will sound different from when you flat-pick. If you use your thumb and fingernails you will get a different sound. If you use a different pick material, even, you'll get a different sound. How you choose to fret a note - adding vibrato or not; bending the note or not; etc. - will change the final character of the note. How you, yourself, make the strings vibrate from note to note will, in all certainty, be different from how I would do so myself. The fundamental Sound would be the same but the actual Tone will be different. 'Canada' V's 'Greylag', perhaps? P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestapol Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 ...or so you think.... (J/K, BTW.....) Vestapol, I'm sure we are each talking about quite different things when we use the word 'Tone' in this thread. It goes without saying that there is bound to be a basic SOUND which will be the result of the equipment being used. That's what you are describing in the above statement. Unfortunately (from the viewpoint of 'clarity of discussion') the word 'Tone' can also be used to describe the very same thing. What I and others have been writing about is how each of us can extract a different character of sound even if we were to use exactly the same set-up. Gary Moore as opposed to Peter Green, perhaps? If Bence, say, was to play my LP through my amp he would not sound like me. He would sound like him. It is this character that I consider when I'm talking about 'Tone'. Think about it; if you use a different pick-attack you will sound different from when you flat-pick. If you use your thumb and fingernails you will get a different sound. If you use a different pick material, even, you'll get a different sound. How you choose to fret a note - adding vibrato or not; bending the note or not; etc. - will change the final character of the note. How you, yourself, make the strings vibrate from note to note will, in all certainty, be different from how I would do so myself. The fundamental Sound would be the same but the actual Tone will be different. 'Canada' V's 'Greylag', perhaps? P. Good point, well-said, Pippy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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