Perfect tone. Achieved! A one-off?

Hattigol

Ok, so, like everyone else on here presumably, I'm always looking for that perfect tone. The ultimate sweet spot where it sounds both perfectly clear yet driven. Full of bass but with the treble ringing through. Clear as a bell but never piercing. 

Well, last night in rehearsal, I got it. Bang on, exactly as I wanted it. It was absolutely perfect. First time ever. It was heaven. 

Problem is that I daren't turn my amp on this morning for fear it will be gone, never quite to return.

Jeeeeez, it was good though......

TheMarlin

Details - the guitar and the amp.  I get that with a Gretsch a bit of boost, and a Gibson GA15....lovely.

Hattigol

Gibson 1964 ES-345 VOS reissue
Vox AC15HW1X - into top boost channel and jumped across to normal so as to use both channels, master vol at around 50%
Josh Smith Dual Trem - set to 1.00 pm for slight gain
J Rockett Archer - gain low, output about 10.00 pm
TC Electronic Spark - kicked in for a boost on solos at about 10.00pm

TA22GT

You did it once and you can do it again! 

It's just believing that you can and going for it. Don't hold back wondering what will come out! Getting in the right frame of mind transcends your exact settings and produces magic!!
Good luck.

JerkMoans

Rumour has it that's what Prince achieved, a split second before he dematerialised and ascended to heaven.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Problem is, ''perfect" tone in a rehearsal room might not translate into "perfect" in a pub/club/open space...

Acousrics and all that jazz, apparently.

LuttiS

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

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Acousrics and all that jazz, apparently.

Nah man, pretty sure it's an electric type guitar.. he's got an amp and all!

fields5069

It was your ears. Don't wash them out, whatever you do!

kt66

Rickenbacker into 1963 AC30TB, had perfect tone for years, if only my playing was half as good.
Every read about pyschoacoustics? what affects how you listen , it's not just the equipment

Phil_aka_Pip

I once messed around with the signal from my cheap chinese plank via pedalboard, JTM45, SE100, thence to mixing desk. I found that to make it sound like Clem Clemsons Gold Top on the Colosseum Cologne gig in 1994 I needed to boost the signal by a few dB at around 1kHz. At least that's what it seemed like at the time. Shurely itsh not that shimple?

thegummy

I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect tone.

I like loads of different tones; at any particular moment I might prefer one over the others.

I think it's how you felt at the time; you'd need to replicate your exact mood and psyche to get that feeling again, never mind gear settings and acoustics.

Musicman20

I think mood, room, whether you are 'playing' well, and how the guitar feels on that day influences good tone....IMO....but gear obviously makes a huge difference.

flying_pie

A couple of months ago I recorded a riff for the ROTM challenge in the Making Music forum. I wanted a muffled lofi sound before the main guitar came in so I used a1w cigarette box amp and recorded it on my mobile phone. I thought it would sound suitably rough but it actually sounded much better than expected. I had to use some EQ and a phaser in Reaper to get more of the vibe I wanted. 

I think sometimes we spend so long chasing imaginary tone we miss out on the tone we already have. And a lot of the time it's more than good enough for the job.