The secret to good tone is...

Dave_Mc

^ well put.

Branshen

monquixote said:

The Science of Rhythm Guitar. 

It's awesome.

@monquixote I think I found lucky guy #2

we're talking about Tone right?

1. a good amp

2. at least one good ear.

Bellycaster

koneguitarist said:

Tone is what the piece of music demands.

Wisdom.

This is how to sum it up in 8 words. I wish I'd thought of that.

Edit: Oh, except for that Chi-Lites track I based a Thread on ;-)

bigjon

1) A Boss CS3 pedal with the Attack and Sustain dials up full.

2) A Strat on neck pickup or bridge-and-middle pickup setting, depending on context.

koneguitarist

Bellycaster said:

koneguitarist said:

Tone is what the piece of music demands.

Wisdom.

This is how to sum it up in 8 words. I wish I'd thought of that.

Edit: Oh, except for that Chi-Lites track I based a Thread on ;-)

Which thread ?

jellyroll

I'm just a novice and am prepared to be wrong......but aren't the above posts referring to timing/dynamics/musicality/something else when saying tone is in the fingers? Isn't tone about the quality of the sound .......which is primarily a function of the equipment?

ICBM

jellyroll said:

I'm just a novice and am prepared to be wrong......but aren't the above posts referring to timing/dynamics/musicality/something else when saying tone is in the fingers? Isn't tone about the quality of the sound .......which is primarily a function of the equipment?

Yes and no. It's a complex and probably inseparable combination of the two.

If you give two different players the exact same equipment and set it the same, they can often sound very different in tone as well as playing - even just on a single held note or chord… remarkably so. There really is a 'hand tone' which is separate from anything to do with the equipment, even if you take the phrasing etc out of the equation.

Equally if you give the same player two completely different set-ups, the result can be a very different sound. So there is a 'gear tone' which is separate from anything to do with the player.

koneguitarist

jellyroll said:

I'm just a novice and am prepared to be wrong......but aren't the above posts referring to timing/dynamics/musicality/something else when saying tone is in the fingers? Isn't tone about the quality of the sound .......which is primarily a function of the equipment?

No!

OilCityPickups

I wear lucky underpants ... that helps :-)

jellyroll

koneguitarist said:

jellyroll said:

I'm just a novice and am prepared to be wrong......but aren't the above posts referring to timing/dynamics/musicality/something else when saying tone is in the fingers? Isn't tone about the quality of the sound .......which is primarily a function of the equipment?

No!

So why do pros bother wasting money on expensive equipment?

koneguitarist

I think there are too many variables to say what tone is.

Part of the reason is everyone has a different view, not wrong or right just different.

Like art which divides opinion, it's what it does for the listener/viewer that's important.

Guitars pickups controls amps FX strings even picks change the tone that's not forgetting room acoustics, but more often than not you can still recognise that tone as belonging to the guitarist.

So to answer OP question truthfully and fully, everything and nothing is important.

timmysoft

The secret to good tone is just playing the best you can. Forget the gear, forget everything and just enjoy playing.

LastMantra

In this context tone is a made up word and can mean whatever you want.

koneguitarist

jellyroll said:

koneguitarist said:

jellyroll said:

I'm just a novice and am prepared to be wrong......but aren't the above posts referring to timing/dynamics/musicality/something else when saying tone is in the fingers? Isn't tone about the quality of the sound .......which is primarily a function of the equipment?

No!

So why do pros bother wasting money on expensive equipment?

Why do we all ? I know I have, yet at times for no discernible improvement in tone, but we do like new guitars and equipment that we hope will be final link in our quest for tone.

koneguitarist

How many players have gotten a signature tone from different guitars?

Mark Knopfler is someone who made it famous with a stock std strat, yet with money changed it for an ultra expensive Pensa Suhr, then changed completely to a LP tone, yet you instantly know it's Knopfler due to his phrasing and touch. So is his tone down to his guitars or hands or both?

daveww

Sometimes bad tones work but I guess it's all subjective.  The guitar tone on RHCP under the bridge is pretty horrible IMHO but it sounds great on that track.  Clapton's acoustic tone in the solos on Layla unplugged is thin and twangy but it still works well on that bluesy stuff.

Bellycaster

koneguitarist said:

Bellycaster said:

koneguitarist said:

Tone is what the piece of music demands.

Wisdom.

This is how to sum it up in 8 words. I wish I'd thought of that.

Edit: Oh, except for that Chi-Lites track I based a Thread on ;-)

Which thread ?

T'was this one.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/12045/the-worst-guitar-tone-you-have-ever-heard/p1

In the O.P.

People are entitled to their opinion, but my opinion of that tone was that "they got it wrong".

Horrid.

:-S

lento

monquixote said:

Number one is technique. Just been watching the Paul Jackson Jr video and by adjusting his technique he makes a Les Paul sound like a jazz guitar then a funk guitar without changing any settings.

 

 

 

lento

Now, this guy knows his stuff ....... and has been around a long time. A true master of the understated, phrasing, timing and tone !
If you didn't know, he was on most of George Benson's hits playing amongst some of the best studio players of the day.

Also, surprisingly turned up on Wood Beez by Scritti Politti. Another tone to die for ........ courtesy of a Rockman

ICBM

koneguitarist said:

How many players have gotten a signature tone from different guitars?

Mark Knopfler is someone who made it famous with a stock std strat, yet with money changed it for an ultra expensive Pensa Suhr, then changed completely to a LP tone, yet you instantly know it's Knopfler due to his phrasing and touch. So is his tone down to his guitars or hands or both?

That's his phrasing and touch - the actual *tone* is completely different between (say) Sultans Of Swing and Brothers in Arms. (And the amps are at least as important as the guitars.) But it's interesting that he also can, if he wants, get close to many of his previous recorded sounds using quite different gear.

So really it's all about everything . Most importantly about the way the player chooses to play the gear.