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Comments
I love that Nick Jaffe video. It makes its point quickly and elegantly.
I don't believe in a perfect tone. I believe in a tone that fits the player and the music and the mix.
I also think that all I need is to know gear well enough to know what will get me in the general vicinity. An SG through a Mesa Mark I isn't going to get me REM tones. But I don't need a perfect, Stradivarius-wood Rickenbacker with handwound, vintage-correct pickups using alchemist-produced magnets into an AC30 that was left unscathed in the original Vox factory for 50 years in order to get them.
Get me in the right general area with the gear, and the rest is up to me.
And when a single vintage Fender can cost you more than buying one of each of the entire range of Reverend guitars, it really doesn't matter if two vintage instruments actually would offer more tonal variation than two modern guitars. The compassion is more like; 'do two vintage guitars offer more tonal variation than 120 modern guitars?'. Unlikely.
Next week I may watch a really inspiring guitar vid on youtube, be all buzzed up, pick up the same guitar and feel and sound (to my ears) amazing.
A good mindset, nicely set up guitar and an amp that doesn't sound like a wasp in a coke can is all you need.
I just wish I walked it like I talk it though!
However - I think quality instruments and gear are like quality tools - they reduce the barriers to getting good sound and therefore connect you more directly to the music. There's a TED talk from PRS that makes the point quite eloquently about instruments being essentially 'subtractive' - the energy comes from the player and is filtered through the gear. I liked that.
Fingerbard material also affects the tone and I although I have not done a blind test (that would be interesting..) I swear I can tell the difference between a rosewood and maple board.
I think there is more to this 'tone' thing than you first think and certainly with vintage, it is not clear cut.
It was quite the epiphany!
The last album recorded I sounded largely the same regardless of which guitar I used
I sounded shit
only kidding I sounded amazing regardless. But it didn’t matter if I used a tele/LP or Sheraton I think I largely sound no different on any of them.
What is far more telling when changing between guitars is how I play rather than what I sound like. I play more flamboyantly on a strat than I do a semi. I have no idea why but it’s true.