The secret to good tone is...

seany65 · April 2014

koneguitarist said:

seany65 said:

For me:

1) Short nails on both hands. On the left hand, this allows proper fretting, especially for chords. On the right hand it keeps them out of the way.

2) Play nearer the neck or the bridge (only really works when using open strings or fretted strings up to the 12th fret).

3) Change the angle of my plucking fingers. Straight 'classical' style (finger ends pointing at the floor) for a brighter tone, angled (fingers pointing more towards the lower horn of the guitar) for less bright tone.

These are most useful with an amp set 'clean'.

Sorry but disagree with most of this especially number 2.
Which pickup and where you play can have a huge effect on tones. For example if I want a gretsch tone I Would often use a neck pickup but pick hard close to bridge saddles. Where you pick with hybrid style you can use nails to get sharper clearer tone similar to pick attack, without nails you just cannot get the same attack.
FWIW I keep all my nails short, but I know some guitarists who use long nails.

koneguiatrist, you've confused me a little.

I presume you disagree with my statement that playing nearer the neck or bridge really only works when using open strings or up to about fret 12?

Well, for my ears, that's true. For your ears there may be a difference even when fretting at the 22nd fret.

I also explain, in my own way, that I think the tone changes depending on how you play using your fingers, and you say you disagree, but then you go on to explain that you think the tone can change depending on how you play using your fingers, albeit with a plectrum in a hybrid style.

We both think where you play, nearer the neck or bridge, and how you pick/play, affects the tone.

It seems to me, that you think you disagree with me, but in fact you agree with me.

koneguitarist · April 2014

1 nails versus fingertips -large difference in tone, you say keep them short so you can't use them? Classical players use long nails for tone so does flamenco players. My point again with country players using hybrid picking a lot of the time, nails and finger tips can be used, not one or the other but both for different tones.

2 my point with this is with electric guitar and pickups utilised, where you pick can have a huge effect, clean or OD anywhere on the neck, not so much as just where you pick but where in relation to which pickup used.

3 finger tips or nails make a huge difference, fingers pointing straight down or slightly forward ?

And most usefull with amp set clean. Really ?

So no, don't really agree with you as such but can see where you are coming from

close2u · April 2014

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?

Listenin to recent Knopfler albums, I can clearly hear when he is using his Strat and when he is using his Les Paul.
The difference is clear,
And I also know, with much enjoyment and pleasure, that a master guitarist is playing them both.

shaunm · April 2014

Don't sound like a metal guitarist But really, play what you like

underdog · April 2014

Good tone is a Les Paul, a good valve amp and some volume.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2014

Pinch harmonics. Everywhere.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2014

And gain. Moar gain than your ears have room for

Lixarto · April 2014

Your opinion is invalid as you cannot spell.

richardhomer · April 2014

Lixarto;220694" said:
Your opinion is invalid as you cannot spell.

Well siad.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2014

richardhomer;220722" said:
[quote="Lixarto;220694"]Your opinion is invalid as you cannot spell.

Well siad.[/quote]

Sad to say my phone auto corrected to moar, from 'more'.

Pretty lame. I'm now discounting my opinion and going to say tone is blues and fusion played on vintage style amps with vintage style guitars and pedals made by hand.

I don't believe it, but in the face of my phone's autocorrect, I think it's the right thing to do.

richardhomer · April 2014

ThePrettyDamned;220741" said:
Sad to say my phone auto corrected to moar, from 'more'.

Auto correct is an aunt....

seany65 · April 2014

koneguitarist, isn't this thread about each person's secret(s) to what they view as 'good' tone?

I know the vast majority of fingerstylists/hybridists(?) use nails. I don't, as I don't like the 'tone' nails give. I never said, or implied, that I think that no-one else should use nails.

Whether you believe me or not, I can hear a difference when I use my fingers at different angles, especially with a clean amp.

I made no mention of pickups, as I didn't think PUP choice needed mentioning, as playing nearer the neck or bridge also includes playing nearer the neck or bridge PUPs. I also didn't mention where the guitar's tone pots or the amp's tone pots are set, as playing nearer the neck or bridge has an affect on the overall tone no matter where those tone pots are set.

Our positions are really not as different as you think.

sweepy · April 2014

Good Ears, that is all

Bucket · April 2014

The secret to good tone, as we all know, is actually having a really good fuzz pedal.

koneguitarist · April 2014

@seany65 you asked why I disagreed I told you, no problem, not saying you are not entitled to a view, just that I don't particularly agree with it.

Like others who say a fuzzbox and les paul etc, that's the tone they like. You said that certain things mainly work with clean tones, or keep nails short so they are out of the way etc, I think they work with any tone, and nail or fingertip is a way of getting different tones.

Just my views.

EricTheWeary · April 2014

Just on the nail thing - check out Jonny Hiland. Pick plus false fingernails. Looks weird but it effectively gives him 4 picks at a time. For chicken picken stuff generally you need some nail for the snappy bit.

EricTheWeary · April 2014

ICBM said:

richardhomer said:
If you have a hard hitting picking technique, you need heavier strings but to me string gauge (on an electric guitar) is far more a question of how hard you hit it than 'tone'.

Billy Gibbons (who sounds gigantic) and Brian May both use very light strings.

Robert Cray (who's tone is quite 'small') uses quite heavy strings.
I disagree .

Billy Gibbons has a 'small' sound - a great one, but it's very midrangy and lacks bottom end… I've never really understood why he's always held up as an example of "light strings, big tone", since to me he's the perfect example of being able to hear the light strings. Brian May also definitely has a 'small' sound. Not sure about Robert Cray - not my kind of thing.

I certainly agree that light strings can give a *good* tone, but it's not the same as the big sound you get from heavy ones - and a heavier technique, which I do agree with. But even if you play heavy strings gently you still get a fuller tone than you do with light ones.

If we are talking about people who have lengthy recording and live careers then rarely do they have A Tone that they have used throughout.

As a case in point Billy Gibbons has a 40 year+ recording history. So he has used a warm, crunchy Les Paul tone, brighter telecaster tones, clean chorused tones, the distorted and modulated type tones of the hit singles period, the more inyerface tele type tones of later years and a bunch of others no doubt. It is recognisably Billy through out due to musical context, phrasing and technique. His current live rig contains a shit load of processing gear so, yes, the idea that you can hear his string gauge is verging on the ridiculous ( and in his simpler gear days he didn't use such light strings anyway).

I suppose that does lead back to the idea that Tone ( in a very broad sense) is with the player and not with the gear.

Skipped · April 2014

Tone secret: Get an extra long thumb. (6 minutes in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13zo8iEbeg&t=6m0s

Panama_Jack666 · April 2014

sweepy said:

Good Ears, that is all

I'd be ignorant to disagree with this. However, just because I'm good at listening, it doesn't mean I'm good at talking if you know what I mean...

midiglitch · April 2014

@skipped good call!

Mark knopfler is one of those players who for me, there is no doubt that he really is the genuine article. I'm not sure I can think of any instance where his 'tone' is less than exemplary, despite being quite varied.

I guess if you were getting it right in the eighties, then you *must* have been good

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The secret to good tone is...

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