Tone Snobs

[Diablo]

A lot of fans want players and bands to sound just like the good old days, but players do change over time. Consider that Harrison was quoted in a Strat book saying, he disliked his Gretsch through Vox sound and was glad Clapton brought him a Strat. He used a Tele & Twin Reverb for the rooftop Concert.

So Clapton fooked up George's tone and stole his wife........nice buddy.

[WholeToneMusic]

I thought he was a crook sniffer. Maybe he can put out a new movie entitled Above the Laney as a sequel to Above the Law.
or maybe Under Soldano as a sequel to Under Siege.

[WholeToneMusic]

Whatever happened to the Woodshed. Hendrix use to fall asleep with his guitar. It was almost as if he had an invisible umbilical cord attached to his guitar. Maybe that is what his song Belly Button Window mean't (kidding.) He would live and breath it.

[frankeg]

The beauty of “tone” and music for that matter is the infinite variables. Fingers are important but so are ears and emotions. From a players standpoint, it takes about 10,000 quality practice hours give or take to master the instrument. Believe it or not, it takes about the same time to become a good tech. But it’s more than that. Neil Young, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Keith Richards and the Edge to name just a few, all brought something else to the table. Going back further, consider Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf and others who inspired Page and Clapton. Good tone? Not to my ears! Did it have attitude, vibe and emotion? Yes indeed! Consider also what really separates Roy Clark from Brad Paisley or if you can take this; Glen Campbell from Joe Walsh. Technical proficiency alone is often not enough. From a techs point of view, I don’t think Leo or Jim had great fingers and I can’t think of any Guitar hero who plays through a cheap setup. Those who have “made it” and can buy the best, usually do. They chase tone or hire someone else to chase it. Think of all those great bands like Pink Floyd, Boston, and Yes and the amount of time they spent tweeking their signature sound. Consider Eric Johnson, perhaps the ultimate tone freak… SRV used unusually high action, thick strings and Leo’s amps. Yea, he had great fingers! I know I’m talking “old school” here with my examples but today’s players/bands continue to push the envelope. Consider 7 string guitars and 6 string basses and super high gain amps. It appears that heavy distortion is an acquired taste (like hot peppers) and it has spawned a new generation of amplifiers. I chase tone because I was completely floored by the sound of the first amp I modified based on a cooperative effort. There’s something special about coaxing the sounds you hear in your head out of a hand built amplifier. If I were a rich man, I’d do this full time. In the end I’d say it’s more art than anything else for players and builders alike

[Chuck H]

Going back further, consider Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf and others who inspired Page and Clapton. Good tone? Not to my ears! Did it have attitude, vibe and emotion? Yes indeed!

This was a point I made earlier. Good tone and the ability to find something good in the tone you have are different things. People often confuse inspired playing that makes good use of whatever qualities a tone has with good tone. OK, that's confusing. Let me put it another way. If you suck on the gear you have and you plug into Eric Clapton's amp using Eric Clapton's guitar after drinking the same beer Eric Clapton drinks you'll still suck and you won't sound like Eric Clapton. But you may have better tone. Another case would be if you owned a 1964 Deluxe Reverb in pristine working condition and a really nice sounding strat, but you suck. You hear a BB King recording and think "gosh if I could only sound like that". So you trade in your DR and your Strat for a SS Yamaha amp (I saw BB playing through one and I also know of some other questionable amp choices he's made) and a BB King signature model that is identical to Lucile. And you still suck. But now you sound even worse because your tone sucks too. Point is that good tone can be either 1)your a great player and know how to hear and use the musical applicable properties in ANYTHING you play, or 2) a really great amp and guitar for the music you play. IMHO you get into both with the best players and niether with the worst players. Can a great amp and guitar make you a better player??? I do believe it can. When you hear notes bloom and shimmer it's inspiring. Having a rig that does musical things will automatically teach the owner how to be musical in all but the most hopeless wankers. That's why I keep building and improving my designs and it is the thread that keeps me believing that my own obsession is justified.

[eri77]

Hey guys and girls,Started reading this thread, and well I have a question what is tone.... I love to roll it back on my geetar and that farty sound that clapton had, honestly what is good tone.. I love the sound of the superstat on my peavey rage mum (MOM) brought me 25 years ago sure I can play it a million times better than then, most of my mates think it sounds really nasty, but when im playing it I love its tone as i love my hand made point to point wired amps.....its horses for courses....actually I think I might clone that rage

[J M Fahey]

Well, that rage into a *good* speaker in a large cabinet (make that 2x12") sure will sound awesome.
Most of the bad karma on small cheap SS practice amps lies on the *very* small, open cabinets and even more, on the junkyard special speakers they use.
Speakers affect tone 134958 times more than capacitors, tube brands, wiring , os most any other part "quality".
YM2C