General Music Chat

Ive been thinking about guitar tone a lot lately.

I was watching this movie the other night called It Might Get Loud, in it they have Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. During the first few minutes they show Jack making a guitar, he takes a piece of wood, puts a couple of nails and a string on it, then puts a pickup on it, then hooks it to an amp and starts playing it.

I was just curious what fellow guitarist think on here of tone, or the quest for it.

For me, it starts with a guitar, not just any guitar, but thru the years whenever I acquired and electric guitar the first thing I would do is sit down in a quiet place, if possible and just play it acoustically, to me if it works this way for me then it has to sound good on an amp.

I do a lot of my practicing just watching tv and playing my electric acoustically.

When it comes to amps, Ive been a Mesa user since 89-90, havent really thought of changing, it just does it for me.

I guess in the end there is no perfect tone, I mean what I like and what someone else likes are totally different, but for me, if I get my guitar and amp dialed in just right, then when I start playing the guitar I dont want to put the guitar down, and this changes all the time, I mean sometimes I want a big raunchy guitar tone and sometimes I want a good clean tone, or just a little breakup for blues, just depends on the mood Im in I guess.

Anyway I just thought I would start a musical thread and see what others think on here.

Good thread John. The guitar and amp are definitely 66 2/3% of tone; the other third comes from the player. Two different players using the same rig will have different tone, because no two players pick with the same force or fret chords the same way.

Guitar, cable and a Soldano.

I think people have objected to the same o same o

For me it is a NEVER ENDING QUEST! I am never completely happy. I think the only thing that would make me happy is a fender for the clean tones and Mesa Mark IV for slight break up and lead tones. I am not willing to hall around two amps, so for now The Carvin V3M is working for me!

Sean in the mid 80s a local music store was going out of business and I went in there and bought quite a few things, one thing I got was a Laney 4x12 cab, that I still use to this day.

However I messed up, they had a Hot Rod 50 amp sitting there and were willing to deal on it, I went back the next day and it was gone. If I had bought that amp, I would still probably be using it today, Ive played on a couple since and Soldano makes some awesome amps.

I will add the story of my first Mesa. There is a consignment store in Memphis that i would hit every week or two and see what kind of gear was there. At the time I really wanted a Marshall JCM 800 amp, but I just never found one that had that sparkle I like in amps. So im sitting there talking to the guy at the store and this guy comes in with a Mesa Triple Rec, one of the early 2 channel ones, he played steel guitar on it, and was complaining cause it wasnt clean enough. Anyway he did a deal with the guy there, and he said have you ever played on one of these, I said no, we started messing with it, and the guy that had it for lap steel, had set the main channel into modern mode which wont clean up!

I played on it for a hour or more, and bought it on the spot. Later I got a slant 4x12 for it, and used that for a few years. I got out of playing for a while and sold it, I still kick myself on that one, it was one of the first 500 made and they have a good value these days and are known for thier tone.

When I started playing seriously again, 4-5 years ago I bought one of the newer 3 channel models, I dont think it has quite the sparkle the old one did. I retubed it a few monthes ago and am loving it, I changed the 6L6s out for 6V6s, which are about 10 watts per tube lower, and also changed out the rectifier tubes and put in GZ34 rec tubes, plus a full set of preamp tubes, they are JJs and I got them thru Eurotubes, and I have to say I love them. Ive got a few boxes of socalled grailtone tubes and I spent a couple of weeks mixing and swapping them all and I went back to the set that Euro Tube put together for me, they just do it for me.

Haley for straight clean tones the best amp I can think of is a Roland JC 120, I used one that was on stage one time and fell in love with it, plus if you are the type player who uses a preamp for your dirty sounds, I think they really take preamps good, I think I read where Alex Lifeson used these at one time, and they are SS.

Of course a nice Fender Twin gets a really good clean also.

Im like you I wouldnt want to lug around a couple of amps, just one head and couple of 4x12s, LOL!

Jeff Beck has ultimate tone and much of it comes from his touch (no pick), he uses two half stacks (a Marshall and a Fender) and his strat.
I noticed his amps are full throttle but he keeps it way down on the guitar, squeezing every last drop of note by turning up the volume knob to sustained feedback . . . he's just fantastic in my book!

I agree Beck is one of my favs of all time, Ive seen him live twice in the last 5-6 years, its just amazing what he gets out of his setup, I think he had a Pro Cro Rat Pedal when I saw him at Mud Island. Plus some sort of wah, they added reverb or delay to him in the mix at times. We were right up front where we could hear the amp blow.

I dont know how he keeps his guitar in tune the way he yanks on that whammy bar, it looked like a stock strat to me.

I've always thought guitar tone was a critical component of any song construction...However, I believe it should serve the song, (not be the inspiration to have the song) it. For example: That one song ("Man in a box") I Noticed the lead has a touch of Flange an Wah or some kind of compression in the tone... But it depicts being in a tight compressed space...Its fitting for that theme...
Another example, "Like a stone" , has that sustain resonance and and drags the chords through, to depict that sloppy and eternal passion in the theme. It really works well

Aint this funny,,, You and me JW.
You own a Propane company, I own a small oil company. We live and die by the cold weather sword. Last winter I was down about 50 the winter before up about 80. It all evens out.
Even funnier, I have a Mesa and an old Les Paul. You do too.
I'm a very old school player and I know it. I also know I love that Mesa when I can CRANK it even just a bit. I can get tones and that show a guitar RINGING. Not all me,, just an old guitar with a bit of soul. I think you understand that. Too bad Mesa doesn't have a 10 watt amp you could crank.
4 things, Spring breeze was recorded flat. The last solo I switched to modern overdrive, with a bit of lexicon delay.
2, Fire solo was recorded live in a small room with minimum effects. Listen to the overtones I can pull off.
3. Hecksher vid,, At about 1:39 you can hear a Mesa and an old Les Paul start to talk. It got edited for stupid reasons
4. The " battle of the blues" vid, that sucked because that amp was broken, but for an old school player, I still got it to ring with out any effects. If you pay attention and listen you can hear a guitar that rings.
You got a Les Paul and a Mesa,,, You have some powerful tone producing tools. I listened. By the way Fender is in trouble, need to raise CASH, going to become a public company, so if you want to own a piece of Fender keep your eyes peeled. Just be aware that to stay in business they have many plants outside the U.S.A. You know that pesky outsourcing thing.

Just fuuny,,,

John, I was talking with a friend last night that has a band. He likes amps that don't have a master volume. Currently he has handwired Marshall plexis 3 of those suckers. 100, 50, and 20 watt amps with a 4x4 marshall cab for each one. His tone is amazing.

http://www.ernietrevino.com/fr_welcome.cfm

Above is a link to his website he has songs on there if anyone wants to listen!

I hope you don't mind Earnie!

I agree with John on finding an electric that has a nice resonance unplugged.

After that it is all about matching your pups with whichever amp you go with - in my opinion.

A trifecta.
Guitars natural sound
Sound of pickups
Sound of amp

Find the right balance (for you), and it should be good tone.

I have a US Lonestar Strat (closest to a Gibson due to Seymour Duncan) and an old Tele Esquire - both with maple necks.

Use a Fender G-Dec modeling amp for a prac amp (and as a metronome) with a Fender Mustang V to drive my Marshal Cab. So I'm mostly Fender and satisfied.

If I could handle Gibson necks I'd add an LP to the stable but doesn't work. Love the sound though.

I use the Mustang V because its a modeling amp and because it is much lighter than a Marshal (sigh). WIth 100 presets and 4 Celestion speakers I can get a wide variety of sounds. Since my current focus is song writing that is a perfect amp - plus it sounds great at low volumes thanks to a very effective master volume.


For dead serious work I like Marshal heads but my brother who is the senior guitar player of the brood (I used to play bass with him) has also used Mesa and Line 6. The truly do both sound great. Line 6 seems to be very popular now.

A matter of taste at that level.

Talbot

Fabulous guitar tone is a bit elusive. It is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and the closer you get, the more it moves away. I agree for us mortals that it starts with a quality guitar and amp. It is also about how the player interacts with them. An old guitarist (Jeff Beck???) once said in an interview something like: "If you want my guitar tone you are gonna need my fingers." I have heard amazing guitar tone through every conceivable guitar, and amps ranging from a 1950s Oahu to a Matchless Cheifton. Great recordings bear this out. I think guys like Jeff Beck, EVH, Brian Setzer, Brad Paisley, or Mike Campbell can get great guitar tone out of almost anything.

My personal rig is usually a Tele or Strat through a Mesa F-30 or a 64 Fender Super Reverb. I like to crank up the amp pretty good and use guitar volume and tone controls a lot to shape the sound. I find I am most satisfied with my tone when playing live during the 2nd or 3rd set. By then I have settled into the room, my setup, the stage mix, and the band is usually cookin' pretty good. I can completely relax at this point and just let the tones flow out without working too hard. When the guitar tone sounds great, I play better and when I play well, the guitar tone sounds better. Catch 22.

I am usually least satisfied with my guitar tone when recording. My head gets in the way, I overthink it and find it hard to just relax and play. Sometimes it is better for me to just play and allow an engineer or trusted band mate to fine-tune my guitar amp tone as we go. I have gotten good results that way. Still learning, still in the hunt.