Why aren't guitarists happy with their tones?

[Tig***]

OTH, tinnitus caused by standing in front of a dimed 500 watt Double Stack of 4x12's for 3 hours a night 3 or 4 or 5 nights a week could have something to do with hating your tone....

And another signature is born!
Good one, wingsdad

[ZMAN]

I was on a tone quest for many years. Then I happened to see a youtube video of Joe Bonamassa at the Albert hall. I finally found, as was described above "the tone in my head" . Joe will tell you with great relish how he achieves that tone, and it makes it somewhat easy to get in that zone using similar equipment. I have done that and I am more than pleased with the results. I have to work on the technique, and I have a very harsh critic. (Me) so I am working hard at it. As Albert King said "the better you get the harder you should work".

[Katastrophe]

I guess I see things a little differently... While there is certainly overlap, I think "technique" gets labeled "tone" too often. I don't mean style or skill, but actual touch (I know, they intermingle). Sure tone starts in how we pluck, strum, pick, mute, and play the strings,
but I like to separate tone more into the many components that shape it, such as:
potentiometers, string gauge/material, bridge design, nut, capacitors, pickups, body/neck wood, effects, amps, and speakers, etc...

Technique and tone are such huge areas, they deserve their own distinction when warranted.

Just sayin'...

This. PLUS:

1. Marketing that says if you don't have this piece of equipment, your tone will suffer, and you'll sound like crap.
2. "Shiny New Car Syndrome" - We see that shiny new car on a dealership lot and want it, just because it's new and shiny, and different from the same ol' car we drive right now.
3. Definitions of what good tone is change with guitarists over time.
4. Our ears change everyday. Stuff sounds different from day to day. One day's good tone is tomorrow's audio poopoo.
5. We get new guitar heroes, and want to sound "just like them."

That's all I can think of for now...

[NWBasser]

Bassists never suffer from the I-hate-my-tone syndrome.

Bwahahaha! LOL!

FYI, many, if not most, bassists are as particular about tone as guitarists. However, where a guitarist will usually pursue many different tones for varying purposes, a bass player will most often go to great lengths to find a single tone that works with their style.

It's sort of comical in a way, because in the soundwash of a live stage situation nuances in bass tone are mostly lost.

[Eric***]

It's sort of comical in a way, because in the soundwash of a live stage situation nuances in bass tone are mostly lost.

No kidding. Count guitars in that statement too. I'm slowly but surely learning said lesson.

[wingsdad]

And another signature is born!
Good one, wingsdad

Thanks, Tig That was an accident.

Reviewing this thread, I can say that I have a wide variety tones I like to employ, divided into 'families' of tones best attained by applying a particular type of guitar to that mystical, elusive relationship formula of hands, fingers, gear and all that stuff the gear's made of. All for a variety of styles, for what a particular song calls for.

And, as many have said, it's about what will produce 'that tone in my head'. My STRAT is my longtime main workhorse, but it can't do it all. And that's why I, like many, have tried to gather '1 of each' type, perhaps limited to the range of styles we enjoy or are addicted to: a strat, tele, an LP-type, a 335-type, a Rick 12.

Then there's acoustic guitar tones I like and employ, but that's not the intent/topic of this discussion.

[Waylanderau]

Some really good points being made in this thread. Incidently, I re-read my previous post and I think I got a little carried away with my rant. Kinda came across like I meant if you're not happy with your sound it's ALL your fault because you suck. That was not my intention, so I'm sorry if that offended anyone. I think what I was driving at is that we can get caught up in the idea that if we get that one special piece of gear then everything will be perfect, and even continue to chop and change our rigs trying to sound "better", even if we are pretty happy with our sound at the time. As several others have pointed out this tendency seems to be compounded on a daily basis by gear companies who all promise to offer the thing you need.
To back up that idea I just have to look at myself: Right now, I'm as happy with my setup and tone as I've ever been... and yet I still go trawling youtube looking at amp demos and ebay looking for great deals because maybe if I spend some more cash I can find a better sound than what I have.
I can't help it...
Dear God I'm a monster

[rylanmartin]

I like the struggle for new tone. I feel that as a guitar player, that drive for new sounds spurs me to new levels of creativity. I've found that I've been the LEAST creative when I've been most comfortable with my tone. There's nothing like picking up an unfamiliar guitar and plugging it into an unfamiliar signal path and seeing where that takes your fingers. It's all about creativity.

[Eric***]

I like the struggle for new tone. I feel that as a guitar player, that drive for new sounds spurs me to new levels of creativity. I've found that I've been the LEAST creative when I've been most comfortable with my tone. There's nothing like picking up an unfamiliar guitar and plugging it into an unfamiliar signal path and seeing where that takes your fingers. It's all about creativity.

That's a good point that I hadn't really considered.

[NWBasser]

As a guitarist, and I use the term loosely, I really have only two tones that seem to fit me.
One is a Les Paul on the bridge pickup through an overdriven tube amp. The Blackstar HT-5 nails it perfectly. Couldn't ask for any more.

Second tone is a Les Paul clean on the neck pickup. I'm pretty happy with my H&K on clean in this regard.

I've tried all sorts of other sounds, but those are the ones that I'm quite happy to work with.

[Eric***]

As a guitarist, and I use the term loosely, I really have only two tones that seem to fit me.
One is a Les Paul on the bridge pickup through an overdriven tube amp. The Blackstar HT-5 nails it perfectly. Couldn't ask for any more.

Do you have a Blackstar HT-5? That's an amph I've been lusting after recently. I thought you just had your Cube 30 and H&K.

[Tarin]

I agree with all the posts concerning more on the "technique" issue other than the "necessary gear" to obtain a tone i like.
With me, the story went like this... i started playing guitar at 32 (will be 36 this April), i bought my mandatory Squier guitar to start off. The hunt began with a below $200 dollar amp search, so i went to my nearby music shops and started trying out Peavey's, Fender's Line 6 and others... well, actaully it was me and my cousin who happens to play guitar (i could'nt play squat at the time), so while HE was playing, i was actually LISTENING to what i liked... no artist influence here. VOX whas it.

Months later, i started blaming the guitar so i started to look for an upgrade semi-top-notch guitar. i tried a few looking for comfort, not tone. landed on a Parker P-38 (my wife saw me drooling over a Gresch Corvette once, so she got it for me on Xmass).
Then i started blaming the effect pedal i used (by this time i could play a few riffs and songs decently) and was gonna start blaming the amp also when i met a guy who really knows how to play... i mean REALLY knows, he's a graduate from a music conservatory and such, well, he played my gear once, i started to tweak here and there and with MY GEAR and HIS TECHNIQUE, me tweaking... i got the tone i know i like.
Conclusion: techinque my boy!

This is why i still have my 2 guitars and the same VOX 15R amp (which is recuperating from a recent surgery), and stopped the "tone hunt" untill i achieve it with what i have at hand (i know it can be done... and i'm almost there).

Edit: i must point out that i'm a bedroon rockstar, have never gigged.

[bcdon***]

I'm a newbie so take this for what it is worth -- probably nothing -- but it seems to me that guitarists think they can buy something (new guitar, amph, &c) and they'll all of a sudden be better. It's kind of like the buy-a-better-car to pick up the babes outlook. Both don't work. The only thing that works is.... work. The bad part about this simple truth is that excellence requires time and practice; the good part about it is that it's free. With that, I'm going back to my glass of wine and LP.

[NWBasser]

Do you have a Blackstar HT-5? That's an amph I've been lusting after recently. I thought you just had your Cube 30 and H&K.

Well, no Blackstar just yet. I do have the H&K and it does sound pretty good.

The Blackstar really nails the sound that I'd like to have.

I just have to save up some $$ for one though.

[gregsguitars]

Most of us can not play regularly at the volumes needed to induce our guitars to really sing or our amps to really reach that dynamic arena that most of the recordings we love are produced at, I find when I can shake the windows with my rig it really dynamically opens into new unrealized tonal zones.