Pieces of the "Tone Puzzle"

[Plank_Spanker]

We're all searching for the Holy Grail, yet the quest is personal and different to every player. Some players hold the guitar as the center of "tone". Others hold the amp as such. There are some that believe it's a balanced equation.

My take:

Some players seek the ultimate "tone woods", construction, and hardware only to basically ignore the amp. Others look to the amp as their tone savior. I'm in the middle - both the guitar and amp are equal partners. While a good deal rides on the abilities and touch of the player, a great guitar will sound ho-hum through a ho-hum amp. It can be argued that a great amp will make a mediocre guitar sound better. You reach Valhalla with a great guitar played through a great amp.

Another oft mentioned point is "tone is in the fingers". To me, that is true to a point. That comes from playing the amp. Some amps need to played more than others. My Germino is a classic example - it's honest to a fault, and will only give you what you give it. You need to play it right along with the guitar. You need to understand it and come to terms with it to get the most out of it.

To me, the road to "Tone Heaven" is paved with lots of variables - and it's different for every player.

What are your thoughts, fellow Fretters?

************Props to Nelskie for suggesting this thread***********

[sunvalleylaw]

We're all searching for the Holy Grail, yet the quest is personal and different to every player. Some players hold the guitar as the center of "tone". Others hold the amp as such. There are some that believe it's a balanced equation. . . .

Another oft mentioned point is "tone is in the fingers". To me, that is true to a point. That comes from playing the amp. Some amps need to played more than others. My Germino is a classic example - it's honest to a fault, and will only give you what you give it. You need to play it right along with the guitar. You need to understand it and come to terms with it to get the most out of it.

To me, the road to "Tone Heaven" is paved with lots of variables - and it's different for every player.

What are your thoughts, fellow Fretters?

************Props to Nelskie for suggesting this thread***********

Plank and Nelskie: Thanks for starting it up. I am just a newbie so cannot contribute much of anything. I don't even have an amp yet, except a little solid state Epiphone EP-800 I borrowed until I can get my AD50VT, which will then serve as my first real amp.

All I can tell so far, especially in relation to the "tone in the fingers" concept is that my strat, like my acoustic, sounds a lot better if I am using good techniques in forming my chords, striking notes in a scale, etc. The borrowed amp sounds really awful if I am sloppy. Unless I just crank up the gain and distort the heck out of it. I can get away with a lot more then. Also, as I am trying to learn Sultans of Swing, I have been playing with modulating the pressure on the strings to cut short the ringing on the chords for a better tone. Is that what you guys mean by "tone in the fingers" Inquiring newbies want to know.

[duhvoodooman***]

As far as which of the two has the most influence on tone when playing an electric guitar, it seems to me that the amp is the hands-down pick. As has already been pointed out, we've all heard cheap guitars sound very good through a great amp, but the reverse is rarely the case. I think this only makes sense--as Nelskie stated in the precursive thread to this one, the amp gives voice to the guitar. Making the guitar sound good is its fundamental job, its raison d'etre.

That is not to diminish the role of the guitar in any way, because it serves a different role, in my mind. In that chain of creation that starts with a musical idea in the player's mind and culminates with sound waves crashing upon his or her eardrums, the guitar is the point of connection with the player. Sure, you can stomp on pedals, flip switches and twiddle knobs, but the real action--where that musical idea is physically transmitted from human body to the world beyond--happens at the guitar. That's why a guitar's feel is so important to the player, and also why its appearance is often equally important. To a far, far greater extent than the amp, the guitar is a physical extension of the player. So, IMO, the guitar will always be king, with the amp as its trusty steed, bearing it on its quest for the holy grail of tone. (Geez, I think I just had a Nelskie moment there! )

[Nelskie]

So, IMO, the guitar will always be king, with the amp as its trusty steed, bearing it on its quest for the holy grail of tone. (Geez, I think I just had a Nelskie moment there! )

A fine moment . . . indeed! And a beautiful analogy to drive the point home, DVM. I'll make writers out of some of you yet!

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Tone ahh the elusive aural elixer sought by all but quaffed by few ... Its in the hands..the hands of a master luthier who pours his dreams and sweat into creating an uncompromising amalgum of steel and wood that resonates craftmanship and unlimited potential ..Hands , the hands of the electronic grand wizard who designs and builds the signal chain, paying microscopic care to assemble only the finest components to transpose electrical pulses into sonic bliss..Hands , the hands of a PLAYER who finds solice and exterme pleasure at breaking through that one portal he has sought for many hours to pass beyond , the PLAYER who ALONE WITHOUT AN AUDIENCE ..smiles and is satisfied with HIS TONE that his Hands created on a 20 dollar guitar and a 10 dollar amp....6S9L

[Nelskie]

We're all searching for the Holy Grail, yet the quest is personal and different to every player . . .

Glad to see that you took the ball and ran with it, Spank!

I think your opening statement sums it up perfectly, in that the search for "ultimate tone" it is indeed a very personal one. Collectively speaking, though, there can be as few or as many parts to that equation as a player deems necessary. And the physical skills and mental processes that go along with that can range from very basic, to extremely complex. Many even equate the "grail tone" to achieving a spiritual connection - - a higher plane of consciousness. All of these statments are entirely are true, depending on how you choose to look at it.

In my estimation, though, there are (3) primary parts that make up what I like to call the "tone equation" - the guitar, the amp, and the player. Although I've already mentioned in a different thread that the amp holds most of that "secret sauce", I am a firm believer that neither the guitar, nor the amp, are worth a plugged nickel without a capable driver. Let me expound . . .

I'd once read a story about a guy who bumped into Billy Gibbons (lead guitarist for ZZ Top) at a small, out-of-the-way bar in the middle of nowhere, Texas USA. Armed with nothing but pawn shop cast-offs for gear (the house band apparently played for nothing more than tap beers), Billy G. proceeded to burn through a savage set of standards and originals, leaving the author to ponder the actual significance and / or value of any piece of vintage or boutique gear. In other words, when you're dialed into your sound, you're really dialed in - no matter what you play with or through. Billy knows probably all of (12) chords - but it's what he can do with them is what separates him from pack. And it's gonna' be magic no matter what name is on it. Give him a broom handle and a bucket to play, and he's still gonna' sound like the Rev.

Exploring that statement further, one begins to see some of those building blocks that eventually construct the foundation of "the sound" - i.e. the "Grail Tone". Knowing how to take basically anything, and make it sound like you feel. Without the player, the guitar and amp are just inanimate objects - pawns on the chessboard of "I wonder what it would sound like". It takes knowledge, feel, skill, guts, sweat, experience, dexterity, rhythm, and a healthy dose of that stuff we guitarists like to call mojo - to make it come out sounding like something cool on the other end. Now a lot of players can take combinations of those things, and make some pretty good sounds. Great sounds - - as a matter of fact. But we're talking "Grail Tone" here, gentlemen - - and that's something altogether different. It's what stops you dead in your tracks when you hear it. It's what causes ten thousand people to simultaneously get on their feet and scream at the top of their lungs. It's what causes those bras to get un-hooked, and get tossed gleefully on stage. It's what makes you clench your fist, thrust it straight up in the air, and look your buddy straight in the eye, and say, "that's what I'm talkin' about." THAT'S Grail Tone. And the players who've spent a great deal of their lives searching for it know exactly what it sounds like. When they find it, the good Lord willin' - it's time to start walkin' the dog.

I hear a lot of good players on the radio, on XM, or wherever these days. From reading all of their endorsement ads in popular guitar magazines, I'm pretty sure that most have access to whatever gear they want. But as much as I hear - - I can tell you in a second whether or not these guys have supped from the golden chalice of "Grail Tone". Most have not. Most never will. But let me tell ya' - when you spin The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", Zeppelin's "Black Dog", the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", Hendrix' "Voodoo Chile", Clapton's "Crossroads", or ZZ Top's "La Grange", brothers and sisters, you can feel it. You can taste it. You can almost smell it. That, my friends, is what "Grail Tone" is all about. Taking what it is, and making it something outer-worldly, something that defies description - - yet is on the tip of your tongue. The anecdote that causes the disease.

The guitar and amp are merely the physical manifestations of the overall concept of "Grail Tone". Without a messenger . . . the direct channel to and from the human soul, what we hear is just . . . electrified sound. Anyways - for whatever its worth, that's my take on it. Amen.

[r_a_smith3530]

They say that one man's garbage is another's treasure, and I guess that the same holds true for tone. What may sound absolutely abominable to person "A" might be nirvana to person "B".

As to what makes up the tone equation, start with what transmits the sound to the listener's ears (in an amplified guitar, the amp's speakers), and then work your way back to the beginning (the mind and heart of the player). What gets emphasized in this chain determines the outcome.

B.B. King can play the blues like no other. He says more in what he doesn't play than many do in what they actually lay down to string. B.B.'s tone is coming from the mind and heart. Yes, he has great finger skill (no one trills a note like The King), but that economy of notes which says so much comes from head and heart.

Players like Satrianni, Vai, and Malmstein have manual dexterity that goes off the scales and is to die for. Watch their finger work on a video and stand in awe. They've spent thousands of hours honing their technical skill, and it shows.

Out at the other end (actually the starting point), names like Celestion, ElectroVoice, Jensen, JBL, Eminence and others have been the speakers to own for great tone for decades now. Cabinet construction compliments a given speaker and enhances its tone. Always, buy the best speakers/cab that you can afford. It's what your audience is hearing!

Amplifiers take an electrical signal and boost its power, allowing it to be heard from further away. In a perfect world, that is all an amplifier would do. Thank goodness the world we live in is far from perfect. I'll bet that neither Leo Fender nor Jim Marshall realized they were creating the stuff of legends as they assembled the first Bassman or 50 watt stack. It's the difference in tone that musicians today seek when shopping for an amp.

Alder, Ash, Basswood, Mahogany, Maple, Poplar, and all the other woods used to create bodies and necks. Vintage tremolos, Tune-o-matics with Stop Tailpieces, Floyd Rose, and Bigsby. Bolt-on, set-neck, or neck through body construction. All of these flavor the tone.

I could continue all the way to the maple or rosewood board that your fingers rest upon when plucking a note, but I am sure you get my idea. Each piece or stop along the signal path from brain to speaker cone flavors tone to one degree or another. Some items have more effect than others, but they all add some flavor. It's all the variations that make the world of music a beautiful place in which to live!

[Plank_Spanker]

There's a saying -

"He can string a ukulele with rubber bands and still sound great!"