Poll: What affects tone the most?

[deeaa*]

No video, but I recorded this short test where I pick with the pick even to strings and just pick the strings, and then change to my usual playing style in which I hit the strings with the pick at about 45 degree angle (never actually thought of how do I hold it before) and also otherwise play with my rather loose and percussive picking style....all without changing the sound (one of my usual rock sounds).

http://deeaa.pp.fi/clips/picktest.mp3

Now, I don't know how much does the actual 'tone' change with just that. You be the judge.

[deeaa*]

Trying to analyze my own clip now I'd say the way one holds and attacks the pick makes a big difference.
Overall, it makes even bigger a difference how much and how consistently/evenly the player plays other strings, I mean, it sounds entirely different if you, no matter how quickly, strum through, say 4 strings like here - the string's mutual harmonics aren't very much apparent, but if you kind of make them all sound at once and stress the first ones so they all ring through at once, it makes a big difference too. Even when you do play the same notes in either case.

I can kind of understand why our other guitarist says he can't play with my rig unless he turns the gain to at least three times as high as I keep it...if I play it differently, my rig has very little drive to speak of, and especially for leads, it needs to be really dug into the strings or they sound quite clean and not sustaining at all. Conversely, when I play his rig I feel it's just atonal buzz whatever I do with it.

I think those alone do have a huge difference in sound, BUT I suppose that along with even slight changes in gain, tone, or such, can exaggerate this kind of differences very much...so I don't know if one can say the player really changes the fundamental tone as much, but the player, combined with even small changes in EQ or, pedal setting, guitar volume/tone, hell, even the proximity to the speaker when playing etc...it all makes for different players sounding way different on the very same rig.

[Zip]

Here's the beginning of an interesting article by Steve Oimette, on the topic 'Is tone in the players hands?' (or something like that, anyway...):

"It’s said so often it has to be true, right? Well, in this case, pretty much. True story for you. Back in the days when I taught guitar at a local store I had my ’73 Superlead at the store one day and a few teachers got around to playing it. We were all sitting around with the same guitar passing it back and forth. I was plugged in and playing, and we were all having a great time when one of the other teachers grabbed the guitar out of my hand and started doing his thing. Where the hell did all that gain come from? The amp took on a totally different character. It was more aggressive and biting, and the sustain was incredible. The other teacher got inspired and grabbed the guitar and started to rock it. Not so good. This time around, the chords seemed cloudy and undefined, and the sustain was rather lacking. We played for a solid hour and couldn’t believe how different the same guitar and amp could sound in the hands of three guys—try it sometime!

Another true story: 1985, Yngwie Malmsteen’s sixth ever show with Rising Force (Kabuki Theater, San Francisco, January 11). I was right up front and two feet from his pedalboard and Moog Taurus pedals. Just before the show was about to start, his tech came out and strapped on the famous “Duck” Strat and started to do a mini-soundcheck. It was loud as hell and one of the most garbled and distorted shit-tones I’d heard come from a guitar. It was out of tune, messy-sounding and not much better than a Gorilla Amp (with TubeStack™ technology of course)!

Right after that aural attack, he walked behind the wall of Marshalls and handed the guitar to Yngwie. Even though I couldn’t see who it was, it was obvious when the signature flurry of perfectly executed notes came screaming out of the amps like a banshee. This sound that was previously totally unacceptable was now glorious beyond belief. Night and day couldn’t be a better description. That tone held up all night and still to this day remains one of the coolest sounds I’ve ever heard."