Share your Secrets of Tone

[hunter]

Ok, this thread shall be about the little things, that make "your" tone (apart from the obvious fingers).

I will start with:

Strings and stringing
I swear by Eric Johnson GHS signature pure nicke wrap 0.10-50. They just make my LesPaul types sing. I string the Edwards around the tailpiece (from the bridge pickup side to the back and then over the top to the tune-o-matic).
Really - it "sings"!

Picks
Thick picks for me. And sharp tips. That's why I like the Dunlop JazzIII shape. Recently I discovered them in the Ultex version, which adds a nice sparkle to their fatness.

Cable
Vovox all the way. Really expensive, but they last forever, they are nice to use as they never get twisted real bad, and they make a huge difference in tone!

These are the main ones.

So which are your "Secrets of Tone"?

[sebby123]

I will simply say that everything has something to do with your tone and no one can make up for another.
Every person on each forum ive been too has there opinion on which is more important amps,guitars strings picks etc. but end in end its the combination of these which gives you that tone but of course fingers win allways....
Also ive learned that you have to go try stuff out i mean you read all day about what you want and how much every one prasies something but you go try it out and you end up liking something thats either cheaper or hell of alot more expensive. had to let that out :)

Strings sound wise i love blue steels the thickist i can get 11-52 is the best for feel and sound but sound wise i would say 11-54 but feel wise the g is unbendable.

picks dunlop jazz III all the way does anyone else notice a tone difference in black and red?
 red's are for me they sound smoother black has a little brighter attack....

Also I have a weird way of stringing my les Paul or any guitar actually  I don’t wrap the string around … it feels better and gives more sustain ive noticed… just stick the string through the tuner and tighten…

Cables evidence audio melody series for me expensive but damn well worth it.

[gwEm]

Nice idea Hunter :) Hopefully my thoughts won't be too controversial. I'll stick to live setting, since i'm experimenting more at home.

Thick 11-48,49,50 strings, not ernie ball - hurt my fingers a bit, and hopefully help me to play a bit more passionately. (at home i also like 9s)

Flying V or Steinberger GP shape - looks good on stage, hopefully giving the impression of good tone/ability to the audience - its a bit fake i know, but i think it works. i think hard maple through neck with ceramic pickups gives the gwEm sound ;)

Absolutely no digital equipment in my signal chain (though that might change one day). Live I swear by sansamp gear.

Vintage or modern high gain pickups - no vintage hot stuff

Also, its not really a secret but I think the only pickups which sound ALOT different to the typical listener are EMG vs passive. Only active pickups give the active tone.

I have a 'lucky cable' too, it probably sounds like arse, but i used it for years ;)

I've tried alot of picks, but i'm used to dunlop tortex 0.88mm. i could probably get used to different picks, but i find it hard to use anything else. its firm enough, but not too thick so it breaks the strings. when i was a young punk, i snapped strings all the time at home. i heard phil campbell from motorhead used this picks so not knowing anything else i tried them. seemed to help at the time :)

edit:
you see there quite alot of superstition in my tips... mmm, i never thought about that before. not much of substance people can take here - unless its to be absolutely comfortable and trusting in ones equipment. which is a really important thing actually

[Twinfan]

Mine tone tips/secrets?  Buy the best gear you can afford.  More often than not, the expense is justified.

[sebby123]

I agree with twinfan

Also about the tortex i use to use 1.0 mm tortex the purple ones to but moved to jazz III the scratch annoys me so much now it took me about a month to be as comfortable with the jazz III as i was with the tortex but it was worth it. I can switch back now ha. a good type of curse

[Denim n Leather]

Mine tone tips/secrets?  Buy the best gear you can afford.  More often than not, the expense is justified.

That's really just it. The rest is up to you!

[nfe]

My right hand. My left hand. My ears.

Cliched, but I think it's the greatest truth in the endlessly pretentious, mystic and superstitious world of the musician.

[badgermark]

For me it's yellow tortex picks and home made pedals. A loud Rat and an orange amp and you can't go far wrong.

[Ted 'N' Leo]

Use your Volume and Tone knobs! They can do a lot to alter your sound.

[MDV]

Gear matching.

Some combinations of gear come to life, greater than the sum or their parts etc etc yada yada

Other than that, if it sounds good it IS good, and trust your ears at ALL TIMES.

[SG Thrasher]

The more I point at the crowd and pull silly faces the better I will sound.

[Adam.M]

Get a good guitar. A guitar is just a tool that is there to make a tone full, in tune note or collection of notes to be sent to your amplifier. Weather expensive or cheap, if it can do this, it's a good guitar.

I honestly believe that in most cases the amp should cost more than the guitar, though this can change when you go into high end guitars... the amp makes your sound, as does your cab.

A cheap nasty strat into a nice plexi will always sound better than a PRS into an MG.

If you're using loads of distortion, even a nearly cranked plexi, the differences between guitars become smaller and smaller. Sure they're type can come through, Strat singles VS Les Paul hums, but many times over the years have i tried a great amp with cheap and expensive guitars and rarely does a big difference show up.

However every time, the cheap guitar is dreadful clean.

[dave_mc]

Mine tone tips/secrets?  Buy the best gear you can afford.  More often than not, the expense is justified.

this

+

Gear matching.

Some combinations of gear come to life, greater than the sum or their parts etc etc yada yada

Other than that, if it sounds good it IS good, and trust your ears at ALL TIMES.

this

generally more expensive gear is better, but that doesn't mean that some expensive gear isn't overpriced, or that there aren't some good bargains out there too.

also, use less treble. :lol:

EDIT: oh yeah, generally there's a level of quality i won't go under, where i know if i buy it it'll be a waste of money. it's a bit subjective, but i can "feel" (or hear) that it's just not good enough... for me, it's the entry level Japanese copies. they aren't the only guitars of that quality (or better), but that's more or less where i draw the line.

[nfe]

I'm going to add to my earlier cliched statement another.

If you can't sound decent with a squier and a Marshall MG. Then chances are you wont sound any use with a '59 Les Paul and a Plexi. Gear NEVER makes up for lack of ability.

[Fourth Feline]

My right hand. My left hand. My ears.

Cliched, but I think it's the greatest truth in the endlessly pretentious, mystic and superstitious world of the musician.

To further substantiate this and your later comment ( just above this post ) NFE ; - here is a short video clip of an old man with his electric guitar plugged straight into the house P.A. system, no amp or pedals between.  The tone is ( to my ears ) enviable.

I know this won't impress the cranked valve amp affectionados - but ' listen without predudice ' .   :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsAiap_BwIM