Share your Secrets of Tone

[nfe]

Yes, but that's not something you have direct control over all the time.

I can make my guitar produce different sounds with my hands, I can't make a static mic recieve sound or transfer it any differently regardless of what I'm doing. So it's really not the same thing at all.

[sebby123]

Well if your the one to place the mic and choose the mic (Which i allways do live)  then of course its up to you i only use a Sennheiser E906 So yea i do choose there because i could have used a I5 or  SM57 and those are different tones.

[dave_mc]

Oh I'm not trying to say that your hands can pull a high gain sound out of a jazz box and a JC120, but that you're hands make more more of a difference to the quality of any particular sound than anything else.

oh yeah, definitely. :)

[Twinfan]

I've always kinda thought if you can't comfortably get through, say a wedding gig, with a bargain bucket squire and a cheap as chips transistor amp then you simply can't play guitar.

i disagree. there are plenty of new guitars and amps which i've tried which i wouldn't want to have to use. i could "get by" on them, but i don't see why i should have to.

Exactly Dave, exactly.  That's the whole reason we're on this forum, to improve our tone via BKPs because we can.  I could do a 'DC gig with a Squier Strat and a loud cheap amp but what's the point?  Where's the fun in that?

It's just the implied snobbery of the the more expensive the better opinion of a couple folk in this thread annoys me.

I take it that's aimed at me and Ben?  In which case I'm going to be the bigger man and bite my tongue 

[nfe]

I take it that's aimed at me and Ben?  In which case I'm going to be the bigger man and bite my tongue 

It was yeah, cause you've both said exactly that. I just think it's an utterly daft point of view. If we could could buy PRS the price we could in the states, would you be buying Tom Andersons instead and insisting they're the ultimate guitar for you?

The whole series of posts kinda was, to be honest. Because you're a good player, as is Ben, but you both seem to really subscribe to the idea that you need all this stuff to be good and it's just total nonsense.

I have some expensive gear too, but I'm well aware of the fact I can get by without it, I just like cool gear. :lol:

[dave_mc]

Exactly Dave, exactly.  That's the whole reason we're on this forum, to improve our tone via BKPs because we can.  I could do a 'DC gig with a Squier Strat and a loud cheap amp but what's the point?  Where's the fun in that?

It's just the implied snobbery of the the more expensive the better opinion of a couple folk in this thread annoys me.

I take it that's aimed at me and Ben?  In which case I'm going to be the bigger man and bite my tongue 

yeah, definitely (regarding the fun thing). to me, if a piece of gear makes me want to play more (as long as it's not a daft amount of money, of course), it's worth it. don't get me wrong, some things are better value than others, believing that something is good solely because it's expensive is a dangerous frame of mind to get into, and there's some expensive stuff which i don't really like at all, but a lot of the time, the really nice stuff is at least reasonably expensive.

:)

I have some expensive gear too, but I'm well aware of the fact I can get by without it, I just like cool gear. :lol:

isn't that what we're all like? :)

[sebby123]

Thats what i was trying to get at the whole time! We dont need it but what the hell if it makes you love your instrument more makes you play it more then why not dish out the bucks $%&# when i boguht my first les paul i would stare at it all day i dont mine paying another 3000$ to fall in love all over again with a les paul custom  :P

[Twinfan]

I take it that's aimed at me and Ben?  In which case I'm going to be the bigger man and bite my tongue 

It was yeah, cause you've both said exactly that. I just think it's an utterly daft point of view. If we could could buy PRS the price we could in the states, would you be buying Tom Andersons instead and insisting they're the ultimate guitar for you?

The whole series of posts kinda was, to be honest. Because you're a good player, as is Ben, but you both seem to really subscribe to the idea that you need all this stuff to be good and it's just total nonsense.

I have some expensive gear too, but I'm well aware of the fact I can get by without it, I just like cool gear. :lol:

You've missed the point, nfe.  We're not discussing what you need to get a tone you can get by with.  It's tips about how to get that 'great' tone, that's what I understand by Hunter's original post anyhow.

As for the PRS comment, I don't like them because they're seen to be expensive and I've only bought them to be a poseur.  I like them because they work for me better than any other guitar, regardless of their price.

[nfe]

You've missed the point, nfe.  We're not discussing what you need to get a tone you can get by with.  It's tips about how to get that 'great' tone, that's what I understand by Hunter's original post anyhow.

I know we are. And I stated what I think is the biggest part of getting your tone. And people disagreed with me, and I tried to explain why I think that. And now we're here  :)

I mean, lets be honest, we ALL spend way more money on our gear than the people we wish we sounded as good as do/did, and we'll never sound like them, because that greatness is in their hands, not what ever wood and metal they're holding, or stamping on, or plugging in to.

[dave_mc]

i don't disagree with you at all. being a better player and having tone in your hands is just a given, as far as i'm concerned. of course a better player will sound better than a worse player, (almost) regardless of gear, but the same player will sound better with better gear (or better-suited gear, anyway). :)

[Twinfan]

^ exactly!

[nfe]

i don't disagree with you at all. being a better player and having tone in your hands is just a given, as far as i'm concerned. of course a better player will sound better than a worse player, (almost) regardless of gear, but the same player will sound better with better gear (or better-suited gear, anyway). :)

Totally agree.

Really what I'm getting at I suppose, is that in a thread called "Your secrets of tone" people were talking about the cost of gear as a factor, or at least phrasing it as such, and I think that's quite silly, not to mention discouraging to folks without many pennies.

[dave_mc]

well, i know i used to get annoyed with my cheaper gear, it never sounded how i wanted... now i have better gear (not all of it is more expensive, but some of it is) i'm a lot happier... however, i've also got better as a player since then, so it's hard to say how much of it's gear and how much of it is being a better player. but i'm pretty sure at least some of it's gear, as when i got the better gear, there was an obvious "jump" in my playing. i think it also helps me to play better too...

btw, i put in the "(almost) regardless of gear" in case someone came up with something like a shoebox strung with elastic bands... :lol:

and cheers dave :)

EDIT: lol, just had a thought- is "practice more!" really a secret, anyway?  :lol:

[nfe]

EDIT: lol, just had a thought- is "practice more!" really a secret, anyway?  :lol:

I've worked in many a guitar shop, and I'm off back to work in one soon, hearing folks play all day every day, and on that experience, I actually think it is  :lol:

[Twinfan]

Really what I'm getting at I suppose, is that in a thread called "Your secrets of tone" people were talking about the cost of gear as a factor, or at least phrasing it as such, and I think that's quite silly, not to mention discouraging to folks without many pennies.

So why are you so anti-spending money on gear, nfe?  If you don't believe in that kind of thing why are you on a boutique pickup makers forum?  You're preaching to the wrong crowd...