What's your favourite recorded guitar tone?

[gwEm]

incredibly hard to say, since i have a favourite tone for each of the different styles i'm into: hard rock, nwobhm, thrash and techno/industrial. some of the tones i pigeon hole with a certain genre are wrong period-wise, but to me it makes sense.

live at leeds, motorhead, zz-top, schenker ufo, early def leppard and early ac-dc have perfect hard rock tones, but very different

singling out witchfynde, diamond head, first sabbath album and mid 70s priest for the nwobhm sort of sound i like - i know priest and sabbath aren't nwobhm at all ;)

ride the lightning has a great thrash tone, and i like the painkiller period priest for that as well, though its very different take on that period, not really thrash. sometimes megadeth pull a nice tone out the back too.

for techno/industrial i'm going with my current favourites rammstein (though they can be a bit too fizzy) and slayer (though again not what most people would associate with those key words maybe)

[Fourth Feline]

As has already been noted, there is a 'favourite recorded guitar tone' in each seperate genre I listen to . For example ( in no particular order ) :

Larry Carlton's 'Sapphire Blues Band' era.

Micheal Schenker " Strangers In The Night " album.

Joe Pass  on the 'An Evening With Joe Pass' DVD.

Bill Nelson on the ( Be-Bop Deluxe era  )  'Live In The Air Age ' album.

Zakk Wylde - later Black Label Society stuff.

Gary Moore original "Parisienne Walkways"  single.

Marc Ribot sessions on Tom Waits 'Rain Dogs' ( and other T.W. albums ) .

Wilko Johnson on early 'Dr. Feelgood' stuff.

Peter Green on the original 'Need Your Love so Bad '  .

Robin Trower on the 70s album ' Robin Trower Live ' ( Daydream especially ) and cleaner playing on the later 'Long Misty Days' album.

John Mayer 'Gravity ' live version.

Billy Gibbons on 'Blue Jean Blues'

The Hoax , intro to " Swallow My Pride " from the 'Sound Like This ' album .

B.B. King ( many examples ) .

Adrian Ingram 'An Introduction To The Guitar Of '  Studio album.

Jim Mullen's guitar work on the Claire Martin debut album ' The Waiting Game'.

And many more ....    :)

[Elliot]

In terms of tone Richard Thompson's P90'd Goldtop on Tam Lin on Fairport Conventions' Liege and Lief and the really thin dark strat tone of The Chantay's Pipeline.

[shobet]

My tastes change regularly, but I like the sounds that guitars make on the whole.

A tone that has always stood out for me is the sound of those first 3 power chords in Bad Company's song Bad Company, just at a minute into the track. Just listen to that 3rd chord, ooh I think I've come just thinking about it.  

[mecca777]

Too many great tones to choose a favourite! I can pick three albums:

Gn'R - Appetite for Destruction
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

...but beyond that, I can't narrow it any further. I also love Kaki King, Robin Guthrie and Paul Gilbert for their tones, but they're not in the same class as those three - when I think "rock guitar sound" I'm really thinking of "Emerald" or "Sweet Child o' Mine", and Hendrix was an encyclopaedia of fantastic guitar tones.

[Philly Q]

Robin Trower on the 70s albums ' Robin Trower Live '

+1!  :D

But I really can't narrow it down, I have so many favourites, sometimes individual tracks and sometimes whole albums.

Blackmore on Made In Japan
Dave Meniketti on Y&T's Black Tiger album
Marty Friedman's solo on "Addicted To Chaos"
Robben Ford, especially on the Blue Line albums
Ronnie Montrose on the first Montrose album
Gwin Spencer on The Mother Station's Brand New Bag album
Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell of Trouble on every single second of the Manic Frustration album
Whoever did the solo on "Shades Of Blue" by The Family Stand
Ty Tabor on the first four King's X albums
Michael Schenker on the Michael Schenker Group album
Chris Whitley on Din Of Ecstasy
Def Leppard on High'N'Dry
Rick Derringer on "Jump, Jump, Jump"
Tony Iommi on "Johnny Blade"
Martin Barre on Stand Up
Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch of Tesla on The Great Radio Controversy (especially "Makin' Magic")
Leslie West on "Nantucket Sleighride"
Lita Ford's solo on "Gotta Let Go"
Angus and Malcolm Young on "Hell's Bells" and "Touch Too Much"
Larry Gillstrom and Raymond Arthur Harvey on "Dreamin' About You" from Kick Axe's Vices album
Andy Powell and Laurie Wisefield on "F.U.B.B." (and everything else!)
Eric Gales on the first Eric Gales Band album
Vivian Campbell on the Holy Diver album
Carlos Santana on Santana 3 and most of their '70s albums

I'll stop now, but they keep popping into my head!

[MDV]

Right

This should be pretty metalicious

In no order, and I may change my mind within minutes

Sylosis - coaa
Metallica - ba
machine head - tmtc
origin - antithesis
Isis - panopticon
Bloodbath - nmf
Nile - aotw
Byzantine - tfc
CoC - wiseblood
Cannibal Corpse - kill
Russian Circles - enter
Pelican - austrilasia
Extreme - pornograffiti

That'll do for now.

[Will]

I have been enjoying Zakk on No more tears and No rest today, but to pin it to one song...
Def Leppard: Rock Rock - thats the spine tingler for me

[Ian Price]

My tastes change regularly, but I like the sounds that guitars make on the whole.

A tone that has always stood out for me is the sound of those first 3 power chords in Bad Company's song Bad Company, just at a minute into the track. Just listen to that 3rd chord, ooh I think I've come just thinking about it.  

I'll probably get shot for saying this but I had never heard the song until today. I've listened to it a few times and after 1:00 all I have is a vision of you doing stuff in your pants  :? It is good stuff though and I may need to buy some.

I love threads like this as it get's me listening to music that I had never listened to or would not have even known about. Youtube is great for some things!

[noodleplugerine]

Right

This should be pretty metalicious

In no order, and I may change my mind within minutes

Sylosis - coaa
Metallica - ba
machine head - tmtc
origin - antithesis
Isis - panopticon
Bloodbath - nmf
Nile - aotw
Byzantine - tfc
CoC - wiseblood
Cannibal Corpse - kill
Russian Circles - enter
Pelican - austrilasia
Extreme - pornograffiti

That'll do for now.

What's with all the acronyms? Now I have to look up half these albums on wiki - well I would if I didn't know most of them.. But for those who don't.. Good choices btw. Specially Pornograffiti and Antithesis.

[MDV]

Albums. Less typing.

[MDV]

Right

This should be pretty metalicious

In no order, and I may change my mind within minutes

Sylosis - conclusion of an age
Metallica - black album
machine head - the more things change
origin - antithesis
Isis - panopticon
Bloodbath - nightmares made flesh
Nile - annihilation of the wicked
Byzantine - the fundamental component
CoC - wiseblood
Cannibal Corpse - kill
Russian Circles - enter
Pelican - austrilasia
Extreme - pornograffiti

That'll do for now.

[shobet]

I'll probably get shot for saying this but I had never heard the song until today. I've listened to it a few times and after 1:00 all I have is a vision of you doing stuff in your pants  :? It is good stuff though and I may need to buy some.

I think you should rephrase that ducky!

[Ian Price]

I'll probably get shot for saying this but I had never heard the song until today. I've listened to it a few times and after 1:00 all I have is a vision of you doing stuff in your pants  :? It is good stuff though and I may need to buy some.

I think you should rephrase that ducky!

Whoops  :o Obviously I meant buy some Bad Company stuff!

[AndyR]

Right

This should be pretty metalicious

In no order, and I may change my mind within minutes

Sylosis - conclusion of an age
Metallica - black album
machine head - the more things change
origin - antithesis
Isis - panopticon
Bloodbath - nightmares made flesh
Nile - annihilation of the wicked
Byzantine - the fundamental component
CoC - wiseblood
Cannibal Corpse - kill
Russian Circles - enter
Pelican - austrilasia
Extreme - pornograffiti

That'll do for now.

Thanks MDV - noodle was right about the acronyms...

But, alas, I was still none the wiser :lol:

I've heard of Metallica (I've even heard the Black Album!) and Machine Head, and Extreme... but... er... that's it...

However, gulp, via spotify, I've been listening to Cannibal Corpse's Kill now - and all my hair has suddenly turned white!!  :o

(um... I like the guitar tone though :lol:)