I think it's say to safe tone is in fact stored in the balls.
"Tone is in your fingers" What does that mean, exactly???
- Thread starter feilong29
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
I wonder if there are a bunch of saxophone players sitting around somewhere arguing about whether Charlie Parker would still sound the same if he played a Selmer or a Conn instead of a King sax. To me, the idea is preposterous, but who knows?
Also, I mean, it's not like famous guitar players ever stuck to just one piece of gear. Santana sounds like Santana, whether he's playing an SG or a PRS or even the span when he played Yamahas. EVH is an even better example, playing some of the nicest Ernie Ball guitars, but also playing literally garbage out of a fuckin dumpster and sounding fantastic either way. So, like, seriously, where does this idea come from that the characteristic tone of a guitarist is from anything other than subtle playing techniques?
Also, I mean, it's not like famous guitar players ever stuck to just one piece of gear. Santana sounds like Santana, whether he's playing an SG or a PRS or even the span when he played Yamahas. EVH is an even better example, playing some of the nicest Ernie Ball guitars, but also playing literally garbage out of a fuckin dumpster and sounding fantastic either way. So, like, seriously, where does this idea come from that the characteristic tone of a guitarist is from anything other than subtle playing techniques?
You think that you can't change your techniques?!
Excruciator
Well-Known Member
I don't think many people would deny technique and idiosyncrasies of varied playing styles are a huge part of the equation of what makes up a distinct tone. The problem with the expression is that it's more often than not used in a patronising, dismissive manner where it's really not applicable. There's a huge aspect of one's guitar tone which is entirely based on the gear you're using. It is only respectful, to me at least, to be charitable enough to assume someone making a query about gear has an IQ over room temperature and can see the distinction between technique based tone components and gear based. Some dullard coming out with this trite old classic, amongst others, has been a plague on internet guitar discussion for as long as it's existed.
Part of it comes from the practice of chasing someone else's "tone", which I never got personally but I would guess it's something the majority of "internet guitarists" do. The other part comes from the notion of "tone" itself, which is now an entirely nebulous term which means different things to different people, but very often "that sound that I like and want to emulate", when more often than not they're just addicted to the chase and they'll never emulate it to their own satisfaction regardless.
Part of it comes from the practice of chasing someone else's "tone", which I never got personally but I would guess it's something the majority of "internet guitarists" do. The other part comes from the notion of "tone" itself, which is now an entirely nebulous term which means different things to different people, but very often "that sound that I like and want to emulate", when more often than not they're just addicted to the chase and they'll never emulate it to their own satisfaction regardless.
GunpointMetal
Well-Known Member
Play the right notes at the right time with the right touch and everything "feels" great, no matter your rig. I always hate when I'm talking gear and some rando brings up how digital "feels" and I'm over hear thinking if I play it right, it feels good on a 10W practice amp and even the tone isn't great, the music still sounds good because its being played right.
Guamskyy
Hwat you call me?
It’s just like how pee is stored in the balls
Guamskyy
Hwat you call me?
It’s just like how pee is stored in the balls
Drew
Forum MVP
IMO, this is making a straw man out of what's a very complex argument.
Tone isn't ONLY in the fingers.
But, the physical act of fretting a note, and the physical act of striking the string with a pick, all impact how that note's attack, sustain, and decay, and the balance between the various parts of it, will sound. Hold a 9th fret E on the G string and start picking close to the bridge and gradually work your way to the neck, and you will hear differences. And then account for the fact that every single one of us has a slightly different natural hand position. All these little things DO add up.
CanserDYI
Yeah, No, Definitely.
Tone is in the amp, speaker, and pickups. Confidence and solid fingerings are in the fingers, and confidence and solid fingerings sound way better than a second guessed, misfretted, buzzy inconfident mess.
Of course, everything has some effect on the "tone." But think of it this way, if I had a dozen different high-profile players play the same guitar with the same strings and the same pickups through the same amp with the same cab with the same speakers, then had the same guitarist play through the same setup but with 12 different pickups, then the same but with 12 different speakers, again with 12 different amps, and so on, I guarantee to you that the 12 different players would provide you with the most tonal variety of all of the tests.
Yeah, I like the EVO7 or the Elysian trident or whatever pickup. Because, to me, it checks the boxes better than pickups I don't like. And sure, I like 12" speakers better than 10" speakers, and I like my Mesa Dual Recto better than, say, a Crate GX120H, etc. But hand me a random recording, and there would be pretty much no way that I could identify the gear used down to that level of detail. I could probably tell you whether an amp was US-voiced or UK-voiced, high-gain or not, maybe, if I was really lucky, I could tell you a little bit about the pickups being either hot or PAF style, but it'd be some supernatural shit if I could guess whether they were vintage 30 Celestions with Seymour Duncan JB custom and Jazz standard with .009 Ernie Ball strings. Y'know?
Yet, if you had Paul Gilbert play something, I'd be way more likely to be able to guess it was him, versus, say, Michael Angelo, or whatever vaguely-similar metal player.
Do you agree?
So, yes, everything has some effect on the tone, down to the air temperature in the studio that day, however, the effect of whose "hands*" are playing the guitar is far more distinctive than any other variable. And some variables have so little effect compared to that, that some might be halfway justified in saying that they ultimately don't matter.
Eric Johnson says he can hear the difference between different sorts of 1/4" instrument cable, and I 100% believe him. BUT - I don't think your average listener can discern to that level. I don't think your average listener can tell the difference between .007's and .016's, but I bet you dollars to donuts that most could hear the difference between Billy Gibbons and Dike Dale, even if they were both playing the same gear.
*People say "hands," but, more accurately it's an effect of how the person's brain interprets the musical idea from the abstract into the concrete. It might even be possible to develop a certain guitar tone that might translate to other instruments in some way, even if those instruments don't use the fingers to express notes the same way - I feel like the difference is in the act of the expression moreso than the physical movement of the fingers, but maybe that's a little out there, I'll admit.
Awesome! I'll finally get to play Wonderwall.
Kwert
Well-Known Member
IMO it’s a bit of a misnomer. I think it would be more accurate to say phrasing/nuance is in the fingers/hands, but that doesn’t sound as good to say.
When I went to private school and the nuns would whack our knuckles with their pointer or with a ruler, it wasn't to punish us, it was to tone tap to see whose hands would make the best guitarists. 
"Little Darrel Abbot, I think he's going to grow up to be a rockstar!"
"No, sister Yvette, I tone-tapped his knuckles, and it sounded like solid-state cardboard, dead as the eyes of Satan. I'm afraid he just doesn't have good tone-hands."
...well, maybe not all of the nuns knew how to make a good call, but at least they tried!
At least, that was before the word got out that tone was stored in the balls.
"Huh huh, hey Bozu, did you know toan is stored in the balls?"
"Huh?"
"Huh huh huh huh, hey that sounded alright!"
"Little Darrel Abbot, I think he's going to grow up to be a rockstar!"
"No, sister Yvette, I tone-tapped his knuckles, and it sounded like solid-state cardboard, dead as the eyes of Satan. I'm afraid he just doesn't have good tone-hands."
...well, maybe not all of the nuns knew how to make a good call, but at least they tried!
At least, that was before the word got out that tone was stored in the balls.
"Huh huh, hey Bozu, did you know toan is stored in the balls?"
"Huh?"
"Huh huh huh huh, hey that sounded alright!"
Sermo Lupi
Well-Known Member
The tonal differences people are talking about when they say this exist apart from style. Take two players, have them play the same riff in the same way, it always sounds different.
Remind me to never watch you play guitar, or at least warn me before you enter a full squat to hit the tone on those heavy riffs...
Sermo Lupi
Well-Known Member
Of all the things to doubt about guitar tone, being skeptical that a player's physiology and technique contributes to their sound is the craziest part, isn't it?
It's probably the largest contributing factor of what makes them identifiable after their composition and note choices. Gear is just layers.
gunshow86de
Beef Jerky Time
Tone is in the price tag. The more expensive the guitar, the more tone it has. Simple as.
Excruciator
Well-Known Member
Mostly yes, although I'd just refer that back to being a technique based aspect of "tone", and it's not something I, personally, would describe as "tone" when speaking of such; I can understand why others do, even if I disagree with it. I am likely the wrong person to ask, since I have less than zero interest in "guitar heroes" like Vai or Satriani; quite frankly I'd rather listen to an intentionally messy Peste Noire solo or Jeff Hanneman play some random chromatic mess every time.
Some of my favourite bands have absolute dogshit for tone, despite being technically proficient, and it works perfectly for their music. Conversely, I like Celtic Frosts's tones on their better albums. To this day, and by his own admission, Tom still can't play his guitar to save his life. I don't think his sloppy playing adds or detracts from his tone at all, although it does fit the aesthetic of the music. I probably have an easier time divorcing the two because of cases like this, and because I don't care for vicarious "tone" emulation. I know I am something of a black sheep, being interested in guitar electronics and tonal properties despite being invested and integrated in genres and aesthetics that don't typically care one iota for it, but it is what it is.
