this is prolly the point of the saying, which is true.
"Tone is in your fingers" What does that mean, exactly???
- Thread starter feilong29
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this is prolly the point of the saying, which is true.
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gunch
digidun digidun wakka wakka skree
Technique is like the flour in the cake compared to the other ingredients
wheresthefbomb
Well-Known Member
it means y'all need to close this tab and go practice
Kosthrash
SS.org Regular
IMHO the overall tone has many variables, a big percentage of impact in tone has to do with the "fingers" (=overall playing style and technical experience). Even the choice of the pick has audible impact in our tone (thicker/thinner, softer/harder), but I'd personally estimate a rough 80% of the tone is in the "fingers", the amp /effects,/ cabs/ speakers/ microphones etc, and only the rest 20% is from the electric guitar...
HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
"Stop asking me about gear."
Wiltonauer
SS.org Regular
Marty?
gunch
digidun digidun wakka wakka skree
"Stop asking me about my fucked up raptor claw hand"
Could be. Marty knows jackshit about gear. He doesn't even set the things himself. Just give the man a Maxon AF-9 and enough gain, and he's good to go.
Wiltonauer
SS.org Regular
Wow, great thread. Everybody so far has made either a good point, a good joke, or both.
I feel like a player plus a rig is like a hand in a glove. There are certain sonic characteristics of the numerous mechanisms and filters inherent in the gear, but it’s up to the player to make the most of it and/or change the gear until they’re happy with what they are hearing. You can do hand exercises, get different gloves, or both.
Certain gear might make it harder or easier to get the sounds you want, but the better you are, the easier you’ll find it to get those sounds, regardless of the gear. If you feel like the gear is making it hard for you in some way, explore that. I think everyone should start out with the best gear they can afford, chosen to fit what they want to do as closely as possible. If all your guitar idols play Les Pauls, don’t buy a cheap Strat copy. Buy at least a decent Les Paulish guitar. Don’t buy the cheapest nondescript practice amp. Get something that at least approaches the kind of gain structure you really want. That way you will know at the outset what the real problem is and what you need to work on. After you’ve blown all your money on gear, practice and learn and save up for leasons.
Chase the last few percent if you want to. If that new pickup or pedal boosts your confidence or makes you think you sound slightly better, it doesn’t really matter if anyone else can hear it or not. Those other tossers aren’t the ones playing your guitar.
I feel like a player plus a rig is like a hand in a glove. There are certain sonic characteristics of the numerous mechanisms and filters inherent in the gear, but it’s up to the player to make the most of it and/or change the gear until they’re happy with what they are hearing. You can do hand exercises, get different gloves, or both.
Certain gear might make it harder or easier to get the sounds you want, but the better you are, the easier you’ll find it to get those sounds, regardless of the gear. If you feel like the gear is making it hard for you in some way, explore that. I think everyone should start out with the best gear they can afford, chosen to fit what they want to do as closely as possible. If all your guitar idols play Les Pauls, don’t buy a cheap Strat copy. Buy at least a decent Les Paulish guitar. Don’t buy the cheapest nondescript practice amp. Get something that at least approaches the kind of gain structure you really want. That way you will know at the outset what the real problem is and what you need to work on. After you’ve blown all your money on gear, practice and learn and save up for leasons.
Chase the last few percent if you want to. If that new pickup or pedal boosts your confidence or makes you think you sound slightly better, it doesn’t really matter if anyone else can hear it or not. Those other tossers aren’t the ones playing your guitar.
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SpaceDock
Shred till your dead
I really felt this a few weeks ago, I have played guitar for 25 years now and have a big collection of high end guitars and amps. One of my work buddies has been playing guitar for about two months and wanted me to go help him shop for a new guitar. We go to guitar center and I grab the cheapest squire off the wall and plug into some tiny junk amp, I sounded 90% like I sound at home but granted those shitty pickups made me work hard for it. It really drove the point home that you don’t purchase sounding good on guitar, you achieve it with practice.
narad
Progressive metal and politics
Dayn
Well-Known Member
In most cases they don't mean tone at all. They mean style. Steve Vai will sound like Steve Vai playing through his own rig or a crappy buzzy budget amp, but the tone will be completely different. So the phrase is often used to mean, don't worry about tone so much, focus on playing. Which is usually good advice.
For the ones who literally mean tone, I would say the majority are the type of people who think the only valid motion you're allowed to express is 'sadness' via the exploitation of tension and release solely in the blues style, in which case they're often speaking out of their ass. Which is ironic, because it sounds exactly like speaking out of their mouth, so who is really right?
Then I would say the minority of people who say it mean the actual technique of a person. This is more than just the style I stated at the beginning. It's more about how you hold the pick, how you actually pick, such as angle, force, how much pick contacts the strings, how much it scrapes the strings, when you lift it, how far forward from the bridge you like to pick, and likewise how your fretting hand handles the other side of the string. Literally, how your hands manipulate the string to make sound. All of which affect the tone before even the pickups get involved.
For the ones who literally mean tone, I would say the majority are the type of people who think the only valid motion you're allowed to express is 'sadness' via the exploitation of tension and release solely in the blues style, in which case they're often speaking out of their ass. Which is ironic, because it sounds exactly like speaking out of their mouth, so who is really right?
Then I would say the minority of people who say it mean the actual technique of a person. This is more than just the style I stated at the beginning. It's more about how you hold the pick, how you actually pick, such as angle, force, how much pick contacts the strings, how much it scrapes the strings, when you lift it, how far forward from the bridge you like to pick, and likewise how your fretting hand handles the other side of the string. Literally, how your hands manipulate the string to make sound. All of which affect the tone before even the pickups get involved.
Wiltonauer
SS.org Regular
And it’s not even really about the price of the gear so much as it’s about the gear being suited to the task. The cheap Strat copy probably sounded more like a Custom Shop Strat than any LP could regardless of price. The amp I use most at home these days is my Fender Mustang GTX100, because it approximates the sound of other amps well enough for the horsehoes and hand grenades of my playing. It’s never going to get me 100% of the tone of the amps it models, but it always sounds good enough that I can’t blame the amp when I don’t sound good.
wheresthefbomb
Well-Known Member
Yep. I was out guitar shopping last year, budget was tight so I was looking at bolt on Epi LPs. I played it through my trust RAT into a boss katana, the old grey ponytail guitar tech (you know the one) came back out looking all "????" because I'd declined to play the expensive LPC and then conjured some rad meaty t0anz with the cheapo.
Of course, I then took it home and put $300 worth of boutique pickups in it.
Drew
Forum MVP
Close. Tone is in the blinkie lights. It is known.
Thought we settled this months ago: the tone is in the truss rod cover
7stringDemon
Well-Known Member
Picking hand.
Pick light, the tone is light. Pick hard, the tone is sharp and punches.
Good muting technique matters too. How many times have we heard someone shredding a million notes per second, but the notes themselves all sound fluffy and weak, or they have all their open strings ringing out around it.
Thats picking hand and muting problems.
Pick light, the tone is light. Pick hard, the tone is sharp and punches.
Good muting technique matters too. How many times have we heard someone shredding a million notes per second, but the notes themselves all sound fluffy and weak, or they have all their open strings ringing out around it.
Thats picking hand and muting problems.
wheresthefbomb
Well-Known Member
Thought we settled this months ago: the tone is in the truss rod cover
None of those are tonewood. The best truss rod covers are made from endangered zebrafucker stripeydoodle moonblaster wood.
