ANOTHER NOTE FOR NEWBIES AND THE YOUNGER FOLKS. Secret tone

[Paul Marossy]

Speaking about tones, everybody have their best tones based on their experienced in hearing an amps and records as much as possible. i love  my deluxe reverb amp as much as my handmade stompboxes.

No doubt, a good amp is the first thing you need! No pedal is going to make a P.O.C. amp sound fantastic.  :wink:

[Jack]

I'm sure that's great for blues, rock or metal. But who plays that anymore?

[Gilles C]

I play Blues, and there's always somebody to tell me that he doesn't believe in effects to make a bad guitar sound good, and that he never uses any effect, etc...

I agree with them. A crap guitar will always sound like crap, no matter what you use to amplify it.

But I noticed that some of these guys also like to play loud to be able to get a good sound, just to be able to hear this little something they don't hear at a lower volume.

They also always sound the same.

Well, for my own taste, I need a tube amp... and a good sounding guitar.

That's for a start.

But it doesn't mean you have to stop there.

I can't, and don't want to play loud all the time. So that's where effects can be put to contribution. To make an amp sound like it's played louder for example. A little overdrive can help me there. Or even just a booster to overdrive the input. Ok, it's not the same as a speaker reaching the end of its travel, but you see the point...

Another example. I would love to play through a Leslie.  But I don't see myself bringing a Leslie (if I could find one...) with me every time I want that sound. A pedal is easier to put in a case.

Natural reverb, well I don't play in arenas that often, so... another effect needed there.

But hey, you know what... I also like to build effects, and I like the sound of FETs before a tube amp. That's another good reason for me...  

I rarely use everything that I build in a live situation, but I always have fun building and trying then, all in the search for the perfect tone.

Gilles

[syzygy]

To be fair, a "crap" guitar has its own unique sound that you may or may not like.  And in experienced hands, using a crap guitar won't necessarily prevent their playing style from shining through.

There is no good or bad sound, there is only how each person perceives a sound to be.  And as we all know, all people are exactly alike.  :lol:

[Paul Marossy]

A crap guitar can sound surprisingly good in the right hands!  :wink:

[barret77]

hey, no intention to steal the thread, but has anyone ever played using isolating headphones through a mixer, miccing the amp? When you mic the amp and use the mixer preamp to monitor, it's amazing. It sounds completely different from just listening the amp. And every mic position change a bit the resulting tone. I guess this is my preferred way to play, but it's so ankward - why use isolating headphones when you can listen to the real thing? mysteries of sound engineering...

[Bluesgeetar]

Yeah that is something I probably should have mentioned.  Nine times out of ten I listen to my amp miced with 2 SM57 and a nice condensor moved back about 2 to 3 feet.  I listen through monitor headphones.  Man what a glorious sound.  Doesn't need high volume to sound good.  

You know sometimes I forget that a Wah pedal is a stompbox.  I mean it is such a mainstay and I couldn't live without it for alot of tones to leave it in that sweet position to add some squawk.  I rarely sweep it back and forth, just leave it %^&*ed in that positon.  I think alot of people didn't read my post clearly or I wasn't clear in that I was talking about fuzz/distortion.  I still love my univibe and CE-1.  So let me clarify:  I am moving away from fuzz boxes in favor of the clipped tube tone and speaker tone and guitar mods and great pickups.  There is also a good bit that should be acknowledged to mic position.  I still have a place for swirly stuff and my echoplex.

Let's not forget the THD Hotplates :wink:

Barrett77 is on to something there.  We listen to all our favorite guitarists through a mic.  Let's not forget the recording process.  

But hey these are just my opinions based on my and some others experiences and our ears.  And opinions are like bungholes, everyones got them and they usaully stink. :mrgreen:

[Bluesgeetar]

peace my friends.

[Karmasound]

I blackfaced a Super Reverb and put RCA's in it and it sounds awesome.

I tried channel chaining it but haven't got the desired results for overdrive.

Bone nuts rule.

I also tried some Gerald Weber mods and it made a nice difference.

[Trem Abuser]

"A poor craftsman blames his tools."

But yet a skilled craftsman always seems to possess quality tools.

[wampcat1]

I don't think I'll ever be able to just use one guitar and one amp only...to me,  effects are like colors. If an artist were to throw out all of his paints except for one particular mix of red, that would be silly if he was trying to paint something that required various colors. Likewise, as is the search for the 'holy grail' of guitar tone, IMO. I definately have my days where I honk through a cranked tube amp and that's it, and other days I'll hook up 3 or 4 delays, several mod. effects, and more dirt pedals than I ought to just to have those tones available. I've never heard or heard of an amp that can do fuzz factory tones, or any fuzzy, nasty sputtering tones for that matter. Just as well, there isn't a pedal in existance that is going to replace Angus Youngs SG and cranked Marshall.

My 2 pennies.

brian (indyguitarist.com)

[Doug_H]

It's kind of funny and ironic... I was at rehearsal last week with a bass player I had not played with before. He looked at my amp (Octal Fatness) and said, "Man, I cannot believe the tone you're getting!! It sounds so good!" I said, "Well the amp's actually clean, the tone's coming from this pedal" and I pointed to my Highway 89. Funny thing is I leave that pedal on all the time and use it in a real "bluesy/ampy" way- turning down my guitar vol for pristine clean and cranking it up for a fat overdrive tone for solos and riffing etc...

Any more I don't make assumptions about something having to be like this or having to be like that to get good tone. I gave up a long time ago... I'm constantly surprised at what works when I'm putting together a rig.

Doug

[fikri]

A crap guitar can sound surprisingly good in the right hands!  :wink:

Sure it is ! in fact, some people always had their first guitar with not so expensive value. But when your technical playing get better, and you buy another more expensive guitar, and you try to play with your first guitar, your technical playing wont shrink down !