Steve Vai Tone?

pri0531 · #31 01-23-2002, 03:35 PM

Thanks for posting that Steve. *I think they forgot to mention the delay unit/pedal.
Out,
Gregory

JackButtler · #32 01-24-2002, 03:25 AM

Okay lookin back 20 years ago. *Maybe Ill get flamed for this but who knows. *Van Halen one was made with crap in most peoples eyes. *yet the tone is balls to the wall unholy. * Having said that its a marshall stack, an ibanez destroyer, and strat with humbuckers, some effects here and there but the tone is purely evh and a hot amp. *Regardless I think most players like vai and evh like a wet sound. *They get some nice sustain going on and voila. *I mean play something over and over again. *You get a certain feel for it. *Thousands of guitarist have technique and gear. * I mean if you took the best guitarist on earth and let them play through vais own setup, NONE of them would sound the same, even vai clones, etc. *Its in the phrasing period. * Just like sitting with any evh album youll never really get his tone IMHO ever. *Its the player. *Thats one of the things about music. *My high school music teacher once asked what really makes good music since all people are different. *Well all musicians are different thats whats so beautiful. * Face it Vai just plays a shade that we dont. *Not that we dont have our own pretty shade. *lol. * Even if his is a hot pink floral shade, with pyramid inlays, and seven strings

*

fallenprey33 · #33 02-03-2011, 01:38 PM

I think a lot of people confuse the tone of the player with the tone of his equipment. Not the same thing. It's a different definition. People that have Van Halen or Vai's tone from gear will still have rather weak tone as a player. People that are advance or elite musicians will have what is known as guitar god tone as a player regardless of the gear.

AlaskaBat · #34 02-03-2011, 02:26 PM

I still don't subscribe to the "tone comes from the finger" theory. Style comes from the fingers and that will acount for some small aspects of it. EVH could plug a tele into a Vox and sound like Ed in style, but not tone.

6fingers · #35 02-03-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlaskaBat

I still don't subscribe to the "tone comes from the finger" theory. Style comes from the fingers and that will acount for some small aspects of it. EVH could plug a tele into a Vox and sound like Ed in style, but not tone.

+1000

Style(technique) comes from your fingers and tone comes from your gear.
What makes people recognize players like Vai,Satch,Malmsteen etc when they play 4 notes is their technique,they have so personal licks,phrases etc which make people recognize them.
It's not their tones cause in all albums they have different tones.
A lot of people misunderstood STYLE with tone.

A perfect example is Vai playing playing through a cheap zoom would have a zoom tone but people would know it's him because of his style(technique).
So through different gear players have different tones but the same style(technique)

Tone come from fingers?
So how is the tone of people who eat fingernails?
LOL

LonePhantom · #36 02-03-2011, 04:06 PM

Holy thread resurrection Batman! Talk about digging deep to find this.

fallenprey33 · #37 02-04-2011, 06:01 AM

Tone is in the fingers, at least to me, refers to the theory that in order to clone somebody you must do exactly the same thing they do when they play. Sort of like following someone's footsteps. They must be identical. The problem is that no one will ever have that possibility even if they could for a second match the "footprint" pattern, they'd never have the same feet.

linuxpenguin · #38 02-04-2011, 08:29 AM

I think its funny that I can change amps, pedals, and guitars, yet I defniitely sound pretty consistent...

Its more then gear lol.

HeavyMetal4Ever · #39 02-04-2011, 10:21 AM

Ahh, the "tone is in the fingers" argument is back again? Oh well, here's my opinion, for the little it's worth.

If Steve Vai played a Gibson ES335 through a 10" Gorilla practice amp with a Metal Zone and a Danelectro delay pedal it would no doubt sound awesome, but it's not likely to sound like any tones on his albums, cause he uses different gear.

Lets take this a step further and have him play an unamplified acoustic. Using his magic fingers he somehow creates distortion, delay and harmony? Apparently this is possible IF the tone comes from his fingers, not his gear. I suspect the gear used could possibly play a small part in the tone of the player.

This is not a knock on Vai, his technique and style are unmistakable and beyond awesome imho, but the man is only human, and thus incapable of producing things like tube distortion or digital delay with just his fingers.

It's like 6fingers and AlaskaBat said, there's tone, then style. To me, style comes from technique, tone is how you make your gear sound.

And back on topic, if you want to sound -like- Steve Vai, use similar equipment, study his playing in depth and practice alot. If you are good it could get you close. Good luck with that.

Rock on!

AlaskaBat · #40 02-04-2011, 01:15 PM

Ed's "Brown Sound" is NOT in his fingers. Example: Anyone ever heard the Atomic Punks? Best VH tribute band ever! The first guitarist had the style and tone down pat--his rig captured the brown sound, and his style was really close to Ed's. The third guitarist was good, and nailed the brown sound, but wasn't as good as the first. Had Ed's tone, but not style. Take a 5150 amp, dial it in just right, and a touch of a Phase 90, and you're going to sound alot like EVH.

linuxpenguin · #41 02-04-2011, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlaskaBat

Ed's "Brown Sound" is NOT in his fingers. Example: Anyone ever heard the Atomic Punks? Best VH tribute band ever! The first guitarist had the style and tone down pat--his rig captured the brown sound, and his style was really close to Ed's. The third guitarist was good, and nailed the brown sound, but wasn't as good as the first. Had Ed's tone, but not style. Take a 5150 amp, dial it in just right, and a touch of a Phase 90, and you're going to sound alot like EVH.

ever hear EVH play clean through a strat? You can still tell its him... Tone is shaped by the effects and amps going through, but at the end of the day, you can still tell who a guitarist is just by listening to them.

Even though EVH is still god on guitar, I can tell a difference in his sound and technique after he broke his hand

AlaskaBat · #42 02-04-2011, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxpenguin

ever hear EVH play clean through a strat? You can still tell its him... Tone is shaped by the effects and amps going through, but at the end of the day, you can still tell who a guitarist is just by listening to them.

Even though EVH is still god on guitar, I can tell a difference in his sound and technique after he broke his hand

That's because of his "style"

linuxpenguin · #43 02-04-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlaskaBat

That's because of his "style"

but then how come people sound the same through different gear? I know I certainly do.

AlaskaBat · #44 02-04-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LonePhantom

Holy thread resurrection Batman! Talk about digging deep to find this.

Don't you just love necro-threads??? At least this time, everyone is pretty much on the same page with this age-old debate.

AlaskaBat · #45 02-04-2011, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxpenguin

but then how come people sound the same through different gear? I know I certainly do.

It's style vs. tone. When I play my RG-570 with Evos through my legacy, I have Vai's tone nailed--however, I don't play like Vai, so people can tell it's me with Vai's tone. Ted Nugent discussed this years ago when he was jamming with Ed. Ed played Ted ES-335 and Ted could tell it was Ed (sounds like Dr. Seuss), but the tone was different.
I have a bunch of "artist" presets on my PodXT Live. I cut my teeth in the 80s, so I've always been into Ozzy, Dokken, Ratt, VH, etc. When I play a Dokken tune with a Lynch preset, I sound alot like him. If I select my Randy Rhoads preset and play I Don't Know--I've got Randy's tone. If some 7Zyear old kid walked into Ed's 5150 studio and used his gear, he would have Ed's tone but not style. Listeners would notice the same tone, but tell it's not Ed playing.