Tone Terminology

[dangomles]

I actually dont speak english so much, i actually speak spanish, and i know that im not the only one with "tone terminology" problems, because of the language is sometimes hard to catch the "sounds" of the words and relate them with tone description, i see you guys talking about, "punch", "crunch" , "twang" , "cutting edge" but i dont have idea of some of the terms you use to refer tone stuff. So, i think this will be a cool forum to clear some doubts about this, so i guess the best way to do this is to put the word and put an example with a brief explanation, nothing too complicated so we can understand that. for example, this is the only term i know (i think it is like that, corrections are welcome):
*Twang: Is the typical Fender clean sound, not so mellow , you can feel the "twang" in the notes. I have heard that kind of twang in some Scott Henderson (song: "Dr. Hee" - VTT album) and some Greg Howe stuff also ( song: "Tease" - "Extraction" album).

Let's go guys , share some tone terminology, i know a lot of people that doesnt understand those terms and it will be really helpful to find THE tone we are looking for.

[darren wilson]

I define "punch" as the tight, powerful lower midrange that you can feel in your sternum.

"Crunch" usually refers to a mildly distorted snarling tone, like AC/DC or Pete Townsend.

[gmoneymcfly2k]

ass - i usually use this term when talking about undesired tone. this could be caused by a number of problems: bad tubes, bad cables, bad amp or processor settings, or a number of other random reasons.

i use it in sentences like this: "Man, my guitar sure sounds like ASS today."

[dangomles]

I definitely have heard some asstones

[gmoneymcfly2k]

seriously though, i would say that PUNCH refers to more of an articulate and full bodied sound; more in your face tone , ie. mesa dual rectifier

players with PUNCH: john petrucci, steve vai, dimebag

[Andelusion]

Cool thread

Punch: The rhythm guitars on Building The Church/Giant Balls of Gold by Vai
Crunch: Rhythm guitar on Erotic Nightmares by Vai Maybe even Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple?

[dangomles]

ok, which other terms?

[Hobophobic]

Steve Vai referred to the sound in one of his solos (I think it was Ladies Night In Buffalo but it was probably 20 years ago when I read that interview in GFTPM so I could be mistaken) as "Ponies On Ice"... it may be stretching it to include that in a list of tone terminology though. Then again, maybe not. Steve's definitely got some tones in his arsenal.

[AirGuitarHero]

I like to think of 'sledgehammer' tone as that overdistorted 'umph' that you get when you play the open D string with extreme gain and it hits you right in the face! Think Dimebag or Metallica...

To me, 'crunch' means 'ruggedness' as opposed to 'smoothness', much like Nuno's Pornografitti tone. Tuning down 1/2 step and cranking up the amp is what does it, I think. There's an istrumental tune in Jimmy Pages's 'Outrider' that, to me, defines crunch. I can't remember the name of the song, but the riff sounds so MASSIVE! It's one of the most beautiful tones ever.

Funnily enough, I never found EVH's brown tone very 'brown'. I don't think it's warm at all. I think his only brown tones are in Fair Warning and Diver Down (the brownest).

[jem7vwh]

here's my interpretation:

crunch: I think of this as a hard brittle sounding tone, AC/DC or Pete Townshend are good examples.

smooth: tone that is distorted, but not breaking up. Typically a lot of sustain also. Good examples, Carlos Santana, Eric Johnson

saturated: tone that is heavily distorted. Usually created by overdriving power tubes. I tend to use this word in combination with "smooth" or "crunchy". People with very smooth and saturated tone would be John Petrucci, Steve Vai, and modern Eddie Van Halen. Examples of crunchy saturated tone (not necessarily involving tubes this time) would be Megadeth, and the majority of heavy metal players (Dimebag fits nicely here too).

scooped: referring to equalization where all the middle frequencies are minimized and the bass and treble are maximized. This adds to the crunchy sound achieved by very heavy players and most losers at Guitar Center. Megadeth makes another fine example here.

warm: I generally attribute the presence of middle frequencies and a strong bass presence as warm. I find Steve Vai's distorted tone on songs like "Tender Surrender" and "Windows to the Soul" to be very warm. For a cleaner example, John Mayer's song, "Covered in Rain" has a very warm smooth solo.

sterile: I don't call many tones sterile, but when very high output pickups are matched with large amounts of distorted, I hear that sawtooth sound as very machinelike and synthetic or sterile. Good examples would be Joe Satriani's "Borg Sex" or "Surfing with the Alien". Also, Steve Stevens fits the bill frequently.

dry: similar to "sterile" but specifically implying a lack of deep bass and mid response. A thin or degraded sound, as though heard through a cheap transistor radio. A good example is most low-fi rock and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" intro.

there's tons more, but those are the ones I thought of.

[Ferrous Lepidoptera]

Originally Posted by jem7vwh

saturated:

I first heard the term "saturated" in the first EE course I took in college in relation to op-amps (a tiny amplifier built into an integrated circuit (chip) you can get at radio shack for about $7). An amp is "saturated" when the voltage you get by multiplying the input voltage by the gain factor of the amp circuit exceeds the supply voltage of the amp. So the amp supplies all that it has, the supply voltage, which isn't "enough." In other words, it clips. So to me, "saturated" just means "clipping a lot" which is pretty much what a high gain distortion sound is, a lot of clipping.

dry

I think I have heard dry used the way you mean, (or maybe something else was meant -- I didn't know at the time what was meant.) But more frequently I also hear that term to mean "without effects (reverb, chorus, delay, etc.)"

Eddie Van Halen's early tone was often referred to as the "brown sound" and from what I (mis)remember reading it's because he used a Variac to lower the supply voltage to the amp to about 90 volts AC (instead of 110VAC) so the power amp would clip more easily I suppose -- so it was like running the amp during a "brown-out" (a brown-out being a variation of a black-out -- instead of the power going off altogether, the voltage/current drops below spec, and incandescent lights dim to an orangey-brown color.)

[elcid]

Originally Posted by Hobophobic

Steve Vai referred to the sound in one of his solos (I think it was Ladies Night In Buffalo but it was probably 20 years ago when I read that interview in GFTPM so I could be mistaken) as "Ponies On Ice"... it may be stretching it to include that in a list of tone terminology though. Then again, maybe not. Steve's definitely got some tones in his arsenal.

You can't talk about Vai's tone without mentioning a stale ham sandwhich.

[ric232]

Originally Posted by elcid

You can't talk about Vai's tone without mentioning a stale ham sandwhich.

Ok, so:

Satch = French dip sandwhich
Dimebag = rotting corned beef
Angus = hamburger w/ a touch of gristle
Gilbert = 72 hot dogs (eaten in five minutes or less)
Eric Johnson = Chicken salad on rye
EVH = cheesesteak sub

[Tom Gilroy]

Warm; Clean Humbuckers with some extra midrange depth.
Twang; Clean Single coils with more treble.
Sterile; Anything with an EMG.
Sweet; Eric Johnson on Forty Mile Town.
Smooth; Eric Johnson on Manhattan.
Metallic; Think of that is played through a tin can.
Raw; Stevie Ray Vaughn.

[Ferrous Lepidoptera]

I think that "Warm" is the word most abused in tone terminology. I have no idea what it means, and it seems to mean a different thing to every one who uses it. I propose abolishing the term "warm" entirely.