What if.....

Darin · #1 09-30-2006, 02:37 PM

What if you finally found that perfiect tone you've been looking for. The perfect guitar, the perfect amp etc. Then what? Wouldn't beeing a guitar player become rather boring. I think we spend have the time playing thinking, "if I only had..." And then the search for the tone we want begins. Internet forums, trips to the music store to try out amps, magazine reviews, all of it. The truth is though, most of your tone comes from your hands. Haven't you heard another player sound great on a set up and so you play through it, and wonder, why does it sound so different? Some players have a very natural great hand tone. Others, like me, have to work at it. I've come to believe though, that your hand tone has as much to do with yor tone as your amp. You've all heard guys play that just sound horrible. They are playing the right notes, but something just doens't sound right. Satch, Via, Timmons etc, all get alot of thier tone from thier hand tone. Which is why some amp sound better to different people than others. I suspect that different amps favor different ways of playing. Listenting to someone playing and amp, then you try it and it sounds different. But still, the amp search seems endless. I'm sure most of us either want a new amp now, or will soon. Mine is on order.

So if you found the perfect amp and guitar..... You could then stop buying amps, and buy a Ferrari instead!!

tTz · #2 09-30-2006, 02:39 PM

If I found the perfect amp and guitar, I definitely disagree with 'Wouldn't beeing a guitar player become rather boring'. Guitar playing isn't about tone-seeking, it's about (believe it or not) PLAYING! That's the best part of it, and that's the fun part of it...you seem to be more concerned about 'tone' than 'playing'.

S-man · #3 09-30-2006, 03:29 PM

I hate trying to find tone...IT sucks.

Tone is from all things.

Guitar (pups,wood,etc.)

Amp and cab

Effects, cords, loops, etc.

From the fingers, to the pick you use. Pick attack, etc.

That's why I don't try to Duplicate any one guitarists tone. I find my own.

That's not to say I don't try to sound similiar to other guitarists for a particular cover song,etc. I mean...if the song uses a wah...well, I'll use the wah.

jemplayer55 · #4 10-01-2006, 12:36 AM

Darin..... good thread! There was a thread on where tone came from. There was a lot of "opinion" in that one. I agree the bulk of good tone comes from the player. But we both know good equipment, technique, and a strong background in theory are the foundation to getting your tone. Overall I'm satisfied with my tone..... with that said, I'm now looking for an amp that has better "touch sensitivity" than what I've gotten accustom to. BTW, what'd ya order? I'm guessing it's not the Ferrari..... for me it's a Komet.

C.Thep · #5 10-01-2006, 02:53 AM

I always find an almost perfect tone at night, and wake up and find it awful. I guess it always changes depending on how you are feeling.

It would be cool if God made you an amp with just a volume knob and it sounded perfect every time.

Gex · #6 10-01-2006, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Thep

I always find an almost perfect tone at night, and wake up and find it awful. I guess it always changes depending on how you are feeling.

It would be cool if God made you an amp with just a volume knob and it sounded perfect every time.

mi2tom · #7 10-01-2006, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jemplayer55

Darin..... good thread! There was a thread on where tone came from. There was a lot of "opinion" in that one. I agree the bulk of good tone comes from the player. But we both know good equipment, technique, and a strong background in theory are the foundation to getting your tone. Overall I'm satisfied with my tone..... with that said, I'm now looking for an amp that has better "touch sensitivity" than what I've gotten accustom to. BTW, what'd ya order? I'm guessing it's not the Ferrari..... for me it's a Komet.

Always agreeing with you

j.arledge · #8 10-01-2006, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tTz

If I found the perfect amp and guitar, I definitely disagree with 'Wouldn't beeing a guitar player become rather boring'. Guitar playing isn't about tone-seeking, it's about (believe it or not) PLAYING! That's the best part of it, and that's the fun part of it...you seem to be more concerned about 'tone' than 'playing'.

to be honest i hated looking for the right amp , i burned way more cash then i care to know and spent way more time then i should have searching.

guitars on the other hand i have had fun buying and selling because i was able to make money a long the way . I am happy with my current guitar and can say that it has by far been the best one for me so far . I can't say i wont stop looking for a better guitar but i hope my amp holds up the way i want .

in my eyes i have my near prefect set up and yeah playing should be about playing not gear . You can have the best gear made and still suck because you can't play . so what is the point in having the best gear if you can't play it .

Darin · #9 10-01-2006, 09:33 AM

I agree. I'm not a tone junkie. You do need usable tone, and it's a good idea to break loose some cash to get an amp that suites your playing style. But I think sometimes we dump amps that were actually good enough to get somehing "better". True, the fun of being a player is playing more than shopping. But it's exciting to be on the search sometimes. You are convined that if you had a little more sustain, a little less buzziness, more punch, crunch and volume, you'd be able to tear it up. So we spend thousands on amps, pedal, guitars, pickup, configuring, reconfiguring, selling, buying more, etc etc. I saw a vid of Satch, he was plugged into an older Peavey combo. Nothing else, sounded freaking great. I think I have relied on pedal and whatnot to help my tone over the years to the point that, I don't feel comfortable just plugging into a dry combo and playing my best. I rely on the mild overdrive to push my imput a little to bring up the sensativity, the compressor to even out my eratic inconsistant picking (hard/soft). Delays to fill the voids where I miss a note, reverb to make it sound "bigger". And the list goes on. I think we could save alot of money if we just plugged into a junkie amp and practiced till we sounded good even through that. THere are some great players on here, alot of average ones and some weak one. I think I fall in the average category. But some players have a God givin natural ability to sound good plugged into anything.

My amp on order is the JSX Head. I took my guitar, pedal board and speaker to the music store to demo it before I plunked down a grand. It did what I needed. Pretty much anythin in the $1000 on up range is going to offer very usable tone. The JSX seems to do it for me. I had Boogies, the Legacy, Vos, Peavey Classis 50, now selling my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe combo. The JSX will be powering my 2x12 Legacy cab. So it's the room of a combo, but I like the closed back cab better. It's "punchier"

Here's a little something I recorded with my tele into a POD2.0. The backing track was done in Nashville for the singer I play for in a country band. I just took it and noodled around a bit.

http://chriswoodwardmusic.com/Darinstorage/Twang-02.mp3

When I had my Legacy head, I used the POD into the power amp section of the head. That worked great, Not sure why I dumped that. But as guitar players, we are obligated to sell whats working fine in order to buy what might work better. Whenever I played Jemfest a few years ago, I just took the POD and ran it into the front of a Marshall, that worked well. So why am I buying another head? Can't help it brother. hehe

phantoms · #10 10-01-2006, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Thep

I always find an almost perfect tone at night, and wake up and find it awful. I guess it always changes depending on how you are feeling.

Hmm, maybe the difference is drunk and sober. j/k

MetalZone · #11 10-01-2006, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gex

Pretty darn obvious its a photochopped epiphone valve junior LOL!

As for myself, I'm trying to control gas and not buy anything more for some time, and save up meanwhile, and focus more on my own playing, finger tone, which should come first before I start dumping more money into gear.

Darin · #12 10-01-2006, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalZone

Pretty darn obvious its a photochopped epiphone valve junior LOL!

As for myself, I'm trying to control gas and not buy anything more for some time, and save up meanwhile, and focus more on my own playing, finger tone, which should come first before I start dumping more money into gear.

Well said.

**jim777** · #13 10-12-2006, 01:26 PM

That Valve Junior costs as much as a pedal.....man, I think I need one of those!

S-man · #14 10-12-2006, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim777

That Valve Junior costs as much as a pedal.....man, I think I need one of those!

That's what I was thinking.

99 bucks for a tube preamp and tube poweramp.

Put a dummyload on it and a DI box and it is a pedal.

There's so many things you could do with that little guy.

Plus there is a "following" for them. Differant mods availible, etc.

**Ayrton** · #15 10-12-2006, 07:22 PM

As far as amps and effects go, my POD and Hot Rod seem fine for my skills. I do want to do some mods on the amp, but that is about it. I think if people would spend as much time practicing as they do worrying about their "tone", they would be touring musicians.