Where does the tone come from in an electric guitar?

[littlebadboy]

I know there are lots of threads about this already. But, I thought video was nicely done to have its own thread for discussion.

So... where does the tone come from in an electric guitar?

What say you?

 

[Black Plaid]

his "air" guitar is made out of wood.

just because there's no wood directly under the strings, doesn't mean it's not wood that is holding it together, which it most certainly is.

Even though the awful audio compression of youtube, I could hear the difference between his Anderson and the pine 2x4 instrument.

I think Segeborn did a much better demonstration when he strung up an I beam with a pickup.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

It’s all subjective and what appeals to one ear, won’t to another.

I just want to see the first dude taking his slide guitar to a gig!

 

[aphantomvaper]

The guitar is a vessel. The tone comes from your fingers. IMHO anyway

 

[Deleted member 5962]

The guitar is a vessel. The tone comes from your fingers. IMHO anyway

If tone comes from the fingers, why does every guitar, every set of pickups, and even different types of strings, sound different?

 

[László]

If tone comes from the fingers, why does every guitar, every set of pickups, and even different types of strings, sound different?

This^^^

Thank you for this post.

The idea that the guitar, its materials, and its machinery aren't involved in tone is such unmitigated bullcrap that it's mind-boggling. Anyone who's played multiple guitars has experienced this, and the fact that people still debate it? Just...I dunno. They don't believe their own senses, I guess.

 

[Proteus]

... and around and around it goes, the old debates and articles of faith. I have way too many guitars, and enjoy them all. My son (and primary musical partner for the last 20 years or so) shrugs and says I sound like myself on all of them.

That doesn't mean I sound the same on all of them. He can tell the difference. (I can certainly tell the difference - though it's also true that I find myself EQ-ing and adapting my technique on each one to attain some version of My Ideal Tone which must exist in my mind's ear.) I think that what he means is that when I play Model A, I sound like me playing a Model A, and when I play Model X, I sound like me playing a Model X...etc, of course.

That which I cannot NOT sound like must be the tone that's "in my fingers."

All the other differences...well, those are in the guitar. Strings, build type, scale, woods (or other material), pickups, hardware. And when it's me, alone in the headphones assessing the sound of one guitar vs another, those things make substantial difference - especially in combination.

Otherwise, how can I compare two examples of the same model back to back, with all the same features and hardware, same strings (similarly aged), obsessively same action and pickup setttings...and they sound different? I do this several times a year at least (and recently too many times), and can spend 2 or 3 hours swapping from one guitar to the other, trying to play the same thing at the same settings with the same touch and velocity at the same location along the string, just to decide which to keep and which to move along. I swar tew GAWD I can't be imagining things.

Because why would I? I want to make the decision.

 

[dmatthews]

My tone comes from all over the place on different days at different times.
That's why I have different guitars and amps, and different fingers.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

My tone comes from all over the place on different days at different times.
That's why I have different guitars and amps, and different fingers.

Good band name Different Fingers.

 

[dmatthews]

Good band name Different Fingers.

Ooohhh... Many levels!

 

[Nice F Holes]

It’s a system, all the parts contribute. I think the player contributes the least and glad to hear others agree. I’ve seen plenty of Phish and they’ve got a unique guitar tone. I’ve heard the sound guy check the guitar before a show and the tone is unmistakably the same. I’ve also heard guests use the backup guitar and it’s also unmistakably the same tone. You can even hear the sound guy make adjustments to separate them. Style is obviously a different thing.

Pickups and scale length are, in my opinion, the biggest 2 factors but everything in the system contributes to some extent. Trey’s tone is largely from a hollow guitar with Fender scale length playing through PAFs.

Wood matters to some degree. The guitar vibrates which means pickups are moving under the strings, so materials with different resonant properties will have their own flavor. But that’s like adding a pinch of salt rather than omitting the garlic. And, some people notice the extra salt while others have no idea you ran out of garlic.

 

[aphantomvaper]

This^^^

Thank you for this post.

The idea that the guitar, its materials, and its machinery aren't involved in tone is such unmitigated bullcrap that it's mind-boggling. Anyone who's played multiple guitars has experienced this, and the fact that people still debate it? Just...I dunno. They don't believe their own senses, I guess.

That's true Les. I guess I mean if you and I played the same guitar we'd sound like ourselves. That kind of tone. If you played that fabulous Core of yours and I played my Vela, we would sound different.

So guitar tone + person tone = *your tone*

Yes, a guitars components and wood do contribute to the guitar tone. Not the final tone...it needs a person for that.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Every time this "debate" comes up, people confuse "sound" with "sound." That's not double talk, but it shouldn't be hard to understand that the word has several forms of meaning. The old "Ted Nugent picked up Eddie Van Halen's guitar and plays through his rig, he "sounded" like Ted, not Eddie. It should not be hard to understand, yet there are 10s of thousands of posts debating this on forums all over the world. The "sounds" in that example means "the playing style." Ted doesn't play like Eddie. But, what is coming out of the speakers is 100% Eddie's rig tone. It SOUNDS just like Eddies rig! But the playing style SOUNDS like Ted.

Sorry for the strong opinions on this but the continued debates are things I verified for myself years ago and I shake my head every time I read something like my example above. A fretted note is a fretted note. END OF STORY! Your pick definitely makes a difference, as does pick angle, how hard you pick, etc. So yes, your hands can influence your "SOUND" in that way... but guess what. I can use the same pick, pick angle and pick attack as you if I want too, so once again, I can SOUND just like you in the only way that your hands influence your tone or SOUND.

Now, your phrasing, your vibrato, and the other elements that make up your "style," are what makes you sound like you. But if you do that through my rig, it still SOUNDS like my rig... and you playing.

You could always tell whether it was mom, me, my sister or my dad playing the grand piano even from the other end of the house. But you could also tell when it was mom mom playing the electric piano. Didn't SOUND the same at all, but still SOUNDED like mom.

"So and so sounds like himself no matter what rig he plays through" has to do with STYLE, not tone. Your style is in your hands and fingers (ha, actually, your head!) but TONE is in the rig you play.

 

[Simon Says]

My tone comes from all over the place on different days at different times.
That's why I have different guitars and amps, and different fingers.

Couldn't agree more. It's always a combination of things. Even non gear, non finger related things like humidity or quality of power, volume you play at

 

[Daryl Jones]

Music is (at least to me) the language of emotion. Guitars (and most other instruments in the right hands) can phrase that language into different dialects. Each machine is as diverse as the people that wield them, taken even further with endless effects and style of play. Two players can also play the same lick/riff or entire song and achieve two totally different results on the same guitar. The notes (words) may be the same on paper, but the ensuing message is completely individualized. Such is life. I don't profess to be much of an artist, but we do paint with sound. Many are like Van Gough or Rembrandt, easy to read and get the "picture"; others might be harder to understand like a Picasso. But we all leave a signature in our efforts. The guitar is our brush and canvas, we are the creative soul that brings it to life.
(colorful/rude expletive inserted here) me...I'm waxing far more poetic than I really are. If I was any kind of a song writer I should be composing something wildly Earth shattering right now. Methinks somebody put something in my morning tea

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I'm waxing far more poetic than I really are.

Are, am, be, is...

That's kind of quote worthy, in a redneck poet kind of way.

 

[Daryl Jones]

Are, am, be, is...

That's kind of quote worthy, in a redneck poet kind of way.

Flattery will get you ...well somewhere. Just not sure exactly where

 

[Nice F Holes]

Yeah, maybe when people say "tone comes from the fingers" they really mean style or sound. The guitar's tone is the sound it makes as it converts electromagnetic vibration into something audible. Style is how you control or manipulate the guitar and strings. Sound is the combination of those two things. In my opinion, of course.

A simpler way to put it: tone is unique to the guitar/equipment, style is unique to the player, and sound is the combination of tone and style.

 

[Rod/]

To answer the original question.. Tone comes from the species and frequencies of the woods used, pickups, bridge, scale length, set neck vs bolt on vs neck through, string gauge, proper setup with action that isn’t to low, fingerboard wood, fret size and type, electric components like pts and wiring..and of course a big one, the player………. IE… everything
Did I leave anything out?

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Flattery will get you ...well somewhere. Just not sure exactly where

I know you’re thinking… “ a swift kick in the a$$!”