your tone?

vchizzle

vchizzle

Zomb!e Nine, DFZ
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
8,354
Location
WI
Do you chase a specific tone and try to achieve recreating it?
How close does your tone resemble that of, maybe you favorite player player in that particular style?

I've never been an elusive tone chaser myself. I've owned a healthy amount of amps and to a lesser extent pedals, but I've never been a guy trying to "nail that tone". Of course I have influences and guitar tones I LOVE and they impact my tone to some extent. It's all much more of a feel thing for me. I remember going through a pile of amps, borrowing and buying and while I could have used any of them and all sounded very good, I just have that sound in my head. I know when an amp hits that nerve in me, usually within about 2 minutes of plugging in. Then it's a matter of the fine details, whether I want to use it or not.
 
I'm not good enough to copy someones good tone. I just try to get a tone that doesn't suck real bad! Win some lose some.
 
Duplicating someone else's tone never struck me as important. I just try to get something that works for me at the time. I keep a cheat sheet of a few favourites.
 
For a very long time I was after Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins tone. I went as far as getting the same amp and modding it the same exact way; a 1984 Marshall JCM800 2203 modded with KT88 tubes, plugged into it clean using an EHX Big Muff for distortion in front. After recording a disc with it and playing shows I decided it was nice that I got to mimic my heroes sound, but it didn't work for my band or how I wrote, so I went back to what it was I used for years before that; Mesa. If anything after years of playing I think you finally start to actually tweak things for your liking to what works for what it is your doing and will serve the songs in general.
 
What got me thinking of this today was looking at OD pedals. How many of them are trying to recreate a specific tone from the past. Also how many amps are trying to replicate a tones that are monumental tones from the past. Most of the time, it's not something I try to do but I am looking for a certain type of tone when looking at these pedals.
 
I generally find tones I like by acciden...er...experimentation. ;)

While I don't try to nail this or that player's tone, I do try to get in the vibe of certain favorites in a general way. I'm also often surprised I like something. The HXDA was kind of a surprise for me, in a good way. I knew in general that I liked the tone in the PRS clips, but I had no idea how well that tone would work for me. It's been pretty amazing, actually!

Same with pedals. I never know if they'll work in the store except in the most general way. I have to get them at home with my own guitars and amps, in my room where I have a frame of reference.

I guess my point is that I've been lucky to find some pieces of the puzzle that work exceptionally well.
 
I've been chasing the last 5% that I believe would really just put my tone over the top with my band. I'm pretty sure the only way to go to get there is big bottle glass and big trannies, but our drummer has V Drums, and our stage volume is pretty low....
 
I am always trying to find the "right" tone. What frustrates me is that on one day I am in love with a given tone from one of my guitars / amps and then the next day with the exact same settings & equipment , I don't like the tone..........:bawling:
 
I used to chase the tone of a local player. He sounded great. I went to gigs, checked out his amps and settings and boards and bought all the same stuff, never quite got his tone.

I asked him about it, and he said, "Man, the tone is all in your hands."

So, a couple weeks later after a gig, I snuck up behind him in an alley, knocked him out and cut off his hands. And you know what? He was right - I sound exactly like him now. Well, he sounds as bad as me, but still, a=b, b=a...

:goodnight:
 
I've come to the realization that I need to sound like me. Being someone else is not who I am unless it's spiderman lol
 
I've always found it fascinating how guys will obsess about the brown sound for example. I just never understood it. There's certain players that I love their sound, I've just never been one to chase after it. The length some will go to on the hunt is pretty insane sometimes.
 
vchizzle said:
I've always found it fascinating how guys will obsess about the brown sound for example. I just never understood it. There's certain players that I love their sound, I've just never been one to chase after it. The length some will go to on the hunt is pretty insane sometimes.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the guys who want Slash's Appetite sound that features his fake Les Paul :p
 
I've said for years I'd be a nightmare if I was custom designing an amp. There's not a particular person's tone I'm chasing - I want a good tone. Trying to define that w/o referencing someone else is the tough part.
 
I think the gear that I have has THE tone for me - I am the only thing holding it back.

I try to think about - "how would my gear sound if somebody else, really good, was playing through it".
 
This is a really interesting question. I have definitely "chased" other people's tone over the years (when I was much younger) and even bought the gear that they used. I think now that it was a wonderful, if expensive and frustrating, learning exercise because it led me to find what works best for me and in turn to develop my own tone, to the extent that it exists. An example is that after a slew of big 50, 60, 100 watt heads that my hero's used I learned that my own sweet spot is with a 25-watter (using an attenuator to boot). Gives me all the versatility and volume I need and with my very modest array of pedals I think it is a sound all my own.
 
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