Define"open"

For me when I think of an "open" tone from an amp I think of a tone that's less focused more broad and well... "open". For example the Euro Uber is the opposite of open to my ears. It's tone is tight and focused, which isn't a bad thing depending on the application and personal taste.
 
Brownmatthall said:
The opposite of compressed?
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That's what I've come to think of it as too ... ! Maybe another way to describe it would be 'dynamic" ?

Whack a power chord and if you hear it ( or feel it ) compress, then it would be "less" open ....
 
Ah vague audio descriptions, so much fun. I think it would depend on context. For dynamics, I think less compressed. For frequency response, I think more even or less nasal or less honky. If you think of real acoustics, being closed off in a small space might sound more muffled, boxy, and resonant. While an open space is clearer and less resonant.
 
I always think "less compressed" or not overly honky (mids) or dull (treble) content.. along those lines. But I could be off.. not a pro
 
I usually equate it to being more reflective, less focused. More 'airy' (to use another subjective term).. kinda like an open back cab close to a hard wall vs a closed back in same position.
 
Open is like Lennon & McCartney, where you can not only hear individual notes but individual voices too.
In terms of amp tone, I think of openness as a quality that doesn't clutter the sound of the instrument, even though there may be distortion.

An acoustic guitar is very open. It goes B-r-r-r-r-a-n-g.
A cranked fuzz face into a very overdriven amp is not open. It goes Fzzzzzzzzzzzz.
 
I think there are many random terms being used for guitar tone that sometimes make things a bit too difficult. Here's how I view some of these terms:

Open = wide; full range; flat; equal amount of bass, middle and treble and even presence so that no frequency area is overbearing = this leads to a sound where every note can be heard clearly and gives you perfect note separation.

Fat = compressed low-mid range that's in control of the guitar sound

Warm = super pleasant high end frequency roll off in the high end

Dry = very little gain (kind of like the mix control on effects: dry = less)

Wet = a lot of gain (kind of like the mix control on effects: wet = more)

And my ultimate favorite:

Amp in the room = .... well an amp on it's own actually makes no sound...

I've steered people in completely wrong directions because of terms like these and people having different views on what they mean. :) F.ex. some people consider "dry = too much high end like a sore throat" and some people consider "dry = not enough high end as in not wet enough". If only there was a thesaurus for guitar terms to make our lives easier. :D
 
ML SOUND LAB said:
I think there are many random terms being used for guitar tone that sometimes make things a bit too difficult. Here's how I view some of these terms:

Open = wide; full range; flat; equal amount of bass, middle and treble and even presence so that no frequency area is overbearing = this leads to a sound where every note can be heard clearly and gives you perfect note separation.

Fat = compressed low-mid range that's in control of the guitar sound

Warm = super pleasant high end frequency roll off in the high end

Dry = very little gain (kind of like the mix control on effects: dry = less)

Wet = a lot of gain (kind of like the mix control on effects: wet = more)

And my ultimate favorite:

Amp in the room = .... well an amp on it's own actually makes no sound...

I've steered people in completely wrong directions because of terms like these and people having different views on what they mean. :) F.ex. some people consider "dry = too much high end like a sore throat" and some people consider "dry = not enough high end as in not wet enough". If only there was a thesaurus for guitar terms to make our lives easier. :D
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I agree...a thesaurus would be handy. I always considered "wet" to be with effects and "dry" to be without effects, regardless of the amount of gain (distortion).
 
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