Request For Guidance Of Cliff & Also Forum Members About Signature Guitar Tone

[clarky]

signature tone is the sum of all the parts..
the type of music you play and what type of tones it needs
the player's technique
the player's approach to performance, composition and note selection
the choice of guitars, amps, cabs and fx that makes the player feel great and inspired

after that.. it's the studio processing

 

[Hyper Planet]

signature tone is the sum of all the parts..
the type of music you play and what type of tones it needs
the player's technique
the player's approach to performance, composition and note selection
the choice of guitars, amps, cabs and fx that makes the player feel great and inspired

after that.. it's the studio processing

I like to mention a section of my lastest CM here again,

just give you a musical life example, I wrote and recorded 90% of my demo guitar lines on the album with Amplitube 3.9, but when I purchased the Axe-Fx ll and then played again those stuff I faced our music turned into the right track in terms of feeling, clarity, and the notes which had popped-out from inside of me, they could exposed themselves in a way that I could feel myself on the notes !.

So in my humble opinion and some other guys who mentioned here and also Cliff, we need both of them not only the hands !, metaphorically if you got a huge budget you can buy a nice penthouse in SoHo district in NYC as sound engineering like Richard Chycki N Andy Wallace !

Added: Actually in the guitar tone choosing a certain amp cab, whatnot and playing style, I'm not like a blind person who is walking in a superhighway, I just wanted to have your input about this matter and learning more from my friends , it's really helpful for me !

 

[Hugomack]

All those producers and "experts" can't make the sound you want unless you've already got it in your head to start with. Xarko is right about the song determining tone; and everyone else about its production being dependent on the player plus many variables. It is amazing how a signal that gets digitised can still sound like the guitar that produced the initial signal.

"Joy of Axe" means being able to imagine a sound then get a version of it without bankrupting yourself with boutique FX, valve amps etc. It also means being able to control it easily - and not have to carry round a square metre of pedal board and all the back-breaking valve gear.

The debate about whether an Axe emulation can be distinguished from the real thing - and the "amp in the room" amp being discussed in another thread, are interesting but miss the basic point; that an Axe gives you far more possibilities (for far less money, weight, etc). It only emulates, but if those imitations are musical and fit the song then job done.

There were so many really dreadful valve amp guitar sounds back in the old days.... Xarkon mentions Ritchie Blackmore: who sometimes got so angry at the inability of his rig to produce what he wanted that he stormed off stage. He would for example have taxi companies broadcasting via his Strat through several tops and a wall of 4x12's. One Axe would have made his life so much easier, and I dare say he'd still sound like R Blackmore while using most of the factory presets!

 

[clarky]

I like to mention a section of my lastest CM here again,

just give you a musical life example, I wrote and recorded 90% of my demo guitar lines on the album with Amplitube 3.9, but when I purchased the Axe-Fx ll and then played again those stuff I faced our music turned into the right track in terms of feeling, clarity, and the notes which had popped-out from inside of me, they could exposed themselves in a way that I could feel myself on the notes !.

So in my humble opinion and some other guys who mentioned here and also Cliff, we need both of them not only the hands !, metaphorically if you got a huge budget you can buy a nice penthouse in SoHo district in NYC as sound engineering like Richard Chycki N Andy Wallace !

Added: Actually in the guitar tone choosing a certain amp cab, whatnot and playing style, I'm not like a blind person who is walking in a superhighway, I just wanted to have your input about this matter and learning more from my friends , it's really helpful for me !

here's a thought...
for most of my guitar playing life, I've used a 2120.. and I adore it..
it actually dawned on me the other day that my soloing tone in the Axe is actually not a million miles from my soloing tone in the 2120..
I guess you could say that irrespective of the kit.. my tone choices gravitate to the same place..
sure the 2120 and Axe soloing tones do not sound 100% the same but they're reasonably close..
play one note through the Axe and one through the 2120 and everyone would be jumping up and down saying "I can hear the difference easy.. they ain't the same etc"
however... Clarky doing his thing, in the mix and then it a bit less easy to tell them apart..
why? because of all the things that sum together to make the resultant tone, only one thing has changed.. and the thing that has changed has been dialled-in to a similar ball park.. ok.. so not the same street and house number.. but certainly the same zip code and arguably on the same block..

 

[MrGuitarabuse]

Doesnt this tone chasing thread lack some input from Loquenau...

ok, sorry, sorry...

I show myself out...

 

[Warrior]

Follow the sound in your head. It constantly evolves as we constantly evolve and, likewise, an individuals idea of the tone they want from their instrument will evolve. Sometimes greatly and sometimes very subtly. The charachter of "your" tone will remain regardless (if you allow it). An individuals "satisfaction" with their tone at any given time will be determined by how closely you are able to produce the sound (including feel) you hear in your head.

The tone comes from your "fingers" (technique - which includes many sub-catagories as well as how you apply the equipment you use) as well as your equipment and don't forget your environment.

So the bottem line is....... the sound "you" hear in "your" head is as unique as a fingerprint. No 2 are ever "identical". Follow the sound in your head to get "your" tone.

 

[hippietim]

:roll
Show me your killer tone hands with a Peavey Rage.

Bring it on. I ain't scared of a scrawny amp like that. No way is it the worst thing I've had to play through.

 

[Severed]

Yes, playing through a cheap practice amp you will still sound like yourself because your choice of fingerings and techniques make up your "style."

However if you think for 5 seconds that you are getting killer tone with that $60 practice amp, well good on ya, but you need a reality check..

 

[Sharka]

Yes, playing through a cheap practice amp you will still sound like yourself because your choice of fingerings and techniques make up your "style."

However if you think for 5 seconds that you are getting killer tone with that $60 practice amp, well good on ya, but you need a reality check..

Tell that to Brain May... For some recordings, he used a one watt "transistor" amp built by the bassist John Deacon... I'm sure it probably cost less than $60.

 

[Severed]

Tell that to Brain May... For some recordings, he used a one watt "transistor" amp built by the bassist John Deacon... I'm sure it probably cost less than $60.

So why are we all here then? You all seem to think you can achieve the same results from a $60 or less practice amp.

Proof is in the pudding......

 

[Sharka]

So why are we all here then? You all seem to think you can achieve the same results from a $60 or less practice amp.

Proof is in the pudding......

That's the point... I'm not Brian May, nor is anyone else. Proof is on some of those Queen albums. No?

 

[Rotti]

That's the point... I'm not Brian May, nor is anyone else. Proof is on some of those Queen albums. No?

You're contradicting your own argument. By your logic (not being Brian May), you should be dumping a small fortune into gear to get you there.
Either that, or YOU would still sound like YOU on ANYTHING, in which case I'd be happy to trade you some half busted shit laying around in my garage for your Axe.

Severed has it. Style is "you," but gear gets the timbre. You don't play an AC30 for its brootz.

 

[Sharka]

You're contradicting your own argument. By your logic (not being Brian May), you should be dumping a small fortune into gear to get you there.
Either that, or YOU would still sound like YOU on ANYTHING, in which case I'd be happy to trade you some half busted shit laying around in my garage for your Axe.

Severed has it. Style is "you," but gear gets the timbre. You don't play an AC30 for its brootz.

No contraindication at all... I believe the thread began on how to get signature sounds. So how did Brian the those sounds out that little amp?

For that matter... Van Halen based most of his earlier career playing through busted up shit.

 

[Hugomack]

You get a one-time good sound out of Brian May's one watt amp, or EVH's busted-up shit.

BUt for live gigs every night - even without any backline at all, or recordings when you don't want to be playing at ear-busting volumes, an Axe gets it as near as dammit to May's 1W amp, through to taxi-free Deep Purple - or whatever. A cover band guitarist can nail each tune, and an originals player can dial up anything he can think of with ease.

Anyone seen an ELP / Nice tribute band called Noddy's Puncture? Tom Szakaly - the amazingly brilliant "Keith" - has his own van to carry the actual original gear round to all the gigs. It's a fire hazard. You can smell the the bakelite. One modern keyboard could do it all, but of course that's not the point as far as he's concerned. It's all upside-down hammonds and knives. Respect.

 

[runway11]

I think perhaps, the question is not about how to obtain great tone, but what are good guidelines to follow for a sound that is good when you are not an engineer. I struggle with this myself and I would love insight on what guidelines to follow, EQ? Routing? How my guitar fits in the mix, etc.

 

[Rotti]

And I've gotten some cool overtones by micing a grand piano's sympathetic vibrations by placing a sub under it and running playback... because that's what that sounds like.
What they, or anyone else used, ever, on anything, along with whatever studio tricks were involved, is exactly like what those things sound like. It Is A Matter Of Physics. THINGS have physical properties. What you do with those things is YOU. How those things react to that input is THEM.

 

[Loquenau]

I wouldn't worry about 'signature' tone. Look at your intent: do you want to sound like someone, or sound like yourself? I don't particularly care in either direction. I'm crafting a tone that is based on how I want the instrument to sound, which naturally has musical implications. This, from my ken of things, is how sophisticated instruments were crafted back when. It is NOT how they are created in pop culture.

In any case, dude, yer thinkin too hard. (@MrGuitarabuse: I am notorious, I see.....)

:roll
Show me your killer tone hands with a Peavey Rage.

Well, in the late 90s, my local guitar store guy told me a story where he was in L.A. for perhaps NAMM, and he and Marty Friedman went to this mansion - no furniture in the place - where Marty plugged into this crappy Peavey amp....and sounded amazing.

Dime had a lot of mysteries going on in his signal chain, but yes, he made it work for him.
How much better did he sound once he made the move to Krank with Damageplan though? Lots, lots better.
This coming from a huge Pantera fan with a CFH tat to prove it.

Not according to this recording....unless you like grunge-oriented drek:




Taint metal. But they were starting to go down hill in Far Beyond Driven.

Life isn't black or white. I blame politicians. But I digress....

LOV-LEY. La-la La-la La-la, LA LA LA!

However, nature is the culprit. Hence it is futile to blame. Only change it.

 

[Rotti]

lulz. everyone seems to have some second or third hand anecdote of awesome tone through crap gear.
You were just bragging about bangin' a fat chic on another thread, so I'll take your perspective with a grain of salt. Thanks.

 

[Loquenau]

You were just bragging about bangin' a fat chic on another thread, so I'll take your perspective with a grain of salt. Thanks.

As I'm not a white boy who lasts sixty seconds or less, just about anything I do could be bragging.

 

[Hyper Planet]

I think perhaps, the question is not about how to obtain great tone, but what are good guidelines to follow for a sound that is good when you are not an engineer. I struggle with this myself and I would love insight on what guidelines to follow, EQ? Routing? How my guitar fits in the mix, etc.

I just wanted to have my friends input about the guitar tone in a professional way, and I think there is some certain questions about that !

How do you think about a professional tone ? (Considering the fact that you created your music with a cheapest virtual guitar tone tools already)
and now you want to think about a great tone for your music, well actually I have so many idea about that, BUT also I liked to have your ideas about it.

and some more question that I mentioned on my first Thread