Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

[eschoendorff]

I know more people chasing tones than I do people happy with their sounds. Stories make the rounds about people going through thousands of dollars worth of gear over years to find "that" sound.

So, has anyone ever succeeded? Can anyone share some tone success stories? Is there really a light at the end of that tunnel?

[ES350]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

Sure---I'm pretty happy with some of my old Fenders and a pile of P90 guitars. Find something that works for you and let's you play like you, which is not about the flavor of the week or what somebody did in a studio with 100K worth of gear.
Find your voice, then use it...nobody else can.

[boingboing]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

Excellent thread!

I guess I'm gonna rant a little bit...

I had success in some department, but the nice and smooth "solo" sound is hard to get... no tubes, too...

Also, I'd complain that with SS being pushed as the future and being marketed like crazy to finance the development, and quality control being below standards and production standards being lowered, it's harder to come by quality and richness.

With so many variables, it's easy to get lost... I think there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel though

[shredhed]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

I played cheap, 70s junk for years growing up ( I was 'po). Back then you had to spend some bucks on a name brand to get good quality guitars. I didn't have money so my best friend and I who started playing guitar together, from the start, played Cortez (before the co. was called Cort- lol).

They weren't great sounding, but looked cool and got the job done. A pawn shop in our town sold "seconds" for like $135. My friend had a nice (looking) sunburst LP and I had a gold top. I remember I carried mine around in the triangular box it came in for a long time - lol

That was in 1977.

These days it's really easy to find a good tone, and not have to spend a butload of money

My fav tone is with Peavey HP Special pups. Doesn't seem to matter what guitar I use them in. They always sounds great. They sound very brown, without a lot of eq tweaking. Pretty much just plug and play.

I payed $56 for the whole set of HBs

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

All day every day...you just have to use good gear and know how to turn the knobs. Some basic knowledge of the science and what makes guitars, amps and pedals sound good together helps a lot.

It helps to remind yourself that all of this stuff is basically the same **** with small tweaks and changes here and there to make them better suited for different tasks. People waste money when they try to solve problems in the wrong order. You see kids changing pickups again and again while plugging into a little 10-watt buzzsaw practice amp that can't tell if their guitar is a Les Paul or a Larrivee...you see 40-year-old dudes buying 100-watt half stacks that they intend to use to learn to play guitar for the first time in their bedrooms after their kids are asleep. I'm not making this **** up.

You start with the basics. Get a good guitar and a good amp. What that means totally depends on you and your situation but you'd probably do just fine with a faded Gibson or highway 1 fender and a vox VT50

Excellent thread!

I guess I'm gonna rant a little bit...

I had success in some department, but the nice and smooth "solo" sound is hard to get... no tubes, too...

Also, I'd complain that with SS being pushed as the future and being marketed like crazy to finance the development, and quality control being below standards and production standards being lowered, it's harder to come by quality and richness.

With so many variables, it's easy to get lost... I think there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel though

No tubes? That's your problem.

That whole post made my head spin. Marketing should have absolutely no effect on what you buy...i mean advertisements and catalogs and flyers can be great for learning about new gear but get serious...you're a musician and an artist, your ears and your sensibilities SHOULD be your strongest guide in this factor.

You want that nice smooth solo sound? Something like a Hendrix solo? Was he using the latest futuristic solidstate modelers? NO he cranked a tube amp until it was naturally overdriven then he goosed it with a fuzz pedal.

Buy an AC4TV combo and a Li'l Big Muff. You just spent the best $300 of your entire life

As for my tone? Give me something made of mahogany with six strings on it and a tube amp with no built in effects. I'll crank the amp wide open and pull the rest out of my guts thank you very much.

[boingboing]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

All day every day...you just have to use good gear and know how to turn the knobs. Some basic knowledge of the science and what makes guitars, amps and pedals sound good together helps a lot.

It helps to remind yourself that all of this stuff is basically the same **** with small tweaks and changes here and there to make them better suited for different tasks. People waste money when they try to solve problems in the wrong order. You see kids changing pickups again and again while plugging into a little 10-watt buzzsaw practice amp that can't tell if their guitar is a Les Paul or a Larrivee...you see 40-year-old dudes buying 100-watt half stacks that they intend to use to learn to play guitar for the first time in their bedrooms after their kids are asleep. I'm not making this **** up.

You start with the basics. Get a good guitar and a good amp. What that means totally depends on you and your situation but you'd probably do just fine with a faded Gibson or highway 1 fender and a vox VT50



No tubes? That's your problem.

That whole post made my head spin. Marketing should have absolutely no effect on what you buy...i mean advertisements and catalogs and flyers can be great for learning about new gear but get serious...you're a musician and an artist, your ears and your sensibilities SHOULD be your strongest guide in this factor.

You want that nice smooth solo sound? Something like a Hendrix solo? Was he using the latest futuristic solidstate modelers? NO he cranked a tube amp until it was naturally overdriven then he goosed it with a fuzz pedal.

Buy an AC4TV combo and a Li'l Big Muff. You just spent the best $300 of your entire life

As for my tone? Give me something made of mahogany with six strings on it and a tube amp with no built in effects. I'll crank the amp wide open and pull the rest out of my guts thank you very much.

Well not everyone has a Guitar Center the other side of the street.

Marketing is, and always has been.

Take someone who doesn't know Line 6, who reads the promises of their modellers and bite the hook.

If the market becomes more profitable from SS, chances are it will become the next standard. Unfortunately, reality is much more than that. SS HAS become the new standard, simply because of the price and low cost production. It's not just marketing, it's real.

I KNOW that some SS DOES sound better than other and actually makes me want to believe...

Especially for the price, since I don't see myself riding the waves of tubey-ness anytime soon and wrecking the bank. Donations kindly accepted though

I don't know anyone around here who has a tube amp.

PODs, SS amps, and that's it.

But I heard good stuff through some of them... it's challenging, but I'm sure there is some good stuff in there coming...

Also, give me a break too! I only began playing guitar 2 years ago, I think? And didn't play all that much too... I'm still in discovery state!

And wow Hermetico... just wow.

[BloodRose]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

I had a small taste of the sound Ive been seeking today.. It made me absolutely stupid giddy hearing that sound coming from my playing.. But I havent got it dialed completely in yet..

[eschoendorff]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

I had a small taste of the sound Ive been seeking today.. It made me absolutely stupid giddy hearing that sound coming from my playing.. But I havent got it dialed completely in yet..

I've been there. Especially when I hear the playback of a recording I did quickly that sounded surprisingly better than I thought it would. I often find myself wondering how the hell I pulled that off...

I started this thread as a general area for folks to share tone success stories. We always hear about people who've chased tones for years; now lets hear form the "tone-catchers."

As for myself, I can dial in satisfactory tones with my gear no problem. the big issue for me right now is my playing technique. I just need to do more wood shedding and set some goals. No big revelation there...

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

Well not everyone has a Guitar Center the other side of the street.

Marketing is, and always has been.

Take someone who doesn't know Line 6, who reads the promises of their modellers and bite the hook.

If the market becomes more profitable from SS, chances are it will become the next standard. Unfortunately, reality is much more than that. SS HAS become the new standard, simply because of the price and low cost production. It's not just marketing, it's real.

I KNOW that some SS DOES sound better than other and actually makes me want to believe...

Especially for the price, since I don't see myself riding the waves of tubey-ness anytime soon and wrecking the bank. Donations kindly accepted though

I don't know anyone around here who has a tube amp.

PODs, SS amps, and that's it.

But I heard good stuff through some of them... it's challenging, but I'm sure there is some good stuff in there coming...

Also, give me a break too! I only began playing guitar 2 years ago, I think? And didn't play all that much too... I'm still in discovery state!

And wow Hermetico... just wow.

Your excuses for avoiding tubes would have been totally valid if this was 1998.

Again. Vox AC4TV. It's $250. Go buy one. Or save up another $250 and get the Night Train. Plug it into the speaker of whatever solidstate crap you're using. Your boner will not go away.

[jeremy]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

i have a few setups that are basically perfect, this is one of them.

flipped seth/double stud alnico II brobucker chambered alder body/maple top tele like guitar strung with dr pure blues 11/15/19/28/38/ low e is a dr tite fit 52. p/p coil split and p/p phase switch.

12' monster jazz cable - timmy - 0.75' jazz cable - a/b box
a-12' monster studio 1000 - vibrato channel of bf deluxe reverb running ge 5751 in v2. volume=4 treble=6 bass=3 reverb=3
b-12' monster jazz cable - modded normal channel of bf deluxe reverb running mullard 12ax7 in v1. volume 7

amp runs a tested high output, balanced nos 12at7. matched gt6v6s tubes with a 6 rating into a cannabis rex.

the vibrato channel is breaking up a little with the guitar full up but its easy to get it clean and pretty. the normal channel is modded so it has a much fatter more distorted raw sound with no reverb. between these two channels, timmy, and the guitar i can do just about anything in the blues/rock arena from old school no-sustain 1st generation electric blues to govt mule type fat sustaining leads.

[BloodRose]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

I've been there. Especially when I hear the playback of a recording I did quickly that sounded surprisingly better than I thought it would. I often find myself wondering how the hell I pulled that off...

I started this thread as a general area for folks to share tone success stories. We always hear about people who've chased tones for years; now lets hear form the "tone-catchers."

As for myself, I can dial in satisfactory tones with my gear no problem. the big issue for me right now is my playing technique. I just need to do more wood shedding and set some goals. No big revelation there...

Yep, most of my issue is technique, or lack thereof. But if I can get that sound, will help validate where I am.

Yeah, great thread! You are right, many spend years and THOUSANDS on the crusade...

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

Seriously. Bought my 68 Fender Bassman when i was 15. Wood ever since.

[korovamilkdud]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

I was being interviewed for entry into an electronics class. The teacher was rolling his eyes as he tried to explain to me how solid state and tube guitar amps sound just as good.

I, being less than brilliant explained the flaws in his assertion. I didn't get admitted (he was an electronics professor, not a guitarist).


At any rate, I don't think the journey ever will end. I found an amp pretty recently that made me feel very satisfied, but it seems with every new piece of gear, you find yourself trying new speakers or pickups or even cables to bring out even more of that wonderful new piece of equipment you've earned.

So in the end, the science of sound makes a big difference.

[everdrone]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

hitting the right notes and putting on an awesome show or recording an awesome track for friends is more satisfactisfaction...

than buying any toolz evah!!!!

[Diego]

Re: Tone chasers - anyone ever catch "it?"

You can call me crazy and pathetic and worthless after this. But I'm being honest:

I see no reason at all, in the world, to upgrade my Roland Cube 60.
When put loud, really loud, it gives me pretty much all the sounds I have in my head.
This amp sounds pretty dull, muffled and lame at low volumes. With the volume at 4-5 and beyond, it screams and delivers a warmer, organic sound.
Also it takes OD pedals so well that it untaps many possibilities.
The only thing it lacks is a FX loop. I can live without that.
Add a cab and it will kill you.

I use my humble Partscaster with vintage style pups, or my humble Squier with a JB in the bridge.
And pretty much all the tones I ask for are there, at the twist of the knobs. I don't use that much gain, I love bassy tones though, but I keep it all in check and this amp, my guitars and my playing keep me with a proud ****-eating grin.

I keep listening to plenty of sounds that keep me playing some more from my setup. That's all I need, besides the inspiration and the drive.
Call me heretic, with dumb ears and bad taste for tone. Who knows, but I like what I hear coming from this little sucker and it keeps me going.