General Tone Tips

[neosadist]

Re: General Tone Tips

Tune up to pitch. If a string is sharp go down past flat, give a light tug, then back up to pitch. If you tune down to pitch, you'll most likely leave a bit of slack and be out of tune after the first bend.

Good idea. Me, I just string bend on the sharp string and then it's flat (usually), then I can bring it back up lol.

[neosadist]

Re: General Tone Tips

A few soldering tips I just learned after all these times: 1. Use Flux. It helps the solder take better and results in nicer, smaller solder points. 2. Clean the surfaces to be soldered with a steel brush, steel wool, or something like that to roughen the surface. 3. Use one of those soldering wicks when removing solder. It makes a nice surface, and you can use it to clean up all those real big globs you left while you were trying to learn. From the worlds 2nd worst solderer (used to be the 1st but I'm getting better).

I agree. Flux helps pull the solder where you want it to go and is great for those eyelet solder points that guitars have. "Flux core" solder is a joke at best. It absolutely sucks. Use them separate. As for soldering wick, get some, it's the best. Solder suckers aren't as good as soldering wick. The cleaner you can get things before you solder, the better. This comes from someone trained by the USAF on soldering.

[neosadist]

Re: General Tone Tips

I personally don't like the JB at all, but the Invader 7 is really the only Duncan pickup I like, period. The JB doesn't have any ass, and what ass it does have is all mushy and disgusting for extreme metal. The Custom has really brittle highs, to me. Courses for Horses though, for sure.

I disagree. It has plenty. Just depends on how your amp is EQ'd. Granted the Jazz neck I have has more bass but it's more mushy than the JB. The JB is, for what I play, the perfect "lead" pickup.

[neosadist]

Re: General Tone Tips

Generally when when you roll back on your volume control
you will also experience a slight loss of your highs. Your tone will change. To compensate for this, solder a small capacitor i series with your hot wire on your volume control. Correctly choosen value on the capacitor will make the volume lessen without affecting tone. Cheers: Dixiechicken

I've always wanted an electronic explanation for this and never found one. Is it possible we're not fixing a problem, but instead adding a sort of "loudness" filter?

Re: General Tone Tips

Where can I get those and hpw do theylook like?



At least if they don't have a true-bypass switch (a switch that takes the effect completely out of the line by bypassing it physically)

It kind of depends. Remember, that true bypass means that the total length of all cable between the guitar and amp are still in play. Over 20ft and you are losing high end. A pedal with a buffered output helps greatly with that problem

[Jacques]

Re: General Tone Tips

In some of the posts we read about the sound of other band members getting in the way, like the bass and the cymbals. Most of us are pretty well able to produce a nice guitar sound with our expensive first class materials, but don't seem to cut through.
So practice together to find the right amount of space for each musician. Don't take your space but give space to others. Very often this means turning DOWN respective volumes. In the end everybody seems to sound louder with much more expression and there's much less need to turn up mids etc.
Funnily this is not a technical matter, but something psychological. We guitarmen playing with our substitute sexual organs in public (ever noticed how inspiring sexy ladies in the crowd can be?) should be careful with too much ego. (courtesy of Sigmund Freud)
Less is more.
And all of a sudden you start to hear more subtleties like the ones you've been practicing so hard in your attic. Using your fingers instead of a pick becomes interesting. And a load of all the other wonderfull suggestions from the toneologiststs and tone slackers in this thread.

[theboatcandream]

Re: General Tone Tips

Fuzz can be a big enemy. Upper harmonics and overtones can be destroyed by overdrive and distortion effects. If everything over 5khz sounds the same no matter what note you're playing, then you're in trouble.

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: General Tone Tips

1. Nothing is absolute when it comes to such subjective things as tone, what for your style and ears is perfect may be absoloute crapola for someopne else.

+1

In playing guitar every change you make adds something and makes you lose something... you loose some speed from higher action but you get tone... you loose some sustain from a whammy bar but you get something that would allow you to make a few new sounds...

here are a few of my tips:
1. Adjust the height of your pups. pulling them high would make you more articulate and loud but you loose some harmonics, pitch harmonics come out worst through the amp and the whole thing becomes more harsh. If you are raising your pickups for the output and not the tone- get louder pups.

2. Find the spot for your picking hand!!!! closer to the bridge? more twang... closer to the neck? it's warmer... playing in your spot will get you your tone.

3. single coils sound fat as humbuckers if you use them well and in the right settings.

4. if you like to express yourself on the guitar and not just make noise don't hide behind a wall of fuzz.

[fakiekid]

Re: General Tone Tips

practise, practise and erm practise.

try getting hold of a recorder, listen to urself play and change what u think is wrong. this way u can also listen to ur guitar, try mic placements on your cab and get the best sound you can so that wen the sound man is running off and on stage like a blue arse fly cos your guitar sounds too thin, you can tell him what to do.

[Mr Wolf]

Re: General Tone Tips

When buying, judge with your ears (+make sure the product is durable)

When tweaking gear, judge with your ears, not eyes

Practise

Try to figure songs out by ear

Listen to as much music as you can

[ModestCargo]

Re: General Tone Tips

raise your action. way harder to play but way better tone.

I find a high action easier to play - but that's because I bend a lot, and use 11s, and when I try to bend 11s with a low action (unison bends, anyway) my finger ends up slipping off.

[Voxman]

Re: General Tone Tips

Tone is over-rated! A good musician can make a toy guitar sing.

Totally agree but,a nice sounding guitar will inspire you to play better!

[Prolik]

Re: General Tone Tips

Practise..

[daemon barbeque]

Re: General Tone Tips

ooooooooooo, i just thought of one!!!

- if u suck, don't spend $$$ on gtrs and amps, spend $$$ on lessons & cd's!

hehhe
or
if you suck ,try to find out why you suck and change it,
if you still suck ,try to make something else wich you don't suck!!!

Re: General Tone Tips

ooooooooooo, i just thought of one!!!

- if u suck, don't spend $$$ on gtrs and amps, spend $$$ on lessons & cd's!