General Tone Tips

[theboatcandream]

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.

[Jacques]

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.

[TheArchitect]

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

[neosadist]

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?

[neosadist]

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]

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]

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]

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.

I agree. I don't usually side with YM, but a guiitar with an action that is too low is "stealing" the strings' ability to vibrate well. I prefer a medium action.

[neosadist]

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.

True. Me, I just let the sound man set up the mic and my amp volume. If the other people can't hear me, I'm not worried. Usually this means they're turning themselves up again, which means they need to stop doing that.

[raglor]

1) Use good tubes. Those Svetlana or Sovtek tubes that come stock on a lot of amps are usually pretty low grade. Do your homework, check out stuff like JJ tubes.

2) Strings are a huge factor in tone. Many brands of strings are completely unusable to me (such as GHS). Some will sound dull, while others will give you a crisp attack and a clearer sound (Elixir NanoWeb, DR Hi-Beams, etc). It's all personal taste of course. But I highly recommend trying out every brand of strings that's out there. Try also buying single strings so you can make up sets that have better tension distribution. For example, on a standard 10-46 set, the 26 and 36 will have several pounds more tension than the .046. An example of a balanced set of strings, would be 9-12-16-24-32-44 or 10-13-17-26-36-49. Doing this makes playing even easier and improves tone IMO.

3) DiMarzio pickups are really good too guys. I know this is a Seymour Duncan forum, but let's get real. There are several excellent DiMarzio models. Not every model will be your cup of tea, but not all Duncans are perfect either. I have owned nearly 60 guitars over the years, and tried almost every pickup out there, and I can tell you there's definitely some amps that react more favourably to DiMarzio than Duncans, and vice versa - regardless of the model.

4) Many rock and metal players use pedals such as an Ibanez Tubescreamer or a Maxon OD808, to tighten up the sound of their amp. They don't use it to add distortion, it's more just a clean boost to make the low end tigher and lose some of the extreme icepick highs. Pushes the tubes better too.

5) Speaking of pushing tubes better, try lower wattage amps. They tend to sound a lot better at more reasonable volumes, and when cranked can still be as defeaning as their bigger brothers. For example, the Laney GH50, Mesa F-30/F-50/DC-3/DC-5/.50 Caliber, IMO sound a lot better than their 100w versions. They just hit that sweet spot when you crank it without having to completely go deaf. No one needs a 150watt tube amp folks. Just really redundant IMO.

6) Use quality cables all around. Cheaper cables will roll off highs and soften the mids. I personally enjoy the Monster Rock cables, but there's many good choices out there.

7) Be a real man and play 7-string guitars

[Jacques]

Strings are a huge factor in tone. Many brands of strings are completely unusable to me (such as GHS). Some will sound dull, while others will give you a crisp attack and a clearer sound (Elixir NanoWeb, DR Hi-Beams, etc). It's all personal taste of course. But I highly recommend trying out every brand of strings that's out there. Try also buying single strings so you can make up sets that have better tension distribution. For example, on a standard 10-46 set, the 26 and 36 will have several pounds more tension than the .046. An example of a balanced set of strings, would be 9-12-16-24-32-44 or 10-13-17-26-36-49. Doing this makes playing even easier and improves tone IMO.
(..............................)
Be a real man and play 7-string guitars

I've been using GHS Boomers and they don't seem 'completely unusable' to me at all, but it maybe worth trying Raglor's suggestion just for the fun of it.
What I would like to add as a logical suggestion is the use of at least 0.11
Logical because there's more metal matter involved and therefore more tone. The sound of all my guitars (Tele, Heritage H150 and H535) improved quite a bit as did the tuning stability.

Bending 0.11 strings requires real men , but the GHS Boomers do well.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Play guitar like you really mean it.

[StrangeSound]

Check the intonation of the guitar..man it sounds horrible even when the tone is right but if you do some double stops etc. and the 2 notes don´t match exactly...no holy grail of tone will help ya

[Monty]

I find a high action and heavy strings (11s) work well. Might just be my playing style though, that likes this setup. But I feel you can get more bang for your buck, more sustain, and you have more to adjust the pup height, and such

[guitarslinger213]

1. all speakers need a serious break-in. take them to the country and crank the heck out of them. eminence vht pitbull speakers go from "bright+harsh" to in a few days of serious work.

2. every piece of wood sounds different. I have way-too bright mahogany guitars and mellow-sounding basswood guitar and vice versa. never judge the tone by the composition

3. preamp and power amp tubes make as big of a difference as the preamp and power amp. try some JJ's. throw those sovteks in the trash or on e8ay,.

4. pedals should be used sparingly, if at all. my pedals change channels on midi or through channel change jacks.

5. whirlwind leader cables are the best value, usa made, last >12 years in my experience.

6. weber beam blockers are awesome. don't listen to cork-sniffing d-bags like TLBonehead.

7. almost flat eq settings are better than scooped mids

8. turn your gain down to 4-5. it sounds better.

9. learn music theory. don't buy into the "knowing nothing opens the doors of creativity" theory. Teaching the 3rd guitarist what the minor scale is is a f-ing pain the anus. it' not worth the trouble.

10. parametric eq's are better than graphic eq.s.

11. wah will cover talent discrepancies. the audience will also be able to tell the difference.

12. open backs are great for blues/rockabilly, but they suck for metal

13. solid state pre + tube power = much better than tube pre+ ss power.

[RnFR]

- Keep your nuts clean ;-}

[Lakatu]

Don't get lost in the details. Keep it fun.

[daemon barbeque]

Increase your strength of your weakest point as a guitar player.Your head!!!
Try to "undertsand" what rythm is.Try to understand what "pronounce" is ,try to understand what "harmony between players" is and try to be a good member in your band ,if you have one.

If you don't hear yourself ,try first to change your position and distance to your amp and don't turn your amp louder as first

If you don't hear others ,don't want them to be louder ,just turn your level down

If you think you are the king in your band and without you ,there is no way to make good music , open a browser and look how many guitar players are in your town.And compare it with Drummers and Bass palyers.!!!

Be nice ,not a biggot ,not a dumbass ,and try to accept the people as they are.The differences in personalities creates more vivid colkor in music ,diverse new ideas and a better feeling.

Feel free to say your mind.Never have fear to say what you think to your musicians ,and be prepared to sccept what others thing of your new solo!!!
Not every new idea is the best one!!!

Give your solos ,riffs and some melody lines time to fit the big picture ,and don't try to change the pig picture first.The main "emotion" and the meaning is mostly more important than your ego!!!

Try to learn some basic rythm theory.A good Guitar player have to understand the other musicians ,since a good musician writes music as he/she "imagines" it.If you imagine things they are not possible for your musicians ,or even all musicians ,you can't reach what you dream of.
And be prepared to be overhelmed from ideas of Bass players and Drummers ,since they have the same problem with the imagination ,but they have a greater "odd" imagination on rythms and chord changings!!!

[Zerberus]

Often overlooked tip: Don´t spend so much time obsession about gear and posting about it on message boards, but spend more time playing it

[JohnnyGuitar]

Often overlooked tip: Don´t spend so much time obsession about gear and posting about it on message boards, but spend more time playing it

+100000000

One more thing about choosing gear:
Getting a signature tone is something you get by wanting to get a certain tone not by using gear... try to imagine your desired tone instead of just obssesing about gear and about getting a classic PRS, Strat, Tele tone.
EVH, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour used a bunch of different guitars and amps they got their tone because they were aiming to get a desired tone... not because they had the same guitars, or because tone were in their fingers...