Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy w

Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

ImmortalSix said:
Get out of your head and get off the internet.

Good tone comes from command of the instrument.

Listen carefully - I'm not repeating the "tone is in the fingers" bullcrap for the millionth time.

Command of the instrument.
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Yup. Best thing I could of done for my tone was a hiatus from the internet and the forum. I came back 5-6 months after with a very different rig, and a completely new understanding of the way I play guitar.

Get out there. Play in different settings. It will change you.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

Sounds like a good plan, dude. I like it. I think you should definitely go for it.

The best thing is that you don't need to bother with all the tousand-dollar acoustics out there. You can just head to the nearest pawn store and get the cheapest little piece of **** starter pack cardboard acoustic for six bucks. After all, they all sound the same, right?
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

wyldeguy said:
With electric guitars it impossible for any one person to find that perfect tone you have in your head and never achieve. There are so many freakin components that effect your tone on electrics that it stops you from geting the magic tone you want and it pisses me off and I am thinking of just ditching electric guitar and taking the easy way out and buying an acoustic. Simple, pure tone with no hassles taking that tone you want away.
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That perfect tone will arrive all on its own once we really learn how to play - whether on electric or acoustic. There are no shortcuts. (Well, maybe Youtube! lol)

Your tone comes mostly from inside - not so much from outside.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

transcribe some tunes. Get 3 of your most influential artists (any instrument, right hand piano solos/sax solos/guitar/bass) and start transcribing opening choruses to their music, I guarantee this will inspire and add ammo and momentum to your playing.

I get stale and un-inspired often, nothing gets me going like breaking out the tab paper and working through a few choruses of a Michael Brecker or Dexter Gordon solo ripping some busy chord changes. Commanding that makes me forget about my tone, the music is pleasing to play through, and in the end I'll often feel great about my tone because I'm making music with it. Break out the tab paper and transcribe!!!
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

phil_104 said:
Get out there. Play in different settings. It will change you.
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+1. You can nit pick about tone too much and get hung up on it, as we sometimes do here. The goal, after all is making music. Play with other people in other locations and odds are you'll focus more on beefing up your skills, and that will get people's attention more than your tone.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

Yup. Last week I spent my free days going to shops and trying as many guitars and amps as I could.
Tried more gear that I can remember.
Three days of that is worth way more than months of reading forum advice.

So yeah, we should all go out there and DO something. Gig with a band, try out tons of gear, go see other bands.
Have fun.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

Hunter makes a great point. But also - the ONLY thing you can change about the acoustic is the strings. So - if it isn't perfect out of the box....oh well.

And then there is the whole fingers thing...
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

i used to feel the same way and have contemplated doing the same thing. couple o' things to think about: 1. just look at chasing tone as a hobby. if you weren't doing this, it'd be something else. so, have fun with it and don't take it too seriously.

2. if you only have an acoustic, you will become a much better player. we all have a tendency to mess around with knobs and buttons the more gear we have and get so wrapped up in how it all sounds, that we don't actually let go and play(which always sounds good no matter the gear).

i wouldn't do it if i were you, you will probably regret it. just put all your electric gear away and stick to acoustic only if you really think you want to do this. I'll bet you don't in the end.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

tenniso said:
2. if you only have an acoustic, you will become a much better player. we all have a tendency to mess around with knobs and buttons the more gear we have and get so wrapped up in how it all sounds, that we don't actually let go and play(which always sounds good no matter the gear).
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Wrong. There are things you can do on an electric (due to the lower action, thinner strings, sustain, etc) that aren't possible on an acoustic. How high can up the neck can you play on an acoustic? Electrics free you up to go beyond the many limitations of acoustics.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

i get your point Blueman, but as for myself, the more options i have, the more i waffle.

thats a personal thing though and certainly doesn't apply to everyone.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

tenniso said:
if you only have an acoustic, you will become a much better player. we all have a tendency to mess around with knobs and buttons the more gear we have and get so wrapped up in how it all sounds, that we don't actually let go and play(which always sounds good no matter the gear).
Click to expand...
blueman335 said:
Wrong. There are things you can do on an electric (due to the lower action, thinner strings, sustain, etc) that aren't possible on an acoustic. How high can up the neck can you play on an acoustic? Electrics free you up to go beyond the many limitations of acoustics.
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Started off on electric then switched to acoustic for many years. But I never stopped playing electric. Getting really good on the acoustic had a profoundly positive impact on my electric playing. Unless you've done it, you'll never know. My hands are stronger, my sense of time is stronger, my sense of maintaining the pulse is stronger, I get a fuller more complete sound and I can take the stage all by myself and make the whole room stop and listen.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

More time on an acoustic will probably improve your tone on the electric, though. I got a nice acoustic a couple of years ago, after only having campfire-worthy ones in the past. Working on it really improved my vibrato, muting, and accuracy. When I got back heavily into electric again a year or so ago, I found I was much better at getting good tones out of the gear I had, rather than looking for gear to produce the tones.

For example, I have a JB in the bridge of one of my guitars. If you read this forum a lot, you'll see there are a series of frequent complaints about this pickup (too brittle, etc.) They are, in a way, true, but I find my improved technique from all that acoustic playing allows me to control the bad aspects of the JB and milk all the really, really good stuff out of it. If I had gotten the JB first, before all the acoustic practise, I probably would have blamed the pickup and gone on a pickup swapping binge.

Similarly, on my strat, I now use the bridge pickup alone a lot more, because I find I can control the icepick tendencies now. (I've even started to mess around a lot with the middle pickup alone, which I never did before)


So I guess I'm half with you. Get a decent acoustic, but don't get rid of all your gear. You might find you have the stuff you need already to get that tone in your head.
 
Re: Sometimes I feel like stopping my search the the perfect tone / doing it the easy

gypsy blue and voggin said exactly what i meant. thanks for saying it better than me!
 
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