Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

[Gearjoneser]

There's something I've noticed amongst a lot of posts and players who post on the internet. It's the idea that there's tones they love, and amps they love, but ones they don't for some reason. You may notice that I talk about highgain amps and vintage amps equally, and the reason is that I love and appreciate both.

Music, and being a guitar player, is just like being a painter choosing colors.
I've never said I hate Soldano, and only love Blackface Fenders, or I hate Tweeds and only like vintage Marshalls. Or, non master volume PTP is better than channel switching PC board amps. I love all of them, because they all bring out the best of me with a guitar in my hand. I've never understood tone snobbery, as if it's the only tone you can like. As a modern musician, I'd think that most players would learn to like anything that makes a good sound.

What are your thoughts on this issue? I think it's funny that someone would pigeon hole themselves as a Fender, Marshall, Mesa, or Vox kinda guy. Why choose? If you can play more than 7 notes, why not have more than 7 tones at your disposal? I guess I'm someone who will drink good beer, crappy beer, Coke, Pepsi, 7Up, or anything without feeling like I need to be devoted to only one. It's music, not devotion to 1 brand.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

Isn't that the root casue of GAS? I agree 100%, I'd love to have guitars and amps and pedals of every make and style, heck I want more LP's just to put different Duncans in!

 

[Loserchief]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I'm a modern metal player and my main tones are modern High Gain.
I have two four channel Engls and especially my Sovereign gives me all the tones i want for my style.
I can enjoy the tone of a good Fender or Marshall but i don't feel a need to spend money on one since my Engls do everything i want.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I can use most...but I am never going to get much along with most US voiced much distorted amps.....sounds like whitenoise to me for some odd reason!
Most channelswitchers is not my thing, but I can surely use it, right down to it
I prefer oldschoolstuff....but some of those switchers are really good!
Basicly....I like the most

 

[Axl H]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I can use most...but I am never going to get much along with most US voiced much distorted amps.....sounds like whitenoise to me for some odd reason!
Most channelswitchers is not my thing, but I can surely use it, right down to it
I prefer oldschoolstuff....but some of those switchers are really good!
Basicly....I like the most

Same here..

I know one channel switcher you like!! My JCM2000 DSL 100w

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

But if you don't think they make a good sound, then you don't like it. Tone is subjective. Not everything will like everything, and some have narrower palettes than others. I'd say mine is moderate. I like a LOT of sounds, but hate an equal amount.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

There is a difference between not liking it, and not a good sound....anything that can be used is....well useful

 

[JammerMatt]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

Joe, that's why I respect your opinion so much. I think you give pretty honest and unbaised views of the things you've tried. I guess I'm sorta like you. I haven't played a bunch of stuff, but I've managed to find something I like in everything I play.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

Great thread topic. I think that as we mature as players we evolve in our respect and understanding of all of the tools at our disposal. There is a place and time for all gear. Why limit yourself by being ignorant?

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I agree that you can get good usable tones out of anything, but I think part of the fun of being a guitarist is finding 'your tone.' I mean not everybody has the money to have one of each, so if you can narrow down exactly what you like about different tones then you can find the gear that does it all 'good enough for you.'

I mean it's easy to say "Why pick one?" when you've got one of each at your disposal. But I'm on a budget and I need to buy gear that will suite my IMMEDIATE needs. I would love to have a room full of half stacks by all names, with a different guitar hanging above each one but...this is the real world.

 

[Rushfan2112]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

Why pick one tone? Well, for one, some don't exactly have the budget for all of our great tones we want...

 

[wahwah]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

In my own case, it's been a matter of having a strong affinity with a general tone and feeling, albeit across a wide dynamic of various gain structures and applicable effects, but still with a common thread which has directed my choices in the equipment I have been drawn to, purchased and used. There is a certain feeling that comes whenever I am playing with the equipment which provides the tones that are in my heart, to the point of the guitar neck feeling "right" when I find combinations of equipment which speak with that particular voice. I've spent a lot of time trying or wanting to like certain guitars, amps or pedals, but in the end, if I have to make a contrived effort to warm to them, they don't stick around for long, or don't even make it into my rigs.

The beauty of this is that I can fully appreciate a broad diversity of tones from other players, and marvel at the way they incorporate particular guitars, amps and effects into their sound that I know I will probably never use, because either they don't speak to me when I play them, or perhaps more accurately, I don't speak with clarity through them! Therefore, the choices I make are not so much a matter of snobbery in order to be accepted by my peers by dropping name brands as my choices, but instead are the result of many years of experimentation, all the while answering the very potent call of a sound, or set of sounds, which are always in my heart and imagination, and in my hands. The resulting sorting process means that I have no interest in accumulating equipment for its own sake in order just to "have it." Since this is my living, I am quite specific about the equipment that I know I will use.

I think it could be seen in analogy to an individual's preference in musical styles. We could say to the Nashville session player "but why don't you like death metal? You should embrace all forms of music since they all exist." To which he might answer, "because I just don't like it. It doesn't move me." It really can be as simple as that.



Cheers...........................wahwah

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I'm with you 100%. One of the reasons I have no desire to be in a serious band is total musical incoherency. Whenever I was in a metal band, I'd want to play bluesy stuff, or if I was in an alternative band, I wanted to play death metal.

Same with guitars.... I feel really bad for people who can only gel with one type of instrument/amp/whatever.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I totally understand what you mean, and have been going through my rig with that mindset lately.

I'm dying for an awesome modded Marshall tone, and while the 5150II, when tweaked right, gets pretty **** close, but not quite there.

I used to sell heads and get new ones when I wanted a change, now I think I'm going to buy a completely new halfstack to go with the current.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I could never be a gear snob. As far as tone goes, I like them all. Guitars, well, it just has to be good, not any particular brand - though the placement of the LP's controls just makes me feel lost, but they sound good.

I do have an affection for Mesa, the quality and tone is excellent and they make enough different models and feature levels to cover most tastes.

The Road King really covers all the fun tones that I like from cleans to high gain. I just need one more amp that does that Marshall sound I have in my head, but I have never heard a Marshall do (if that makes sense) - so an XTC or a Stiletto may fill that void.

They are just a means to an end - to make something that sounds cool.

 

[tone?]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

I like 'good' different tones alot. I am no snob at all with that. I love plugging into a High gain amp as well as a vintage one.
What i dont like is 'bad' different tones.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

but I think part of the fun of being a guitarist is finding 'your tone.'

Got my "tone" plenty...I always end up sounding like me through most stuff....
My "tone" is to fit in....while keeping it abit on the edge in some manners...

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

Tone, or rather "a good sound" like many things ... infact most things in life, is subjective. I think most players are just after a sound they can use day in -day out with minimal tweaking. I have learned over the years that I have very little patience.. I mean I am not one for constant tweaking or programing.. I for one just want a simple set up that does what I want or need given what I enjoy playing, though not necessarily covering all of my tastes. I chose my amps because they have this ability to let my guitars sound come out... ie I don't have 2 guitars that are the same. So by having an amp that lets the guitars come through, thats how I get my different sounds. The reason I'm saying this is because I used to have a couple of Marshall 1987x small box 50 R.I's, and to my ears they were VERY bright and harsh, and worst of all was that all of my Bucker guitars sounded pretty much the same! My single coil guitars were near unuseable because even with the treble rolled off, they were just ice picky. When I bought them, I think It was a nostalgia thing, I was hoping for the sound I got out of my old 67/68 Plexi/ cream back panel.. that was so smooth and warm.. dear god why did I sell it? Anyway, after trying hard to convince myself I could get in the ball park of the sound I had years ago I had to give in. My current amp and cab combinations are very consistant.. my sound is always good to my ears at least. Of course it's all horses for courses, for the working musician... wouldn't a set up like a Line 6 Vetta and a Variax be the ideal set up? Any guitar with any amp? But I just have not got the patience or the inclination to spend God knows how long messing around with all the options. So although I am lucky to have the L.P, Strat and Tele sounds covered by having the guitars.. the set dictates which guitars I take. My amp(s) stay the same without constant fiddling about.

I guess after all of that (SORRY), I am saying that GJ raises a very good point, and that as long as YOU like the sound you get, and it fits the music you play... then the name of the equipment, whether it's valve or SS and the speaker config doesn't matter. So although I wasn't happy with those R.I Marshalls 'coz I "thought" they sounded thin and harsh, the guys who bought them off me obviously thought otherwise!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

The Road King really covers all the fun tones that I like from cleans to high gain. I just need one more amp that does that Marshall sound I have in my head, but I have never heard a Marshall do (if that makes sense) - so an XTC or a Stiletto may fill that void.

Dude... Splawn. (But then we'd have the same rig. )

Actually, the fact that I own a Road King, use Jimmy Page wiring, have a million different pedals, etc. is a bit of a testament to my liking of a huge range of tones.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Tonal Confusion. You don't have to choose, you can enjoy it all.

Dude... Splawn. (But then we'd have the same rig. )

Actually, the fact that I own a Road King, use Jimmy Page wiring, have a million different pedals, etc. is a bit of a testament to my liking of a huge range of tones.

I have been reading quite a bit about Splawn (and listening to clips when I can). Its various desriptions do sound like the right amp, but I did just plug into a Stiletto Stage II last week and I think its got the sound I hear in my head (it did in the store) - I couldn't confirm that until I had at home for some time and did some recording with it a bit - that will have to wait for a few months.

...though, it would be funny to have the same rig as another froum bro!