"Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

[JohnnyGuitar]

OK
I'm angry now, I'm a cool guy (look at my cool smiley) but sometimes you need to show your other side...
Yeah,
Tone is in your fingers... two players may sound totaly different on the same guitar, it's true... the angle of your pick and fretting hand, the place you hit the strings, the force your fretting fingers apply to the strings it all effects tone... that's true...
In the equation- of wood, body shape, action, string height, electronics, cable, effects, amps, the place you're playing in.. it's hard to define which factor is the most critical...

And then again.. WTF do the "oh, it's not in the gear, it's in your hands" folks are doing here??????
It's a guitar gear forum!!!!!! SD doesn't sell fingers!! (I hope).

And BTW, when you say things like- "his guitars are not important, he got his tone from his feel" about guitar players, what you are really saying is- "he is such a bad player that he sounds the same on anything". noone sounds the same on different guitars, and good players bring out the good things from a Les Paul and the good things from a Strat and don't make them sound the same because of some problem they have in their fingers or because they're using too many effects that the guitar charecter just fades...


:butkick:
:chairshot
:rocket:

 

[WhoFan]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Good sounding gear helps players play their best.... if they like what they are hearing most players will give it all they got.... a player who hates their amp/guitar will not play their best.

 

[Diego]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

And BTW, when you say things like- "his guitars are not important, he got his tone from his feel" about guitar players, what you are really saying is- "he is such a bad player that he sounds the same on anything". noone sounds the same on different guitars, and good players bring out the good things from a Les Paul and the good things from a Strat and don't make them sound the same because of some problem they have in their fingers or because they're using too many effects that the guitar charecter just fades...

Uhh, let me give you an example:

Marty Friedman sounds... like Marty Friedman, no matter what amp/guitar he plugs into. The tone changes, but his signature feel it's still there. No matter if he's plugging his old Jacksons into a Marshall, or his Ibanez into his crazy ass 300W Crate amp. And he's a guitar ---> amp kind of guy. No racks, no pedals, not even a wah.

Do you really think he's bad because of that? He certainly has no problem on his fingers... :eek13:

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Ok, I feel better now...

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Uhh, let me give you an example:

Marty Friedman sounds... like Marty Friedman, no matter what amp/guitar he plugs into. The tone changes, but his signature feel it's still there. No matter if he's plugging his old Jacksons into a Marshall, or his Ibanez into his crazy ass 300W Crate amp. And he's a guitar ---> amp kind of guy. No racks, no pedals, not even a wah.

Do you really think he's bad because of that? He certainly has no problem on his fingers... :eek13:

a. Marty Fridman uses Boss multi effects (the GT-6 I think).
b. He doesn't sound the same on different guitars. we all have our feel... but again, changes in our gear have effect on our tone. Clapton sounds like Clapton on a Les Paul or on a Strat... but he sounds like Clapton playing a Strat or like Clapton playing a Les Paul and not the same...
Let's say that we're talking about food here- your touch is the piece of meat and everything else is the spices do all meat dishes taste the same??? (I'm vegetarian, I wouldn't know).

 

[Diego]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

a. Marty Fridman uses Boss multi effects (the GT-6 I think).
b. He doesn't sound the same on different guitars. we all have our feel... but again, changes in our gear have effect on our tone. Clapton sounds like Clapton on a Les Paul or on a Strat... but he sounds like Clapton playing a Strat or like Clapton playing a Les Paul and not the same...
Let's say that we're talking about food here- your touch is the piece of meat and everything else is the spices do all meat dishes taste the same??? (I'm vegetarian, I wouldn't know).

I've seen Friedman twice live, on two clinics, and he plugged his Ibanez straight into the amp. Guess who it sounded like . On the studio he uses Boss and Roland stuff, you are right, but live he keeps it as simple as possible.

And that's why I mentioned that 'the tone changes, but the signature feel is still there'. Like the Clapton example you mentioned.

 

[fretburner]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

a. Marty Fridman uses Boss multi effects (the GT-6 I think).
b. He doesn't sound the same on different guitars. we all have our feel... but again, changes in our gear have effect on our tone.

a. it's a gt8 that he rarely use live.
b. he sounded uncannily like marty on "scenes" when we was plugging in an SZ520 straight into a toneblaster half stack.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

When I read that Zack Wylde has switched to playing a vintage tele through a mic'd pignose amp, I will believe the "tone is in your fingers" cliche. There is, of course, a reason that different players gravitate toward different gear. You can tweak any amp to get different tones out of it, and every player sets them differently, but to suggest that SRV could have gotten his same clean tones from a peavey 5150 is a bit childish. Not that a player doesn't retain their own unique style through any amp they play, but to say that a les paul and a strat sound the same, or that a Fender blackface and a Dumble overdrive sound the same is a physical/mechanical impossibility, unless you are tone deaf. I think this chant is repeated too often by players who don't have the cash to buy a lot of different gear, or players too lazy to admit that a little tweaking and component changing will improve their tone.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

People on this forum tend to have completely messed up priorities as far as guitar playing goes.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

People on this forum tend to have completely messed up priorities as far as guitar playing goes.

+1

Though this is a place devoted to achieving the best sound possible. Truth be told, you can buy yourself half the way there with pedals, amps, pickups and guitars. The rest is in the hands.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Does everybody who picks up a LP with EMG pups, plugs it into a wah, overdrive, chorus and rotovibe, then go into a JCM800 sound like Zakk Wylde?

That is what "tone is in the fingers" means. It means that Jeff Beck could string up a broom stick with pipe cleaners, and it's still gonna sound like him, not that anybody who plays a Strat into a DSL will sound like Jeff Beck.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

People on this forum tend to have completely messed up priorities as far as guitar playing goes.

I'm one of them... I collect and work on guitars much more then playing the dam things.. But that is only because i'm not in an active band at the moment. When i was in a band i practiced every single day to make sure i knew my parts inside and out... Didn't want to be the fool up there missing chords and forgetting stuff... But now in my down time since the band is gone i play here and there at home but spend lots of time messing around trying to get a better sound...

Good example of tone effecting how you play.... i was just using a Fender Stage 100 DSP head into a Marshall cab.. i bought this head on a clearance sale and it looked like a really cool home practice amp for $300..... has allsorts of FX's if i want.. But it sucks... i didn't expect it to be the best amp... SS amps to me are not always the best in the first place but i figured the price was right and for home i figured why not try it... I can't keep that thing... i'm going to use it as a trade in to get something better... when i play thru it i feel like stoping and doing something else besides playing.. Getting a good tone to me is so important to me enjoying playing... I took a chance and it bit me in the butt

 

[shredaholic]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Although many players will be recognisable through different equipment, it doesn't mean that "tone is in their fingers". What you recognise of those players in different equipment is their timing between notes (sense of rhythm), pick attack, vibrato, bending style etc. That's called articulation, not tone. If it was tone, you would be able to find it on an EQ and reproduce it, because tone is generally speaking the emphasis on certain frequencies produced by your gear.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Although many players will be recognisable through different equipment, it doesn't mean that "tone is in their fingers". What you recognise of those players in different equipment is their timing between notes (sense of rhythm), pick attack, vibrato, bending style etc. That's called articulation, not tone. If it was tone, you would be able to find it on an EQ and reproduce it, because tone is generally speaking the emphasis on certain frequencies produced by your gear.

Agree 100%..... i know some guys in some semi famous tribute acts that tour around the world.... these guys have taken the time to try and copy every single note the original artists played to a tee.. They know the artists playing style so well they can jam and kind of play close to the way the artist would, and sense what the way the real artists would play in any given jam. They have made it a real life long study...

but on the other hand these guys are always searching down the real gear to play the music on..... Without the band having all the right gear from the original's time period they are missing something in their act

 

[Diego]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Although many players will be recognisable through different equipment, it doesn't mean that "tone is in their fingers". What you recognise of those players in different equipment is their timing between notes (sense of rhythm), pick attack, vibrato, bending style etc. That's called articulation, not tone. If it was tone, you would be able to find it on an EQ and reproduce it, because tone is generally speaking the emphasis on certain frequencies produced by your gear.

Yeah, that's why I'm a picky bitch with the words used. Tone isn't in the fingers. Feel is.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Tone is not in the fingers.

It's in the brain. :27:

 

[some_dude]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I hate the "Tone is in the fingers" thing. Even if it is true, it's still a cop out for those who can't think of something more useful to say.

 

[Mephis]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

People who say tone is in the fingers, and plug straight into their amp play botique gear that cost more than my car.

So I tend to take that phrase with a grain of salt, because it's bull****.

 

[Diego]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I love Marty Friedman's example for some reason.

I've seen him plugging into a Crate head, and into a Ibanez Toneblaster half-stack. (The last one being a piece of crap). He's far from a gear snob. Hell, the Ibanez he's using has STOCK PICKUPS!

Ok, so his tone wasn't that good. But his feel was there. You could close your eyes and say "Yeah, that's Marty playing". I don't think it's bull**** to be honest.

I love that the players who have a developed style sound like themselves no matter what they plug into. I wish I could have that gift.

There's always the Ted Nugent / Eddie Van Halen example... when Nugent asked VH to let him play on his guitar through his rig because he loved his tone, only to find it sounded nothing like VH.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I think pretty much everybody has a certain X-factor that is always present.