"Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

[El Dunco]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

whenever i say "tone is in your fingers" i always mean that tone is MORE in your fingers than your gear. hence, the marty friedman example.

Yeah I get it. I just don't believe it. Everyone that plays a telecaster for example. You can tell it's a telecaster but there are subtle differences in the way they sound.

Some guy said "Don't hide behind so many effects"

1. I was only using chorus (wah for the solo)

2. I was using my amp's overdrive

3. How is a guitar sound hidden by effects?

4. Who asked him?

3. What am I doing here?

6. ^??? I put 3 instead of 5

7. Guess I'm that tired, it's kind if late in Australia

8. I couldn't be bothered changing it

9. I might just make myself some nice tea you can have some from the pot if you like

10. Who do you think I am. Mr 10. Questions?!

 

[fretburner]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Yeah I get it. I just don't believe it. Everyone that plays a telecaster for example. You can tell it's a telecaster but there are subtle differences in the way they sound.

Some guy said "Don't hide behind so many effects"

1. I was only using chorus (wah for the solo)

2. I was using my amp's overdrive

3. How is a guitar sound hidden by effects?

4. Who asked him?

3. What am I doing here?

6. ^??? I put 3 instead of 5

7. Guess I'm that tired, it's kind if late in Australia

8. I couldn't be bothered changing it

9. I might just make myself some nice tea you can have some from the pot if you like

10. Who do you think I am. Mr 10. Questions?!

you're like 4 hours (?) ahead of where i am.

anyway, i sound better on my JTM60 and gets really close to my "tone" plugged into a stage 1000. whereas my bro (who's in brisbane btw) doesn't sound anything like me on my same set up at home.

 

[El Dunco]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

you're like 4 hours (?) ahead of where i am.

anyway, i sound better on my JTM60 and gets really close to my "tone" plugged into a stage 1000. whereas my bro (who's in brisbane btw) doesn't sound anything like me on my same set up at home.

1:08 In the morning down here

 

[fretburner]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

1:08 In the morning down here

oh... just an hour then. agassi vs becker

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

It would save half a page of +1 posts before someone finally tells him to get a Les Paul and a JCM800, and the ensuing debate over the fact that gear alone won't make him sound like Zakk, which will eventually include a comment about someone who played through three different amps just to realize that they still play (though not neccissarily sound) the same, which will eventually devolve into either some random guitar player playing through Eddie's rig, or Eddie playing through A) a Pignose, or B) a solid state Crate with a blown speaker.

Is it important? No. Does it irritate me? A little. My view? Stop answering "what gear did so and so use" questions with a "tone" cop out. Just answer the f*kin question and be ready to explain why he can't get his JCM800 to sound like Zakk's.

+10000000000000000

Plus, a player can always practice on getting the tone of his favorite players (he still won't sound 100% the same) and doing it with elements of their rig would get him closer...

 

[El Dunco]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Did ANYONE pay attention to my mindless rambling AT ALL?!

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I dont gete the Zakk Wylde part of this argument ever. Why is he always the example? He doesnt strike me as having a unique playing style or 'timbre' at all. (at least in BLS) A player with his rig will sound rather similar.

I was kind of annoyed though, when I showed a video of Gary Moore, and I was like, how do I get his tone? And everyone jumped on me and was like "You wont sound like him because you dont have his fingers."

Though I think alot of people dont get it... Dimebag would not sound like Dimebag on a strat through a fender twin reverb. He would play like Dimebag, but sound nothing like himself (and the complete lack of distortion/screamy harmonics)

 

[El Dunco]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I dont gete the Zakk Wylde part of this argument ever. Why is he always the example? He doesnt strike me as having a unique playing style or 'timbre' at all. (at least in BLS) A player with his rig will sound rather similar.

I was kind of annoyed though, when I showed a video of Gary Moore, and I was like, how do I get his tone? And everyone jumped on me and was like "You wont sound like him because you dont have his fingers."

Though I think alot of people dont get it... Dimebag would not sound like Dimebag on a strat through a fender twin reverb. He would play like Dimebag, but sound nothing like himself (and the complete lack of distortion/screamy harmonics)

himself = his signature tone

Everyone.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

whenever i say "tone is in your fingers" i always mean that tone is MORE in your fingers than your gear. hence, the marty friedman example.

But it's not the tone that's more in the fingers, it's the resulting overall sound produced that is more in the fingers than in the gear. Tone = frequency response produced by gear. Therefore the player's articulation affects the resulting sound more than the tone produced by his gear.

When you start calling articulation "tone" as well, you confuse people and it becomes a means for people to put down others for spending money on gear as screamingdaisy said.

 

[FretFire]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Has anyone else noticed this thread has gone in circles and said the same thing about 20 times now?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Has anyone else noticed this thread has gone in circles and said the same thing about 20 times now?

Yes.

"Everybody still sounds like themselves, regardless of the gear, but if James Hetfield played a Danelectro into a Silvertone amp, he wouldn't sound like James Hetfield" :banghead:

 

[big_black]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

But it's not the tone that's more in the fingers, it's the resulting overall sound produced that is more in the fingers than in the gear. Tone = frequency response produced by gear. Therefore the player's articulation affects the resulting sound more than the tone produced by his gear.

When you start calling articulation "tone" as well, you confuse people and it becomes a means for people to put down others for spending money on gear as screamingdaisy said.

When most people say "tone" they are referring to the characterisitcs of the sound coming out of the amp's speaker. A player's dynamics most certainly affect the end result and most certainly affect the overall tone.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Well in that case most people are using a term incorrectly and confusing people. They affect the end result but not in a way that changes the tone. Musically and scientifically tone just means pitch or frequency response, and articulation (maybe in some cases 'timbre') means the players dynamics. A guitarist can not change the frequency response with his fingers alone.

Hence why we have terms like a 'pure tone' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_tone

it's a solid frequency, because tone refers to pitch or pitches. We use the word 'tone' to describe gaps in pitch such as 'whole tone' or 'semitone', because they are frequencies, not dynamics.

Maybe people are confusing the musical word 'tone' with the word 'tone' which describes feelings or emotions?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Maybe people are confusing the musical word 'tone' with the word 'tone' which describes feelings or emotions?

Tone has something like 13 definitions. One of them is a synonym for timbre.

"Tone is in the fingers" means the sound coming from an amplifier is the result of more than the gear being used. End of story.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I'll just quote Paul Reed Smith. "Everything effects everything."

 

[FretFire]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

Well in that case most people are using a term incorrectly and confusing people.

Once again, something this thread has stated multiple times.

 

[some_dude]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I'll just quote Paul Reed Smith. "Everything effects everything."

/thread.

 

[Diego]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

I'll just quote Paul Reed Smith. "Everything effects everything."

Gearjoneser just pulled the plug on this thread with a 3 words quote. :laugh2:

 

[Mephis]

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.

So in one breath you say his tone wasn't good, then in the next breath your contradict it...



Face it, there's a reason why people buy marshalls and fenders instead of spending $200 on an ibanez half stack. If people could spend $200 and have just as good of tone, everyone would.

 

[Diego]

Re: "Tone is in your fingers" cliche'

So in one breath you say his tone wasn't good, then in the next breath your contradict it...

Face it, there's a reason why people buy marshalls and fenders instead of spending $200 on an ibanez half stack. If people could spend $200 and have just as good of tone, everyone would.

Care to tell me where I contradicted myself? His tone wasn't that good through the Ibanez stack, but it sounded like Marty Friedman all the way, and that's the cool thing about him, and about so many other players that have a signature feel. It had his feel, and I bet that if he plugged a Squier Stratocaster into a Peavey amp, it would still sound like him. Just not as good as if he plugged into more expensive gear.

BTW, he doesn't prefer the Ibanez amps, but for some reason he didn't get a hang of a Crate that day and he chose that over the Marshall TSL100s that were around.

And if I had the feel Marty has on his hands, I wouldn't bother with expensive gear, trust me. :smokin:

I fail to see why you don't understand this. I suggest you re-read this part:

"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."

Know what I mean?