What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

[aleclee]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Excellent question. I reccomend:

I had one of those. Sold it after getting a V700. They sound way better than any lumpwood guitar I've ever played.

 

[sosomething]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Actually I'd kind of like one of those to have at home.

 

[Bludave]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

I like to play an electric unplugged and focus on getting it to sound good this way. If you can get it to sound resonant this way it will sound great plugged in.

Yesterday I went to my buddys shop to do some work on my SG. He happened to have a SG on the bench he had just finished up. I picked it up and thought it was kind of plinky. I asked him what string guage was on it. He had strung it with 9.5 set (customers guitar). The action was also super low. I pulled mine out and compared it. The action on mine was a lot higher and I use 11's. Playing them side by side was night & day...... Now mine is also a 1969 standard so that could have something to do with it as well. Raise the action and put a little heavier string on. It will be better.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

What kind of pickups should I put into my lumpwood guitar to nail <insert name of guitar hero who achieves massive guitar sounds by doubling or tripling guitar parts>'s tone? I play through a vintage Peavey Bandit.

Any Chinese made pickup will do .... just don't play through the Plink channel of the Peavey.

 

[JeffB]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

^ Not always a fix. Sometimes it is, and sometimes a dog is just a dog.Any brand, any model, any tree can for one reason or another just turn out to be lumpwood. In the case of a lumpwood guitar, no amount of adjustment, tweaking, or modding will resolve it.

This- but on Gibson style instruments poorly cut string slots in the TOM can def add to the "plink" factor, OR a piss poor quality material used for the bridge (Epiphones e.g.)

Most of the time though, plink= dead wood/thick finish, poor parts- not worth the time or $ swapping pups and parts. Move along to the next one.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Oh, any POS pickups will do, as long as you wire them according to the secret diagram of epic tone:

Hey, gingrel. That is at least the second time that the SDOET has appeared on this forum. Last time, nobody could give me a convincing explanation for what the pretzel does. Can you?

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

I use Plinky Juice, which i buy from pixies in the enchanted forest.

You can also achieve some plinkiness by exposing your guitar to counltess hours of Plinky And Perky.

 

[ant_riv]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Gingrel-

Thank you. Finally THE pathway to TONE! My quest has ended!

:banghead:


OP-

That's it. Just follow the path and enlightenment is sure to be waiting at the end.

:eyecrazy:








Or, this:

• Light strings and/or super-low action.
• Thick poly finish.
• Bolt-on neck. (Good ones, no. Bad ones, yes.)
• Plastic nut.
• Bridge made of soft, cheap metal.
• Fret crowns that are flattened instead of round.
• Old or defective strings.
• Shallow break angle over the nut.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

^ not always a fix.

Sometimes it is, and sometimes a dog is just a dog.

Any brand, any model, any tree can for one reason or another just turn out to be lumpwood.

In the case of a lumpwood guitar, no amount of adjustment, tweaking, or modding will resolve it.

What you have in those cases is wood that did not want to be a guitar. Maybe it wanted to be a rocking chair or a railroad tie or just a freaking tree.

Nothing to be done about it.

lol!!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

In the UK, right now, BBC4 television is screening a compilation of archive Eric Clapton performances. One of these is a rendition of "Bell Bottom Blues" dating from 2000 and guest featuring Bobby Whitlock. When it got to the first guitar solo, the tone wimped out.

So, in answer to the OP question, what makes a guitar sound "plinky", the answer appears to be Fender Noiseless Stratocaster pickups.

EDIT: The same show has included clips in which EC plays Blackie. Regular old single coils. Fat tone.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

I use Plinky Juice, which i buy from pixies in the enchanted forest.

You can also achieve some plinkiness by exposing your guitar to counltess hours of Plinky And Perky.

Is this to be rubbed on or sprinkled??



Yeah, the Elitist has a bone nut, is supposed to be made with quality woods and hardware and was not fretting out. I just was very displeased with the tone and didnt wanna have to try to figure it out.. I have an Epi limited edition model that sounds right and has almost NO filler around the inlays and all and I got for a fraction of the cost..

But what REALLY got me was the Gibson Traditional Pro I played the other day at GC . Was the same sound.. My Burny, EPi lp and explorer and others have a totally diff sound accoustically and sound right. So I wouldnt buy that trad pro...

 

[brunogio]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

I wonder if you're definition of plinky just means too much treble. I'm guessing the LP traditional has 57 classics in them at least in one position and they're going to be fairly bright if you're used to more bottom heavy sounding guitar.

You may just want to work on your EQ settings a little different to see if it makes a difference.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

no, not too much treble.. When I pick the strings, even unplugged, it goes plink plink plink. With my other guitars, there is a deeper tone and vibration of the body wood. Its like there is not transfer of power into the bridge..

 

[brunogio]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

I'm guessing then that it's setup issue or related to the saddles, frets or nut. I doubt guitars at GC are set up and the heat/humidity can make the guitar wood do all kinds of weird stuff.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Dude, soso, I so get what you're saying, bro :laughing:

And the answer to the question is:

- pot metal bridges
- soft plastic nuts
- bad setups

Let me handle these 3 things and I can make any guitar sing a song.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Heh just do not buy them

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Besides setup issues, I think the bridge is the main culprit. Are the saddles cut properly? They may be too deep.

If the saddles look fine just swap the whole bridge.

 

[Gingrel]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Hey, gingrel. That is at least the second time that the SDOET has appeared on this forum. Last time, nobody could give me a convincing explanation for what the pretzel does. Can you?

The pretzel-shaped wire near the tear collector is not in fact a pretzel itself. However, if too much salt accumulates on the tear collector, a pretzel may be placed on this wire which will then adsorb (not absorb) the salt onto its surface.

 

[RushOfBlood]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Of course, when the guitar is a Fender Jaguar, "plinky" is exactly what you paid for!

I was just gonna say! My jaguar is perfectly plinky, flatwound 12's on it to make it even more percussive. it's not so much plink plink as much as CLONK CLONK

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: What makes a guitar sound "plinky"?

Speaking of "plinky," if you've never heard of Pinback, that is their sound.