What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

[Aceman]

I have read a lot of posts that are asking how do I get Vai/Van Halen/Page/Gibbons/etc/etc/etc's sound. I get the impression that people think a big chunck of it is the pup. I think that the specific pup is only about 10% of the equation. I think the style/chops/hands is about 50% plus, or more with certain people. If you have a pup even close to the range, you'll be close enough. FOr example...we all know early VH used a stock Gibson pup (remember that for everyone poo pooing the 498T!) SO what do you think...here's my take:

35% - In the hands & heart (more the better you get...)
30% Amp/effects & settings
25% - Guitar (style, wood, bridge, scale, board)
10% pups (vintage, kicked up, over the top, or some very specific eq tweek)

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

55 % - In the hands & heart (more the better you get...)
15 % Amp/effects & settings
15 % - Guitar (style, wood, bridge, scale, board)
15 % pups (vintage, kicked up, over the top, or some very specific eq tweek)

 

[Breogan]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

Don't forget about the melodies.

I think it's allmost imposible to quantify this things...

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

I think the biggest % is the soul/spirit/personality of the player.

After that it's whether they play a single coil or humbucker and the amp.

When Jimi Hendrix played a Flying V with humbuckers instead of his usual Strat with single coils, there was still no doubt that it was Hendrix playing.

So I think pickups are a very small part of what makes a player sound the way they do...the biggest thing is simply the player him or her self.

Lew

 

[127.0.0.1]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

Some people just can play with crap amps and sound good.
Some people get inspired by his/her tone.

So there's no exact percentage.

 

[rspst14]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

I'm pretty sure Eddie rewound that Gibson pickup, which was a real old one to begin with...nothing like the ones of today.

I think it depends heavily on the player. A guy like Slash uses very little in the way of effects or extra processing. A good Les Paul with an Alnico 2 Pro set played through the right Marshall can easily nail his tone. Same thing with Angus Young, there are a number of pickups that can easily get you his tone. On the other hand, a guy like Billy Gibbons, Steve Vai, or Eddie Van Halen is going to be much tougher to copy. These players have used highly complex setups over the yeas to get their tone, which is one of the reasons it is so hard to copy them.

Overall, I'd say pickups can make a major difference, but they won't get you all the way there in most cases.

Ryan

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

I think that sound and tone are 2 different things in this case...maybe somebody can get their guitar to sound like SRV's but he does not have Stevie's tone...maybe he has part of it (a very small part), the rest of SRV's tone is in his heart/soul and his hands...

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

I think that Christian hit the nail on the head with his post. Personally if I were to put numbers to the question:

90%-Hands, soul, spirit
4%-Guitar
4%-Amp/Effects
2%-Pickup

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

thjat was just my 2 cents, and I want it to be know that I am addicted to gear...I love it, and IMO you will never get a classic sound without something close to what the sounds was created with...what I mean is if you are on a Hendrix kick don't get a Les Paul and a Mesa stack, but on the flip side of that please don't think that a Strat and a Marshall will give you Jimi's tone (NO!, not even if you add a fuzz face, uni vibe, vox wah, and an octavia!), but you will get close to the sound that Jimi made

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

thjat was just my 2 cents, and I want it to be know that I am addicted to gear...I love it, and IMO you will never get a classic sound without something close to what the sounds was created with...what I mean is if you are on a Hendrix kick don't get a Les Paul and a Mesa stack, but on the flip side of that please don't think that a Strat and a Marshall will give you Jimi's tone (NO!, not even if you add a fuzz face, uni vibe, vox wah, and an octavia!), but you will get close to the sound that Jimi made

That's true

I do think you always sound like yourself to yourself. I think that what other people can and often do perceive as your tone can be different than what you yourself hear. Remember everyone's ears are different. I don't know how to quantify it all in numbers but I do know that good players always sound good, whereas crappy players like me need good gear to sound good!

The VH pup thing though, (not to go too far off topic) I have read numerous places was rewound.

Luke

 

[skh515]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

but you will get close to the sound that Jimi made

The sound that Jimi made, made Jimi.
If you know what I mean.

Personally, I'm not trying to sound like anybody in particular. I play "Liz Reed" on a strat, if you can imagine that. (Rhyme intended) When I'm considering pups, I consider who uses them. If I like their sound (Billy Gibbons), then I'll probably the pup (Pearly Gates). That, however, doesn't mean I'm trying to emulate Billy's tone. I just want to move into his tonal neighborhood, not his house.

As for the percentage thing, to me it's two seperate things. Part A is how the guitarist physically plays the guitar, light touch vs heavy touch (EVH vs Jimmy Page, for instance) and other physical conponents (fretting, picking etc.)
Hearing them play an acoustic can be a big help.

Part B is the sound of their rig. Just using my hears, I can't tell a Les Paul from a Strat, both offer such a wide variety of tones. Maybe my ears just aren't as in tune as the rest of you tone freaks (I mean that in the best possible way).

In my opinion, Pete Townsend has maintained a consistent sound through the years, despite using Rics, Gretschs, Les Pauls, SGs, Strats, and Tele copies (I may have missed some). He also went from Marshall to HiWatt amps.

So I think Part A is by far the most important. As for part B, I'd say...

Pups - 25%
Design/Construction (neck-thru, bolt-on, etc; different woods) - 30%
Amp - 25%
Effects - 20%

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

As said before, sound and tone are two totally different things. Sound comes from the player, IMO, while tone comes from the gear. That being said, I actually see pickups as a big part of tone. You can change things from overly bright to super muddy, little things that an EQ just can't touch. You can't take a pickup that has a slight Michael Schenker 'aw' to it and give it a slight 'ah' or 'ow' sound...It's hard to describe what I mean without hearing me mouth out those syllables. It's kind of liked the positions on a wah pedal, you can leave them set certain places to get a different kind of tone. Same with pickups, IMO.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

The sound that Jimi made, made Jimi.
If you know what I mean.

Personally, I'm not trying to sound like anybody in particular. I play "Liz Reed" on a strat, if you can imagine that. (Rhyme intended) When I'm considering pups, I consider who uses them. If I like their sound (Billy Gibbons), then I'll probably the pup (Pearly Gates). That, however, doesn't mean I'm trying to emulate Billy's tone. I just want to move into his tonal neighborhood, not his house.

As for the percentage thing, to me it's two seperate things. Part A is how the guitarist physically plays the guitar, light touch vs heavy touch (EVH vs Jimmy Page, for instance) and other physical conponents (fretting, picking etc.)
Hearing them play an acoustic can be a big help.

Part B is the sound of their rig. Just using my hears, I can't tell a Les Paul from a Strat, both offer such a wide variety of tones. Maybe my ears just aren't as in tune as the rest of you tone freaks (I mean that in the best possible way).

In my opinion, Pete Townsend has maintained a consistent sound through the years, despite using Rics, Gretschs, Les Pauls, SGs, Strats, and Tele copies (I may have missed some). He also went from Marshall to HiWatt amps.

So I think Part A is by far the most important. As for part B, I'd say...

Pups - 25%
Design/Construction (neck-thru, bolt-on, etc; different woods) - 30%
Amp - 25%
Effects - 20%

You said that very well . Thanks for that high quality contribution.

 

[Aceman]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

I completely get whay you mean about the schenker thing! I guess what I'm saying is about the tone...And I think that's what most people on the forums are asking about when they ask about "What pups get me this guys sound/tone?"

And I agree with the difference between tone and sound...one is comprehensive and one is based on the gear. But that's why I say they want the "tone" The gear for most people is fairly well documented.

Yet here we are saying that is is mostly the player!

Not that I don't love getting into the smallest details about essoteric pup performance, just like wine people have a whole vocabulary for a great bottle of grape juice.

 

[Guitarist]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

the biggest thing is simply the player him or her self.

Precisely why no one can sound like Angus, even with a SG and a Marshall.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

I think that it's a player's personality that comes through, regardless of gear. Kinda like if you, or I, or anybody in the world were to do a reading of THE STAND, it's gonna sound different, but still obviously be Stephen King

 

[gripweed]

Re: What percentage of {My fave palyer's] sound is the pup?

As said before, sound and tone are two totally different things. Sound comes from the player, IMO, while tone comes from the gear. That being said, I actually see pickups as a big part of tone. You can change things from overly bright to super muddy, little things that an EQ just can't touch. You can't take a pickup that has a slight Michael Schenker 'aw' to it and give it a slight 'ah' or 'ow' sound...It's hard to describe what I mean without hearing me mouth out those syllables. It's kind of liked the positions on a wah pedal, you can leave them set certain places to get a different kind of tone. Same with pickups, IMO.

Thank you for saying that. I agree that you can always tell a good player from their style. Tone however is *not* mostly in the fingers hands or whatever. If it was all of us gear sluts wouldn't care if that was true. We could use any piece of crap equipment and it wouldn't matter.

Would my tone be the same if I played a superstrat with invader humbuckers and Bogner as it would when I play my Frankentele through my early 60's Gibson Invader GA-30 amp? I think not. You could still tell its me though and thats the magic (well not if you heard me play :laugh2: )