anybody like trebly tone?

[mbengs1]

Lately I've been raising the treble of my pedals. I used to set my highs low, but I like the definition I get with more treble. I tried recording videos of my playing and I prefer my sound with the treble raised. but I was using a cellphone camera. maybe the echo of the room affects the sound captured by the mic. what guitarists do you know have trebly tone?

[1001gear]

I think most guitarists perf/rec with lots of upper mids. Sounds gooderer, cuts betterer, and lots of those guys - and the odd girl might be a little to a lot hearing impaired. I like playing bright sounds as long as they are controllable and not strident in the highs.

SRV, Setzer, Page, Beck, Ford, Carlton, almost anybody else...

[mbengs1]

I think most guitarists perf/rec with lots of upper mids. Sounds gooderer, cuts betterer, and lots of those guys - and the odd girl might be a little to a lot hearing impaired. I like playing bright sounds as long as they are controllable and not strident in the highs.

SRV, Setzer, Page, Beck, Ford, Carlton, almost anybody else...

 

​SRV has bright tone? like what song, I don't remember him being a bright toner. not like early eddie van halen. like the first record. its so bright..

[1001gear]

SRV loved his ice pick. I suppose most of the rest of his tone was full and balanced. EVH was my model for perfect rock ton for a long time; crunchy AND creamy. Anyway I don't hear a lot of really dark guitar tones. For most pop rock they'd fall well into the muddy zone.

[mbengs1]

SRV loved his ice pick. I suppose most of the rest of his tone was full and balanced. EVH was my model for perfect rock ton for a long time; crunchy AND creamy. Anyway I don't hear a lot of really dark guitar tones. For most pop rock they'd fall well into the muddy zone.

 

​I was just listening to steve vai's real illusions album, lotus feet. I thought vai's tone is the most balance. not bright at all. most distortion pedals and amps these days, or I've heard on youtube are all bright. like the marshall amps, boss pedals, even mesa...

[1001gear]

This was the first on the list. Kinda fizzy if you ask me.

 

 

 

The one you mentioned is less driven but still bright enough to be way in front - even though there's not much else going on. Point being they all fall into the trebly range. It is electric guitar.

[Mikeo]

I like teles and strats, some TV Jones pups, and pushed Rickenbackers with a treble boost.

 

My first amp was a Musicman 210-65 watt combo. It was even a lil bright for me.

I sold it for a new Twin Reverb, cost me the Musicman amp and 125 bucks. I still have the Twin some 35 plus years later.

 

Sure I like country music

I like mandolins

But right now I need a telecaster

Through a vibro-lux turned up to ten

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwb1Y396cPk

[1001gear]

FWIW this is non trebly guitar:

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Hiatt's great... and Ry Cooder is just killing it on the slide on that one...

[Phil O'Keefe]

I like bright guitar tones, and a lot of the music I like has featured such tones. But I also love music that has thick, creamy guitar tones as well as music with really pristine (as well as utterly nasty) guitar tones. I don't think that "great tone" is limited to any one of those.

 

It all depends on the song, and on the musical context. Some of it is certainly a matter of stylistic preferences and tradition.

 

Of course, there are no rules, so if you want to play jazz with a really bright tone, knock yourself out... heretic.

 

My general advice, regardless of genre is to put yourself where you fit in. By that I mean listen to where the holes are in terms of the overall frequency spectrum. Don't try to occupy the same frequency ranges that other instruments & vocals are occupying. If you're overdubbing, panning parts apart somewhat can help separate them, as can using different tones and timbres and different parts / octaves / chord inversions / fretboard regions, etc. Mic selection / placement, amp, guitar and EQ changes can all be used to help differentiate different parts and keep them out of the way of other parts... assuming it's an arrangement that allows for that, but that's another subject.

 

For me, if it supports the song and works with the other instruments, that puts it well on the way to being a "good guitar tone." In some situations, using a bright tone is what's called for, other times, it won't be as appropriate.

 

 

[Axisplayer]

It didn't hurt this guy, and he is one of (if not) the best that ever picked up a Tele.... I would kill to sound and play like this.

[1001gear]

Sounds like a prototype for this:

 

 

 

I musta posted this 3, 4 times at HC. One of my favorites .

[Axisplayer]

Yea, 1001gear, thats a nice clip. Good tone I think, controlled bends, nice phrasing... I think he has a shot.... LOL

 

[WRGKMC]

I like variety but the tones of the guitar have to balance with the rest of the mix. If I crank more treble the bass and rythum have to make up the difference or there's a hole in the wall of sound.

 

If I record two guitars for example one can have lower mids and the other upper mids/treble. I try an keep the bass consistent no matter what my other tones are doing. I don't like mud tones but I like having a tight bass kick when playing chords.

 

All of this comes down to specific type of speaker I'm using. I have the experience to find the sweet spot the speakers produce. If I push treble and the speaker gets nasty overtones I back off, if the bass gets mud tones I back off. Then I bring up mids as needed. Its not rocket science but you need and ear to tell you what's realistic and what's not.

 

Many time you add too much treble because your ears are fatigued or you have a cold. You come back a couple of days later turn the amp on and you have an ice pick in your ears, simply because your ears are rested.

 

I try to avoid this syndrome by getting my amps set up and leaving it alone. If it sounds great when I first crank it up it stays that way. If my ears get fatigued or the band powers out I simply turn up and leave the EQ settings alone.

 

There are important reasons for this. The other players including the drummer tweak they're instruments to yours. If you're constantly jacking with your tones you're constantly throwing them off balance making them tweak they're tones. Getting a good tone with a band is all about give and take and that includes your instruments tone.

 

Besides - ANYTHING you dial up playing solo isn't going to be right when playing with a full band. Guitarists gravitate towards trying to be a one man band playing solo. They widen the frequency response too much trying to make up for the missing drum cymbals on top, snare in the middle and bass on the bottom.

 

When you play in a band your frequency response has to be narrowed down so you aren't stomping in everyone else's yard. You roll the bass off higher so you don't mask the bass, and you taper the treble down so you're not competing with the cymbals.

 

In fact the key to great guitar tone comes almost exclusively how you outline the drummers frequencies. Your low strings are above the kick. You notch your mids around the snare and you put a ceiling on the treble below the cymbals. If the drummer uses thinner cymbals you can extend the treble up.

 

Don't forget vocals either. I always get my leads to compete with the vocals. My ideal lead tone may have just a little more edge just to get it to cut, but I don't want it to mask them. Its tough enough singing and keeping up with loud instruments. If the guitarist doesn't respect what a singer does and when his tone doesn't allow the words to be heard, his career in the music business is usually very short because no one wants to deal with a self centered ass who cant control hos tone.

[1001gear]

Yea, 1001gear, thats a nice clip. Good tone I think, controlled bends, nice phrasing... I think he has a shot.... LOL

 

Yeah, pretty sad. I had a teacher way back tell me point blank, " It takes more than just talent." Nuff said on that...

 

[Axisplayer]

I had a 1st cousin (his mom and my dad were twins) that played in Nashville. He was doing Hee Haw at 17, played a lot with Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuelle (they were close friends and he wrote the song Old Town about him as a tribute) and he made his living playing there his entire life. Chet said in Playboy that he would be the greatest guitarist that ever lived. Often played as guest soloist with people like Atlanta Symphony, etc. Yea, he was that good. There are quite a few clips of him on YouTube, and he never really made it. He made a living because he could play rings around most everyone in Nashville, but he didn't have that undefinable star quality thing, charisma, etc. He had good luck, and more talent than anyone I ever knew, but it wasn't enough. I decided very early on that I would NEVER count on money from playing to live on. (I went to work at NASA instead.) Tommy died at 40 something from drinking. He had severe stage fright and couldn't face an audience without liquor. I miss him. We played together a lot when we were young.

 

 

[WRGKMC]

Physical dexterity fades as you get older. How long does an athletes career last? If a musician hasn't made a big name for himself by his late teens and 20's its unlikely he'll ever do so.

 

That's not to say he cant make a living in music or be highly competent, but its less likely he's have the fans from an early age to carry him through retirement. Give the fact the corporate studio machine has been gutted and no longer exists the odds of being a star in music has become thousands of times more difficult.

 

Its also why its thousands or times more important to know music and be formally trained. Unskilled musicians are a dime a dozen. Formally trained musicians who can read are still in demand but the opportunities have dwindled. You used to have jobs doing studio sessions work, commercials, movies etc that required higher education but even those have been reduces to a single midi keyboard player. Why pay tens of thousands of dollars in wages for an orchestra if you can pay one guy who is desperate to be recognized trying to live out his fantasy minimum wage..

[1001gear]

(I went to work at NASA instead.)

 

How's the alien premiere coming along?

[Axisplayer]

Gee, you know I am not sure. I retired two years ago. I didn't mention I am 64 years old? I have no idea what the young whipper snappers are cooking up for your viewing pleasure. I was more involved with intellectual property rights of software developed for or by NASA at the Agency level. Didn't deal with the little green guys....