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OK, so Eric Johnson has impeccable technique.


honeyiscool

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So why is it that he sets his tone control at 2 and his stereo delay at like 70% wet most of the time? He doesn't need to mask anything...

 

For a tone snob, his tone is like pretty bland...

 

[video=youtube;ubymA0DfbZw]

 

He keeps talking about tone in this video and I hear like three different tones, maybe, and they all rate from bad to worse.

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OK, bad is a strong word, sure, but you know when he picks up the vintage Strat, doodles, puts it down, and plays his signature? He's talking about how he's made all these features like hotter pickups, really matching the tone of the wood to the EQ of the pickups, rosewood blah blah blah, and can you hear ANY of that? All I hear is more Weather Channel lead guitar.

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Sounds pretty dull to me too.

Although if there's one thing I've learned, it's that obsessing over tone is mostly counterproductive to being a better musician. It's annoying to always want to sound slightly different while playing. That's probably why I do most of my practicing on my acoustic these days.

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Eric Johnson doesn't like to hear the gnashing of the pick on the strings, or clashing harmonic overtones that sound too aggressive, but likes a wet, overdriven tone.

 

I have similar tastes/needs in a guitar sound. My musical upbringing got me used to hearing music in an auditorium, so a dry sound to me is simply putrid--I'll go so far as to call it 'noise'. I also have 'bat ears', not unlike Johnson's, that are overly sensitive to high frequencies, so I definitely trim off treble all along my signal chain.

 

I've found that the vast majority of guitarists like sounds that I find shrill, abrasive, and unmusical. For example, many players point to Angus Young as an example of great tone; to me, it sounds like a raspy, buzzy, and offensive noise that matches the sound coming out of AC/DC's vocalist's mouth.

 

Now, that video is not exactly indicative of Johnson's tone obsession; check out his first instructional video or Ah Via Musicom to hear it in full force.

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I don't think it's counterproductive to obsess over tone. However, when you obsess more about the elements of tone that takes a trip to the shop to address, rather than the tone you control with your fingers, then, I agree that it is counterproductive to becoming a better musician. Nobody ever bought an album just because the guitarist uses NOS RCA tubes instead of Chinese Sovtek tubes, so spend some time writing better music and lyrics, right?

 

What I don't get with Eric Johnson, and most guitar gods, though, is that they play much of the time with an amp setting that is not very expressive or responsive. With that much digital effects on his guitar, can anybody hear your maple neck, your custom pickups tailored to rosewood fretboard, etc.? That stuff matters a lot to Eric Johnson, clearly, so why does he play in a setting that reminds me of a Boss multi-FX preset? In that video, you can barely tell the tone changes when he picks at the bridge or at the neck. His setting is really that unresponsive.

 

I'm not a huge Gary Moore fan, however, when I see him play, he usually plays with an amp setting that allows for a huge range of tones, dynamics, expressiveness, and I give him credit for that. As a result, you can hear every bit of what he's doing, and every little small change he makes is obvious to the listener. His technique is perhaps a bit sloppier, but because he actually has tonal variety, he's much more interesting to listen to than most guys who play fast.

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I sometimes like to hear what EJ's doing because he's one of those guitarists that approaches the guitar in a different manner, his broken chords and scales are not the average guitarist fare. If his tone was more to my liking, I might actually like more of his music, rather than just having an interest in him because he has an interesting musical mind.

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He's damn good and I'd never say he isn't.

 

But he isn't so good that I can find the energy or interest to give his obsessive tone chasing the time of day. If he really had the legendary ears and tone mojo he's ruputed to have, his tone should be markedly better than everyone else's. It isn't. :idk:

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You sir, have just made my list of people never to pay attention to when it comes to tone...

Either what you like is so far different from my tastes, or you have no ear for tone... I will

choose to believe that your definition of good tone, is just far different than my own.

 

Gary

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I'd say that he has a rather distinctive tone... at least back in the 80s and early 90s. I saw him twice when I lived in Texas and he played and sounded fantastic. Pretty boring stage presence though. Made 99% of the audience members pretty happy. Different time.

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I prefer listening to people actually play their music live than giving a demo:

 

[video=youtube;FmkvmySCFvY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkvmySCFvY

 

In my opinion, those are pretty happening tones. Most times you put a delay on something, it sounds "processed" or "sterile". The underlying tone is pretty good - very clear clean sound, and the overdrive/lead sounds totally sing. Sure, it's compressed, but if you want a guitar to really sing like that, that's how you do it - compression and delay.

 

Separately, slick move picking up and tossing the slide midway through, and killer harmonics at the end

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I'd say that he has a rather distinctive tone... at least back in the 80s and early 90s
. I saw him twice when I lived in Texas and he played and sounded fantastic. Pretty boring stage presence though. Made 99% of the audience members pretty happy. Different time.

 

 

Maybe the "bad" tone some people are hearing is just a "dated" one.

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What I don't get with Eric Johnson, and most guitar gods, though, is that they play much of the time with an amp setting that is not very expressive or responsive. With that much digital effects on his guitar, can anybody hear your maple neck, your custom pickups tailored to rosewood fretboard, etc.?

 

 

Just a snippet of your quote here duder... If I were to record both a maple necked Strat and a rosewood fingerboard one, you would not be able to tell which was which 99% of the time... Same with a Tele... Just

sayin'.

 

Gary

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You sir, have just made my list of people never to pay attention to when it comes to tone...

Either what you like is so far different from my tastes, or you have no ear for tone... I will

choose you believe that your definition of good tone, is just far different than my own.


Gary

 

 

I agree with Gary on this one. Honeyistonedeaf

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In my opinion, those are pretty happening tones. Most times you put a delay on something, it sounds "processed" or "sterile". The underlying tone is pretty good - very clear clean sound, and the overdrive/lead sounds totally sing. Sure, it's compressed, but if you want a guitar to really sing like that, that's how you do it - compression and delay.


Separately, slick move picking up and tossing the slide midway through, and killer harmonics at the end

 

 

On his Hot Licks video Eric uses a vintage Echoplex for his delay. Did he change to stereo delays? I used to own one until it died. That Echoplex was SWEET. It definitely made my tones ,clean or overdriven, more musical. Different ears for different folks. His licks and techniques have been around for awhile, maybe not as fresh, but Eric Johnson is God. Totally sweet, flowing player when he's on.

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He keeps talking about tone in this video and I hear like three different tones, maybe, and
IN MY OPINION
they all rate from bad to worse.

 

 

Here....let me edit you a little bit so you don't sound so offensive....

 

 

Then you could add a part about how other people might like that kind of tone and that would be cool because....like HEY!....we all have different tastes.

 

 

You're welcome.

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Just a snippet of your quote here duder... If I were to record both a maple necked Strat and a rosewood fingerboard one, you would not be able to tell which was which 99% of the time... Same with a Tele... Just

sayin'.


Gary

Not true. Give me a clean amp tone, recorded reasonably well and by itself, and I'm quite sure most people could get it. I've done the test with a bass guitar (maple vs. rosewood) and the differences were subtle, but noticeably different, to the point where I could figure out that it was rosewood or maple. And certainly I'd be able to hear the differences between two sets of pickups with different output and EQ.

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