Ball-tingling tones. Show us yours (your tones)

[Willyguitar]

So, I am always interested in getting satisfying sounds out of my set up, so this little thread is your opportunity to tell us your tricks for getting ball-tinglingly satisfying tones from your guitars. I am influenced here by a recent issue of Guitarist magazine, which I bought to find out how Royal Blood get that bass to sound so amazing... but the bastard wouldn't let on!! (I guess I wouldn't in his position either).

 

Here are some of mine, based on my limited gear of course, and actually stupidly simple:

 

1. Telecaster into AC30 top boost, relatively low gain, eq with bass and treble reduced a little to bring out some mids, but then kick in a 'Spark' booster pedal on the 'fat' setting but with quite low settings across the board (everything at about 10 oclock). You get an amazing raunchy but still very clear sound that is great for chords and soloing. Sounds great on all 3 pickup settings.

 

2. Again, this time turn up the gain on the amp, eq the same, turn off the booster, but tweak down the volume on the guitar to what would be about 7 or 8. Clang-tastic on bridge pickup, and cuts out some of the eye watering treble. Put it in open tuning and Brown Sugar away!!

 

3. Les Paul or 335 style guitar, front neck pickup volume on about 7-8, bridge on 10. Keep selector in middle position. Yes, I know it's a cliched one, but hey, it's lovely.

 

4. Les Paul Junior or p90 guitar, straight into amp. Set the gain to moderate when guitar volume is on full, but then roll guitar's volume right back down to 3 or 4. Add a touch of reverb, and a sprinkle of salt, pepper and parsley to taste. Glass-tastic!

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

S I am influenced here by a recent issue of Guitarist magazine' date=' which I bought to find out how Royal Blood get that bass to sound so amazing... but the bastard wouldn't let on!! (I guess I wouldn't in his position either).[/quote']

 

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/223363-royal-blood/

[Willyguitar]

^^ Oh dear. You can always count on the music forums to dish out all your secrets! I knew about the bass and amp, but not the effects.

 

[WRGKMC]

I'd have to say playing skill trumps all gear being used because I can make most pieces of gear get the tones I want. I adapt my skill with the use of my ears so it really doesn't matter if I'm plugged into one of my Fender amps, a Marshall, Sunn, Music Man, Ampeg etc. Each have a unique tone but I can usually find what the gear does best and use my skill as a player to make the best use of those tones.

 

I do the same thing for guitars and stomp boxes. I also realize my choices do change day to day based on whatever mood I'm in so I may have some baselines I start from, but where I may end up playing with other musicians, tracking a recording, and playing different musical compositions will have all kinds of variances.

 

One thing I can say for sure is, I have no specific Recipe for specific tones because I invent them on the spot. I adapt the gear to what It to sound like based on what I hear within my minds eye. When my ears match what I'm hearing in head its usually going to sound good to others.

 

If I'm fighting to get that sound I hear I'm less likely to perform as well because the tones don't inspire me to play my best. Like I said, If you are highly inspired to play well it doesn't matter much what kind of tines you have dialed up. People do have the ability to block out bad tones and even bad notes if they are enjoying the vibes you produce.

 

People can feel what you project as a performer. In essence you are supposed to be their emotional guide who takes them on a musical journey. If you are good at that your listeners may never know where you took them. They simply know it felt good and in return you get positive feedback. When people sense no vibes either way, you will likely be ignored.

If you have negative vibes, you're much more likely to bum people out or at best do nothing for them. It wont matter how good your tones are or how well you played the notes. If they are negative they will likely bail out on you.

 

One thing for sure, it doesn't matter how great you think your sound is, if you aren't connecting with people, its not always a tone issue. There's allot more to it then what they hear.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

^^ Oh dear. You can always count on the music forums to dish out all your secrets! I knew about the bass and amp, but not the effects.

 

The two main bass forums make us look like a kids playground with SpongeBob ukes

[BG76]

1960 Les Paul Standard into BF Tremolux and Marshall 2x12:

 

 

 

1960s Gibson ES-330 into 1968 Vibrolux:

 

 

Old Silvertone through a Ricknebacker M-8 (great for slide):

 

 

1956 Gibson Les Paul into 1955 Fender Deluxe:

 

 

1957 Gretsch 6120 into 1949 Fender Deluxe:

 

[Willyguitar]

1960 Les Paul Standard into BF Tremolux and Marshall 2x12:

 

 

 

1960s Gibson ES-330 into 1968 Vibrolux:

 

 

Old Silvertone through a Ricknebacker M-8 (great for slide):

 

 

1956 Gibson Les Paul into 1955 Fender Deluxe:

 

 

1957 Gretsch 6120 into 1949 Fender Deluxe:

 

Yes I think they might work

[Willyguitar]

I'd have to say playing skill trumps all gear being used because I can make most pieces of gear get the tones I want. I adapt my skill with the use of my ears so it really doesn't matter if I'm plugged into one of my Fender amps, a Marshall, Sunn, Music Man, Ampeg etc. Each have a unique tone but I can usually find what the gear does best and use my skill as a player to make the best use of those tones.

 

I do the same thing for guitars and stomp boxes. I also realize my choices do change day to day based on whatever mood I'm in so I may have some baselines I start from, but where I may end up playing with other musicians, tracking a recording, and playing different musical compositions will have all kinds of variances.

 

One thing I can say for sure is, I have no specific Recipe for specific tones because I invent them on the spot. I adapt the gear to what It to sound like based on what I hear within my minds eye. When my ears match what I'm hearing in head its usually going to sound good to others.

 

If I'm fighting to get that sound I hear I'm less likely to perform as well because the tones don't inspire me to play my best. Like I said, If you are highly inspired to play well it doesn't matter much what kind of tines you have dialed up. People do have the ability to block out bad tones and even bad notes if they are enjoying the vibes you produce.

 

People can feel what you project as a performer. In essence you are supposed to be their emotional guide who takes them on a musical journey. If you are good at that your listeners may never know where you took them. They simply know it felt good and in return you get positive feedback. When people sense no vibes either way, you will likely be ignored.

If you have negative vibes, you're much more likely to bum people out or at best do nothing for them. It wont matter how good your tones are or how well you played the notes. If they are negative they will likely bail out on you.

 

One thing for sure, it doesn't matter how great you think your sound is, if you aren't connecting with people, its not always a tone issue. There's allot more to it then what they hear.

 

But leaving your brilliance to one side for a moment, there must be some particular sounds you like, and you must have a recipe for getting them...?

[knotty]

I'd have to say playing skill trumps all gear being used because I can make most pieces of gear get the tones I want. I adapt my skill with the use of my ears so it really doesn't matter if I'm plugged into one of my Fender amps, a Marshall, Sunn, Music Man, Ampeg etc. Each have a unique tone but I can usually find what the gear does best and use my skill as a player to make the best use of those tones.

 

I do the same thing for guitars and stomp boxes. I also realize my choices do change day to day based on whatever mood I'm in so I may have some baselines I start from, but where I may end up playing with other musicians, tracking a recording, and playing different musical compositions will have all kinds of variances.

 

One thing I can say for sure is, I have no specific Recipe for specific tones because I invent them on the spot. I adapt the gear to what It to sound like based on what I hear within my minds eye. When my ears match what I'm hearing in head its usually going to sound good to others.

 

If I'm fighting to get that sound I hear I'm less likely to perform as well because the tones don't inspire me to play my best. Like I said, If you are highly inspired to play well it doesn't matter much what kind of tines you have dialed up. People do have the ability to block out bad tones and even bad notes if they are enjoying the vibes you produce.

 

People can feel what you project as a performer. In essence you are supposed to be their emotional guide who takes them on a musical journey. If you are good at that your listeners may never know where you took them. They simply know it felt good and in return you get positive feedback. When people sense no vibes either way, you will likely be ignored.

If you have negative vibes, you're much more likely to bum people out or at best do nothing for them. It wont matter how good your tones are or how well you played the notes. If they are negative they will likely bail out on you.

 

One thing for sure, it doesn't matter how great you think your sound is, if you aren't connecting with people, its not always a tone issue. There's allot more to it then what they hear.

 

 

I think its your modesty thats holding you back.

[knotty]

So, I am always interested in getting satisfying sounds out of my set up, so this little thread is your opportunity to tell us your tricks for getting ball-tinglingly satisfying tones from your guitars. I am influenced here by a recent issue of Guitarist magazine, which I bought to find out how Royal Blood get that bass to sound so amazing... but the bastard wouldn't let on!! (I guess I wouldn't in his position either).

 

Here are some of mine, based on my limited gear of course, and actually stupidly simple:

 

1. Telecaster into AC30 top boost, relatively low gain, eq with bass and treble reduced a little to bring out some mids, but then kick in a 'Spark' booster pedal on the 'fat' setting but with quite low settings across the board (everything at about 10 oclock). You get an amazing raunchy but still very clear sound that is great for chords and soloing. Sounds great on all 3 pickup settings.

 

2. Again, this time turn up the gain on the amp, eq the same, turn off the booster, but tweak down the volume on the guitar to what would be about 7 or 8. Clang-tastic on bridge pickup, and cuts out some of the eye watering treble. Put it in open tuning and Brown Sugar away!!

 

3. Les Paul or 335 style guitar, front neck pickup volume on about 7-8, bridge on 10. Keep selector in middle position. Yes, I know it's a cliched one, but hey, it's lovely.

 

4. Les Paul Junior or p90 guitar, straight into amp. Set the gain to moderate when guitar volume is on full, but then roll guitar's volume right back down to 3 or 4. Add a touch of reverb, and a sprinkle of salt, pepper and parsley to taste. Glass-tastic!

 

 

medium gain into a vox

a little reverb

tape delay.

 

I am Hank all but the glasses.

[Chordite]

SM58

http://www.carrie-patrick.com/blog/w...athtongue1.jpg

[WRGKMC]

 

 

But leaving your brilliance to one side for a moment, there must be some particular sounds you like, and you must have a recipe for getting them...?

 

 

Truly, I have no Recipe or formula for my tones. I could dial up my tones and hand the instrument to someone else and its doubtful their techniques would match mine to get the tones I get. I've always done it by ear at the time I pick up that instrument.

 

I think the idea of a recipe or formula to get tones has come about with modern electronics, internet and the latest generation of musicians. I'm not saying its bad. Its actually a good thing when you start out just like its a good thing to copy other peoples music when you first begin to play, but I been a musician for 50 years now. I probably gave up thinking there could be a recipe for tone as a kid when I discovered just how much of a dead end it was.

 

Maybe when I started seeing pro recording artists live and noticed their live tones didn't sound the same as their records or they changes the songs live taught me something. That taught me, you can take a piece of music an make it sound better, and change up the arrangement to make it better for your own performance.

 

I have a buddy I'll be playing out with tonight. He has one of those Line 6 amps and plays allot of modern metal stuff. He downloads presets for his amp to get the sounds of the cover artists he copies. He also plays the music pretty much note for note as does the rest of the band.

This is a quick example of their band I recorded in the studio. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...BFinal3%5D.wav

 

He's a great player but he's so dependent on his tones for his playing skills gets completely lost when we play something he hasn't had time to programed into his amp head. I see this happen more and more with young musicians and its nothing more then inexperience. I know I'd be board silly hearing those exact same tones he had programed in the last time I played with him and I again will get his respect playing with no programmable gear and just tweaking the sound I want right then and there.

 

My roots are very different then his though. Not to get too deep, but the story is important if you really want to understand how many musicians in my generations approach to getting tones. I was poor like most young musicians I was in bands with then. I made due with the limited gear I could get my hands on and I'd focus more on the playing aspect. If I needed a particular sound I just pushed the gear I had to sound as close as I could get. For many years I thought If I could only had this piece of gear or this instrument I could sound exactly like my favorite band.

 

The problem was, even when I got that gear, the other musicians rarely had gear that could closely imitate that same band. The better approach was to always unify the best sound the band could get and work as a team. We all did the best to mimic tones of cover bands but we didn't abandon our own individuality so we always had our own signature tone mixed with the music we copied.

 

There was no such thing as amp modeling or even many amps with master volume knobs. You wanted a good rock sound you had to crank it up really loud to get your speakers to distort. This in turn limited where and when we could rehearse. We'd play in one guys basement one day and in someone's living room the next. Every time we rehearsed we had to dial up the best tones possible because the room acoustics were different every time we played together.

 

Later when I was like 16/17 I'd sneaking into clubs under age playing out with older musicians. Each place you played had different acoustics and required different tonal tweaks to get the best sound. When I turned 18, (the legal drinking age then) I was playing the Asbury Park NY/NJ club circuit full time and earned enough money to invest in decent gear.

 

Many of the clubs would have two or three bands a night so you got to hear all the hottest bands and use their gear. One night you'd be backing them up using their amps, and another night they'd be backing you up and using your gear. You'd dial up your tones never having used that amp before and the band would sound pretty much like it normally does, or at least as close as you could get it. The steady sound man would do the rest of the tweaking from the board to get your signature sound for that night.

 

You would actually disrespect the other bands by insisting you bring in your own gear. Its like saying to their face, their gear sucks and it isn't good enough to play through. You wouldn't make many friends by being a prima donna and insisting you have to use your own gear. Besides you may loose the crowd spending time setting up that gear so you want to hit that stage while things are still hot.

 

There was a professional code between working musicians who played full time. They knew you may not play your best using their gear, and you'd develop respect by being able to pull it off. After all, if they hired you to play back up, you'd usually play that role if you wanted steady gigs. They'd do the same for you and you'd develop mutual respect even if you knew they weren't as experienced as you. You'd never know if someone would get that big break down the road. I can name dozens who did and the ones who are still alive are still good friends to this day.

 

Half of the jobs I got with professional bands came from being a substitute. They liked the way you backed them up and they'd offer more money or steady gigs and you'd move from band to band within the club circuit. Then you'd do things like take another bands gig when they overbook or have to cancel, and they'd do the same when you cant make a gig. This is all working man stuff that's probably not related to the topic of this forum, but it does explain why my roots are different then others. I made due with what I had out of necessity and did quite well getting any sounds I needed.

 

Eventually when I got into writing, recording, and performing my own music, I had completely abandoned any ideas of recipes or formulas to get particular tones. They don't exist in my world and haven't for a long, long time. For me that's worst then death because it's a dead end to creativity. I spent the last 25 years or more expanding all the unique tones I can get and all are based on what's best for a particular song either I or one of my buddies have written. Some may wind up sounding like other musicians without even knowing it.

 

So If you ask, I can use a formula to dial up a specific tone, I can for any one of a thousand different original songs I've recorded. I may choose a specific amp, cab, guitar, mic, stomp box to nail those songs to match it. Chances are I may start there and dial up something equally as good but different. This is because I'm not the same man I was yesterday and the tones I need to perform well today probably aren't going to be the same as what I needed yesterday.

 

I could play you a half dozen recordings made in the same studio, same mics, same instruments made over many years. Each may have different tones dialed up. What makes one sound better then the other however usually boils down to the actual musical performance.

 

Again, I'm sorry for the long winded explanation. I just cant think of a shorter way of explain the "seat of the pants" approach to dialing up tone. I see gear as no more then a simple tool. To me a guitar or amp is the same as a saw or hammer to a carpenter. I push those tools to work for me, not the other way around and I cant predict how I'll need to swing that hammer tomorrow. I can only tell how I plan to use it and let the results be judged by others.

[knotty]

[Burgess]

I've always found that the best thing you can do for your tone is to make sure you chops are in good order. Your tone itself is often dependent upon things you can't control, the sound guy for the club, an engineer that you are unfamiliar with, a rig, you are unfamiliar with, a room with bad acoustics, etc... The one thing you can control every time is your own technique and if that is sound, everything else will fall into place. If you have sound execution you can make almost any rig sing.

[gp2112]

I play a Behringer iAxe Metalien through a Fender Mustang I. My tones range from down right horrible to merely sucky. I don't care much, I just like to act like i can play.

[Willyguitar]

Oh god. I'm just remembering why I gave up on this patronising forum a couple of years ago...

 

 

[knotty]

Oh god. I'm just remembering why I gave up on this patronising forum a couple of years ago...

 

 

 

I know how you feel. It wasn't a difficult thread idea. Just simple "key" tone ideas and settings. How it turned into dick measuring I dont know. But I'm not surprised.

[RGfretter]

Ball tingling tones? Where are they?

 

I expected to open this thread and get some audio samples at least.

 

Let's hear yours!

[knotty]

Ball tingling tones? Where are they?

 

I expected to open this thread and get some audio samples at least.

 

Let's hear yours!

 

Its much easier to claim you can get any tone out of anything than it is to post videos of you actually doing it.

 

Demonstrating your claims has never been big on t' interweb.

[Willyguitar]

Ball tingling tones? Where are they?

 

I expected to open this thread and get some audio samples at least.

 

Let's hear yours!

 

You will get my ball tingling tones (at least the ones I described) in due course. I think this thread has been completely misunderstood by a lot of people. 'Ball tingling' was not in any way hubris. It was an attempt at comedy. You may or may not like the sounds I eventually post up, but I like them. That's the point - sounds you produce that YOU like, which may lead to other people trying them, to see what they think. NOT (as Knotty pointed out) a cock measuring exercise.

 

Then there is the issue of 'tones'. I sort of assumed that we all know that great players can be excellent with almost any equipment. That surely goes without saying and we've heard in ad infinitum on here. However, I am interested in the sounds YOU like and how you get them... that could be from a specific playing technique, or it could be from a guitar/amp setting. It might have nothing to do with the assumed 'quality' of your gear.

 

And to those that posted essay-length responses on how they can get a sound they love on the hoof out of everything - what do you do when, having got your sound on the hoof, someone in the audience, or the vocalist points out that your solo was not cutting through, because it was too bassy, or had too much distortion? Are you willing to accept then that you are not always right about your sound, and that you need to think about it a bit more? THAT's what I'm talking about.

 

 

[knotty]

The guys that are experienced enough will still have a methodology for getting their sound right anyway. You must approach it logically rather than just random knob twiddling.

A while back I got a vox vt30 in a trade and kept going around in circles trying to get the tone I wanted. CSM posted his methodology and it worked a treat. I still have it somewhere, I pasted it onto a word doc.

[AlamoJoe]

1981 Stratocaster into a Boss ME-50 if I wanna goof around, then into my '67 Super Reverb. Volume at 8, everyhing else all the way up except bass, bass at about 2 1/2. Not saying everyone would like it, but I do...And I'm my only audience so....

[RGfretter]

 

You will get my ball tingling tones (at least the ones I described) in due course. I think this thread has been completely misunderstood by a lot of people. 'Ball tingling' was not in any way hubris. It was an attempt at comedy. You may or may not like the sounds I eventually post up, but I like them. That's the point - sounds you produce that YOU like, which may lead to other people trying them, to see what they think. NOT (as Knotty pointed out) a cock measuring exercise.

 

Then there is the issue of 'tones'. I sort of assumed that we all know that great players can be excellent with almost any equipment. That surely goes without saying and we've heard in ad infinitum on here. However, I am interested in the sounds YOU like and how you get them... that could be from a specific playing technique, or it could be from a guitar/amp setting. It might have nothing to do with the assumed 'quality' of your gear.

 

And to those that posted essay-length responses on how they can get a sound they love on the hoof out of everything - what do you do when, having got your sound on the hoof, someone in the audience, or the vocalist points out that your solo was not cutting through, because it was too bassy, or had too much distortion? Are you willing to accept then that you are not always right about your sound, and that you need to think about it a bit more? THAT's what I'm talking about.

 

 

Ok. Just pointing out that something is to be said for posting an audio clip or two....especially when authoring such threads.

 

But to be easy I will say that my best tones have been,...always..at a decent volume (either rehearsal or gigs) where I was able to get the amp up to a perfect level to where it just sings. You just let it play itself, trying to get out of the way and avoid unwanted feedback.

 

Usually I have achieved this with a simple, guitar

 

 

 

 

[gardo]

 

This amp dimed ,no matter what guitar I use.. It sounds so good but it's way too loud ,and if I jump across to use both channels it gets even better

I am a Toneaholic !

 

 

 

[Willyguitar]

Ball tingling tones? Where are they?

 

I expected to open this thread and get some audio samples at least.

 

Let's hear yours!

 

Here you go. Crap mix and rushed delivery, so apologies for that.

 

http://www.filedropper.com/tonetest

 

First minute, lead bits are a Squier Classic Vibe telecaster and spark booster I mentioned, cycling through neck, neck and middle and bridge.

 

From 1.00, the lead guitar is a Les Paul in that middle position - bridge full, neck 8.5

 

From 1.20, the more strident rhythm guitar is Les Paul Junior, on same setting as Les Paul, but volume down on guitar to 3. I have boosted the level of this so you can hear it clearer. The lead through the right speaker over that is the neck pickup of a Les Paul. The strummed out chords and little lead bit at the end are the Junior again with volume on 3.