Members hondro Posted January 16, 2009 Members Share Posted January 16, 2009 to me that sounds like someone saying, "if you do this and buy that, your tone will be 35% better" what the {censored} is tone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dances w/carp Posted January 16, 2009 Members Share Posted January 16, 2009 It has several meanings, but as it is generally applied to guitar 'tone', I think these two meanings best fit.... : a sound of definite pitch and vibration : vocal or musical sound of a specific quality; especially: musical sound with respect to timbre and manner of expression Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KapaKrunch Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 to me that sounds like someone saying, "if you do this and buy that, your tone will be 35% better"what the {censored} is tone? I've often wondered the same thing. Tone is sound, nothing more. Our human senses each hear sound differently. Thats why I don't understand why people argue over amps, body woods, pickups etc. I should go to the hot sauce forum and see if people argue taste, or the flower forum to see if people argue smell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 Have you ever heard a crappy guitar with rusty strings made out of broken plywood? It will sound less like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members belief bone Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 there are no better tones just different tones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Radiohead, lol Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 to me that sounds like someone saying, "if you do this and buy that, your tone will be 35% better"what the {censored} is tone? http://web.mac.com/dragonhelm/eastdale/Articles/Entries/2008/1/10_Exploring_The_Myths_Of_%E2%80%9CTone%E2%80%9D.html if you can be bothered reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 there are no better tones just different tones I know that much is subjective but IMO there are certainly qualities that are universally better. For instance, sometimes tones that are very warm and thick sounding have muddy and indistinct low end. If you can attain that same thickness with better string to string clarity, I would say your tone has improved. That might be attained by the jump from a $500 amp to a $1000 one. In the same respect, everybody wants a tone that cuts but nobody wants harshness - getting that cut without being harsh is improving your tone. For me it's about getting a more "musical" sound, at least one that makes it easier for me to convey what I am doing with the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members belief bone Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 I know that much is subjective but IMO there are certainly qualities that are universally better. For instance, sometimes tones that are very warm and thick sounding have muddy and indistinct low end. If you can attain that same thickness with better string to string clarity, I would say your tone has improved. That might be attained by the jump from a $500 amp to a $1000 one. In the same respect, everybody wants a tone that cuts but nobody wants harshness - getting that cut without being harsh is improving your tone.For me it's about getting a more "musical" sound, at least one that makes it easier for me to convey what I am doing with the guitar. I enjoy all of those things but I also happen to enjoy the sound of a crumbling plywood guitar with rusted strings. sound is entertaining. B-horror movies, for instance, have a large element of enjoyability. So do the blockbuster, award-winning drama movies. The same thing goes for sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seeds Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 As long as people aren't plugging their ears and heading for the doors early in our set I' happy with my tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 NewSig'd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members _pete_ Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 what the {censored} is tone? There is no tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NotDead Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 If you picked up a 1959 gibson les paul custom, and it sounded like a danelectro hodad, you'd be pisssed. "tone" is a myth based on look and brand being attributed to sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GaijinGweilo Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 there are no better tones just different tones There sure are some hippies on this thread.. none of this 'everything is subjective' crap! Some guitars, amps & fx-pedals just sound like {censored} & some stuff just sounds better than others. Tone is the difference between hearing something you would want to listen to whilst playing for hours on end, & something, probably digital, that grates on your ears after playing for about 15 minutes. Other than that, people will want to listen to you if you got good tone, & they will probably want to throw things at you if you got incessantly bad tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PanaDP Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 I agree. It's too vague a word to be useful. I work in the motion picture industry as a cameraman and we'd get laughed off of set if we spoke in terms of "good pictures" or "better pictures." The producers would hear it and know that their money is not in good hands and fire us in a heartbeat. We speak in specific terms: high-key and low-key light, hard and soft light, warm and cool light, high and low contrast, softness and sharpness, narrow and deep depth of field, wide and long lenses. They are all descriptive terms to narrow down what we are talking about, even though the subject matter is very subjective and unable to be measured. We could get even more specific but many directors don't have a good grasp of the technical processes behind lighting, camera movement, film exposure and development, et cetera. I spoke to someone recently who was looking for new pickups for a guitar of his. I asked what he didn't like about his old ones and got a totally blank look. He was completely incapable of describing sound in detailed enough terms to answer the question. He simply didn't have that specific lexicon of words to communicate with. If you want something more useful than "improves tone" or "will give you better tone" we need to start speaking about guitar sounds in more specific terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WayTooApe Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 I hate it more than anything when people say something gives you MORE tone, that doesn't make any {censored}ing sense!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pirata Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 There is no tone. I lul'ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loganonymous Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 what the {censored} is tone? If anything, it's completely subjective. Don't listen to anyone else. Figure out for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moctzal Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 There is no tone. Hahaha.Win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loganonymous Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 There sure are some hippies on this thread.. none of this 'everything is subjective' crap!Some guitars, amps & fx-pedals just sound like {censored} & some stuff just sounds better than others.Tone is the difference between hearing something you would want to listen to whilst playing for hours on end,& something, probably digital, that grates on your ears after playing for about 15 minutes.Other than that, people will want to listen to you if you got good tone,& they will probably want to throw things at you if you got incessantly bad tone. Here I am to try and understand your viewpoint. A death-metal/metalcore guitarist's tone would usually sound bad to the ears of a blues player. How is that now subjective in the least? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KapaKrunch Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 There sure are some hippies on this thread.. none of this 'everything is subjective' crap!Some guitars, amps & fx-pedals just sound like {censored} & some stuff just sounds better than others.Tone is the difference between hearing something you would want to listen to whilst playing for hours on end,& something, probably digital, that grates on your ears after playing for about 15 minutes.Other than that, people will want to listen to you if you got good tone,& they will probably want to throw things at you if you got incessantly bad tone. Are you implying that only digital equipment is capable of a "bad" tone? I've heard tube amps that sound like ass IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Electric Blues Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think for many, "good tone" means sounding like one of their musical heroes or reproducing sounds that are typical of their favourite genre. That Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike-o Posted January 17, 2009 Members Share Posted January 17, 2009 tone = timbre of the gear + your personal style That's what's great about guitar... no two players playing the exact same setup will sound the same. If I hit one key on a keyboard, and you hit the same key after me, it's gonna sound the same. But on guitar, everybody attacks the strings with the pick differently, applies vibrato differently, etc, creating their own unique tone. Most instruments (excluding other stringed instruments and vocals) have a "middle man" between the player and the thing that vibrates and creates sound, like on a piano, where you hit a key, which has a hammer hit a string. But on guitar, your fingers are actually touching what produces the sound, giving you a bigger influence on what the final sound will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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