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TONE vs TALENT


jjpistols

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Originally posted by dimmypage

:confused:
:confused:

 

Not either-->or but if-->then.

 

It is not a matter of either having tone or having talent, but of tone coming about primarily as a result of talent.

 

That talent includes "in the fingers" issues, but also involves the very real talent of choice of appropriate equipment and the skill to derive the optimum contributions that the gear makes in the tone equation.

 

Excellent guitar, cord, amplifier, and pedals do nothing if you don't know how to use them. Knowing how to use something to produce an artistically satisfying result is one working definition of talent. And, knowing how to put together ALL the elements in the chain of tone is a significant talent.

 

If no talent, then no good tone.

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If it can be only one, it would have to be talent, of course. On the other hand, I don't think I want to spend a whole lot of time listening to an incredibly talented player that is playing the most horrible sounding rig either.

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I think I get the point of this thread.

 

 

I am a little confused about why this thread exists.

 

May I be the first to say that this is a really dumb thread.

 

That being said, I recently saw a couple vids which really nail the question on the head. One is the guitarist from Slipknot (i think) and the other was Nuno Bettencourt. Both were complaining about their guitars and their "tone" throughout (albeit short) the videos, comments like "this guitar is a piece of {censored}" (own signature model - lol) and "this thing is dead... this is dead... what the hell... I'd like to apologize for the {censored} sound you're hearing... you can get your money back if you want, just speak louder" etc. and yet both of them (who are AMAZING players) sounded AWESOME!!!! I was watching in awe wondering just how the hell they were accomplishing what they were doing, and yet neither was even really paying attention to what they were doing.

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Originally posted by katintokyo

I think I get the point of this thread.




That being said, I recently saw a couple vids which really nail the question on the head. One is the guitarist from Slipknot (i think) and the other was Nuno Bettencourt. Both were complaining about their guitars and their "tone" throughout (albeit short) the videos, comments like "this guitar is a piece of {censored}" (own signature model - lol) and "this thing is dead... this is dead... what the hell... I'd like to apologize for the {censored} sound you're hearing... you can get your money back if you want, just speak louder" etc. and yet both of them (who are AMAZING players) sounded AWESOME!!!! I was watching in awe wondering just how the hell they were accomplishing what they were doing, and yet neither was even really paying attention to what they were doing.

 

Then please tell us: what is the point of your post? :confused:

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Originally posted by jerry_picker



Do elaborate for the rest of us.
:confused:

 

i initially responded with a question to this statement:

 

Originally posted by fanuvbrak

Talent can
make
tone.


It don't go the other way...

 

i never got an answer, but i'm curious

 

i define tone as entirely separate from ability

 

all the ability in the world cannot produce good tone from a bad guitar through a bad solid state amp...great composition, sure, but not good tone

 

by another definition, one that includes sylistic components such as vibrato, feel, grit, what have you, i can see that talent could indeed impact 'tone'

 

just pointing out that until everyone agrees on the definition of tone, then the debate is about much more than tone vs talent

 

 

 

:)

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Originally posted by ()()()



how so?


talent can make music, but a bad amp is a bad amp regardless of the player

 

 

I have heard accomplished guitarists playing through a crappy Epiphone "gig pack" amp and they sound terrific. Me? Not so much...

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Originally posted by ()()()



i initially responded with a question to this statement:




i never got an answer, but i'm curious


i define tone as entirely separate from ability


all the ability in the world cannot produce good tone from a bad guitar through a bad solid state amp...great composition, sure, but not good tone


by another definition, one that includes sylistic components such as vibrato, feel, grit, what have you, i can see that talent could indeed impact 'tone'


just pointing out that until everyone agrees on the definition of tone, then the debate is about much more than tone vs talent




:)

 

I guess if we get really open-ended on the definition, then a stereo with good tone only requires the talent to turn it on.

 

The difference here may be that the guitar+amp doesn't have a tone until somebody plays the guitar and dials in the amp, begging the question of playing talent.

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Actually I think some people confuse "talent" with "skill level". Two different things.

 

Talent is what you're born with.

 

Skill level is a measure of determination to master an instrument.

 

You can develop your playing ability.

You can't do {censored} about your talent.

 

Iow, a person can practice their ass off and get to be an excellent guitarist. But they will probably never get to the skill level of Jimi, or Eddie, etc. because they weren't born with the same amount of inate talent.

 

No matter how much talent you're born with, you still have to practice your ass off to get really good.

 

But true talent is almost an intangible.

 

Then there's experience. An experienced player can get a good tone out of nearly anything.

An extremely talented and experienced player will get great tone out of the same gear.

 

And keep in mind that it's all subjective. Great tone or chops to one person's ears may sound just OK to someone else or like crap to another.

 

I doubt that you could get everyone on this board to unanamously agree that anybody is "great" or has "great tone".

 

I've seen just about every famous player both lauded and slagged on this forum at one time or another.

 

What bugs me are the people I knew growing up or have met who had way more talent than me and threw it away.

I've known some extremely talented people who pissed it away with drugs and/or alcohol.

 

Talent is a gift. Everything else is just plain hard work.

 

Tone is way more than gear. But generally, the more experience you have, the better your tone will be.

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Originally posted by Jimi Ray Halen

Actually I think some people confuse "talent" with "skill level". Two different things.


Talent is what you're born with.


Skill level is a measure of determination to master an instrument.

 

 

Without talent. the highest level of skill that can be achieved is low.

 

Therefore, the skill of obtaining a good tone begs the question of talent, since skill is built on a foundation of talent (with tuition and practice).

 

Also, equating skill with the measure of determination to master is dicey. No amount of determination can overcome an essential lack of talent.

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