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Why Did John Lennon Have Such Lousy Guitar Amp Tones?


jrockbridge

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The guy either plugged his guitar directly into an AC30 or Fender amp and turned it up. Wtf kind of tone do you want him to have?
:idk:

 

The sad thing is as I get older I'm really starting to appreciate a vintage guitar into an amp with nothing else. I posted some of my favs here over the months, they always get made fun of. Guess some things change. I prefer the crappy tone of the 60's to the range of what we have now. Damn irony.

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He didn't really care all that much about guitar, he mostly learned it so he could back himself when he was singing. The tones he had worked well enough for what he did.

 

 

I'm not sure if this is true. When Paul got his Casino, John and George got one after checking out and liking the guitar. He was excited to get his strat for a while. He went to all the trouble of removing the finish from his Casino to get a sound closer to the wood.

 

I don't think he was a gearhead like George was but I think there were certain guitars he really liked.

 

I also think John liked short scale and "easy" to play guitars which is why he is rarely seen playing a Fender except for the strat he used on Revolver. His Ric, Casino, Les Paul jr (one to one concert) all short scale. I don't think he wanted to work to play the instrument.

 

It seems like he liked the Casino best. After awhile he stopped playing the Rickenbacker and it rarely made a reappearance on record with the Beatles and during his solo career. He used the Casino to the end.

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I can nit pick tone to the n'th degree. It's quite an annoyance.

 

 

Then recognize that it's something you learned to do from overlistening, and recognize that your opinion isn't all that matters.

 

I used to overanalyze things like this all the time, then i started to recognize that you can learn more by listening to others with differing opinions.

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Then recognize that it's something you learned to do from overlistening, and recognize that your opinion isn't all that matters.


I used to overanalyze things like this all the time, then i started to recognize that you can learn more by listening to others with differing opinions.

 

 

If I thought my opinion was the only thing that mattered, I wouldn't have posted the topic in this forum.

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I always think of the Beatles of being a little "boxy" sounding, with the American contemporaries and even Cream and the Stones in the UK "sounding" better.

 

I also think that their sound is kinda like the Ringo debate...it just fits. They would've lost something with a crack drummer, and a more toneful, lush studio setup.

 

The playing gets a bit rough around the edges, and that works too. I think if they tried to "set their feet" sound-wise then they could be judged on their tone, but since they thrived on the "anything works, plug it in the board" theory I don't dwell on the tone much.

 

By now some players have had such great tone so long that they gotta keep it up cause people are gonna listen close when the next album comes out.

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John's tone was raw, but that was his approach. I see a parallel between he and Keith Richards in that respect. He always said he loved to "make it howl and move".

 

 

I don't mean to choose sides here. I love both bands. But, Keith's tone is a sound I can get behind most of the time.

 

With John, I like to hear him play acoustic more than electric. The exception with electric is the 'Let It Be' rooftop concert tones.

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I think he just didn't give it much thought. He's the guy who referred to humbuckers as "humperdinkers", after all.

 

By the way, I ran across this photo of John the other day...didn't know he had a Guild Starfire!

 

john-lennon.jpg

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whats that contraption in between the guitar and the plate w spoon?

 

I think he just didn't give it much thought. He's the guy who referred to humbuckers as "humperdinkers", after all.


By the way, I ran across this photo of John the other day...didn't know he had a Guild Starfire!


john-lennon.jpg

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I think he just didn't give it much thought. He's the guy who referred to humbuckers as "humperdinkers", after all.


By the way, I ran across this photo of John the other day...didn't know he had a Guild Starfire!


 

 

I suspect this is the correct. answer.

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[Referring to post #45...]

 

I'm pretty sure it's a boo-teek pedal that would have transformed his ass tonz into pure gold. He never bothered to plug it in.

 

Good by me, I love ALL of his ass tonz. They work in service of his music, IMHO. You want lilting glassy dewdrops for "Everybody's Got Something to Hide"? I like his daggers-in-your-brain solution better. Just part of the package, and the package is oh so very nice.

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3 pages and nobody mentioned yet you he was always slightly outa tune? Saw it on a TV documentary not lont ago. He did that so an aunt of his could listen to the record and know which guitar was John's. IIRC G string slightly flat.

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