Guitar tone 101 question: Dividing up the tone...

[45below]

I've been changing my mind so often about what kind of guitar/amp rig would fit my sound (am ready to buy a whole new rig) and have come down to this question:

 

How much of your tone comes from the guitar (pickups, wood, etc), as compared to the amp/pedals, or effects (eq, reverb, etc)

 

Basically saying: when you hear a recorded guitar on a CD or something, how much of that tone that you hear is influenced by the guitar/pickups, how much is influenced by the amp/pedals, and how much is influenced by the effects afterwords?

 

I know this will probably vary by person, but it would be nice to get a general consensus so I know if I'm worrying too much about something that doesn't really matter. ;)

 

Thank you m uch

[tiltsta]

Pretty tough question to answer, as there are lots of variables to consider. Keep in mind, what I say here is MY OPINION, and my opinion only. Others may have a very different take on things, as tone is a very subjective thing.

 

First things first, to consider the tone in a recorded piece of music, you are missing a good part of the equation. The microphone, placement, mixing, number of tracks/layers, post processing, engineer, recording media, mastering, and probably a lot more contributes to what you hear as the guitar sound. Pretty impossible to answer when you think of all of it.

 

As for live sound, the equation is probably a little simpler, but still pretty complicated. A seat of the pants guess is that it is about a 50/50 mix of guitar and amp. I say this as most people can hear the difference between a strat and an LP run through a marshall, and also the same guitars run through a fender twin. So, it is pretty much a mix of guitar and amp in even proportions to my ears. As to what makes the guitar sound like it does, it is a mix of wood, pickups/electronics, and construction (hollow body, solid, semi-hollow, scale length, wood). I think it is probably 30-40% guitar (including wood and type of guitar construction), and 60-70% pickups. In the extreme example, I would cite a humbucker strat or a LP with coil taps. The can really sound not very much like a strat or an LP, from simple mods of pickup swap or even coil splits. A strat with a humbucker probably can't get the perfect LP tone, regardless of pickups, and the same with an LP. They can get close, but not exactly spot on. Of course, when all other things are equal in a guitar electronics wise, you can hear things like wood type as very obvious differences...so it kind of depends on the comparison you are trying to make.

 

As a person who wasted many years and many dollars chasing various tones and fads, my advice would be to build a great clean sound you like and use this as the basis for your other sounds. Add some distortion/overdrive and other effects to build a great dirty sound. Great cleans don't exist in pedal form, but pretty amazing distortion sounds can be had in pedals. So, get a solid clean sound that takes pedals well, then add to that. I prefer the fender bassman sound as a clean, but there are many flavors of clean to choose. With a great clean sound, you can add many different flavors of distortion on top and have a very versatile rig.

[MONGOOZ]

besides my hands....ALL of my tone comes from my guitars and amps.....and a little from pedals.....but that's mostly boost.......not knowing what sound you are trying to create/recreate.....i can only tell you what i am using....and am very happy with, for the most part.....

 

guitars....Strat and Les Paul (i have others...but these are the basics)

 

amps.....Fender Reverb and Vox/Marsall (or similar)

 

these will cover nearly every sonic situation.

 

unfortunately....there is no ONE combination.....but these are THE basics.

[IamBurnout]

Recorded tones don't end up sounding much like the gear in the room. They are tailored to the mix with filters and EQ.

 

For me, the amp does a lot more to change sounds than switching guitars does, and effects do their thing....

 

Which had better be readily apparent, or they're not worth the space, electricity, or time it takes to step on them.

[wimpy77]

tone starts with the amp and guitar.

[45below]

Thanks guys. I know this is a weird question to answer... but you've helped me out. I appreciate it!

[cratz2]

Put me in the 'pickups and speakers make the biggest difference' category. The type of guitar (LP or strat, bolt on or set neck, mahogany or alder, scale length) is a big difference, but I don't think if you replace an alder body with an ash body and everything else remains the same there's a big difference.

 

Likewise, with the amp... as long as you have the type of amp you want, I just don't think there's a huge difference between a Super or a Pro or a Twin or a Deluxe.

 

On the other hand, replace a 57 Classic with a Tone Zone... that's an absolutely tremendous difference. Or replace a pair of G12T75s with JBL D120Fs or EVM 12Ls... HUGE difference. Not saying one is better than the other... but there's a huge difference with those changes.

 

Change a rosewood fretboard to ebony on a Les Paul? Will the guy in the 50th row - even if he's a guitarist or a sound man - REALLY hear a difference?

[pigman]

Good question! Over 35-or-so years, I've gone through three distinct phases. As a kid, my tone came entirely from pedals -- mostly fuzz and distortion. As I began to experiment with tone shaping, I focused entirely on amps. Today, I want the tone to come entirely from the wood and pickups. I now use virtually no pedals, a solid state amp most of the time, and a curly cable is an ESSENTIAL piece of gear.

[codek]

 

Good question! Over 35-or-so years, I've gone through three distinct phases. As a kid, my tone came entirely from pedals -- mostly fuzz and distortion. As I began to experiment with tone shaping, I focused entirely on amps. Today, I want the tone to come entirely from the wood and pickups. I now use virtually no pedals, a solid state amp most of the time, and a curly cable is an ESSENTIAL piece of gear.

 

 

Which solid state amp?

[Chill Mike D]

For a live guitar that's being played in front of your eyes, it's Amp, Pickups, Effects, and the acoustics of the room.

 

For a recorded guitar, it's Amp, Pickups, Effects, Mixing, and Mastering. The construction of the guitar does not have an effect except sustain and feedback differences between hollowbodies and solidbodies. Wood types, pickup-ring materials, the screws that hold your tuners in -- it's all irrelevant.

[pigman]

 

Which solid state amp?

 

 

Hi codek. I use an AER Compact 60 (listed in my sig). It's actually an acoustic guitar amp, but it does a nice job with electrics. I put a graphic eq in the loop, but I'm thinking about switching to a parametric. Since my tone relies mostly on the properties of the wood and pickups, it's made sense to gravitate toward the equipment that acoustic players use -- even though I use solid body guitars to play my own sort of Delta blues with a completely clean tone. The AER works very much like a Polytone -- the solid state amp preferred my many Jazz players. They're designed with a flat response to bring out the most of what the guitar is supplying without coloring the tone. Most electric guitar amps are "voiced" to enhance certain frequencies.

[kayd_mon]

I think that the amp is the most important, with the guitar at a close second. The pedals you use (especially if they're overdrive or distortion) will sound different, depending on your amp. Like my signature line says, I play many varieties of guitars, but I always go into a Vox. My sound stays intact when I switch guitars, and my pedalboard is tailored very well for what sounds I like to get from my Vox. Find an amp you like first, then go from there.