What does good tone mean to you?

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While I admire his chops, I think Eric Johnson is too over-processed for my tastes.

Killer tone???

How about the lead guitar in the Steely Dan songs "My Old School" and "FM".

Now that's tone!
 
Jeff Becks tone is for me the richest.And I belive that the most important aspects of a guitarist tone comes from his touch.A great amp helps but a good guitarist will sound good on anything.
Put a great player like Beck or Di Meola thru a Line 6 and its still gonna sound great.

Don
 
Steve, if ya don't mind I'm going to disagree with you partialy, but I won't accuse you of being contradictory.:)

I've been hearing stuff like.."Gimme a pawn shop squire with strings 3" off the neck and a pignose.....I'll show ya!" for years. I agree in part that final tonal quality gets its start at the frets, but that's only the promise of a good tone. Like it or not, ultimately, the sound we wind up with is a combination of the harmonic properties of the instrument and the shaping of the signal (if any) there after.

W.A.'s statement about acoustics fit right in. But you can't get those "complicated harmonics" from a junkwood guitar with dead strings no matter who you are.

You're distiction between amps and axes are absolutely valid. Again, could Gibbons get that same "tone" with a vintage 7 thru an MG100? Is'nt gonna happen.
 
"While I admire his chops, I think Eric Johnson is too over-processed for my tastes."


EJ's tone is awsome & very vintage. I think it's his technique that is over-processed. He's a big influence on my playing but sometimes he's just to damn perfect. Love his alternate picking technique when he does the pentatonic scales...that's a good tone.
 
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"Maybe it's because EJ has 'perfect pitch'."

Maybe because he's a hermit. I have the instructional video "Total Electric Guitar". Eric hardly ever makes eye contact w/ the camera, a very shy man. But when he hung his head of the guitar & played it was perfect. And a very basic setup, that is, no digital, all analog & tube amps, not anything like Gilmour's setup...wasn't there a microwave in the chain?

I highly recommend this video for it's entertaining value. Think Musician's Friend has for $25.00.
 
Good tone to me is whatever happens to work or that is tolerable.

EJ is a bit of a Steve Morse knockoff(morse also has a great video). Speaking of Morse, he gets some great tones, especially on his clean sounds.

Blackmore has a nice sound, Gary Moore is very distinctive but a bit too distorted sometimes. Gilmour is great. I find most of the 'tones' I like are from decades ago, you to?
 
>I highly recommend this video for it's entertaining value.


But is it gonna make me sound like EJ? lol....seriously, I would like to check that out. I've seen him in concert on G3 but was pretty far back in the crowd, so I couldn't see him ripping thru those two octave, unusually fingered pentatonics and the koto thingy, not to mention his picking hand. (Can anyone really pick every note like that of a pentatonic scale at hyper speed besides him?) When I attempt to do that stuff, it starts out ok , but after jumping to the 2nd or 3rd string, all alternate picking sound is lost lol. There's something about rolling the pick I think though I've never been able to reproduce it for long runs and have tried for years. As for tone,
I guess it's whatever floats your boat. Seems like the fatness of notes is a desireable sound, especially for rock and blues. Warm and roundness is also sought after. You never hear to many people rave about 'awesome thin and buzzy' tone. Jimmy Page plays some of the thinnest , smallish, cruddiest sounding (tonewise) stuff I've ever heard, but in the context of the song it's ok. I don't know what that means really, just thought I'd throw it out ha.
 
Yes, for it's entertainment value. Forget following the book & the corny tablature that runs at the bottom of the screen. Just sit back & admire.

Is it me or is fast & fluent pentatonic runs more difficult than chromatic. I work on pents to the point of meditation sometimes (rum-rum-dingy-dum...).

I remember when all my friends were into metal back in the 80's. All those distorted tones sounded the same, not very distinguishing. Then I heard SRV's Texas Flood. Enough said.

But the 1st thing to come out when I pick up the gtr is a metal riff. Go figure.
 
Pentatonics are tougher imo. Chromatic , your fingers kinda fall in line for. Have you ever seen the tab for some Steve Morse? He's a chromatic playin' monster, but he also does these licks where he'll pick one note from the higher strings , way up high and then immediately play a chromatic lick descending and then ascending about 2 or 3 strings away from the higher note but in the same general fret hand position. It's a cool effect but I don't see how he alternate picks the thing and at warp speed no less.
 
I've got the Steve Morse video. The only riff I came away w/ out of the whole hour was something called Chromatic Blues, I think. It's just a straight basic scale from the high E to the low E strings that alternates between chro & pent. & back tracks every 4 notes. Makes for a good work out. Other than that, his technique isn't to my taste, his speedy alternate picking sounds like a baseball card flipping on the spokes of a bicycle wheel...remember that as a kid?
 
Oh I'm a HUGE Morse fan, but more for his instrumental guitar writing abilities and his versatility than his technique necessarily. How many other guitar players can you say are virtuoso's at more than one style? He can play blazing country as well as classical fingerstyle that's are just incredible finger twisters. Most of his instrumentals are sophisticated yet easy to listen to. That's cool.
 
I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT A LOT LATELY, AND MY TONE HAS SUCKED! NOW IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S COMING AROUND. GETTING CLOSE.EXPERIMENT AND IT WILL COME, THAT GOOD ASS TONE.
 
I agree with a lot of the ones that have been said. With Gilmour though, I can really only include his studio sounds before Waters left. Their last few albums have sucked in a major way, and his chorused and delayed-out tone is really hideous. I have similar sentiments for EJ.

Cream
Old Santana
Page
Young Bro's

I think my most typical sound is somewhat similar to that of Doug Martsch of Built to Spill --essentially an overdriven strat on the middle pick-up. To be honest, I like it because it's easy. For as much as I read about getting killer tone, blah blah blah, I've never had the patience to do much more than plug in and play.
 
BBS posed an interesting question regarding defining tone. Unfortunately, many responses appeared to be statements of favorite or non-favorite guitarist's sound.

I put forth the following definition:
Tone is the interaction between frequencies of a percieved guitar sound.

The perceived tone of a guitarist results from two main parameters: 1) the sound produced by the guitarist's equipment, including techniques used to record the guitarist, and 2) the guitarist's technique.

Both parameters are multi-faceted. For example, equipment can include the guitar (including strings, pickups, wood, etc.), the preamp, effects, speakers, mics, mic placement, mic preamps, recording medium, and placement in the mix, etc. The guitarist's technique can include pick attack, timing, vibrato style, tricks (hammer/pull offs, tapping, sweeping, etc.), etc. All of those factors are involved in a perceived guitar sound.

Quite often when we discuss "tone," we are refering to the way a piece of equipment sounds. When we are referring to the way it sounds on another guitarist's album, it is difficult to separate the equipment (and all its facets) from the playing style.

Otherwise, we are referring to how the equipment sounds when we are playing through it. In this case, playing style is constant, and we are referring to how we perceive our sound while playing through a piece of equipment. Thus, the "tone" can include not only the frequencies (including harmonics and overtones), but also the way the equipment reacts to our playing.

I pose this definition because in my ongoing quest for the ultimate guitar tone, one overriding factor is how a piece of equipment "reacts" to my playing. I.e., if my subtle variations in attack produce discernable tonal variations. In fact, this past weekend, I went to a shop looking for a quick piece of equipment for a jam session. I finally found a salesman/guitarist that volunteered this definition (the way the amp reacts to playing) in characterising an amplifier. I was so impressed by his approach and his attentiveness, I bought a piece of equipment if only to make sure he received some of his commission for his efforts (he stayed a half hour after the shop closed to A/B equipment with me).


Matt
 
Please note that because this is the guitars and basses forum, I catered my definition to guitars.
 
Ok. I just noticed that Bruce DID mention defining what "good tone" means. Thus, the responses regarding a favorite guitarists sound may be appropriate because of the subjective nature of the question.

Still, he also posed the question of defining "tone." Hence, my post above.
 
I inturptreted it the same way BBB. If the question is eluding to who's got good tone, my nominees are....

Lynch
Wylde
Vandenburg
Walsh

Bad tone....

Slash
Mustaine
Yoko Ono
My dog
 
Joe looks a little uncomfortable beneath all the spandex and hairspray.
 
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