Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas
I hate that part.  I'm not kidding. I don't have the patience to dig in and analyze ANYONE'S tone. I noticed Snik had some compression going but how much and what his settings were are of no interest to me. Those are his settings tuned to his ear. Even if I was able to duplicate them it wouldn't matter. I'd never sound like him anyway.
Not only that a lot of the commonly held beliefs; Heavy guitars = More sustain & Heavy strings + Big tone are huge generalizations that really don't hold up. Billy Gibbons uses 7's. Who has a bigger sound than that guy? "Corvettes are fast" says the guy with the '75; 165HP C3.
I hate all those damn knobs. |
I’m very much the same way. I’ve learned some things over the years, for example, turning off all reverb in large clubs (reverb buries you in the mix unless you are using it for effect). I get good tone from using vintage amps, keeping them all original and matching them with guitars made to vintage (50’s) specs. From wiring, capacitors, pots, wood and finish. I hate buzzing so I’ve always used him canceling modern pickups, but I choose the lowest output, most vintage sounding I can get. With the exception of the Tele (those pickups are hot as shit).
I don’t generally use stomp boxes except for wah (which I almost never use), reverb (my amp has none) a tuner, and a handmade Koch Gristle King which is basically a clean boost. It has an overdrive channel, but I don’t use it. I like it because it doesn’t color the sound. Just makes it slightly louder for clean soloing.
Occasionally I use a tremolo pedal because my amp’s trem is pretty weak.
Hell, my amp doesn’t even have a mid control! Just treble and bass. I spent almost zero time fiddling with it. I may adjust it depending on the room, mostly turning the bass down.
I think 90% of tone comes from your fingers, vibrato, picking style. And 90% of audiences don’t notice anyway.
Derek Obrien has taught me a ton about tone. He plays original late 50’s Strats with mid fifties Deluxe Reverbs. His main guitar was given to him by Stevie 40 years ago. Derek was the guy Stevie begged to get on stage at Antones. Derek said “no” for years. Ultimately Stevie asked him to join Double Trouble but their manager said Hell No.
Stevie was worried about playing some of the new songs on In Step since he had trouble singing them and playing at the same time. You will notice he ultimately just didn’t play when he was singing.
I’m learning a lot about the history of that band since I know his manager, drummer, Stevie’s replacement, his guitar tech, his brother - it’s a bit strange but a great privilege. I don’t play any of his material any more because it seems very uncomfortable. Plus, I don’t even come close.