You all time favorite guitar tones

[DonP]

I was debating about the Mick Mars tone. It was a little nasally on the first EP, But I liked Shout at the Devil. Pretty much all over the place, so it's hard to say which tone.

Dave Meniketti (Y&T)

I was going to include that but I wasn't sure anyone else heard of Y&T. If you did, you'd be pretty old by now

[Vass]

I'll second alot of these, and add another vote for Adrian Smith, specifically the effects-laden tone he had on Somewhere in Time. Go listen to Stranger in a Strange Land...his tone is like ice.

I know people bag on Rhoads tone at times, but his tone on Tribute is just massive IMO. Obviously has alot to do with his phrasing.

I love Angus Young's tone....Gibson--->Marshall turned to 11, rinse repeat but he uses it so very well.

Gilmour, again....sigh. Just great tone, always.

[shredmonster]

You Heathens! Nobody mentions Schenker ????

Ever here SAVE YOURSELF ??? That is my all time favorite guitar tone period - better than Van Halen etc....

Of course then you have Van Halen, Scorpions, Frank Marino, Skid Row also.

If any of you have not heard the tune Save Yourself - do yourself a favor and listen to it.

[neilli]

It's interesting that other than DonP's initial post, only one mention of VH...

[shredmonster]

It's interesting that other than DonP's initial post, only one mention of VH...

Well there is a caveat. By itself Van Halens tone is very cool. However by nature it would get lost in a mix because the mids are taken out. Some people do not like his tone because of this.

[DonP]

It's interesting that other than DonP's initial post, only one mention of VH...

I only like the DLR era of VH, and of that mostly the earlier stuff.

[Krymson86]

I think that's in part because EVH, while having a really good tone, is just a really obvious answer. I agree he should be mentioned.

Another former Scorpion, Uli Jon Roth also has a pretty awesome tone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeEp7TXHMxE Clip of Roth making a cameo with the current Scorpions line up. It's pretty cool.

As a side note, is there any other band out there that has had as many great guitarists in it as the Scorpions over the years? Don't say Ozzy, because I mean an actual band, not just hired touring band.

I like the tone that Amon Amarth have in the song Guardians of Aesgaard. Not an overly complex track at all, but the chords they play in the chorus just have a really heavy, cool tone. And the solo, while not that intricate at all, is actually surpisingly melodic.

In Flames tone on the Whoracle ablum is really cool. It's a much warmer tone than most of their colleagues, but still super heavy. Gyroscope and Jotun are good examples of the tone I'm talking about.

[DonP]

You Heathens! Nobody mentions Schenker ????

Good point. I have enough EQ's a wahs that I should be able to nail that tone.

I think of Doctor Doctor and Lights Out as being the high points, but I'm sure there are more. I have UFO live on an LP and MS's Anthology on CD.

One of the best shows I ever saw was him playing a show in Irvine. Not the ampatheater(sp?), but a small "house of blues" like show. This would have been around 1990.

[Endrik]

Well there is a caveat. By itself Van Halens tone is very cool. However by nature it would get lost in a mix because the mids are taken out. Some people do not like his tone because of this.

there's nothing taken out in his tone, sound engineers don't cut the mids on a guitar specially back then and all his knobs are cranked, you can't bury a plexi where all the knobs are on 10 as it's obvious how his sound is over shadowing the other instruments

[atomic charvel guy]

the long ring and sustain in the chords of running with the devil is unmatched for raw
ear assault in my book. and if you listen closely, it's not really that distorted either, just big and crisp. it's really the flagship tune for what comes after it on that album, good choice to lead the album off with.

[Scooter]

I was debating about the Mick Mars tone. It was a little nasally on the first EP, But I liked Shout at the Devil. Pretty much all over the place, so it's hard to say which tone.



I was going to include that but I wasn't sure anyone else heard of Y&T. If you did, you'd be pretty old by now

Just 'cause I was born the year pocket calculators were invented doesn't make me old. Y&T were cool!
I was thinking Shout at the Devil when I posted.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Chris Holmes either.

[fordsho90]

Andy LaRocque (King Diamond)

David Gilmore; his live tone it just rocks

[Soap]

Aerosmith - Train Kept a Rollin' - great guitar tones on this tune.
This started it all for me - this was my door into rock n roll.
I'm not a big Aerosmith fan but that song rocks.
Never gets old, good any time any place.
Gibson driven tone.

Kiss Alive - Great plug and play loud tone.
Basically since Paul and Ace played Gibson
it's a Gibson driven tone.
Never gets old, great any time any place.

VH1 - The notorious driven tone that only came around once.
The songs the guitar tone never gets old.
Still great any time any place.
As Roth said, "There's a little VH in everybody."
Its energetic fun rock n roll no doubt about it.

Boston - Their 1st album. Like VH1 this album has killer guitar tone.
Never gets old, good any time any place.
This a unique Gibson driven tone.

JP - The era from Hell Bent to Defenders was Priest guitar tone at it's best.
Way too many great tunes with great guitar tones to mention.
Never gets old, good any time any place.

Ozzy - First 3 solo albums good guitar driven tone. Rhoads and Jake.

Sabbath with Dio - Heaven and Hell - killer metal guitar driven tone.
Good any time any place, never gets old.
Gibson driven guitar.

AC/DC - Back In Black
Turn it up and let it rip. Great guitar tone - Gibson driven tone.
Never gets old, great any time any place.
I listened to a bit of this earlier today. Great stuff.

IM - First 4 albums were their better guitar tone era.
BUT enything off "Killers" I enjoy listening too.
Great guitar tone on "Killers."
Never gets old, good any time any place.

Metallica - Ride The Lightning
Production isn't even par but the guitar crunch/grind is great.
The better era of good metallica guitar tones.

Dokken - Tooth n Nail/Under Lock and Key - Great guitar tones.
Neither one gets old, always good any time any place.

Megadeth - Rust In Peace - Great guitar driven tones - Jackson's baby!
Never gets old, great any time any place.

Scorpions - Blackout - Plug an play loud driven guitar tone
through Marshall's on Gibby's I believe.
Never gets old, great any time any place.

Gamma 2 - Ronnie Montrose solo album.
Obscure, but great playing and tones on this puppy.
The singer is okay (fits the bill) but Ronnie is a monster on it.
Never gets old, great any time any place.

Rush - Lime Light - Nice guitar tones on that particular tune.
I'm a huge Rush fan - too many great ones to list.
To me, Rush is like VH - always good any time any place.

Pink Floyd - The Wall - a statement in many ways but Gilmour is great on it.
Floyd is NOT Floyd without Waters and Gilmour. A great team.

DLR - Both albums with Vai were good. Vai is great and an innovator.
Never gets old great any time any place. Good Dave solo material.

However imo, guitar tone of this era of Rock music in general.
Started changing getting muddied down in the production. Not good.
Lost its purity with just a simple set up a few pedals or a small rack.
No more dynamics of the hands emphasis went to the floor or rack.
A boat load of gear that masked over a lot of bad playing.
Made bad to average players sound acceptable and that shouldn't
ever happen, but that was that era.

[Maximum_Crunch]

Tesla
Foo Fighters last album
Sabbath
Gn'R, but thats been mentioned.

[VitaminG]

It's interesting that other than DonP's initial post, only one mention of VH...

I think people were wanting to bring something new rather than rehashing a lot of the same guys. I know I did. I could have filled my post with others already mentioned, like Adrian Smith, John Sykes, Scott Gorham, EVH, but wanted to avoid repetition

As a side note, is there any other band out there that has had as many great guitarists in it as the Scorpions over the years? Don't say Ozzy, because I mean an actual band, not just hired touring band.

I never considered Ozzy's band hired guns. At least one member of his band has always been involved in songwriting and he tends to keep the same guys for long periods. It's not like he's writing everything himself and just putting together a new group to present his material each tour

However imo, guitar tone of this era of Rock music in general.
Started changing getting muddied down in the production. Not good.
Lost its purity with just a simple set up a few pedals or a small rack.
No more dynamics of the hands emphasis went to the floor or rack.
A boat load of gear that masked over a lot of bad playing.
Made bad to average players sound acceptable and that shouldn't
ever happen, but that was that era.

can you list off some of this gear? I sure could use the help