Does using an artists gear give you their tone?

[jgcable]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

BTW... good topic.

[Crusher]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

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I don't care what you guys say. I'm buying the Dave Mustaine strings, putting them on the John Petrucci guitar (which I'm loading with the Zakk Wylde pickups), playing through the Dimebag amp, through the George Lynch cabinets, with the Eric Clapton distorton box and the Steve Vai wah. Yeah, I'm gonna be the ultimate fuckin' badass guitar GOD!!

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[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

I personally believe that most of a players tone is in their attitude, hands, heart, style, technique and attack. Having the exact same gear as Joe Blow guitar hero is not going to give you the exact same tone unless you have their hands too It will help you get closer but not nail it exactly. I think its funny people buying every piece of a gear their heros use only to be frustrated. One should spend more time getting their own sound going than wasting time, effort and money trying to sound like their idols.

I also find humor in folks who want amp settings, to me that is just plain silly.....

[Tetsuo]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

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IMO, a players character, nuances and mannerisms are in the fingers. But, that isn't exactly "tone", and I believe much of the tone is in the amps they choose.

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Like thinking you'll paint like Picasso if you find his paintbrush and use it. Hehe... It has the potential to do what he did, but, do "you" have the potential to make it do that? As well as that paintbrush might have been the only one he could have used for something, and would be somewhat lost without. he could have painted with another, and it wouldn't be quite the same...


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Those two statements seem to contradict each other though Cleveland. Maybe I'm misreading your post. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]
Personaly, no I don't believe that using a particular artists gear will give you his tone. I think tone comes from a combination of gear and playing style. I think many here have seen too many cases where someone can play through an entirely different rig and have a different guitar in their hands, yet the sound and tone still sounds like that person. Very identifiable usually.

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I think John was saying it is somewhat of a contradiction...

The short answer is simply yes... If you had the exact same setup as anyone (not just their sig amp) the whole rig the same you are going to sound a lot more like that person than say playing through a peavy practice amp with a metal zone. One problem is though playing style... Lets say you have a light pick attack but the player you are trying to copy has a real heavy attack... the players sound is always going to be well hotter and vice versa etc.....

[AlexL]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

Don't forget that when it comes to studio recordings (or live, multichannel recordings that have been mixed down in a studio), the studio engineer and producer have a number of tools at their disposal to change the sound. The most obvious example of this is the parametric EQ which can radically change the sound of a recorded guitar. HEck, the same is true for their live sound if they are playing an a facility with a large PA system where you will hear minimal stage volume.

So you can buy the amp, guitar, pickups, and overdrive pedal that your favorite artist is using, but you also may have to buy the same $100,000+ mixing console they used as well.


- E.

[bibz]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

If the gear itself held the tone then all the big names would be renting there gear out for sessions. 'Tone Loan'.
Satch said once that the tone and individuality comes from how the persons fingers touch the strings. You can get sounds from signature gear. But if you've been playing pencil thin dinky necks for years, and you wish to emulate a baseball bat les pauls tone, your gonna be able to sound closer on the instrument you yourself are more comfortable with tonewise. Playing style makes the most difference in my opinion. I have a different playing style when I switch from bridge to neck pickup, to get different tone/sounds from each. From zakk to satch rock riffin in the bridge you change styles, to clean and clear vai or tonefully emotional dime leads on the neck pickup.

Everybodys mileage varies.

[Thor Von Clemson]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

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I don't care what you guys say. I'm buying the Dave Mustaine strings, putting them on the John Petrucci guitar (which I'm loading with the Zakk Wylde pickups), playing through the Dimebag amp, through the George Lynch cabinets, with the Eric Clapton distorton box and the Steve Vai wah. Yeah, I'm gonna be the ultimate fuckin' badass guitar GOD!!

[/ QUOTE ] LMAO that was great! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[mudkicker]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

Yes and No.
With the exact same gear with the exact same settings you will sound just like your signature player when playing open notes and standard chords. Those are all pretty basic. Simple ex. Neil Youngs Pot of Gold. For the most part Em, G, D, C. your going to sound just like Neil.

Now when they add some flavor to the chord like a slight vibrato, a hammer on, something that adds feeling to the song this is where your sound will differ. Gear can only do so much. This is where a persons touch becomes involved. Pressure on the fret board, pick attack, style of vibrato falls into our own unique sound. We can duplicate what a star is doing but we won't sound exactly like them.You can be very close to their sound but another guitarist or someone with a good ear can tell the difference.
Ex. Intro for In My Dreams. The first two notes the slide from A to B, it sounds like George slightly bends the Low E string as he is running through this. We can do this same run. Everyone will know what the song is but it won't sound exactly like Lynch is playing it.

I say yes we can duplicate someones overall sound by using the same gear. But when it comes to emotion,feeling, and technique that is where our sound will differ from theirs.


But thats just my opinion.

[Soap]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

1. Got know how to play first, thats usually pretty important.
2. Buying/having their gear and etc. doesn't ensure you will sound like them.
3. Going back to 1. Then studying the artist's style of playing. Learn their signture licks and how they play them and so on.
4. Going back to 1 and 3. Again with that in mind. I don't need need to buy EVH's stuff or Lynch's stuff to sound like them. I can sound like whoever I want when ever I want, cause once I hear (ear) I pick up on what their doing I know HOW to play the song/s.
5. Good quality gear is important when performing. You need the peace of mind that gigging with quality stuff brings, but it doesn't have to be high dollar artist's gear.

[jgcable]

Re: Does using an artists gear give you their tone

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If the gear itself held the tone then all the big names would be renting there gear out for sessions. 'Tone Loan'.
Satch said once that the tone and individuality comes from how the persons fingers touch the strings. You can get sounds from signature gear. But if you've been playing pencil thin dinky necks for years, and you wish to emulate a baseball bat les pauls tone, your gonna be able to sound closer on the instrument you yourself are more comfortable with tonewise. Playing style makes the most difference in my opinion. I have a different playing style when I switch from bridge to neck pickup, to get different tone/sounds from each. From zakk to satch rock riffin in the bridge you change styles, to clean and clear vai or tonefully emotional dime leads on the neck pickup.

Everybodys mileage varies.

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" TONE LOAN" ---But that is exactly what many of the pros did back in the 80's and early 90's. There was a certain Marshall amp that was passed from session to session between Lynch, Demartini and a few others. Some of those Sambora SLO's are downright infamous for all the sessions they were on. James Hetfield has a certain Mesa Tremoverb that is actually leased out because of its tone.
Malmsteen won't play through anything but his Marshall Plexi's. He may have 10 heads on stage but he always uses the same ones live and in the studio. If tone was primarily in the fingers we would all be playing Gorilla and Pignose amps.