Tone & Style

[phill_up]

I saw a movie a while back, some sort of Mozart IIRC. Anyway Mozart takes another guys music and plays it just as good if not better. While the original author is getting pissed at all this mozart then adds to this music with his own style and pisses the guy off even more. The original author is pissed and intimidated so he bails out of this scene.

Not long ago I stumble on to another site and read that if you were to take the exact same rig as one of your guitar heroes that no matter how hard you try you could never sound as good or anything like them. In fact the sounds that are made by the Guitar Gods come from the soul and the magic of the fingertips. So... Eddie could play Eruption on a Kazoo and still sound better than you on his rig!

Okay I didn't read that last part but I heard a guy in a local band play eruption on what looked like one of the red, white and black art series charvels and freakin nailed it! Someone else may have been able to critic the guy but I cant.

Do the rest of you guys think that when someone writes and plays a solo or a song that no one can ever come close to the original?

[Axewielder]

I can nail Eruption. Only the tapping part, though!

[Jayster]

Absolutely someone else's playing can be nailed, I believe what you're refering too is a condition I like to call 'whining' - I.E. "someone who says shit like oh my playing would be better if I had this or that" ! The gear dosn't make the player, although it can help out greatly. If jimbo from down the street (no guitar playing experience - sat down with EVH's rig, well he'd still sound like shit. If I played EVH's rig, well EVH would cry and give me all his gold and platinum albums.)

Now they're some obvious exceptions to the equiptment\nailing the piece theory I have

Your not going to nail eruption on an acoustic - even a nice one.

edit; here's a kid from youtube doing a fine job on eruption with an Ibenhad and some blinking lights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xjcsJgBmwc&feature=related

[phill_up]

Damn that kid is pretty good.

Your not going to nail eruption on an acoustic - even a nice one.

Absolutely! that is the point I was making

[Da' Melta']

You guys need to check him out playing Vai's "For the Love of God". My jaw will be on the floor for days...............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWgbMY-s_2g&NR=1

[El Chiguete]

Now I know that the Devil hears you when you whant sell your soul... I would that sure would be one of my playlist for when I sell me soul!

[Shawn Lutz]

well I think the tone is more in the hands and hearts of players, not their gear.

having said that for sure, you can nail anyones feel and tone if you try hard enough...but whats the point? Find you own voice...dont steal someone elses

[Spivonious]

Someone posted a video on here of Satch playing some crappy Squire strat and it still sounded awesome.

I'd say tone is 90% fingers, 10% equipment.

[phill_up]

well I think the tone is more in the hands and hearts of players, not their gear.

having said that for sure, you can nail anyones feel and tone if you try hard enough...but whats the point? Find you own voice...dont steal someone elses

If that is the case I would like to see EVH play eruption on an acoustic guitar and make it sound just like it does on the album.

As far as stealing someone Else's tone I'm pretty sure the humbucker as well as the tremolo was around before Van Halen 1

I like the fact that every time I see a video of EVH that he admits to being a tone hound just like the rest of us and that he is always in pursuit of the holy grail of tone.

[phill_up]

Someone posted a video on here of Satch playing some crappy Squire strat and it still sounded awesome.

I'd say tone is 90% fingers, 10% equipment.

so tone is 90% fingers? I wonder if satch turned any of the Bass, mid or treble knobs. if it was 90% fingers & 10% equipment that leaves nothing for the "heart"

come on guys there is no reason to re-invent the wheel. Most metal is played with a humbucker and an over driven amp

[Endrik]

the funny thing is... there are some pretty amazing players who can nail Ed's stuff but no one can come up with original material which would sound exactly what Ed would do it unless they would use the most standard EVH trademark licks and whatnot... they can sound really cool EVH influenced but no one has made it to the place where Ed comes up with all his shit yet

[phill_up]

That is very true endrick. He opened the door up for a lot of people, the white Lion dude and lots of others. Its amazing that that his stuff is still as cool today as it was 30 years ago and There are people that has studied his licks to perfection.

I am referring to remarks like "You will never sound like EVH even if you play on his gear but he can play the french horn and it sounds just like Eddie!"

It wouldn't make much sense to wear boxing gloves to a wrestling match. There are tools of the trade and we all know it. I'm not going along with the humbuckers, screaming overdriven marshall amp, phaser, flanger, Tremolo and humbuckers only equating to 10% of the EVH tone especially after he admits to being a tone chaser.