Tone

[anaxagoras]

Do any of you guys feel less than satisifed with your tone, to then have say a friend come and play with your gear and you think the tone rocks? I'm begining to wonder if I'm lacking something in my fingers/technique or if it's in my head.

I have a Line 6 Duoverb combo, and a KE-2 loaded w/ 81/89 pups.

[anaxagoras]

Re: Tone

I've had a few friends screw around on my stuff. One is way better than I (he's very musically intuitive), and the other few friends play around the level I play at. and they all sound better to me on my stuff than I do. I've been playing for around 2 years now. My friends say i sound fine to them, but to me it just doesn't sound that great.

[jjw]

Re: Tone

Tone changes from person to person,its in the fingers/pick/hand/dynamics more than you would think.

You would be surprised how muting changes it all or WHERE you use your pick when playing.Just moving the picking hand will change the tone in certain degrees either fattening up or hollowing out.

Picks make a diference from the thin slices to the big stubbies/jazzpicks.I am ordering a load of Silver/brass/carbon ones to mess around tone wise.that is a cheap way to alter your tone..try loads of diferent picks to find the one best for your playing and tone.

I am not a tone junky,and to be honest all my tones i have ever used(from fender twin reverbs to the pod pro i use now)have been very similar.So have my guitars and picks.i am sure you will nail it soon [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Tone

I, unlike Justin, am a tone junky. I can play under any conditions but I prefer "my" tone and when I have it I feel more confortable playing. I am 100% against spending more time finding your tone than actually practicing though. Too many players spend entirely too much time searching and experimenting instead of just practicing. Why don't you tape yourself and listen to it back. I doubt it is all in your head but it could be I guess.

[jgcable]

Re: Tone

It is probably you. Your equipment is fine. I am a guitar teacher. I usually teach moderate to advanced players. The EXACT question that you mention is commonly asked by my students. They often ask: "how come my guitar or amp sound so good when you play it?" They think it must be the acoustics in my cement blocked basement!! NOT!! Are your friends much better players than you? Give me some info on your playing.

[Ace]

Re: Tone

Many times I am not satisfied with the way my guitar sounds when I am actually playing it myself, I just hear every little mistake I make and I am too busy concentrating on hitting every note perfectly to enjoy my own playing. Then when I listen back to a tape I can't believe that it is me playing!!
[img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[anaxagoras]

Re: Tone

I recorded my playing w/ a crappy tape recorder and i realized I'm the same way. When i'm playing i don't really hear 'music', i hear each note individually so to speak, and I'm concentrating on trying to not screw up, lol.

[InFlamed666]

Re: Tone

I get this so bad i hardly ever play amped.

In fact i think ive actually learnt NOT to play amped so when i do i dont mute strings properly and get excess noise etc [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Its soooo bad.

Part of me thinks its because i got my guitar in jan and its been as it came out of the box right up to now, same strings and everything and no setup (ghost notes on high strings,ringing high e etc)...... the other part of me KNOWS its because im a terrible player who cant set my amp controls right [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]