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Does tone make you play better?
Cinda Private
(4808)
Theory Forum
9/10/2009 12:09:55 PM · 28 Views
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I have played with guitar players who get completely flustered if they can't get their tone right... and it impacts their playing.
I'm not talking about the posers... I'm talking about gigging musicians who I would kill to be able to play like.
So... here... in the theory section... does tone make you play better?
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Re: Does tone make you play better?
9/10/2009 12:25:25 PM
Bob Zave
(1546) wrote:
Absolutely! I'm one of the guys you're talking about that gets all flustered, then the mistakes come. |
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Re: Does tone make you play better?
9/10/2009 12:31:23 PM
Randy Hano
(6661) wrote:
Getting the right tone makes me feel comfortable. If I don't get the right sound I am looking for, I spend more time trying to find it than letting my playing speak for itself. Put it this way, great tone helps you to feel the gift that you have. And that gift is what you are trying to convey in your playing to the audience - that shear pure moving emotion. |
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Re: Does tone make you play better?
9/11/2009 3:28:57 PM
Danny Danzi
(1902) wrote:
I would say that it allows you to express yourself better which gives you more confidence. It's like anything else really.....if you are not happy while doing something, you can't really enjoy it to the fullest, can you?
I have a friend who loves her job. She works at a re-insurance company that insures insurance companies. However, she has a horrible day and hates her job with a passion when the servers at her company are not upto snuff. It makes her want to up and quit. But, when the servers are running smooth and all is well, she has no problems working from 7am until 7pm.
The same could be said with *most* guitar players. If your tone is making you cringe, your expression may not be the same because what you're playing is not coming across the way you'd hope. The other side of the coin is, once you get to a certain level in your playing, your fingers literally become a finger print in your tone no matter what amp or guitar you use.
This in my opinion is one of the most important assets a guitarist can have..and that is, to achieve an identity. This comes over time and isn't something that immediately can be heard. After a certain amount of years, you just sort of lock in with yourself and your finger tonality is what carries you. Sure, tones will be different with every guitar, amp and processor you may plug into, but you will always sound like you once you get to this level. :)
Danny Danzi |
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Re: Does tone make you play better?
9/13/2009 9:26:07 AM
James Walczak
(4510) wrote:
This is just my $.02 worth as usual. I haven't read the other posts here so please forgive me if I add anything terribly redundant.
Generally speaking, I think yes...tone will effect most peoples attitudes and as such, playing. Having several guitars in the house, I know some of my guitars (and amps for that matter) do sound better than others with my '96 MIM Strat being the best of the lot. If I'm doing something important...recording or a big gig or something, my '96 Strat is always my first choice when I want to sound "as good as I can".
Now with that said, I do have several guitars and I do play most of them with some degree of regularity. Some of my guitars I use for certain things....if I'm trying to get that old "back to the beach" sound ala The Beach Boys or the Ventures or something, then I typically break out my old Memphis Les Paul copy...even though she looks like a Les Paul, she sounds more like a Tele. Here lately for most of the SRV stuff the band has been doing, I use the vintage looking Strat I recently built...she's got a bit more of that classic single coil sound than my '96 MIM has since the MIM has Duncan rails in her. If I want something a little more "melodic", then lately I use "the pretty Strat", my '08 Squier Standard (now loaded with Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups).
I do have to say however that I try to never let myself get flustered over things like "tone". Let's face it, some days...I dunno...you just hear things differently I guess. I won't speak for others obviously but personally I find there are days that I will sound good even on my cheapest instrument and other days where I just sound like crap even on my best gear...ya just deal with it and do the best you can. I've met guys in my time who simply "can't play" (or won't play) unless they are using a vintage tube amp and a specific guitar because they seem to think they can't get good tone with anything else...I'm just not that anally retentive. To me, a good part of playing is simply about having fun more than anything else and most of the time I can usually do that with just about any half way decent guitar or amp.
I would add that there are other considerations for me as well. A good example here is that as I'm getting older, my back really isn't what it used to be. If I'm going over to someone's house just to "jam", then instead of bringing my best sound amp(s), I will take my little Peavey Backstage Plus. That little Peavey is just much easier to haul around...I toss a pedal or two and a couple of chords in the back, grab a guitar and I'm ready to go. The thing here is that if I'm hauling around one of the heavy amps and my back ends up throbbing because of it, I'm not going to play as well...I don't do very good when I'm in a lot of pain.
Another thing I've realized over the years is that it also really depends on the situation. If you're recording for example, that's one thing and you want to sound your best. Even here though people need to remember that what you lay down on a track and what most people are going to hear later are NOT the same thing. By the time a recording goes through the mixing engineer and later mastering and such, you're not really hearing the same sound that came out of the speakers. The engineer will "shape" your sound to fit in with the rest of the instruments. Playing live is another thing entirely...between the ambiance of the place your playing at, the crowd and even the room itself, having that "perfect tone" is really pretty irrelevant. More over, I've never had a single person come up to me at a gig and say "well gee...that sounded ok but you should have been using a Marshall instead of that old Fender", LOL!!! Most people who are listening to you play live don't notice the nuances of "tone"...they're just concerned over how well you play (or how well you don't!).
I wanted to address all of this in this manner because I think in most people's minds (at least with most musicians), "tone" is closely associated with "gear". I think that a great many of us here tend to think that such and such brand or vintage of guitar sounds better than others...a 60's Les Paul or Strat for example. I don't think I'm being unfair in saying that many of us have a preconception that something like a '67 Fender Strat is going to sound better than a $200 Squier Standard....that may not be the actual case as it really depends on the specific instruments but we tend to "think that way" so that's what we tend to "hear"...and that's what tone is really all about...what we hear.
Which brings me to my last point....ultimately I'm one of those folk who really believes that the majority of any player's tone simply comes from their fingers and their heart. I've told MANY people this over the years...Eric Clapton would still sound like Eric Clapton regardless of what gear he's using...he could be using a $200 Squier for example and he's still going to sound like Eric Clapton because is is Eric Clapton. In my years I have met guys with some of the nicest gear you could imagine...who couldn't play a freakin' note. In fact we recently auditioned a bass player like this...the guy showed up with a Warwick bass and Ampeg amp...the guy just -sucked-. Then I've met guys with some of the rattiest gear you can imagine who just have the most incredible tone...when they play, you just close your eyes and take it all in and you forget about the gear they are using completely.
I tend to think that most people use "tone" like a bowler's excuse towel. "Gee...I just can't play today because I can't get the right tone". They'll get all red in the face and it really does effect their playing. Maybe this even gives such a person an excuse to go out and buy even more gear...I dunno. Again I do think that tone is certainly important and I do typically think that if you are playing on gear that sounds good, it will inspire you to play better but in the end, the guitar, amp and effects are just tools. While "good tools" will certainly allow a craftsman to do more, they shouldn't stop a craftsman from doing his (or her) job...a good carpenter can still build a house with a basic hammer and saw...it just may take him a little longer.
To me, music is something that comes from the hands, the head and the heart and as such, so does "tone". If a person can't get good or great tone with the equipment he/she has, then in most cases it's the person and not the gear.
Again, just my $.02 worth.
Jim |
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