I'm trying to figure out how to color my blues playing with a kind of harmonic sound that probably comes from a cranked up tube amp. The solo in the link below gives an example of how this sounds. Instead of hitting a note on the 10th fret of the high E string, for example, and getting a clear tone, it's more of a buzz. But it's a pleasant buzz.

In the link below, the musician plays a solo and you can hear the effect I am trying to describe.

Can you tell me what this effect is, and how I might be able to use it in an amplifier that must be played at low volume? I do have a tube amp, a 5-watt Mesa 5:25. I can get the effect when I turn up the gain a lot, but I also have to turn up the volume to unacceptable levels.

Any help with this that you can offer will be very much appreciated. Thank you!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84cEzgO4Qwk

You're on the right track. The sound you hear is from an amp that is just on the verge of breaking into a little overdrive. Just a hint of it. Ain't nothing you can do about the volume. Tone requires volume. Maybe invest in some kind of personal headphone pre-amp for practicing.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

from what I saw and heard in the clip, the guy is using "trills" a lot. This is when he bends and wiggles that bend, but the tone itself just sounds like the 2 or 4 position Strat tone through a small tube amp.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

If you can already get the tone at a high volume, all you need is an attenuator.