I know what you're saying...Carlos Santana said one time about the legions of guitar players,"put them on the radio and their own mamas can't even tell them apart."
I tend to agree.

The tone is in the hands...you could play through anybody's rig, and although the sound will be different from rig to rig, the tone will be from the player. You'll get closer to your hero's sound by getting similar equipment, but the only way to get another guy's tone is by copying their phrasing, attack, etc.

I can cop a pretty decent Jimmy Vaughan tone from my mahogany-bodied G&L F100 (w/humbuckers) through my '63 Re-issue Vibroverb or my vintage Gibson G20 solid state amplifier, which is very different from his actual rig (guitar-wise especially). I can also get some cool vintage Billy F Gibbons licks from my '62 Re-issue Strat through the same amps (again, that's quite different from his actual rig). Even though I also play a Telecaster, I rarely sound like the typical Tele-meisters we tout as prophets of that particular plank.

Do I sound exactly like JV or BFG? No. But the influences and nuances are there, because I change my attack and phrasing when copping the licks and tones from those guys. I prefer to mix all my influences into a big melting pot and see what comes out. Usually, it's not half-bad, considering I'm a good (but not a great) guitarist. When people ask who I sound like, I say, "Me."

I disagree with the original poster's supposition that "You can't get there from here..."; the player will have to take a roundabout rout and will never perfectly nail the SRV tone with the Epiphone Les Paul/Line6 amp, but he can get close by changing the way he plays. As Voodoo Blues so humbly put it, he's got the right rig but doesn't even come "close" to SRV's tone...it's in the hands, brothers and sisters.



It’s statements like this that gives me hope for the next generation—Riley wears his influences on his sleeve, but he’s still chasing his own tone. In your vernacular, “Good show, mate!”

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

It helps to have the "TUBES" the Epi guitar is fair, but Fender is best for the sound. A good humming tube amp can make a big difference. Line 6 "not" Tune down and floor it.
Good luck!
Keep Jammin! Enjoy Life!

Oooogh good analogy but a bit tough perhaps. I understand where are you coming from, but on the other hand can't blame the youngsters. Given that he has Line6 that tells you that he was sold on all that "We can make you sound like..." hype from Line 6. Just go visit their website and you will understand the confusion in the kids minds.

Adults fail daily on the Home Depot renovation/marketing hype "You can do it, we can help", if you know what I mean .

The player makes the guitar sound good - or should I say - the player makes that guitar sound like it does because alot of the sound comes from his hands and technique. I guess we all know that. SRV used 13's (high e string) , that alone is incredible-- fat strings are loud too.
He had the same tone exactly all the time.

True! It is the playing ability and voicing the guitar. SRV must have had strong Gorilla hands! I tryed that set-up one time. My fingers hurt for 3 days after playing and (trying to bend) the string. Yea! GC and Line 6 will tell you, you can simulate most any tone with the amps. lots of youngsters like line 6 cause you can get a big amp cheep. That is what you get is a cheep amp!
Keep Jammin! Enjoy Life!

Srv's setup was extremly high too. One guitar he had Billy Gibbons picked up and could barely make a note the strings were so high. But Stevie had huge, strong hands and fingers you can't learn or buy those. Jimi Hendrix's thumb was so long he could fret all six strings from the top of the fret board, imagine playing barre chords with your thumb as the barre instead of your index finger.

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the vacuum store is a lot like the guitar store. but they do not attract the same clientele as the guitar store, cause if they did, the vacuum store would be loaded with a bunch of broke guys who just wanted to run the new vacuums.

Granted, a good Fender tube amp would get the kid much, much closer into the sonic ballpark. However, as much as I don't really like the lower-end digital amps, the Line6 modeling is as good as digital modeling gets, IMHO.

I often use an old version 1 POD for recording; the "Tube Preamp" and "British Blues" settings, while not really sounding like what they purport to be, are both really good sounds for what my band does. One of the Fender models isn't bad, either. I don't even look at what they're labelled, I just let my ears do the walking as we're getting levels/tones.

I will agree with you, though, that tubes are the only way to go...it just has that "burn" that can't be duplicated any other way.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I am glad to hear youngsters dig the music and sounds of the blues legends.
Both Jimi Hendrix and SRV were freaks of nature. I think they were from another planet.
That is why they had to leave us early. Aliens can't stay here long
Keep Jammin! Enjoy Life!

Yeah...and Duane Allman was the messiah.

I agree completely with those posters who stated the need to find your own sound and how the hands are an important part etc. etc. It's all good. The point I was trying to make is that you can't expect to get SRV tone from an Epi Les Paul and a Line-6 no matter how good your hands are or how much of an individual you are. There is a foundation upon which a certain kind of tone is built. Don't get me wrong. I own an Epi Les Paul and I own a Line-6 amp (AX2-212) but if I were about to run through Cold Shot or Pride & Joy that's not the gear I would select.

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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.

Maybe it was from this picture right here.....



But I doubt he ever recorded with it.

_________________
Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

I don,t see anything wrong trying to search for someone elses tone. By doing this is when you will find your tone. Everyone trys to sound like the people that influnced them and by doing this they found who the really are.

It is your influences that make you-YOU! Your sound is the interpretation of the tunes, tones that are learned. Take it to next level and make it unique and your own.
Oh snap!
That sounds like some s&*t I heard on American Idol
Keep Jammin! Enjoy Life!

Mostly agreeing here, it's the player.

In this opinion, about 25% of the total sound comes from the equipment.

And yes, having the '62 Reissue Strat and Vibroverb will help some people channel the vibe....