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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 8:49 am
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I think the most telling thing regarding your experience of "better tone" without your pickguard is the fact you also did a setup at the same time. That can do wonders for a guitar.

I have a 1980 G&L F100...my first electric guitar, beautiful and well-made with a combination of features I've never seen on another F100...it has a lot of sentimental value to me.

However, after I had been playing a while (and developed my own style and started chasing tones I heard in my head), I found myself less and less enamored with that particular guitar.

I was about to either change the pickups or sell the dang thing when I decided to get it set up with lower action (my playing style had changed since I started playing, and lower action worked better for me).

The sonic differences were astounding; sustain, richness, fullness and general all-around "tone" improved significantly, and I fell back in love with that axe...you might have experienced the same thing with your newly pickguardless instrument.

Just sayin'...

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 8:54 am
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i disagree with the whole nut, pot's, neck wood, neck colour, paint colour, the amount of cracks in the wood, the the month the pickups were made in, the starsign of the guy who made the plastic outer casing for the pickups etc all giving a "Tad" to the tone tbh. i just don't see how you can think that all these different types of wood and plastic and metal give a tiny bit to the sound of the guitar. if the only parts of the guitar that have any contact with strings and pickups are are the nut, the bridge and the scratch plate.
why do think all these other plethora of parts effect the tone, yet you leave out the cheapest component which is blaringly obvious shares the highest amount of understring real estate.. the pickguard. why doesn't that have anything to do with the sound? and if the fretboard has anything to do with the sound, then how come the steel screwes that hold in the metalwork and plastic work don't have an effect on the sound? how come the plastic parts and screws at the back don't effect the tone, and the heel plate? and the metal used in the jack?
It appears that anything thats expensive that has any kind of connection (in anyway at all) to the guitar, it magically gives it amazing tone.
So if thats the case, does my carpet in my house add to the tone of my guitar because my guitar lead is touching it when im playing?

im sure you get what i mean. i've been thinking about this all night and im afraid i just can't see how you can think an electrical output instrument, is taking sound from all these relatively external sources.
Do the machine heads add to the tone?

im going to link you about 4 blindfold tests when im home from work. and 50% of the people in the comments are correct, and 50% are incorrect. the truth is, you can't tell it appears. when you're playing through an amplifier, all this resonance and that lot just isn't a factor. the strings arn't touching the wood, at all, and neither are the pickups. thus, no resonance from the wood. the resonance you think you're hearing is literally the sustain of the pickups and how long they can hold the signal from the string as it loses it's vibration.

and sorry if im upsetting anyone or anything, im just really coming to believe that we're beaing charged premium prices for mass produced instruments.


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:40 am
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i also want to state that i truely love guitars, i've played since i was 11, i wish all these things we believe are true! i'd love to know that my beautiful guitars are each unique (in a real way and not just in my head).
and also, am i the only person who doesn't think the whole "keep your guitar and make it look like claptons and then it sounds better" heh.
i know it's great to have an instrument you love so much and has been such a good servent to you that it looks as old as you, and the fingerboard is wearing out etc.
but it's just getting old now. every guy and their dog has one that looks like that now(thank you relic...) :P
also, there seems to be no sacred guitars anymore, like that run of 1500 les paul's in burst in 1959. why do companies have to be so greedy, can't they keep it as a legendary guitar, something to be remembered. like alot of fender's classics.
i know you could say it's popular demand that everyone wants one of these legendary guitars, but is it greed that gives it too them?

ok all my guitar problems are off my chest now! thanks


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:39 am
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You guys ever try palm muting and playing mainly with your thumb, like Sting's been doing for a while? That's a sweet tone.


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:44 am
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44james wrote:
I fall on the side of the arguement that tone comes primarily from the player. I do believe the guitar itself, body wood (but not so much the fretboard), pickups (in the case of an electric), even shape are important. But the tone is really driven by the skill and style of the player.

I'm in the market for a new acoustic and I'm trying many different models from different manufacturers. I (with a fairly uneducated ear) can clearly tell the difference in tone between a Martin all-mahogany and a Taylor spruce-top. But they each sound different and better in the hands of my "guitar guy" at the music store.


Well of course acoustic guitars are going to sound different depending on what they're made from, the size of the cavities, the tension of the strings, the style etc. but electric guitars are a different story.


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:57 am
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Wow, I just found ANOTHER thread started by the original poster that was about identical to this one. He's on a crusade. Rob Schwarz gave him his two cents there also, which was a lot of what has been said by others in this thread. Apparently he didn't like the way the other thread went and started this one. Sheesh. I feel suckered.

http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=89896&start=30


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:08 am
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It's the sum of all the parts and the player that gives it it's tone. Nothing more.


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:13 am
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You have the right to disagree with the whole industry, 90% of the guitarists out there and the laws of physics and electronics...and you might be partially correct in your opinions and experiences...

However, you seem to be wanting all of us to abandon any and all ideas, personal experiences and observations in favor of one video that you still haven't posted the link to (unless I missed something).

If pickups are the only thing that affect tone, how come my guitar will sound different through your amp?
How come your guitar will sound different when I play it?
Why can't I take the (loaded) pickguard off of my Stratocaster, screw it into place on a steel plate with a neck attached, and make it sound just like my Strat?

Better yet, let's take a loaded Strat pickguard and screw it on an acoustic guitar...would it sound like a Strat?

In both scenarios, the answer is no, because all the nuances of body type/material/construction as well as other components and accessories add up to individual guitars sounding different. Yes, a Strat will sound like a Strat (with the same or similar pickups), but those same pickups in a differently constructed guitar will not sound like a Strat.

Why? Because "tone" is a highly subjective and prejudicial thing.

All the little goofy nuances, the different types of wood, and individual components in and of themselves won't make a large difference, but in total/as a whole/in combination with a completely different and unique set of components, those things add up to a "better", "worse" or " different" sounding guitar, even with similar construction techniques and electronics.

By the way, I never said that American made or more expensive or vintage or Custom Shop or (conversely) cheaper is better. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't...that's the cool part about trying as many different axes as we can, in order to find "that one" that suits you better than all others.

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:16 am
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My personal opinion is that this thread needs this....


Last edited by SNick on Fri Nov 01, 2013 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:25 am
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My new tone comes from the pickups in my LTD, It has a feel that most Strats that I have ever played don't, I love this guitar though the active pickups are a bit of a pain to replace the batteries in them, It runs on one 9V DC battery, and it lasts like a year they say but I don't unplug the cable, because I need my guitar to be ready when I want to play, I love playing my guitar and I am not a shredder, I just love to play a bit fast like Hendrix did, but with a different tone, and some of my tone too comes from the holy grail of distortion pedals, the Boss SD-1! it has a great tonal varity that comes from me twiddling the knobs to suit my likings, I have it currently set at volume 4.5 to match the amp, gain 10 and tone 10, and it gives a great boost on the OD of my Vox and Marshall amps, I sound like me no matter what guitar I play, and also half of my tone comes from the EMGs that I bought this guitar with stock, and its been relic'd a few times, and the LTD sustains really well too, even though it wasn't suited for blues and rock, but I MADE it suitable for rock and blues, I bet Hendrix is up there smiling at me for creating my own tone based on his sound, Soon I am getting a Marshall half stack to blast the neighbours out with and if they do move out i'll be the only one on the street with a guitar haha, and also a big part in tone is the fingers, Mine are suited for 80s rock and 50s blues, and some other stuff like 60s blues and rock, I play a good version of Not Fade Away, If I had a band I'd be lucky to even get a gig, but meh I demo gear for Musos Corner sometimes for people that are looking to buy, I've helped them on some occasions but I have really never worked there but I do know a fair bit about buying the right guitar, since I bought one on an occasion, I love this LTD though, my Nana sent it from heaven for me to play, and it has a Floyd Rose god bless her, and also a big part in the tone of your dreams is the EQ, so set your EQ whatever you want, as long as it has boomy bass and good highs it will rock, especially with a wah. I own a wah and it is great, maybe if I had a clavinet I would do some funk on it because I love 70s funk, the clavinet sound is great, I should add one into my band along with Hammond Organ :D so yeah that is what my guitar gives in the tone

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:35 am
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I forgot my all time favorite guitar tone...a Jazzmaster through pretty much any silverface Fender tube amp. I don't see that combination often, either..let alone hear it. Soapbars are heavenly.


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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:17 pm
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I'm not a huge tone seeker. I could care less what part has what effect on tone. All that matters is enjoying playing your guitar.

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:07 pm
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Nathan Brown wrote:
I bet Hendrix is up there smiling at me for creating my own tone based on his sound


That's the quote of the week right there :lol:

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:39 pm
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Nathan Brown wrote:
I bet Hendrix is up there smiling at me for creating my own tone based on his sound

That's...but...did...whaaa?

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Post subject: Re: What gives your guitar it's tone?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:41 pm
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I am just sayin, I get that he's dead but he might be smiling up there for me creating my own sound based on his live tones

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