Tone..who gets it. who doesn't?

[frenchie]

I can't even remember why I stumped for that one, cause I remember thinking at the time that I didn't like it a whole lot, 'cause I sounded like an idiot.

well at least you KNEW you sounded like an idiot .....which for me is the first step to good playing skills as you can self correct your "sloppy" technique .....some seem to don't even know they make any rig sound like shit whatever the tune , and persevere in sounding like shit with joyfull self contemptment , and even if you tell them with carefull diplomacy they make YOU sound like an idiot ....those really are the worse ..had a band with a guy like that ...absolutely horrific afternoons , but this band had the only drummer with a local to play miles around so i was kinda forced .... and here i'm not even talking about his 100 euros strat copy wired with the scratchiest pots and jack plugs ever plugged into an out of age solid state amp ..a nightmare ...thank god it's over now

[planetjimi]

It all comes down to the persons abilty to hear and interpret what his ears are hearing. I hear clips of some people that think they are playing a van halen riff the right way and thier tone is crap too. It's no coincidence that the people on this forum who have the best tones are ALSO some of the best players. Just as Eddie would have gotten his tone with or without that magic marshall.

[amp boy]

this all also coincides (big word of the day for me )........with bands playing live.
When it's so loud and all is blended to mush.........absolutely no dynamics.
You'll know when you hear it done right AND WHEN NOT.
I can enjoy a tonful sound.....even if it's not something i'm really into, but when it's shit panning from one wall to the other.......i get sick from bad audio mixing....it's just a damn shame,
and it hurts when you paid to be at there.

[NY Chief]

I don't want to sound like an elder statesman (guess I am though... ) but a lot of "kids" I hear playing nowadays sound like ass and don't even know it. Is it a product of MP3 compression and modeling? I had no idea about tone when I was 16 but there was an older guy on the block that had "that sound" that my buddies and I couldn't get out of our Kustom Kasino (solid state I think) and Yamaha combo's (def solid state). When one guy got a fuzz box it was like "WOW" THAT sounds great but it still didn't have "that sound" that Tommy had. I was lucky enough to find a older teacher who knew. He let me play out of his "hot wired" (one wire mod??) Bassman head and the rest of my life became the eternal search for good tone. I have tried to do the same for younger players but they usually don't get it. And when I play with a new guy and his tone sucks (a lawyer with a Mesa comes to mind....) I say "hey try my amp and tell me what you think"... nuttin. Thing with this guy is he should know better. He grew up with Peter Green and Clapton. He is a big Santana fan though....

[demonufo]

He is a big Santana fan though....

[Roe]

when the drummer or singer starts to comment on my tone I assume that something must be very noticeable.

[Mars Hall]

Another thing to consider is every players touch is different. My buddy Jim (Jbzoso2002) tells me, "You've got more 'mids' in in your fingers than I do". I must attack or finger the strings in a different way than he does. This is while playing on his rig the way he sets it up, sounds different with different players.

[TheDarkness]

I've never understood how its so hard for most people to understand what good tone is. Full and organic sounds with proper equalization. Its just listening to me! However I've also wondered since I was a little kid why music was so easy for me to understand while others would struggle. When I was taking piano lessons at 6 years old I would never practice just listen to what my teacher played and I could nail it. My partner would struggle with the notes and could never produce the feel that I did. I think its the gift of music, some have it and others have to work hard just to get even close. My father was a musician and I was brought up with music my whole life, its never been something hard to understand or feel. When I hear good tone and playing I get goosebumps and can really feel the music. Thats how people who feel the music react. Imagine how Einstein felt when he was alive, he could understand things that most people could not comprehend. He probly shared a bond with other scientists because they were people on a similar level to him. I share a bond between other musicians because they understand what I understand. Its hard to explain guys!

[frenchie]

Imagine how Einstein felt when he was alive, he could understand things that most people could not comprehend. He probly shared a bond with other scientists because they were people on a similar level to him.

well einstein surely had kind of a bond with hermann minkowski , but if i remeber well a bunch of other "top class" scientist didn't hide for laughing at him in the beginning...sometimes jealousy takes a big role in the shape of some critics , you have to know it , the same phenomenon applies in music at times ; like when the other guitarist of the band tells you to down your volume just when you're having a giant ball playing and a smile appears on the drummer's face just before the sucker talks you bullshit to break your impulse and deconcentrate ...but the "too much volume" one hour after you started to play and without touching the volume knob one single time ....well with an ape like drummer it's psychoacoustics to me