Tone is in: The strings The pickup(s) The volume and/or tone knob(s) The cable(s) The pedal(s) The amp/capture The speaker(s)/cabinet(s) The atmosphere The ear(s) The brain(s) The short and/or long-term memories
To me, tone is def pickups and speakers. Hands is style and capability. I don't have a vibrato like Zakk W. but I can get the tone with a Paul and Marshall. Just swap out a single coil for a Hummer and see is your tone doesn't change. Some advice for new players, when shopping for a new guitar, play through YOUR amp when shopping. If you have a Fender X at home, plug into that Fender X at the shop. I cant tell you how many people regret their purchaes when they get home and plug into a different amp when they get home. When I purchase a guitar, I never plug in. Play unplug to get the feel first. I can alwasy change tone with pickups and or amp/speakers.
I’ve got about $2000 into my fender tele. I still prefer my 90s squier strat with the George lynch screamin demon and sperzel locking tuners. Only $300 into my strat.
I have made multiple Tele partcaster projects and Warmoth builds over the years. Good pickups do make an afforable guitar sound great. Those same pickups on a higher quality build have more depth and less stiffness. Now, if i had to start from zero with an affordable guitar, I would invest first in a custom neck to suit my hand size and style. Guitar pickups second. Hardware third. Body fourth.
In all this talk about tone hardly anyone talks about the amp being used. The amp and speakers are the final crucial step in the process of generating a sound. How the guitar and amp is EQ'ed is also an important factor. In my estimation it all matters, the hands strings, pickups, wood, scale length, bridge, amp ,speakers and lastly whether a pick or fingers are used. It is just a question of degrees.
I used to have a 40th Anniversary Squier Strat and the pickups in that sounded like Stacked humbuckers but they weren't so yeah guessing they were overwound? As usually in my experience Squiers dont sound good
If you play every Metallica album from beginning to end, I don't think James Hetfields PLAYING changes much, since he always had his picking technique down to a tee. But not a single Metallica album has the same TONE. That changes based on amp, cab and studio variables. Every Metallica album has different tone. Tone = gear Playing style = hands When people say they "recognize X guitarist" they talk about the way they play.
If the guitar has good sustain and no dead spots, you can achieve a lot with good pickups. But you can't put great pu's in a bad guitar and expect good results. I did put Kloppmann pu's in a Harley Benton SC 550 -> great results. But the guitar was already good.
What about buying old el-cheapo import guitars from the sixties, say from Japan to swipe the pups out of?. That's been a thing for ages but with the prices of old Teisco's it's become more boutique builders making copies of gold-foils and the like, Curtis Novak is one such great builder.
Most of the tone talk on the internet is just splitting hairs over the smallest difference. We tend to hear with our eyes, ever since I started taking blind tests I lost interest in this topic. It was actually liberating
Brand name may be a placebo effect... many guitar players hear with their eyes.......if they know the specs of a guitar they think it is great when they see a name they recognize. one of the best sets of strat pickups I have is a 20 buck set off of amazon.
Also its not 100% correct to say the pickups make the sound as if the bridge is cheap the sustain wont last , like if you get a cheap Les Paul copy and you dont have a good quality bridge it wont sound right and Joe Bonamassa proves that as he wraps the bottom end of the strings around the tail piece and it makes a good difference to the tone and especially in a strat the trem block adds sustain and also SRV used 13 gauge strings and you know the string gauge makes a big difference so my point is there's no 1 factor in determining tone in an Electric guitar , the pickups are around 80% of the tone but String gauge and bridge and trem type make a difference too .
Tone… is where the ❤️ is.
Tone is in:
The strings
The pickup(s)
The volume and/or tone knob(s)
The cable(s)
The pedal(s)
The amp/capture
The speaker(s)/cabinet(s)
The atmosphere
The ear(s)
The brain(s)
The short and/or long-term memories
To me, tone is def pickups and speakers. Hands is style and capability. I don't have a vibrato like Zakk W. but I can get the tone with a Paul and Marshall. Just swap out a single coil for a Hummer and see is your tone doesn't change. Some advice for new players, when shopping for a new guitar, play through YOUR amp when shopping. If you have a Fender X at home, plug into that Fender X at the shop. I cant tell you how many people regret their purchaes when they get home and plug into a different amp when they get home. When I purchase a guitar, I never plug in. Play unplug to get the feel first. I can alwasy change tone with pickups and or amp/speakers.
Yes it is, and in the cable, pedals and amp, and maybe, last, in a tiny fraction, in the wood under the paint
Well said!
I’ve got about $2000 into my fender tele. I still prefer my 90s squier strat with the George lynch screamin demon and sperzel locking tuners. Only $300 into my strat.
Dont let you fool guys ! Tone is in the coffee ❤ great vid as always 😂
Long ago, I wanted to electrify an acoustic guitar. I tested mounting a Strat Pickup in the soundhole. Guess what it sounded like - A Strat!
I have made multiple Tele partcaster projects and Warmoth builds over the years. Good pickups do make an afforable guitar sound great. Those same pickups on a higher quality build have more depth and less stiffness.
Now, if i had to start from zero with an affordable guitar, I would invest first in a custom neck to suit my hand size and style. Guitar pickups second. Hardware third. Body fourth.
Sitting here with my Paula. Just installed a 20 Euro pickup😊
I always say a lot is between the ears. The quest for tone is ongoing proces for many.
In all this talk about tone hardly anyone talks about the amp being used. The amp and speakers are the final crucial step in the process of generating a sound. How the guitar and amp is EQ'ed is also an important factor. In my estimation it all matters, the hands strings, pickups, wood, scale length, bridge, amp ,speakers and lastly whether a pick or fingers are used. It is just a question of degrees.
Totally agree.
I bought a MiM Roland Ready Strat back in '03 and finally put in a set of Fralin Hot 50's pickups and WOW what a difference!
Killer solo!
I used to have a 40th Anniversary Squier Strat and the pickups in that sounded like Stacked humbuckers but they weren't so yeah guessing they were overwound? As usually in my experience Squiers dont sound good
If you play every Metallica album from beginning to end, I don't think James Hetfields PLAYING changes much, since he always had his picking technique down to a tee.
But not a single Metallica album has the same TONE. That changes based on amp, cab and studio variables. Every Metallica album has different tone.
Tone = gear
Playing style = hands
When people say they "recognize X guitarist" they talk about the way they play.
If the guitar has good sustain and no dead spots, you can achieve a lot with good pickups. But you can't put great pu's in a bad guitar and expect good results.
I did put Kloppmann pu's in a Harley Benton SC 550 -> great results. But the guitar was already good.
What about buying old el-cheapo import guitars from the sixties, say from Japan to swipe the pups out of?.
That's been a thing for ages but with the prices of old Teisco's it's become more boutique builders making copies of gold-foils and the like, Curtis Novak is one such great builder.
Most of the tone talk on the internet is just splitting hairs over the smallest difference. We tend to hear with our eyes, ever since I started taking blind tests I lost interest in this topic. It was actually liberating
Brand name may be a placebo effect... many guitar players hear with their eyes.......if they know the specs of a guitar they think it is great when they see a name they recognize. one of the best sets of strat pickups I have is a 20 buck set off of amazon.
I thought it was in the hands. Goes to show how much I know.
HAHAH
First
Also its not 100% correct to say the pickups make the sound as if the bridge is cheap the sustain wont last , like if you get a cheap Les Paul copy and you dont have a good quality bridge it wont sound right and Joe Bonamassa proves that as he wraps the bottom end of the strings around the tail piece and it makes a good difference to the tone and especially in a strat the trem block adds sustain and also SRV used 13 gauge strings and you know the string gauge makes a big difference so my point is there's no 1 factor in determining tone in an Electric guitar , the pickups are around 80% of the tone but String gauge and bridge and trem type make a difference too .