How much does the guitar you use influency your sound

timmysoft

I'm a big believer in the actual guitar is the core of your tone rather than your amp and effects, its why i hate amps like 6505's and Blackstar s1's because they make guitars sound very samey. I also get the same feel with EMG active pickups, they just seem to standardise a guitar to a certain sound, thats great if you want that generic and neutral sound but i like to hear the guitar itself.

I've grown up playing strats mostly, i've owned probably 10 Mex or Jap ones and 5 or 6 USA models, so i find i always play my best and most comfortably on a Strat. I really struggle with SG;s despite the fact i love the way they sound and look but they just dont fit with me and my style.

I've always been very careful in choosing amps and fx to compliment the guitar rather than the other way round, i think if you get the guitar right the amp should just add that bit more of your flavour.

drwiddly

I think we all get a bit spoilt with multiple guitars, digital modellers, playing field sized pedal boards and multi channel amps. Try doing a gig with just a couple of guitars (always carry a spare) and either a single channel amp or just using one channel of a multi. No pedals just the guitar's volume control to switch from clean to overdrive.

I got this the hard way at a festival a few years back. The power was provided by generators and my multi fx wouldn't work properly. I had a three channel amp but hadn't brought my spare foot switch. After the initial panic it was liberating to get back to basics.

Dave_Mc

A fair bit. I prefer to use the right tool for the job.

At the same time you can sometimes over-exaggerate their differences as well and claim that things won't work at all for something when in reality they just don't do it quite as well.

Lew

mmmmm I might get a pasting for saying this but I think it depends how far down your own path you are.

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

A fair bit. I prefer to use the right tool for the job.

At the same time you can sometimes over-exaggerate their differences as well and claim that things won't work at all for something when in reality they just don't do it quite as well.

Totally agree. I spent years refining my live rig to the point I was completely happy with it - guitar, pickups, strings, cables, pedals, amp, speakers - and I felt that each little bit I got right made my sound that little bit better and more in tune with what I was trying to do with it.

And then I went and played the same songs through a borrowed amp sometimes when we were sharing equipment, and sometimes on a whim I would take a different guitar if the colour of it suited the gig I was playing better (no I'm not kidding ) and it really sounded just the same. I could tell it was different, and maybe even some of the people out front could too, but it was still the same really… in that it didn't affect the way the music was presented, if you see what I mean .

koneguitarist

I think that after a certain amount of time playing and gigging, you find the gear matters less, as you are able to get the sounds you want, with various styles of equipment.

dogload

ICBM said:

And then I went and played the same songs through a borrowed amp ... and it really sounded just the same. I could tell it was different, and maybe even some of the people out front could too, but it was still the same really… in that it didn't affect the way the music was presented, if you see what I mean .

It's all in the fingers. lol. But I agree- I find that I sound like me, no matter what gear I use. Which is a bit annoying, having spent years trying to sound like other people.

OilCityPickups

I really only feel 'in the part' playing with the new rockabilly band using a big-old semi. True a Tele ... or for that matter any of my guitars would produce the right notes ... but there's something to be said for the psychological advantage of going armed for the job. As soon as soon as we start gigging the 'look' will be as important as anything else of course: upright bass, greased back hair ... and day-glo superstrats? The audience would wet themselves ...

mike_l

TheGuitarWeasel said:

... and day-glo superstrats? The audience would wet themselves ...

Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?

bertie

at the end of the day,  no matter what you 'believe' is in your fingers -  a  10lb mahogany guitar with two high output HBs  wont sound anything like a SSS strat  -- sure you can fuck about all day with  the volume and EQ and get an acceptable sound out of just one,  but if you have three guitars in your armoury, whats the point ?    use them to the max of what they excel at - thats the point of having different types isnt it ?

RocknRollDave

bertie said:

at the end of the day,  no matter what you 'believe' is in your fingers -  a  10lb mahogany guitar with two high output HBs  wont sound anything like a SSS strat  -- sure you can fuck about all day with  the volume and EQ and get an acceptable sound out of just one,  but if you have three guitars in your armoury, whats the point ?    use them to the max of what they excel at - thats the point of having different types isnt it ?

Quite.

Have a wisdom.

ThePrettyDamned

bertie said:

at the end of the day,  no matter what you 'believe' is in your fingers -  a  10lb mahogany guitar with two high output HBs  wont sound anything like a SSS strat  -- sure you can fuck about all day with  the volume and EQ and get an acceptable sound out of just one,  but if you have three guitars in your armoury, whats the point ?    use them to the max of what they excel at - thats the point of having different types isnt it ?

This is fundamentally why, so long as I live, there will be a market for:

Strats

Teles

Jags

Jazzmasters

PRS Customs

PRS Singlecuts

ESP Superstrats

Anything with the word 'Jackson' on the headstock

And Jooky.

ESchap

ThePrettyDamned said:

bertie said:

at the end of the day,  no matter what you 'believe' is in your fingers -  a  10lb mahogany guitar with two high output HBs  wont sound anything like a SSS strat  -- sure you can fuck about all day with  the volume and EQ and get an acceptable sound out of just one,  but if you have three guitars in your armoury, whats the point ?    use them to the max of what they excel at - thats the point of having different types isnt it ?

This is fundamentally why, so long as I live, there will be a market for:

Strats

Teles

Jags

Jazzmasters

PRS Customs

PRS Singlecuts

ESP Superstrats

Anything with the word 'Jackson' on the headstock

And Jooky.

 

And that, Gentlemen, is why we all have justifiable GAS ..... B-)

jaygtr

bertie;154271" said:

at the end of the day,  no matter what you 'believe' is in your fingers -  a  10lb mahogany guitar with two high output HBs  wont sound anything like a SSS strat  -- sure you can fuck about all day with  the volume and EQ and get an acceptable sound out of just one,  but if you have three guitars in your armoury, whats the point ?    use them to the max of what they excel at - thats the point of having different types isnt it ?

This reminds me of the old Brian May/ "crazy little thing called love" story.

He had spent ages trying to get his red wotsit to sound like a tele for the song and was suggesting a few more tweeks to get it closer, when someone replied


" Brian why don't you just use a tele...."

OilCityPickups

mike_l said:

TheGuitarWeasel said:

... and day-glo superstrats? The audience would wet themselves ...

Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?

Personally the smell of urine don't jingle my bells ....

mike_l

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?

Personally the smell of urine don't jingle my bells ....

But seeing adult who've just lost control is funny. Especially when it's someone else.....

 

 

 

Yes I have an evil streak.....

ESchap

How the hell did this thread end up discussing incontinence / water sports! :-S

mike_l

And back on subject......

Personally I struggle to play thrash properly on anything other than my ESP. Non-thrash metal/heavy rock/rock is the domain of the Jackson/Ibanez and Charvel. And the Strat for Stratty stuff (eg Floyd etc)

drwiddly

I'm just loving the idea of a rockabilly band with dayglo superstrats - could be my next project ;-)

OilCityPickups

Dayglo Gretsch maybe ...
anything with a 'nail on combine harvester' (Floyd Rose) is too damn fussy ...