What is tone?

guitars4you

HAL9000 said:

guitars4you said:

It certainly can't be quantified by any acceptable measurable factor - But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist - We probably all have different expectations of what we are expecting and/or looking for when we try and guitar - Add to that different styles of play and genres of music we like to explore

<snip> 

But it can't be quantified

Surely many of the elements that make up ‘tone’ (such as attack, decay, harmonics, etc) are quantifiable? Otherwise profilers couldn’t exist. That’s not to say that this tone is better than that one, only that different guitars, amps, etc can have distinctive tonalities.

I hear what you say but I tend to talk about the tone that comes from me and my guitar - So effectively before it gets to my jack socket 

BillDL

Therein lies the difference in how people tend to think about "tone" when talking about an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar through an amp.

elstoof

3 pages and no one’s mentioned Jim Lil yet

Philly_Q

elstoof said:

3 pages and no one’s mentioned Jim Lil yet

Has he done a tone-quantifying experiment?  If he has, I'm sure it'll prove whatever it proves, beyond all doubt.

Secret_Sam

Do guitars have distinctive sets of formants, like a human voice?  Maybe that's what we are groping towards? 

On the other hand, somewhere in the internet is a video of Jimi Hendrix playing Hound Dog on an acoustic guitar.

Guess what? He still sounds like Jimi Hendrix.

Sporky

Ah, but that's "tone as phrasing". 

Roland

OilCityPickups said: … a combination of timbre and envelope ...      

That’s the best definition I’ve heard. An instrument has a basic tone, which can be triggered by plucking a string. A mix of different frequencies is present in that note, and each has its decay envelope. Players manipulate this tone through where they pick, how they pick, what they pick with, how they fret the note, vibrato, muting … the list of techniques is long.

What’s a “good” tone? One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

Getting back to the original post: the word”Tone” in any advert is marketing crap.

Kurtis

Sporky said:

Ah, but that's "tone as phrasing". 

I think it's a bit of timbre and a bit of phrasing, or whatever. 

You can say "that player is getting a great tone out of that cheap strat". 

scrumhalf

Secret_Sam said:

Do guitars have distinctive sets of formants, like a human voice?  Maybe that's what we are groping towards? 

On the other hand, somewhere in the internet is a video of Jimi Hendrix playing Hound Dog on an acoustic guitar.

Guess what? He still sounds like Jimi Hendrix.

Would you know it was Hendrix if it was only audio? 

SlopeSoarer

Cheating using AI (ChatGPT)...

Q) Describe tone in relation to a guitar.

A) Tone in relation to a guitar refers to the quality and character of the sound produced by the instrument. It encompasses elements like brightness, warmth, richness, and clarity, influenced by factors such as the type of wood used, the pickups, strings, and the player's technique.

Sporky

Kurtis said:

Sporky said:

Ah, but that's "tone as phrasing". 

I think it's a bit of timbre and a bit of phrasing, or whatever. 

You can say "that player is getting a great tone out of that cheap strat". 

I very much doubt Hendrix on an acoustic has anything in common, timbre-wise, with Hendrix on a Strat with wah and fuzz and a Marshall stack.

pluckbuddy

SlopeSoarer said:

Cheating using AI (ChatGPT)...

Q) Describe tone in relation to a guitar.

A) Tone in relation to a guitar refers to the quality and character of the sound produced by the instrument. It encompasses elements like brightness, warmth, richness, and clarity, influenced by factors such as the type of wood used, the pickups, strings, and the player's technique.

It's a sad and slightly frightening day when AI steps in to answer a subjective question quicker and better than a group of mostly sane and sensible humans. 

I fear for us all. 

OilCityPickups

Secret_Sam said:

Do guitars have distinctive sets of formants, like a human voice?  Maybe that's what we are groping towards? 

On the other hand, somewhere in the internet is a video of Jimi Hendrix playing Hound Dog on an acoustic guitar.

Guess what? He still sounds like Jimi Hendrix.

As did SRV - absolutely 'him'
https://youtu.be/dZzaXDUeaco

stufisher

I always though Tone was the frontman in Spandau Ballet ... yes, it's true!

Boromedic

Lewy said:

…baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more

Quote of the week, still laughing now.....

Kurtis

Sporky said:

Kurtis said:

Sporky said:

Ah, but that's "tone as phrasing". 

I think it's a bit of timbre and a bit of phrasing, or whatever. 

You can say "that player is getting a great tone out of that cheap strat". 

I very much doubt Hendrix on an acoustic has anything in common, timbre-wise, with Hendrix on a Strat with wah and fuzz and a Marshall stack.

No, sorry, I mean with regards to the original question.

As in tone isn't just the "voice" of the guitar. It's the end result of several things. 

guitars4you

pluckbuddy said:

SlopeSoarer said:

Cheating using AI (ChatGPT)...

Q) Describe tone in relation to a guitar.

A) Tone in relation to a guitar refers to the quality and character of the sound produced by the instrument. It encompasses elements like brightness, warmth, richness, and clarity, influenced by factors such as the type of wood used, the pickups, strings, and the player's technique.

It's a sad and slightly frightening day when AI steps in to answer a subjective question quicker and better than a group of mostly sane and sensible humans. 

I fear for us all. 

I’m not sure it has given us a definitive answer - Most of us have already a) implied there isn’t one and b ) most of the AI reply is just a smarter sentence to again what many of us have said 

where it has not given us a definitive answer is when it says ‘it encompasses elements like’ plus ‘ influenced by factors such as ‘ 

So yes it touches on key factors but so had we all along - But IMO there is no definitive scientific test and/ or answer - Only guidelines many of which are subjective 

Kurtis

I don't think there is anything magical or mystical about it, just a lot of variables. 

DrJazzTap

Tone can be used as a word to sell snakeoil like products to the easily led. 
In the same manner as the word performance is used to sell sports gear. 

Kurtis

I think the problem is often that there are many people with money burning a hole in their pocket just wanting to buy something so it's not hard to separate them from it.