Which decade had the best guitar tones overall?
- Thread starter Tone Monster
- Start date
Why are the 90s listed? (Or anything beyond that, for that matter)
Aside from Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Megadeth and a handful of others, did anybody even play the guitar in the 90s... especially mainstream pop?
I mean, aside from jackhammer sludge distortion rhythms without any real soloing, one-finger nu-metal barre chords and over delayed jingle-jangle strumming...?
Aside from Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Megadeth and a handful of others, did anybody even play the guitar in the 90s... especially mainstream pop?
I mean, aside from jackhammer sludge distortion rhythms without any real soloing, one-finger nu-metal barre chords and over delayed jingle-jangle strumming...?
Tone Monster
Well-known member
lll":1xcdzk7q said:
It’s on the poll because it was an actual decade of time, and not everyone shares your opinions.
skoora
Well-known member
There's a lot of great tones from the 90's. Just not as much memorable material compared to the 70's and 80's.
Even though I don't care for any of Metallica's 90's music I still give it up that they had a great sound. I do find most of the 90's tones I dig are before '95-'96. After that it seemed to just get thicker and fizzier. From Helmet to Testament to Offspring/ Green Day and the Black Crowes and a slew of Swedish and other European band's. White Zombie and Rob solo had a huge tone then. Lots of good sounds. The more you think back on it the more oh yeah moments pop into your head. If we're talking just tone and not music.
Even though I don't care for any of Metallica's 90's music I still give it up that they had a great sound. I do find most of the 90's tones I dig are before '95-'96. After that it seemed to just get thicker and fizzier. From Helmet to Testament to Offspring/ Green Day and the Black Crowes and a slew of Swedish and other European band's. White Zombie and Rob solo had a huge tone then. Lots of good sounds. The more you think back on it the more oh yeah moments pop into your head. If we're talking just tone and not music.
Mr. Willy
Well-known member
About ‘78 to about ‘93 was THE era for guitar tones, at least in my mind. There was some great tone before that, but I really consider the early 90’s to be the tail end of what was happening in the late 80’s. That said, there seemed to be more variety and individual “personality” in guitar tones of the 80’s. Lynch, Vai, Satch, EVH, hell even the Maiden guys and others like them had more of a distinctive tone. Not necessarily better, just more distinct or personal. If that makes sense.
shredhead7
Active member
The tones that I love the most come from the era that I grew up with, 80's or more specifically, 90-93. With that said, with today's technology, home recording guys get those tones and then some. The production of today is incredible.
mentoneman
Well-known member
there would be no 90s without the 70s
malmsteen was poppin pimples and juggling his swedish meatballs to purple hendrix and vh, and look what that mirror kisser did to spawn a fleet of arpeggiating paga-ninnies. satch and ej were riding the guitar lovewave. then the post nirvana apocalypse rightfully destroyed the warrant/cinderella overtly tranny metal debacle, leaving a very shell-shocked cluster of reputable hard rock torch carriers in their wake. badlands and cry of love were two oasis islands from that era, flotsam in a sea of traumatized sunset strip homos fighting to keep their tears from making their mascara run.
alice and pearl and stp and garden controlled seattle sound. giant/extreme/whitesnake/lynch posted some really good clips but if you wore tight leather pants and had a hint of opera in your vocals----GONG!!!!
my vote for best tone was mike landau tales from the bulge
malmsteen was poppin pimples and juggling his swedish meatballs to purple hendrix and vh, and look what that mirror kisser did to spawn a fleet of arpeggiating paga-ninnies. satch and ej were riding the guitar lovewave. then the post nirvana apocalypse rightfully destroyed the warrant/cinderella overtly tranny metal debacle, leaving a very shell-shocked cluster of reputable hard rock torch carriers in their wake. badlands and cry of love were two oasis islands from that era, flotsam in a sea of traumatized sunset strip homos fighting to keep their tears from making their mascara run.
alice and pearl and stp and garden controlled seattle sound. giant/extreme/whitesnake/lynch posted some really good clips but if you wore tight leather pants and had a hint of opera in your vocals----GONG!!!!
my vote for best tone was mike landau tales from the bulge
Rock Bodom
Active member
Don't blame us 70s guys for the 90s, it wasn't our fault!mentoneman":256ww9lp said:
milkchickenbomb
New member
kunos":eb7vw4ga said:
Exactly this!
skoora
Well-known member
milkchickenbomb":3dcrmz8k said:
Not necessarily. I love a lot of 70's tones because of not just the players and the gear but because of what was used to record them. Amazing analog boards and outboard gear and Analog tape and engineers and producers who knew exactly how to use it. There's lot more to the great vintage tones than getting an old amp and replica pickups in your guitar. Trying to replace actual volume and old speakers, good tubes, real deal PAF/p-90 and SC pickups and then also all the original era gear in the signal chain with plugins and emulations is just not even close.
Rock Bodom
Active member
100% agree with all of that.skoora":2mhw90vr said:
