As you have gotten older, has your tone and amps changed?

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Add me to the more mids club. I just dig a creamy tone for leads.
 
Not to sound arrogant but I think I've been dialing in good tones going back to the mid 80's...I was fortunate enough to hang with more experienced players than myself who immediately showed me that the big "smile" that I had on my graphic EQ was not helping me out. I learned early on the less gain and more mids were my friend when it came to delivering a tight sound that sat well in a mix. I've had the same basic sound for 25 years with tweaks here and there along the way.

My most recent amp changes have been mostly about portability. Now that I'm 41, I find load in/out a lot more taxing than I did in my 20's and 30's. I have a hard time imagining lugging my 85lb Matchless down the stairs into a basement club these days. My 4 space Axe-FX rack and FBT 12" powered monitor are much easier on these old bones, plus I can dial up just about any tone that I could get out of my amp collection.
 
MichaelG":mlmknf8u said:
Oh, absolutely!

I used to be a real treble monger and now I back the treble off quite a bit from where it used to be. I also use more gain now, but I'm not happy unless the gain structure is very clear and well articulated and has the mids that I like. Typically this involves a boost pedal of some sort.

Being able to afford some nice gear now has also gotten me closer to the tone in my head. These days I also find that I prefer the sound of my mahogany guitars over the alder guitars. I've also discovered that a walnut bodied guitar gives me a VERY satisfying tone!
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I too was a "treble monger".. No more! Deizel Vh4 cured most of my issues. Still love a lot of gain but, heavy and clear is what I like now.. vs grainy and piercing
Why did I ever like that much treble?
 
Marshall Law":3pvzrrhm said:
this is very true, as you are maturing as a player, where you use to hide behind distortion, you find you are listening to different textures and nuances of your playing, everyone will go through this, not that you won't want to rock out now and again, you will :doh: but the older you get, the more your pre amp or gain pot goes counter clockwise. plus you will want to start playing strats (single coil PU's) :lol: :LOL: it's true, I can't prove it to you, just wait, you will prove it to yourself :lol: :LOL:
remember LESS IS MORE :thumbsup:
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This is pretty much where I am at, craving a Strat as well.
 
I wouldn't say my tone has changed, I've just added more tones that I like. I used to be into two tones: Classic VH and Lynch ULAK. Now I like tons of different tones and indulge in creating all of them...

Steve
 
My tone has just become more refined due to better gear & being a better player. Less gain & more mids definatly! and many many more amps/cabinets/guitars to tinker with! :D
 
Things have changed quite a bit. Also more mids, and no more racks and 4x12 stuff. Its simple these days, a 50W combo and very few pedals. The older I get the more "classic" I like my sound.
 
amps changed. tones did too but not a great deal. Eq and gainwise I think I've always favored balanced and not too gainy tone. So as my amps changed, gain levels and eq remained similar while the "quality" of tone increased (imo). I've moved to much more defined amps in the hopes that my playing and little nuances come through. I like amps and tones that doesn't make you go "oh ok that's metal that's country thats rock"

My amp and tone is a blank canvas. It's up to me to paint it with my tunes and my playing style :D
 
A lot of the elements that I started out with remain but have become much more refined. I still play very high gain but the gain I look for now is much less saturated or is the combo of blending a cleaner sound with a heavily distorted sound to get the right amount of articulation and note separation I'm after.

Tonally, I always have and probably always will dislike a lot of midrange. Most of my favorite recorded and live tones don't have a lot of mids going on. It doesn't help that I don't like the frequency area of most midrange controls on amps too. That's one of the reasons I dig Mesas. And the reason I've used an external EQ in some form for the past nine years.

One place I've changed is high output pickups. I don't really care to use them anymore because I'm having much better results using low to mid output PUPs and letting the amp do more work.
 
I agree with the treble remark, I use to love a very sharp tone I used to love playing all my leads with palm muting as at the time it to me that was the only way to get a thick lead tone while still having a sharp bright tone.
Also i was obsessed with tighting the low end as much as possible.

Thats all changed though ha, I like a very open big sounding tone and of course alot less gain, I think the only tone that i can think of that sounds relatively simliar is chris poland's tone with ohm.
 
Less Gain for me. Also, I can afford better gear these days.
 
I'm still using the same Boogie .50 Cal+ head since 1991. It's the amp I'll never sell. That said, I've bought and sold probably 25 amps since 1995. I like high gain amps a lot, and I always go back to my .50 Cal+. As far as my tone changing, I now use less bass and more midrange...go figure right?
 
GRK":2rk7y5cp said:
amps changed. tones did too but not a great deal. Eq and gainwise I think I've always favored balanced and not too gainy tone. So as my amps changed, gain levels and eq remained similar while the "quality" of tone increased (imo). I've moved to much more defined amps in the hopes that my playing and little nuances come through. I like amps and tones that doesn't make you go "oh ok that's metal that's country thats rock"

My amp and tone is a blank canvas. It's up to me to paint it with my tunes and my playing style :D
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Thats a great way to put it :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
Beyond Black":ocst24vr said:
My eq used to smile at me. :D Now it's frowning :(
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Same here. I don't put the treble/presence over noon anymore. and the bass stays usualy around 10-11 o'clock. I use far less gain than before, BUT it's still high gain. I used to max it out.

I still never use any overdrive pedal.
I went from fixed bridge to Floyd and never gonna go back !!
 
I guess a little more mids.
Still high Gain.
But what was HIGH GAIN when I was 18 isnt the same HIGH GAIN that is out there today! :yes:
I have a Modded JCM 800 for that CLASSIC old 'high gain' tone of the 80's and a ENGL Fireball 100 for that NEW high gain.
Love them amps!! :rock:
 
I'm the same as most of you, still enjoy high gain but really like medium output, PAF style pickups into older Fenders and Marshall's, or derivetives of those. Well I always liked that I guess. I always liked a heavy sound that had mids. One instance where the less gain evolution has hurt is AC/DC. My favorite band of all time and their sound has gotten too clean in the last 10 years. Anytime I see recent footage of them live their guitars just don't have the meat anymore. Too much jangle and not enough growl and punch. Especially when they play Back In Black.
 
I agree on the AC/DC being cleaner these days.
Was listening to Satellite Blues and it was really "jangly"
sounded good....but didnt have that bite.
Listened to 'Shake a Leg'........ off Back in Black album....WOW! :thumbsup:
What PUNCH in that tone!!! :rock:
 
sorry i didn't see this thread earlier.. but i've been busier than a one armed wallpaper hanger the last couple of weeks.
it hasn't changed a whole bunch as i've gotten older. i still like a nice warm.. punchy tone with a bit of crunch to it.. like a plexi.
what has changed is that i've found other tones that i like as well as a stock crunch tone.. and i've been more open to experimenting with what i have in my collection. now.. if i'd spend more time playing and less time experimenting i might be on to something. :D
 
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