Tone is in the Fingers

[Red_Label]

Does this mean there be will a Friedman " Brown-finger" mod in the future?

And a variation on the Dirty Shirley called the "Dirty Sanchez".

 

[Chubtone]

Style is in the fingers, heart and brain. The tone is in the gear. Sure, the fingers can coax certain sounds out of the gear based on how you attack the strings but the TONE is coming from the gear. That's why Les Paul's and strats sound so different. It doesn't matter if the same guy is playing both guitars. He will sound like himself with a strat tone on one and sound like himself with a Les Paul sound on the other.

A lot of this debate was started by Eddie Van Halen's line about Ted Nugent wanting to plug into Eddie's rig back in the day and Eddie said he still sounded like Ted Nugent. Well, no shit. If he plugs into Eddie's gear, his fingers don't immediately download Eddie's style. But I'll bet what they were hearing was Ted Nugent with a different TONE than he normally got with his Fender amps.

I don't understand why this debate happens every three months on the interwebz.

And the main "tone is in the fingers" guys normally have a $40k gear list in their signature with 10 different boutique amps listed. Ironic?

 

[messenger]

I realize tone ISN'T in the fingers but that video shows that ability is WAY more important than gear and that a great player can make crappy gear sing and sound good.

 

[H Golf Sport]

Definition from Webster's

Full Definition of TONE

1
: vocal or musical sound of a specific quality <spoke in low tones> <masculine tones>; especially : musical sound with respect to timbre and manner of expression
2
a : a sound of definite pitch and vibration
b : whole step
3
: accent or inflection expressive of a mood or emotion
4
: the pitch of a word often used to express differences of meaning
5
: a particular pitch or change of pitch constituting an element in the intonation of a phrase or sentence <high tone> <low tone> <mid tone> <low-rising tone> <falling tone>
6
: style or manner of expression in speaking or writing <seemed wise to adopt a conciliatory tone>
7
a (1) : color quality or value (2) : a tint or shade of color
b : the color that appreciably modifies a hue or white or black <gray walls of greenish tone>
8
: the effect in painting of light and shade together with color
9
a : the state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor
b : normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli; specifically : muscular tonus
10
a : healthy elasticity : resiliency
b : general character, quality, or trend <a city's upbeat tone>
c : frame of mind : mood


You guys are arguing over semanitcs.
Some are going to say tone is physical waveform produced by signal chain no matter who plays it.
Others will argue that the player and his technique/ touch are the most significant part of this chain.
Never the two shall meet.

 

[Red_Label]

Style is in the fingers, heart and brain. The tone is in the gear. Sure, the fingers can coax certain sounds out of the gear based on how you attack the strings but the TONE is coming from the gear. That's why Les Paul's and strats sound so different. It doesn't matter if the same guy is playing both guitars. He will sound like himself with a strat tone on one and sound like himself with a Les Paul sound on the other.

A lot of this debate was started by Eddie Van Halen's line about Ted Nugent wanting to plug into Eddie's rig back in the day and Eddie said he still sounded like Ted Nugent. Well, no shit. If he plugs into Eddie's gear, his fingers don't immediately download Eddie's style. But I'll bet what they were hearing was Ted Nugent with a different TONE than he normally got with his Fender amps.

I don't understand why this debate happens every three months on the interwebz.

And the main "tone is in the fingers" guys normally have a $40k gear list in their signature with 10 different boutique amps listed. Ironic?

I stopped listing gear in my sig pretty much immediately upon doing it for the first time many years ago in a different forum. Seemed pretty desperate to me. I don't really give a shit what my gear-based forum cred rating is.

At any rate... in my own case, the definition of "tone" gets intermingled with "style" many times and when I read about someone's "tone" being a certain way, I'm auto-filling "style" in there as well. I don't get as anal about hyper-analyzing someone's tonal curve and characteristics as I do just about soaking-in their entire vibe/schtick/essence/whatever. Because someone can study someone's tone chain with a microscope and have Eric Johnson ears, but if they don't do the same with their touch, inflections, nuances, etc in the player's phrasing, then no one will accuse them of being a good clone of said player. And after all, when someone's trying to cop say early EVH tone... part of that chase includes the way that Ed did things outside of manipulating his gear (whether they realize it or not). Anyways... this discussion has always gone around in circles anyways.

I always think of the "Blessed are the cheesemakers" scene in Monty Python's "Life of Brian" when the big, never-ending internet discussions go on.

 

[Red_Label]

Definition from Webster's

[snip]

You guys are arguing over semanitcs.
Some are going to say tone is physical waveform produced by signal chain no matter who plays it.
Others will argue that the player and his technique/ touch are the most significant part of this chain.
Never the two shall meet.

There ya go. What he said!

 

[amiller]

This has always been a simple argument for me. Here's a little test you can do. Turn the bass and mids all the way down and the treble all the way up on your amp. Now, record me some of that great tone that comes out your fingers...

 

[DannyM]

So its in the fingers I could theoretically kidnap a guitar god, chop his hands off and have them transplanted on to me and I'd have his tone!

 

[Mailman1971]

Well.......after a struggle....I got em.
EVH's Fingers.
That fucker can take a punch!
Now just gonna have em sewn on my hand and you guys watch out!!

 

[Rexxyboy]

Nuno had a cool thing to say about this in his rig run-down video.
I've URL'd this to play from the relevant comment so it will take an extra few seconds to load.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1duw7XVnOMU#t=4m48s

 

[chunktone]

No.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Tone is in the FAB pedal.

 

[voodooradio1]

Take a listen starting at 1:01. He lifted that lick from the ' Rockford Files" theme song. There was always something familiar about that riff, but I didn't realize until just now. Satch is an awesome player, but nothing about his tone really moves me.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Tone is in the DUMBLE.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

The majority does come from the player, his pick attack, technique, heart, soul and general playing style. I sound the same regardless of what amp I use whether it be a high end or cheap practice amp.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

That video shows how kickass Satriani is and how well he writes an instrumental song. Seeing as tone is not only considered the actual sound of the gear but the attack and phrasing of a player, I would say there is no real answer to the "tone is in the fingers" debate. The right picking hand and timing of the player are too often overlooked in my opinion. That is a big part in making people sound like who they are.

As for SAtch's tone, I don't find it shit at all. Sounded good enough in the clip above on cheap gear as it does when he plays Marshalls now. Is it my favourite tone ever? Nope, but it certainly pisses all over Vai's tone and everybody blows their load over him here so tone is an endless debate that never ends...like the never ending story... without that flying sock dragon or whatever the hell that thing was.

 

[chunktone]

Style is in the fingers, heart and brain. The tone is in the gear. Sure, the fingers can coax certain sounds out of the gear based on how you attack the strings but the TONE is coming from the gear. That's why Les Paul's and strats sound so different. It doesn't matter if the same guy is playing both guitars. He will sound like himself with a strat tone on one and sound like himself with a Les Paul sound on the other.

A lot of this debate was started by Eddie Van Halen's line about Ted Nugent wanting to plug into Eddie's rig back in the day and Eddie said he still sounded like Ted Nugent. Well, no shit. If he plugs into Eddie's gear, his fingers don't immediately download Eddie's style. But I'll bet what they were hearing was Ted Nugent with a different TONE than he normally got with his Fender amps.

I don't understand why this debate happens every three months on the interwebz.

And the main "tone is in the fingers" guys normally have a $40k gear list in their signature with 10 different boutique amps listed. Ironic?

Here here! You're right! If tone were in the fingers, you should be able to record a guitar track direct, then re-amp it through ANY amp, and have the exact same end result, ie tone.

 

['63-Strat]

Style, tone, w/e. Only on forums do guys argue it's not in the fingers. Every single pro I've ever met says the same and for good reason. The gear side of it is easy to achieve the playing side is not. Carry on.

 

[Dingleberries]

I don't care wtf he plays through, I still love his vibrato and attack

 

[Red_Label]

Here here! You're right! If tone were in the fingers, you should be able to record a guitar track direct, then re-amp it through ANY amp, and have the exact same end result, ie tone.

Conversely, if you plug Mark Knopfler into a Strat plugged into a Marshall and record him playing a lick... then have Yngwie sit down with the same gear and record the same lick... the timbre should sound the same. But it won't. You can even put a pick in Knopfler's hands and make him play that way. Still won't be exactly the same. Because pick-attack, how the right-hand thumb hits the string after the pick, etc all DO in fact play a roll in the TONE that gets generated.