Tone is in the Fingers

[messenger]

 

[thiswaythatway]

Tone is in the fingers eh...........but when Billy Gibbons plugged into a Rockman for most of the 80's it sounded like....he was plugged into a Rockman. His fingers couldn't disguise that sound.

 

[messenger]

Who's Billy Gibbons??

 

[Racerxrated]

Oh no....here we go again.......lol. Cmon....guitar, amp, speaker, pickups, and of course fingers. All EQUALLY important!!

 

[Heritage Softail]

In an acoustic jam session of equal instruments for players

Yeah....

My imbuya cabinet old MKIIC. The tone is in that little beast.

And the Suhr Modern sounds better than the LTD latest Hammet clone.

But yeah, you do have to play it.

Or give out free beer so it all sounds better

 

[sytharnia1560]

funny thats the best tone I've heard joe have

 

[rottingcorpse]

What if you are a slide player who uses those metal fingernail picks?
Is Tony Iommi's plastic fingertip his "secret sauce"?
How about Murderface's bass solo?

 

[Red_Label]

Oh no....here we go again.......lol. Cmon....guitar, amp, speaker, pickups, and of course fingers. All EQUALLY important!!

Nah... Brain/ears/fingers > mechanical devices. I'm as big of a gear/tone slut as anyone. But the greats sound mostly like themselves no matter they're plugged-into. They dial-in the tone on whatever gear they're plugged-into, to match what they want to hear in their head as best they can... and then they give the mix their signature phrasing which is how we know who they are. Neal Schon played Yngwie's rig in the Hearing Aid sessions... but he didn't sound like Yngwie. And Neal's been as big of a gear whore as anyone over the years... but you still always know it's him playing -- no matter what he's plugged-into.

But I get what you're saying. It's all important. I just submit that the player is in reality 90+ % of the equation.

BTW... I've been through just about everything over the past 10 years... but I'll be damned if I can escape ALWAYS sounding like ME! Whether I'm plugged into a Bogner, Friedman, Engl, Splawn... or my Fender Twin. Yup... ME again! It's all like a mirror with changing tints. Dammit!

 

[jammin1]

The tone has left these fingers!

 

[DannyM]

Ever ask a kid to pull your finger? Did tone come out or did a fart come out?

 

[Red_Label]

The tone has left these fingers!

That was brutal! And my favorite part was the "crowd" cheering.

I played a medley of Yngwie's "Black Star" and "Icarus Dream Suite" for my senior high school talent show. I'm SURE that I'd cringe if I had to witness a video of it now (almost 30 years later). But dayummm... it'd HAVE to be better than that. My math teacher went from being cold and disinterested to my best buddy after that show.

 

[Red_Label]

Ever ask a kid to pull your finger? Did tone come out or did a fart come out?

How about a very toneful-fart? My boutique farts have got some serious mojo in 'em. I modeled the circuit on some of Dumble and Cameron's work. Still smells like sh#t though...

 

[LLEADD]

Oh no....here we go again.......lol. Cmon....guitar, amp, speaker, pickups, and of course fingers. All EQUALLY important!!

Nah... Brain/ears/fingers > mechanical devices. I'm as big of a gear/tone slut as anyone. But the greats sound mostly like themselves no matter they're plugged-into. They dial-in the tone on whatever gear they're plugged-into, to match what they want to hear in their head as best they can... and then they give the mix their signature phrasing which is how we know who they are. Neal Schon played Yngwie's rig in the Hearing Aid sessions... but he didn't sound like Yngwie. And Neal's been as big of a gear whore as anyone over the years... but you still always know it's him playing -- no matter what he's plugged-into.

But I get what you're saying. It's all important. I just submit that the player is in reality 90+ % of the equation.

BTW... I've been through just about everything over the past 10 years... but I'll be damned if I can escape ALWAYS sounding like ME! Whether I'm plugged into a Bogner, Friedman, Engl, Splawn... or my Fender Twin. Yup... ME again! It's all like a mirror with changing tints. Dammit!

Wherever you go, there you are.

 

[Red_Label]

Wherever you go, there you are.

It's like a black hole... NO ESCAPE!

 

[Mailman1971]

Ever ask a kid to pull your finger? Did tone come out or did a fart come out?

How about a very toneful-fart? My boutique farts have got some serious mojo in 'em. I modeled the circuit on some of Dumble and Cameron's work. Still smells like sh#t though...

When I eat Italian food...my farts are there import. Worth much more.

 

[Mailman1971]

The tone has left these fingers!

THat kid is now the local hero of the whole school district and known as a guitar god.

 

[Red_Label]

Ever ask a kid to pull your finger? Did tone come out or did a fart come out?

How about a very toneful-fart? My boutique farts have got some serious mojo in 'em. I modeled the circuit on some of Dumble and Cameron's work. Still smells like sh#t though...

When I eat Italian food...my farts are there import. Worth much more.

And that SOUND! Oh, that fine Italian sound!!! Exhaust note of the gods!

 

[Elric]

I'll feed the troll:

This is a counter example, right? Because that tone blows.

Or is it a real example because, this is IMHO, but Satriani has always had absolute sh*t lifeless tone in spite of being a great player, therefore no matter what gear he plays through his fingers produce sh*t for tone in spite of his insane mastery of the instrument?

Tone consists of a combination of technique and gear. The Gear is INCREDIBLY important to that, I'd say 50%. Problem is a lot of people call tone: STYLE + technique + gear. So they say "Ted Nugent sounds like Ted Nugent, through Eddie's rig". A lot of that has not only to do with the fact that Ted is using his technique but also because Ted is playing Cat F*cking Scratch Fever.

 

[Deanmachine]

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

 

[Moshaholic]

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

From my personal experience a properly trained set of fingers can coax some screamin "tones" from a chick...