Unpopular opinion, Tone is.....

Don’t know why people always view this topic as an either/or proposition. To me it’s clearly both (fingers and gear). I can vary my tone tremendously by changing the angle of the pick, how hard I hit, where the pick hits the string, how much flesh to use with my palm mutes, etc. Despite the variety of tones obtained from those few techniques, it doesn’t make one amp sound like a different one whatsoever.
 
Tone is in the mix. There are many ‘iconic’ recorded guitar tones that sound surprisingly forgettable when heard as an iso track. The kick drum, bass guitar, and final EQ add so much to what our ears hear as that deep, warm ‘thump’ in the finished product.
 
I definitely think there’s something to that. There is ‘tone’ in the fingers in the sense that what your fingers do has a direct effect on what the signal sounds like going through everything in the chain, but my fingers aren’t going to do what pedals and amps are doing to process that signal.
 
Troll thread total bullshit . I've seen guys with the Sears Silvertone amp in the guitar case setups that could make them sound good . I've always had good gear that sounded like shit because I was a crappy player starting out but had the money and could afford it and I watched guys with a Yamaha Pacifica mop my ass all over the floor . Sorry dude good gear totally helps but if you are a great player you'll sound decent with cheap gear .
 
Panhead5 said:
Troll thread total bullshit . I've seen guys with the Sears Silvertone amp in the guitar case setups that could make them sound good . I've always had good gear that sounded like shit because I was a crappy player starting out but had the money and could afford it and I watched guys with a Yamaha Pacifica mop my ass all over the floor . Sorry dude good gear totally helps but if you are a great player you'll sound decent with cheap gear .
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100%

This is me :LOL:

Plus if I stand too close to the amp it feeds back too quickly so tone is where you stand. :D
 
Every player on the planet has come across the dude in the music store where you in the " you've got to be kidding me mode"!!Pluggedd into some piece of crap but sounded pretty good!!
 
Tone is literally everything that doesn't involve separate individual players and their tendencies.

It's the sound of the gear.

Retards who suck can play power chords just the same as yngwie.

And if you can't tell from a power chord, you aren't talking about "tone" anymore.
 
Panhead5 said:
Every player on the planet has come across the dude in the music store where you in the " you've got to be kidding me mode"!!Pluggedd into some piece of crap but sounded pretty good!!
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No in those scenarios their tone still sounded like garbage to me, but the playing itself was impressive and they get props for that (not the tone). It always amazed me that most can’t seem to distinguish between quality of playing and quality of tone (independent things). Too many guys just seem to hear things as a singular package and miss out I think on some important details to listen for
 
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DanTravis62 said:
Tone is literally everything that doesn't involve separate individual players and their tendencies.

It's the sound of the gear.

Retards who suck can play power chords just the same as yngwie.

And if you can't tell from a power chord, you aren't talking about "tone" anymore.
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Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I ever heard Yngwie or Shawn Lane play a powerchord
 
A good example of tone vs other variables is Dimebag. Many guys dislike his tone, but still love his playing and music. He actually used good gear, but just dialed in a specific sound that wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. A lot of guys (myself included) didn’t really like RR’s tone either, but still loved his playing & music

If tone is all in the fingers, I guess that means those guys must’ve had some pretty bad fingers, yet somehow they could still play well. How can that be? I guess they should be respected that much more for overcoming their finger deficiencies
 
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