What has the biggest impact on tone?

[stabbyJo]

Hi guys,

I've been playing for about a year and a half now, and I'm thinking about investing in some new gear.

I'm currently playing an Ibanez GRX20 with EMG81 pickups (that I got used for a great price), through a Mesa Boogie 50W RectoVerb head into a Mesa 2x12 cabinet with V30s. The amp and cab are actually my uncle's.

I don't have any effects, but there is a THD HotPlate between the amp and cab.

Anyway, I love the amp. It has crisp clean sounds that are crystal clear, gritty crunch, and sounds menacing with the drive and master turned up. Thing is, there's just something about the overall tone that is, well, lacking.

Everything sounds kinda sterile, and shrill actually. There's no warmth, no character... if that makes any sense. Like when you hear a whaling lead note and it sorta rolls over into that warm harmonic type sound, that's down right beautiful. My notes, on the other hand, just fade away with their bland, uninteresting dullness. I've tweaked the amp and guitar settings endlessly, there's just no "sweetness" in there. Something has to change.

So, here's the thing. I don't know what I should consider changing.

Like on the guitar for instance. It's basswood with a rosewood fretboard and a maple neck (i think it's maple). I've seen a lot of different types of wood used, but does that really influence the tone of an electric guitar? I mean, considering all the electronics processing going on, does the wood really play much of a role?

And shape, does the shape of an electric guitar or its construction matter at all?

And then, the pick ups. I'm sure pick ups have a lot to do with guitar tone. But EMGs are widely used and I've seen quite a few youtube videos where EMGs sound pretty sweet.

I know the amp has a lot to do with tone. This one is about 7 years old. My uncle kept it in great shape, and I know he retubed it just before binging it over.


So, I guess my question is, what has the greatest impact on guitar tone? How would we rank various aspects based on how much they affect tone?

Is wood type more impactful than pick ups? Are pick ups more impactful than the amp? Is the speaker cabinet impactful at all? What about strings, how much difference do those make? I wish I could run a bunch of different guitars through my amp and listen to the differences. Maybe some day guitar center will have a "try before you buy" event...


Jo

 

[Khoi]

the amp is absolutely the biggest factor in tone. Then your fingers .

 

[megamike]

Get rid of the hotplate and turn that bitch up

 

[Stratboy151]

technique

 

[Random Hero]

The player.

 

[Marshall Law]

tone is in your hand

 

[mrp5150]

Amp IMO.

 

[gbsmusic]

I agree! Its in the hand/fingers!

 

[Anonymous]

Step 1 is getting rid of the Hotplate.

 

[Mailman1971]

This order for me....

1) AMP
2) PLAYER
3) GUITAR

I saw this guy SHREDDING on a piece of shit guitar on a crappy amp and it sounded GREAT!!!

Saw a guy plugged into a High end amp and it sounded like ass.

So I like my picks.

 

[bravedude2]

hands.

 

[Ayrton]

Tone is in the trousers...

-Eric Clapton

 

[The Traveller]

I would get rid of the Hotplate.

 

[Vrad]

This is a source of debate for as long as I've been frequenting music forums. Is it the gear or the hands/heart/ears/abilities of the player. I tend to think that it's the player more than anything based on my own experience. I've been playing for about 25 years now and I'm noticing how little the 'quality' of the gear matters to me over time. I've had guitar teachers that flat out KILLED on tiny little practice amps... shitty little Peaveys that sounded awful when I played thru them. I thought it was one particular piece gear that I was missing that would get me there, but it was me and not the gear. It wasn't until the last 10 years or so when gear ceased to matter THAT much. Don't get me wrong, good gear sounds better than shitty gear, but when you have experience and alot of practice it's easier to get a sound that's useable and sometimes down-right GOOD from very pedestrian gear. Sorry for the long-winded response... In your particular case, I'd ditch the hotplate (it's not really necessary with that amp) and maybe consider passive pickups. Some people hate EMG's (I personally like EMG81's), other than that, your gear is MORE than adequate.

 

[glpg80]

the question is, whats the biggest impact on tone?

if you are talking about percieved tone, then its somewhat complicated. depends on what your ears like and dislike.

me, personally, is the pickups of the guitars, followed by the wood characters of the guitar, then the type of bridge system you have, how that bridge system sustains, then the cables that you use, followed by the amplifier you are using, followed by the components of the amplifier and their brands/sizes, then the transformers of that amplifier, followed by the effects you tend to use, followed by how you are inserting them into reproduction, the speaker cable guage you use, and the speakers you use, the cabinet construction, the wood of the cabinet, the size of the cabinet, and finally the volume at which you play.

all of those variables will change to each persons want's and needs. not everyone will have the same ear or desire for tone. and each of those is a variable in the tone food chain from start to finish.

however all of this stated is percieved tone. more importantly than any gear in the world or its price is your ability as a musician first and foremost, and then to use your ears to see what and how each part comes together to get the end result you want.

its a mix of everything. not one, or the other.

for me however - my playing and guitars matter more to me than anything else in the world. thats where the tone starts - with attention to detail.

 

[GRK]

1) player
2) player
3) player
4) player
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1000) amp
1001) guitar

 

[Superunknown]

The player, amp & guitar....but a lot of people forget that your speakers are so incredibly important.

 

[GRK]

The player, amp & guitar....but a lot of people forget that your speakers are so incredibly important.

VERY true actually. But I guess we mostly refer to amp as both head and speakers as one unit. Though most of us use different cabs with different heads.

 

[just42dave]

Welcome to the forum...
#1 Rig Talk secret

















































































SATAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gives ya teh TONZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SuperStratSlinger]

1. Amp
2. Speakers/cabinet
3. Pickups
4. Pick attack (pick size, and location where the pick strikes the string)
5. Guitar (woods, construction, bridge, scale length, string gauge, tuning frequency)

People who wish to argue tone is in the fingers, please post your rigs.