Your Personal Tone

[Manual Slim]

Have you ever had a strong blow to the head and heard that annoying noise? It's sort of like that, but with more notes and the addition of a mouthful of gravel. Whatever I pick up can achieve my sound with enough knob twirling.

 

[loopfinding]

my clean tone is sort of like this:



my dirty tone is sort of like this:

 

[puddin]

My tone isn't personal. plug in, and let it rip. Everyone is a rock star, if you play from your heart. Don't need this, or that.
Unless your trying to nail it. It comes down to bones, and timing. Turn those knobs.. Just a drummer who loves playing guitar.
Cheers...

 

[Killing Floor]

Edge of break, blossom point-ish. Despite my undying love for heavy fuzz I normally play on the clean side. I do use always-on reverb and sometimes warbly delay as an effect.

OK really I sound like if you yanked out the silverwear drawer and everything falls on a tile floor. But with tasteful reverb.

 

[String Tree]

How would you describe your personal tone? Whose tone is it similar to? How do you get it? What amp, settings, strings, pickups, pedals etc. do you use to achieve this? Thanks!

Since most of my work has been in Cover Bands, I have had to play pretty much everything across the Spectrum.

But, when left on my own, I prefer a clean, Tube, Tone.
Bring the Amp UP, control the Volume from the Guitar.
To that end, I do the Majority of my Playing from the Neck Pick-up. Sits in the Mix a lot better, especially when there are Vocals involved.
I rarely use my Chorus Pedal. It is far more effective when used sparingly.
IMHO - 95% of the time, there is no reason for the Rhythm to "Cut" through the mix.

All my best to those who feel otherwise.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

Tone that I admire and to which I aspire:
Charlie Daniels meets Rev. Billy and Bonnie Raitt.
Bluesy with country roots.
Don't stink the place up by playing ALL the notes.
Season with OD to taste.

 

[Jakedog]

Loud, full, and stratty. With lots of clarity, even with overdrive.

Decidedly brit/euro in nature. I really do not care for the typical scooped American amp sound.

 

[oregomike]

How would you describe your personal tone? Whose tone is it similar to? How do you get it? What amp, settings, strings, pickups, pedals etc. do you use to achieve this? Thanks!

Current tone is pretty curt. I think I got it from my Dad.

 

[northernguitar]

Jagged chunk. British amps. Bright boosted.

 

[Si G X]

Crunchy Marshall ... it doesn't matter what strings I use, what pickups or even what guitar, it still sounds like a slight variation on 'crunchy Marshall'

 

[Dukex]

I'm not good enough to have a personal tone. Besides, I have three different amps (PR, 5e3, AC4HW1), two different guitars (Tele, ES-335), and lots of tone knobs.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

Sort of short, stumpy and chubby.

Cos, tone is in the fingers, right?

Seriously though, just like the ‘resides in digits’ thing, I don’t believe in the concept of a ‘personal tone.’

It’s just the sound certain combinations of equipment make. Get the gear, make the tone. Anyone can do it.

Phrasing / style / expression / creation / whatever, that’s what comes out of that particular process which has as its last biological stage being finger tips.

Having said that, the combination of just worked out that way and deliberately planned has lead me to favour, mostly: vintage styled Tele > Vox Top Boost, edge of breakup or a little driven + OD / fuzz when applicable at home, & that or sometimes Twin when out. I add wobbly bits at times too, but don’t see that as affecting ‘tone’ per se.

Pax/
Dean

 

[Stanford Guitar]

My wife, children and most of my friends would likely describe me as unrealistically optimistic!

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

my clean tone is sort of like this

Your clean tone is unavailable, apparently (I want to stick a smilie in here, but again my phone / the site / something resists - so, old school ).*

Pax/
Dean
* edit: which manages to manifest as an actual emoji I now see

 

[fleezinator]

my clean tone is sort of like this:

Not to derail the thread, but that whole TNT album was my vibe for several years! I heard the first few bars of this album and instantly thought it could have been a B-side to TNT, their clean tone is strikingly similar:

 

[Chiogtr4x]

I think I gravitate towards the same basic 'straddle between clean and dirt' ( panning w/guitar Volume knob) regardless of amps and effect I use or own. Not a lot to it- the stuff I play is really simple, basic- but solid

I do like a clean Fender ( or Vox) amp w/ Reverb sound ( all small combos), then dirty that up with an OD pedal. Just don't play gigs where I can crank amps...
I may stack another 'dirt' pedal ( TS or Rat clone) for a '70's hard Rock tone ( but still keep volume in check)

I play a lot of low/moderate drive, old R&R/Blues/Country- so letting the guitar's pickup sounds ( all positions, any guitar) come thru, and good playing and touch for the music, is the main thing.

Effects?
Reverb (from amp or pedal if amp doesn't have), tremolo or 'fake Leslie,' and Slapback delay (surf, rockabilly...) that's it!
4-5 pedals max

 

[loopfinding]

Not to derail the thread, but that whole TNT album was my vibe for several years! I heard the first few bars of this album and instantly thought it could have been a B-side to TNT, their clean tone is strikingly similar:

wow yeah, for sure. great tone. thanks.

 

[Doomguy]

I have multiple distinct tones, can't cover everything I want to play with just one sound. I'll describe the two I use the most. Both are pretty straightforward.

The stoner/doom tone is just a cranked Orange head, my Gibson SG tuned to either C or B and a Big Muff. I'll mess around with the tone knobs and switch pickups. I have shamelessly ripped off Bongzilla for this, get a little bit on the Kyuss-y side on the neck pickup.

The black metal tone comes from my Quilter Overdrive 202. Gain channel one, bass, mids, and treble all around noon, little bit of reverb. I play either my seven string in drop G# or my Epiphone SG tuned to D standard/Drop C for this. I'll mess around with my OBNE Dark Star and a Boss Flanger during some clean passages. My BM tone is more inspired by atmospheric and DSBM bands more then the typical second wave of black metal ones. Shoegaze/alt influences definitely creep in there too but I don't want to get associated with that new wave of 'blackgaze' bands or whatever they're calling it these days, I don't really like any of them.

 

[loudboy]

My clean tone of preference would be a Tele thru a BF Fender.

OD is ideally Marshally chunk for rhythm, with a singing kind of thing when soloing above the 12th fret. Benchmark would be Dickey's solo on One Way Out.

Doesn't really matter what the guitar/pedal/amp used, I am very good at dialing anything in so it sounds just about the same. Altho a Duncan JB PU thru a Vintage Rat gets the job done immediately.

 

[basher]

Crunchy Marshall ... it doesn't matter what strings I use, what pickups or even what guitar, it still sounds like a slight variation on 'crunchy Marshall'

Same for me, except for when it sloshes over into “cringey Marshall.”

My ideal is somewhere between early Ace Frehley, “Electric”-era Billy Duffy, Steve Jones, and Thin Lizzy. Les Pauls and Marshalls and not much between them.