The Tone

lets talk about tone …

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the truth is , i am in no position , to give you my opinions on tone …

i am not the kind of guitarist who owns vintage tube amps

i am not the kinda of guitarist who owns modern tube amps

I don’t really spent money on boutique pedals , but i do spend money on high end pedals ..

my guitars ..isn’t super high end …

plus , tone is subjective right ? so what is there to talk about ?

Intro

there are 2 types of tone …

1.Tone for yourself

2.Tone for playing live

you see , everyone has their own taste …some like Fender Tweed , others love the Marshall warmy tone , and some need that bone crushing 5150 metal riffing tone ..

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those , are all under the first category ..the tone for yourself to hear ..at your bedroom , at your own mini studio , when you are jamming with your buddies…

I am here , to talk about the second category ..

Tone for playing live

the mistake that most guitarist make ..

1.they assume , what sounds good to them in their bedroom , will sound good at a LIVE show

2. Not being flexible , very sensitive to change…they only can play 1 type of tone..if you change their tone , to a tone they don’t like …they no mood to play already..

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..i think as a guitarist , one of the skills that we need to know is we gotta know how to make use of any tone in any situation ..agree?

this is why …we always hear in forums , conversations , after a gig , before the gig ..the same old thing..

“eh , my tone not cutting through lah “

“bro , i think your guitar abit too sharp “

“bro , you damn soft lah “

so what can we learn from here ?

there is a certain “standard tone” for live shows..

you see ah …in the bedroom ..you play what you wanna hear ..

but in a live show , i’m sorry dude ..you gotta put up a show …cannot always think of syok sendiri ..

if you wanna syok sendiri , go jamming , go put video on youtube ..

but going to play live , your balls in on the line , your face in on the line ..people are watching you ..you gotta please your crowd ..

not please the crowd like ass kissing way , but at least make sure your volume is all balance , make sure it is not torturing to hear your guitar solos , make sure you don’t screw up the PA system and the soundman ..make an effort to sound decent

once you screw up , you can say bye bye to live gigging …

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THE COMMON SCREW UPS

• Screw up 1. Clean tone - guitarist tone is too piercing and too sharp
• Screw up 2. Distortion / Riffing tone - too loud , cover the vocals , noisy
  
• Screw up 3. Guitar Solo tone - too soft ..

okay ..let us look at it 1 by 1 ..ok ?

Screw up 1

in a live show

try to use the “neck” pickup for clean tone…if you want to use the bridge position , fine , make sure your trebles doesn’t go more than 2 o clock ..

if you are a pedal pro , use a compressor , better ..

the worse thing to hear , is a piecing sharp clean tone ..the type you need to cover your ears type ..

and i’m sorry grunge rockers , avoid fuzz , and fuzzy distortion solos ..

you need top equipments to pull off that professional fuzzy sound ..using pedals will make your tone sound like a dying cat ..

Screw up 2

yeap yeap ..guitar too loud ..

you see , when a guitarist plays rhythm or power chords …you gotta let your vocalist shine ..not you

your front man , is the face of a band..you are there to back them up..not to pawn them..

so make sure your rhythm tone don’t be too over power lah ..

Listen when you are on the stage ..make sure your singer is the loudest ..

…also try not to pull off too many “bunga” and “fancy lines” when the singer is singing lah ..you are just distracting the crowd from the singing (don’t be an attention whore bitch ! )

you will get your moment when you solo lah ..

unless your band is a guitarist-vocal based band .( like BB king or something ) ..then ok lah ..

another extreme case is .. putting too much gain and volume , causing feedback and stuff ..making unnecessary noise ..yea..so always hear yourself okay ..and ask others for their opinions and criticism

Screw up 3

Solo not loud enough ..

no , it is not the volume …it is whether your tone cuts through or not..

perfect example of getting pawned because of volume and tone ..

Some simple tips

1.Boost your mids

2.Add some delay

3.Make sure your tone isn’t too sharp

4.Generally , Basswood and Mahogany body guitars cuts through..that is why i dig ibanez and Musicman

5.Maple will cut more than Rosewood

6.Pickups

If you are into my type of solos ( in your face , Steve Vai kinda tone )

try to get Dimarzio Evo , Seymour Duncan JB , Dimarzio PAF PRO , Dimarzio Steve Morse ..

those 4 pickups WILL cut through.i can vouch for that..

7.Avoid single coil sized humbucker …they are only half the power of Dimarzio Evos ..

8.Get a booster than has a “mid” control . i personally use Boot-leg Dr MidRich

some recommended pedals for boosting

that i personally owned or used before , and it worked for me ..(budget)

• Ibanez TS9DX
• Carl Martin Boost Kick
• Maxon OD808
• Artec Soloist Distortion
• Digitech Bad Monkey
• Visual Sounds Jekyll and Hyde
  
• Or use a Volume pedal (put it half step , pump volume when you solo )

9.If you are using a multieffect , make sure you make use of the global EQ or any boost functions ..

10.Most modeling amps , will not cut through as well as non-modeling amps

Some of you might diss Marshall MG’s tone ..i had a Marshall MG50 Before , and it was one of the most ganas cutting through tone i ever got …yea its muddy , but it is LOUD ..

And try Jamming with a Cube 30 or a Cube 60 ..you will give up after a few minutes..

11.Lower your gain ..

…  Blues and Jazz players don’t really have problems with cutting through..

usually , Metal and Rock players , have this problem…

Clean sound easier to cut through lah ..slightly overdriven also easier to cut through..too much gain sure kena drown ..

so ..there ..have fun ..