Go to any blog or forum and you’ll see lots of discussions centering around Tone. You’ll also see some heated debates about it that often escalate into name-calling and all-out arguments. With respect to tone, everyone has an opinion. Some are put more eloquently and authoritatively than others, but in the end, they’re still just opinions, no matter how educated or experienced one may sound. For this particular discussion, I’m referring to “Tone” as that unicorn that we all chase that is a combination of what we’re playing as well as how we’re playing.
Admittedly, even with the articles I’ve written regarding tone, my viewpoint is well… my viewpoint. People call me out all the time on that and offer their viewpoint, and that’s all well and good. But it’s still just their viewpoint. I think the challenge of describing tone is that it is incredibly difficult to articulate something that is produced aurally and then evokes an emotional response. The result is that when speaking in reference to something like that, instead of being able to capture the meaning definitively, we have to speak metaphorically, with copious use of “sounds like” or “feels like.”
So with respect to that, to find your Tone, as I’m apt to say quite often here, you simply have to try things out for yourself. Recordings get you into a general area, and they’re quite helpful, which is why I do them in the first place, but keep in mind that they don’t tell the entire story. For instance, here’s an experience I’ve had several times when evaluating amps. Like almost everyone, one of the first things I do is to try to find recordings and videos on the Internet so I can hear how the amp performs. But one thing I’ve learned with evaluating an amp is to take note of what guitar and effects are being used to do the recording. An amp may sound great with a Strat, but may sound absolutely horrid with a Les Paul. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been disappointed when I finally audition an amp in a shop that I’ve gotten wind of on the Internet. The point to this is that you have to do ALL of your homework…
Salient Question: How do you know when you’ve found your Tone?
Taking into account that different styles of music require different combinations of gear, the way that I’ve found that I’ve hit that sweet spot of finding my tone is that my performance becomes effortless, and I’m going on pure instinct and expression. I’m not thinking about the sounds my gear is making or how the individual components are functioning or if my levels are correct. At least when I hit that sweet spot, I can FEEL it, and I’m left to be truly creative.
For instance, at my church gig last night, I was in the zone tone-wise. I used a fairly simple, low-wattage setup with a VHT Special 6 amp (which I ran into a 1 X 12 speaker cab for better bottom end), my pedal board, and a Les Paul. Clean or dirty, I just felt I could do no wrong. I didn’t do any tweaking, except for turning down the gain on my amp or guitar. I was able to perform on pure instinct, and that just made the set so much more enjoyable. The point to this is that when you don’t have to worry about it, chances are you’ve found your tone.
But I’ve also said this before: Tone is an ever-moving target. What makes you happy and inspires you today may likely change over time. Myself, I was a Strat/Fender Deluxe player for years. But as of the past year or so, I’ve converted over to the Les Paul/Plexi combination. More likely than not, I’ll probably stick with this combination for awhile as I’ve found that I’ve bonded much more closely with this combination than with the Strat/Deluxe combination. But only time will tell…
Guitar Gear 
..and then there’s acoustic instrument tone..before you even get into mic-ing, and amp-ing!
No kidding! But I finally found a great pickup system that sounds great, and that’s the ART system on higher-end Yamaha guitars. I have the APX900, but I may move to a much higher-end model that has it. Love Yamaha’s!
Seems like I get into an argument no matter what the subject when it comes to guitar players in general. From tubes to guitars to pedals it’s usually “what I have is great and what you have sucks”.
My fav has always been low watt amps verses 100 watt heads, which I prefer and really do not play loud. But oh my God, little amps and crap, crap, crap, sounds, sounds, sounds…my ego and immaturity as a player, like what idiot would tun a $400 pedal into a tiny watt single amp speaker and imagine that sounds the same or better than a multi-speaker cab and more watts for headroom and depth?? I have been playing for a very long time and I am no teenage goofball. I play what I have because it has taken me a lifetime of experience to arrive at it, not because of mere hype and opinion.
Truth is, hype and opinion are not facts and there are facts, facts that few players want to really accept because of the typical brainwash or the issue of what they have in front of them verses something else.
There is not a lot of difference in things from tubes, strings, pickups and whatnot, not a lot, facts are interesting and the laws of phyiscs are not opinions. And may I add the human ear is an extremely limited and an often damaged unit to be holding as some sort of bench mark measurment as to what sounds “better’. One reason we use frequency analyzers on concert systems to pink noise and adjust the EQ and sound levels to be sonically accurate. Can you imagine a system where someguy adjusted the EQ by ear??
Always can count on you for some lively discussion! 🙂
“what I have is great and what you have sucks”
Hate those discussions and totally abhor people who do this. I prefer: “I have what I have and you have what you have.”
With regards to your last paragraph, I’m in total agreement. That’s why I didn’t venture into the “better” territory. When you go that route, it’s all opinion…
I can’t believe how many people still mistake technique for tone. You know the old dependable “tone is in the hands” BusinesS about putting Eddie Van Halen or Angus Young on a plywood plank with EMGs and you can still tell it’s them.
You can tell it’s them yes…
But it’s not their tone. It’s signature licks and a familiar phrase you’d hear and identify. Tone is the gear + environment + technique.
The “Tone” I’m talking about is personal tone. Not what the outside world hears, but what YOU hear yourself. I am of the mind that “tone is in your fingers” but when I’m performing with my own gear, when I don’t have worry about what my equipment is doing, I can express much more freely.
Furthermore, EVH is well-known for his obsession with gear and how it affects what he hears himself play – even down to the cables he uses. 🙂 That’s not technique. That’s purely “does this sound good to me?” And that’s what I’m talking about here.