Tone: Gear or Fingers?

[Gearjoneser]

Who the hell is Fingers?

[ankalar]

Tone - n. - The characteristic quality or timbre of a particular instrument or voice.

Fingers can characterize someone's playing. Give EVH a Squier starter pack and he'll sound like Eddie, but will his tone sound like what it does on his records? Not in the least. Tone is not playing style. Tone != playing style. Tone no es el playingo styleo.

[aleclee]

I voted 50/50, but in reality it's probably closer to 80/20:fingers/gear. I know the old saying that if you gave Eddie a Squire Affinity Strat and a Rouge 15watt amp, he'd still sound like Eddie. But to sound really good you have to have good gear.

He'd still sound like Eddie but would anyone think the tone resembled that of VH1?

[aleclee]

Tone is not playing style. Tone != playing style. Tone no es el playingo styleo.

That's why my first (three ) post(s) tried to differentiate a player's timbre from his "sound".

[ankalar]

To tell you the truth, if tone came mostly from the fingers, then you guys wouldn't mind if I came and picked up your Bogners, would ya?

[JeffB]

Tone is mostly in the gear, IMO. However the amp/guitar combo might sound great yet have someone horrible like me playing it, and no-one wants to listen then anyway

[Metalman_666]

I also figured out that a guitar left all by itself will make feedback (thus, creating tone) all by itself.

On the otherhand, have you ever actually heard tone emit from the fingers of someone playing an air guitar?

While I have no idea what the hell you're talking about with the feedback comment.....

The air guitar thing raises some more arguments... we all know that was a joke , but what people mean by "tone is in the fingers" is the way you play the guitar.. the way you handle the strings, not that there's literally tone COMING FROM your fingers. I really hope you were just joking because otherwise my respect for you has dropped.
also....

Who the hell is Fingers?

lmao nice

[some_dude]

While I have no idea what the hell you're talking about with the feedback comment.....

I really hope you were just joking because otherwise my respect for you has dropped.

The feedback comment was meant to prove that tone could exist without anyone actually touching the guitar.

Both comments (feedback and air guitar) were intended to be asinine however.

[Metalman_666]

Overall I believe the issue about tone is subjective... Think about it. We've all said that gear has a lot to do with your sound... but playing a crappy guitar through a crappy amp still yields your playing style.. you can sort of hear a guitarist's style.. the way he bends a note or taps or what not. Everytime I hear a System of a Down song somewhere I know that it's SoaD because of Daron Malakian's amazing guitar tone! Or when I hear a solo in a Metallica song.. I would know it was Metallica because of Kirk's solo tone. But if someone else played the same song through the same rig it would definitely sound different, but not that much different, because the way the player handles the strings changes their sound. You guys know what I mean. And THAT'S my 2 cents.

[Metalman_666]

The feedback comment was meant to prove that tone could exist without anyone actually touching the guitar.

Both comments (feedback and air guitar) were intended to be asinine however.

A pitch emitting from a stationary guitar is not defined as tone... It's just a sound. Tone is the SHAPE of the sound. I could scream at the top of my lungs but it would sound different if someone else did.

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Or when I hear a solo in a Metallica song.. I would know it was Metallica because of Kirk's solo tone.

I would know it was Metallica because of the squealy-wah covered notes, and how every solo sounded the same.

[Metalman_666]

I would know it was Metallica because of the squealy-wah covered notes, and how every solo sounded the same.

LOL either way you still know

[some_dude]

A pitch emitting from a stationary guitar is not defined as tone... It's just a sound. Tone is the SHAPE of the sound. I could scream at the top of my lungs but it would sound different if someone else did.

Tone - n. - The characteristic quality or timbre of a particular instrument or voice.

A pitch emitting from a stationary guitar has a characteristic quality that would allow you to identify it as that of comming from a particular insturment.

For instance, a Strat screaching through it's single coils would sound different than a Les Paul screaching through it's humbuckers. So, regardless of whether or not it's being touched by someone, they will each still have their respective, charicteristic tone (ie, a Strat won't sound like a Les Paul simply because it's lying on the ground).

[Im_in_Disguise]

it goes kind of both ways, doesn't it? everyone's got their characteristic playing style, but playing with different gear opens different doors as to where you can take it.

I dunno, just my two cents, but isn't that the reason we own more than one guitar? because they take us different places? because we get something a little different, but still our own out of each instrument?

[ankalar]

Errr, here's my analogy:

The attributes of our voice are the tone, the end result. Our vocal cords and lungs make are our gear, and our tongues and mouths are our fingers and creativity. The tongue and mouth do not effect what our voice sounds like, yet our speaking nuances make us sound so different from each other.

[Mincer]

From experience, and for me, it is 100% fingers. I teach every day in a music store and have played every amp and guitar combination in there, many times. Nothing in there would be something I would buy myself (without serious mods), but it always sounds like me...I manage to get the same tone if it is a tele through a twin or an LP through a clean Marshall.
My gear makes me more comfortable, and makes me feel like I can play what I am supposed to. But I could 'get by' as I did for years with what most guitarists call 'crappy gear'. Listening to tapes then vs. today, it sounds the same.

[That90'sGuy]

36.8% of all stat proof is made up on the spot.

IMHO, 75% is the hands, 25% is the gear. Hands really make most of the difference. An amazing musician can make bad gear sound great. For it to be really memorable and incredible, they both need to be present. That's why we're all here: for great tone. Where we take our hands is up to us. I, for one, am somebody that should be focusing on the coordination more than the tone (hey, give me credit, I can admit it ).

[JB_From_Hell]

If tone is all in the fingers, then hand Clapton or Gilmour a Jackson with EMG 81s going into a Bogner Uberschall, and the tone is going to be a lot different.

Somebody said this earlier, and its an excellent point... The fact that we all agonize so much about pups/wood/strings, etc... is proof that gear plays a large role.

[Mincer]

Well, hand Clapton a Strat and a Bogner, and he will dial in the sound he likes to hear. And it will sound *just like Clapton*.

[some_dude]

If tone is all in the fingers, then hand Clapton or Gilmour a Jackson with EMG 81s going into a Bogner Uberschall, and the tone is going to be a lot different.

Or hand Kerry King a Strat and a JC-120....