Guitar tone.

[Tristan Needler]

Don't worry, this isn't like the other thread.

I'd like opinions of guitarists as well as anyone who does any engineering. Or even producing, but I don't know if anyone here is into that.


How do you decide on a guitar tone for any given situation? As some of you may know I'm mainly a bassist, but as an aspiring engineer who needs to play the guitar parts as well, I need to be able to know how my guitar should sound. For bass it's pretty straight forward; there's a few different core types of sounds and it's pretty easy to decide what to use when.

For guitar there's an infinite spectrum of different tones, and to me, they all sound good, just different. I have trouble really honing in on what tone to use in what situation. I'll eventually supplement this thread with some audio samples of different situations so maybe you guys can help me better, but for now does anyone have any advice on how you find your tones?


Edit: I'm linking to the other tone thread, mostly for selfish purposes so I can find both of these threads easily.

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=312773

[The Boathouse]

Aaaah this topic just stole my heart. I have a few basic guidelines, then some more intricate rules based on more specific situations.

-In a guitar / bass / drum and NO KEYS situation: Cut your mids to at most half of what the knob will allow, shoot for a neck pickup. Warm as hell. Obviously, for a brighter tone, switch down to a bridge pickup and shred, that's just personal taste, though.
-In a situation WITH keys: Keep the tone bright, you'll need those upper mids to cut through the mix and get heard without cranking your volume, especially in a piano included combo, the middle pickups on strats cut well.
-Solo electric guitar: Not meaning a guitar solo, just meaning, in a sort of Jeff Buckley fashion, there is only an electric guitar present in the perceived track, use a warmer tone. It's easier on the ears, and if it doesn't need to cut through wider-ranging frequency instruments such as piano, go for the warmer tone.

Now some specific stuff I adhere to...
If delay is present, roll your highs and your high mids back a bit. That shit'll create serious wolftones if you aren't careful and your delay starts to get thick.
On solos, avoid the temptation to add too much in the way of upper frequencies, it'll help you cut, sure, but it'll start to get shrill.
If you're using heavy reverb, I advise keeping the tone warmer, rather than brighter, as, with the delay situation, you'll start to get some painful sounds.


In a full band setting I tend to end up using middle or bridge pickups most of the time, still cutting my mids a bit, of course, and rolling the trebles back a bit. I tend to keep my bass up pretty high, but be careful if you're using your lower strings a lot. I tend to keep in the upper register due to the nature of my group, and I need the high bass level to get the tone I want on clean lead lines. A lot of it has to do with the guitar used, too. A maple fretboard versus rosewood can really change things, just like single coils vs. humbuckers, or hollow or solid bodies. A lot of it's personal preference, totally based on experience. Just start fiddling, you'll find what you're looking for, and the more you know what you want, the more you can sculpt it to situations properly.

[OveriseFan]

Aaaah this topic just stole my heart. I have a few basic guidelines, then some more intricate rules based on more specific situations.

-In a guitar / bass / drum and NO KEYS situation: Cut your mids to at most half of what the knob will allow, shoot for a neck pickup. Warm as hell. Obviously, for a brighter tone, switch down to a bridge pickup and shred, that's just personal taste, though.
-In a situation WITH keys: Keep the tone bright, you'll need those upper mids to cut through the mix and get heard without cranking your volume, especially in a piano included combo, the middle pickups on strats cut well.
-Solo electric guitar: Not meaning a guitar solo, just meaning, in a sort of Jeff Buckley fashion, there is only an electric guitar present in the perceived track, use a warmer tone. It's easier on the ears, and if it doesn't need to cut through wider-ranging frequency instruments such as piano, go for the warmer tone.

Now some specific stuff I adhere to...
If delay is present, roll your highs and your high mids back a bit. That shit'll create serious wolftones if you aren't careful and your delay starts to get thick.
On solos, avoid the temptation to add too much in the way of upper frequencies, it'll help you cut, sure, but it'll start to get shrill.
If you're using heavy reverb, I advise keeping the tone warmer, rather than brighter, as, with the delay situation, you'll start to get some painful sounds.


In a full band setting I tend to end up using middle or bridge pickups most of the time, still cutting my mids a bit, of course, and rolling the trebles back a bit. I tend to keep my bass up pretty high, but be careful if you're using your lower strings a lot. I tend to keep in the upper register due to the nature of my group, and I need the high bass level to get the tone I want on clean lead lines. A lot of it has to do with the guitar used, too. A maple fretboard versus rosewood can really change things, just like single coils vs. humbuckers, or hollow or solid bodies. A lot of it's personal preference, totally based on experience. Just start fiddling, you'll find what you're looking for, and the more you know what you want, the more you can sculpt it to situations properly.

Don't worry, this isn't like the other thread.

I'd like opinions of guitarists as well as anyone who does any engineering. Or even producing, but I don't know if anyone here is into that.


How do you decide on a guitar tone for any given situation? As some of you may know I'm mainly a bassist, but as an aspiring engineer who needs to play the guitar parts as well, I need to be able to know how my guitar should sound. For bass it's pretty straight forward; there's a few different core types of sounds and it's pretty easy to decide what to use when.

For guitar there's an infinite spectrum of different tones, and to me, they all sound good, just different. I have trouble really honing in on what tone to use in what situation. I'll eventually supplement this thread with some audio samples of different situations so maybe you guys can help me better, but for now does anyone have any advice on how you find your tones?

I'm sure you both know, but be wary of scooping your mids. It might sound cool, but you can can also get buried or sound muddy.

I know you both know what you're talking about though, and will do it in proper taste. Haha.

[patrickhowell]

I'm sure you both know, but be wary of scooping your mids. It might sound cool, but you can can also get buried or sound muddy.

I know you both know what you're talking about though, and will do it in proper taste. Haha.

Yeah, you always want more mids in a band setting than sounds good when you're playing alone.

[bassdrummer2333]

I want to know how to get a tone like this

www.myspace.com/bewarethebearmusic

mainly on it's so funny ravi shankar the choruses and like on the bridge of disappear and the resisitance by anberlin

[OveriseFan]

I want to know how to get a tone like this

www.myspace.com/bewarethebearmusic (http://www.myspace.com/bewarethebearmusic)

mainly on it's so funny ravi shankar the choruses and like on the bridge of disappear and the resisitance by anberlin

Er... I'm not hearing anything desirable from those guys' tone... Care to give me a time range in the song? And which part, rhythm or lead?

[theguy77]

i suck at finding good lead tones, but for rhythm the most important part is the mids. i cant stand the mids scooped out i like them very accentuated, in a lot of cases turned almost all the way up. it gives your tone a real sharpness and bite to it. when deciding how much gain to use, make sure you check out stuff like palm muting, scratching, harmonics, etc. so you find a compromise where it's responsive but not too muddy for your style.

[bassdrummer2333]

Er... I'm not hearing anything desirable from those guys' tone... Care to give me a time range in the song? And which part, rhythm or lead?

Rhythm, like 40 seconds in of "It's So Funny Ravi Shankar". 2:20-2:30 also.

[theguy77]

okay someone tell me how to get thel lead guitar tone that brand new has in the beginning of their song "archers". that is a fucking sick tone.