"You want to be okay with sounding like you." OMG, huge point! Thank you Shawn! Yes, we have to make peace with who we are stylistically, our musical identity, and what our basic go-to voice is...
Years of running multi channels I met an old school player who taught me about using just the volume and tone for your sounds. Now my main rig is a tweed champ and two strats (sss and h single pickup).
Great topic! Known you for 30 years now. Every time you grabbed a single or hum gtr, class A or AB amp, stomp box or dimed amp, you sounded like YOU. Within seconds, you twiddled knobs and away you went. In my experience, unless you are trying to emulate someone's sound or create a texture for a part, you end up defaulting to the sound your soul connects with. Lots of players these days are trying to recreate the sound of a cranked tweed twin and a les paul with a simulator and headphones. I hope that every guitarist gets the opportunity to gig live with a loud band at some point in their life to really get the relationship of a speaker moving air and how that inspires you. That's when rolling off the volume knob REALLY works. Your vids are SO helpful and the D20 that you helped design is a game changer tool for the modern working musician. Onward down the Rabbit Hole we go!
I like more pedals today than I ever have before because they seem to keep getting better but they also are sounding more and more alike to me. Good but everyone is sounding more and more alike. ?
Thanks so much, Keith! Tone is such a personal thing and there's certainly no set rule to achieving it but I try to share what I've learned as best I can. Hope you're doing well!
Yeah, the right guitar and amp can certainly help the process, but at the end of the day, a good percentage of the tone in the player's hands and how they use the tools they have.
Years ago I read an article in either guitar player or practicing musician where they interviewed Slash. He told the story of showing up somewhere with just his Les Paul and they gave him a fender Hot Rod Deluxe to play through and he still sounded like himself. He went on to point out you are your sound and you should embrace it.🎸
Before GNR got signed he played a BC Rich. I read several times it was the record company or a managers idea to switch him to a Les Paul to stand out. Everyone played BC Rich and other super strats in the 80’s. Les Paul was not common then- more so in the 90’s. Would had to have been after he was famous.
That's how I've been doing things for a while now.. my clean tones are 6.5 on my volume knob, lead is at 10. Amp is never clean. Works great for me. The only method I've ever really been comfortable with. Different guitars for different tones. I wire a parallel treble bleed in each guitar. Nice balanced eq at all volumes
Totally agree: I usually set the amp on the verge of breakup and then dial the tone from the guitar. For a gainy sound with a LP: 9,5 vol and 8,5 tone. When I want to clean up a bit, 8,5 vol and 7,5 tone to soften it up a bit.
Great video and as always I enjoyed your personal touch and live demo of how you tweak your sound/tone. That said, I am always wondering why famous players like Joe have a collection of guitars and amps with the special vintage tone that otherwise cannot satisfy them; not to mention spending hours on setting the stage with the equipment and sound check.
Hey Shawn, I've discovered these amps because of you and man, this 20 is like carrying a 50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle in your pocket. absolutely insane huge tone
That was an excellent video. If I remember correctly, there was this story doing the rounds that some years ago now someone did this with Dave Gilmours rig in an effort to emulate him. Needless to say it didn't work out well. It seems the major part of your tone is in your hands.
Thanks for the vid. Also what I have learned over the years is the tone that sounds great with just me then with the band. It took me too long to learn that with the band I need more treble and mid’s to cut through the mix.
Shawn, I so enjoy your playing. So darn good. I was at that event as you know. Since ya asked for what your viewers do for tone I'll throw some of my approaches out there. First I learned a lot from Joe's class. I played that glorious guitar and amp of his. And yep!! Sounded like me. Great sounding guitar and amp but it was my attack, my dynamics (or lack of haha) my licks so that proved it. It was me all the way. Then Joe played my 83 MIJ Tele, and wow! my inexpensive guitar sounded glorious. So another lesson that didn't need words. After I tested out my new REVV G20 on my guitar you played my guitar for me so I could hear the amp without me thinking about what I was playing. Hey it's isn't a Suhr but it sounded like Shawn Tubbs and another lesson learned. My guitar can sound pretty awesome in the right hands. Lesson learned, how you play is more important that what you play. Another thing that really stuck with me that Joe said was how accuracy was critical to good tone. And accurate sounds faster and more interesting than sloppy at the same speed. That camp gave me ideas and inspiration I'll work on from now on. You suggested we share some things here we do to find our tone so here's a couple of mine. I work more with my volume knob than ever before and find that slight tweaks have different sounds with different pedals. And it's crazy but I actually think my bridge tele pup has a little better tone at 8.5 or 9 than all the way up. I have no idea why that would be- but it's worth sharing with your other followers to at least see if that's helpful anyone else. Another tone tip I got it from your videos is using right hand fingers. I use my fingers more than ever. I've always used fingers with a pick for hybrid picking. But I now occasionally use just thumb and fingers for a different tone depending on the song. Doing some local home studio recording on a friend's project I discovered the huge difference in tone various picks have. So now playing live I have some different picks on the stand for various tones. I swear my ears hear a difference in tone. And finally I am dialing back the gain on my overdrive/push pedals and working on getting the overdriven sound but with more clarity and articulation. It makes you work harder on being clean but it's worth it. That takes it back to accuracy is huge it sounding good. Thanks always Shawn. Thanks for encouraging us to share ideas on the channel. Your demos and videos are educational on gear but also on just being a better guitarist in a band setting. BTW, had my best sounding gig yet with the G20 this past weekend. Perfect for pedal board to amp then sending direct to house and to my in ears. And I am getting good tones that mix with the rest of the band in my opinion. Really starting to play better now that I am not thinking of tweaking the amp and have found my sweet spot with the amp. Thanks so much for being at the woodshedguitarexperience. Oh! and digging the G2 also. Lower gain, with a little push pedal to it. Pretty sweet.
That's great Allan! It's a bit of a process when it comes to discovering and achieving that sound in your head and yes technique is not to be ignored as it's all part of the journey! Sounds like you've found the sweet spots that work for you! Cheers!
Great insight Shawn as usual. I've seen Joe live several times and I've seen him many times on youtube, TV, etc. No matter what he's playing or playing through he always sounds like Joe. I think to a great extent we all sound like ourselves. That's good if you're JB, not so good if you're me ;). I'm really loving my tone these days. I'm using a D20 set to just the edge of breakup and an old Zen Drive 2 in front. The combo is so touch sensitive that between my vol, tone, and attack I can get a wide range. I'm still incorporating a Helix for the wet effects. I wish I was a better player. BTW Shawn I'm curious what LP you're playing? Is it an R9, Historic or what?
I'm sure you play great man. That Zen Drive is a great pedal! That particular LP is indeed an R9 that sadly doesn't belong to me it belongs to a pal. I actually did a video about that guitar and my PRS 58 if you want to check it out. Thanks for watching! ua-cam.com/video/pd7rrJNZnRI/v-deo.html
Once u get to certain place with who u are and who a guitar is once it’s in ur hands, tone comes from ur fingers. Phrasing, pressure, feel, placement ect.. I can play a high dollar guitar & amp then get on a cheap guitar and amp and to a degree it’s all gonna sound like me once I start playing.
I find adjusting the volume gets nicer unique tones over touching the tone dial which is the same tone minus treble. I don't touch the tone much unless I've been brought up on stage with say playing my strat when the previous was say a LPaul. I never touch the tone on my PRS or SG, sometimes on my Nashville. Great information. I LIKE IT REALLY. My one gripe is to hear real tone you have to play melodic runs and occationally hold a bent note with vibrato etc. Play musically, play with expression and beauty a melody one would wish to hum too. Most demo players play ADHD licks over and over and twitch nerviously in between pauses and then go right back to a subtle version of the same GD lick. it's nauseating to hear over and ovet like a Ritalin fit.really..... Hi I can play really fast and here is the same Eric Johnson style, SRV or basic blues lick that i practiced over and over for 6 months to show you how good I am. It's not the result you may expect. What I get out of it is your a demo queen rather than a true musician and since we are talking about about subtle things like tone and volume how can we ignore the elephant in the room. You have excellent skill now move from boy to man and play something we want to actually hear. And maybe in different various keys and arpeggios, maybe muted or hold one beautifull note like Gary Moore. Understandably you will be agitated by my comment because you will realize I am 100% correct. But this might be the thing that takes you to the next level over time and the annoying comment you will be thankful for because you can grow into something unique and special.
Man you’re such a good guitarist. Lol. It blows my mind. On a side note this channel and line 6 native Revv models made me change my mind about Revv completely. I kind of hated the way they found now I want to at least try the real amps and pedals
It’s so counter intuitive that when you dialed out some bass , your ‘tone’ got fuller sounding. Sound is weird...🤣 Your playing and ability to get tones are fantastic!
Yes, it can be strange to turn down a bass control and of the sudden sound fuller. Turning down the bass control can leave room for the perception of mids that would otherwise sound scooped. Thanks for watching and for the kind words!
I do not believe so. It was many events over a few days. I'm sure there are some short clips of the jams floating around. We have one of Mark Lettieri on our Instagram.
To be fair, that depends on what music and the player that your covering. But classic songs you grow up listening to and use similiar amps, you put the work in and yes you can, don't know a single person who knows any or wants to learn any of Joe's material. On drums, this is definately true. Hard to sound like Bonham.
Great tips!! Was an honor to have you at the event. And man, the playing here is as always absolutely vicious!!
Thanks so much Andy! I hope you’re doing well.
The mutual respect you guys have is great
I love the humbleness of you both, Amazingly Awesome players !!!🥰🥰🤗🤗🎸🎸
And Shawn, we keep coming back to your channel, because we really enjoy and admire your hands/tone/feel.
"You want to be okay with sounding like you." OMG, huge point!
Thank you Shawn! Yes, we have to make peace with who we are
stylistically, our musical identity, and what our basic go-to voice is...
Years of running multi channels I met an old school player who taught me about using just the volume and tone for your sounds. Now my main rig is a tweed champ and two strats (sss and h single pickup).
Great topic! Known you for 30 years now. Every time you grabbed a single or hum gtr, class A or AB amp, stomp box or dimed amp, you sounded like YOU. Within seconds, you twiddled knobs and away you went. In my experience, unless you are trying to emulate someone's sound or create a texture for a part, you end up defaulting to the sound your soul connects with. Lots of players these days are trying to recreate the sound of a cranked tweed twin and a les paul with a simulator and headphones. I hope that every guitarist gets the opportunity to gig live with a loud band at some point in their life to really get the relationship of a speaker moving air and how that inspires you. That's when rolling off the volume knob REALLY works. Your vids are SO helpful and the D20 that you helped design is a game changer tool for the modern working musician. Onward down the Rabbit Hole we go!
Haha!! Thanks so much Gary! At the end of the day, you know more about this than I do! You're a top-shelf player and a great dude!
I like more pedals today than I ever have before because they seem to keep getting better but they also are sounding more and more alike to me. Good but everyone is sounding more and more alike. ?
Sage words and playing right there. Many thanks.
Thanks for these Shawn! I can never get enough on different approaches to dialing the rig to sound like ourselves.
Thanks for always watching Keith! Shawn is the best, that's why we have him do these :)
Thanks so much, Keith! Tone is such a personal thing and there's certainly no set rule to achieving it but I try to share what I've learned as best I can. Hope you're doing well!
i realize I'm pretty off topic but do anybody know of a good site to watch newly released tv shows online ?
@Beau Lyle Try flixzone. You can find it on google :)
@Beau Lyle I use flixzone. You can find it on google =)
Since watching this video I put your tips in practice and it makes a big difference. Small things make big difference and we tend to forget.
Shawn you're the man
What you are saying is so true. A guitar sound is not just the hardware (or software) used.
Yeah, the right guitar and amp can certainly help the process, but at the end of the day, a good percentage of the tone in the player's hands and how they use the tools they have.
It's a great lesson Shawn, always something everytime I tune into your channel.
What a beautiful gibson Shawn!
Damn Shawn! These videos have FAST become my favs.
Such a cool story, I would have loved to hear everyone play through his rig
Why didn't I stumble upon this before? Great!
Years ago I read an article in either guitar player or practicing musician where they interviewed Slash. He told the story of showing up somewhere with just his Les Paul and they gave him a fender Hot Rod Deluxe to play through and he still sounded like himself. He went on to point out you are your sound and you should embrace it.🎸
Before GNR got signed he played a BC Rich. I read several times it was the record company or a managers idea to switch him to a Les Paul to stand out. Everyone played BC Rich and other super strats in the 80’s. Les Paul was not common then- more so in the 90’s. Would had to have been after he was famous.
thank you for this insight
Lots of great stuff here. Your tone sounds great also.
Killer tones on that beautiful Les Paul.
That's how I've been doing things for a while now.. my clean tones are 6.5 on my volume knob, lead is at 10. Amp is never clean. Works great for me. The only method I've ever really been comfortable with. Different guitars for different tones. I wire a parallel treble bleed in each guitar. Nice balanced eq at all volumes
Thanks for sharing this experience. Very nice point.
Thanks so much for watching and for the nice comment Jorge!
Awesome story.
Totally agree: I usually set the amp on the verge of breakup and then dial the tone from the guitar. For a gainy sound with a LP: 9,5 vol and 8,5 tone. When I want to clean up a bit, 8,5 vol and 7,5 tone to soften it up a bit.
YEP!!! Thanks for the comment!
Well stated my man
Great video and as always I enjoyed your personal touch and live demo of how you tweak your sound/tone. That said, I am always wondering why famous players like Joe have a collection of guitars and amps with the special vintage tone that otherwise cannot satisfy them; not to mention spending hours on setting the stage with the equipment and sound check.
Hey Shawn, I've discovered these amps because of you and man, this 20 is like carrying a 50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle in your pocket. absolutely insane huge tone
Glad you're digging it dude!
10:31 'Oomph Box' would be a great name for a pedal
That was an excellent video. If I remember correctly, there was this story doing the rounds that some years ago now someone did this with Dave Gilmours rig in an effort to emulate him. Needless to say it didn't work out well. It seems the major part of your tone is in your hands.
Thanks for the vid. Also what I have learned over the years is the tone that sounds great with just me then with the band. It took me too long to learn that with the band I need more treble and mid’s to cut through the mix.
Exactly! Shawn did another video on this topic recently on this channel :)
Yep!! You're spot on!
Shawn, I so enjoy your playing. So darn good. I was at that event as you know. Since ya asked for what your viewers do for tone I'll throw some of my approaches out there. First I learned a lot from Joe's class. I played that glorious guitar and amp of his. And yep!! Sounded like me. Great sounding guitar and amp but it was my attack, my dynamics (or lack of haha) my licks so that proved it. It was me all the way. Then Joe played my 83 MIJ Tele, and wow! my inexpensive guitar sounded glorious. So another lesson that didn't need words. After I tested out my new REVV G20 on my guitar you played my guitar for me so I could hear the amp without me thinking about what I was playing. Hey it's isn't a Suhr but it sounded like Shawn Tubbs and another lesson learned. My guitar can sound pretty awesome in the right hands. Lesson learned, how you play is more important that what you play.
Another thing that really stuck with me that Joe said was how accuracy was critical to good tone. And accurate sounds faster and more interesting than sloppy at the same speed. That camp gave me ideas and inspiration I'll work on from now on. You suggested we share some things here we do to find our tone so here's a couple of mine. I work more with my volume knob than ever before and find that slight tweaks have different sounds with different pedals. And it's crazy but I actually think my bridge tele pup has a little better tone at 8.5 or 9 than all the way up. I have no idea why that would be- but it's worth sharing with your other followers to at least see if that's helpful anyone else.
Another tone tip I got it from your videos is using right hand fingers. I use my fingers more than ever. I've always used fingers with a pick for hybrid picking. But I now occasionally use just thumb and fingers for a different tone depending on the song. Doing some local home studio recording on a friend's project I discovered the huge difference in tone various picks have. So now playing live I have some different picks on the stand for various tones. I swear my ears hear a difference in tone.
And finally I am dialing back the gain on my overdrive/push pedals and working on getting the overdriven sound but with more clarity and articulation. It makes you work harder on being clean but it's worth it. That takes it back to accuracy is huge it sounding good. Thanks always Shawn. Thanks for encouraging us to share ideas on the channel. Your demos and videos are educational on gear but also on just being a better guitarist in a band setting. BTW, had my best sounding gig yet with the G20 this past weekend. Perfect for pedal board to amp then sending direct to house and to my in ears. And I am getting good tones that mix with the rest of the band in my opinion. Really starting to play better now that I am not thinking of tweaking the amp and have found my sweet spot with the amp. Thanks so much for being at the woodshedguitarexperience. Oh! and digging the G2 also. Lower gain, with a little push pedal to it. Pretty sweet.
That's great Allan! It's a bit of a process when it comes to discovering and achieving that sound in your head and yes technique is not to be ignored as it's all part of the journey! Sounds like you've found the sweet spots that work for you! Cheers!
i would kill for a few lessons with Shawn
No murder needed, that's why You Tube was invented. ;)
Been a year since this video was filmed… your Tilt pedal was just released- it’s time to dial in your sound again
Great insight Shawn as usual. I've seen Joe live several times and I've seen him many times on youtube, TV, etc. No matter what he's playing or playing through he always sounds like Joe. I think to a great extent we all sound like ourselves. That's good if you're JB, not so good if you're me ;). I'm really loving my tone these days. I'm using a D20 set to just the edge of breakup and an old Zen Drive 2 in front. The combo is so touch sensitive that between my vol, tone, and attack I can get a wide range. I'm still incorporating a Helix for the wet effects. I wish I was a better player. BTW Shawn I'm curious what LP you're playing? Is it an R9, Historic or what?
I'm sure you play great man. That Zen Drive is a great pedal! That particular LP is indeed an R9 that sadly doesn't belong to me it belongs to a pal. I actually did a video about that guitar and my PRS 58 if you want to check it out. Thanks for watching! ua-cam.com/video/pd7rrJNZnRI/v-deo.html
Nice one Shawn!
Thanks for watching Edward!
I back the amp treble and bass both down a touch. Then guitar controls as needed.
With my sound, it sometimes cuts in and out. I take my lead and stick both ends into a tomato and leave it overnight. Sounds like new! Try it.
Agreed Fully . Play the amp not the computer ?
Once u get to certain place with who u are and who a guitar is once it’s in ur hands, tone comes from ur fingers. Phrasing, pressure, feel, placement ect.. I can play a high dollar guitar & amp then get on a cheap guitar and amp and to a degree it’s all gonna sound like me once I start playing.
The Revv ad...
I have no interest in soundin'u like Bonamassa. But I wouldn't mind havin' a little more Shawn Tubbs in my tone, AMEN ;) Stellar.
I find adjusting the volume gets nicer unique tones over touching the tone dial which is the same tone minus treble. I don't touch the tone much unless I've been brought up on stage with say playing my strat when the previous was say a LPaul. I never touch the tone on my PRS or SG, sometimes on my Nashville. Great information. I LIKE IT REALLY.
My one gripe is to hear real tone you have to play melodic runs and occationally hold a bent note with vibrato etc. Play musically, play with expression and beauty a melody one would wish to hum too.
Most demo players play ADHD licks over and over and twitch nerviously in between pauses and then go right back to a subtle version of the same GD lick. it's nauseating to hear over and ovet like a Ritalin fit.really..... Hi I can play really fast and here is the same Eric Johnson style, SRV or basic blues lick that i practiced over and over for 6 months to show you how good I am. It's not the result you may expect. What I get out of it is your a demo queen rather than a true musician and since we are talking about about subtle things like tone and volume how can we ignore the elephant in the room. You have excellent skill now move from boy to man and play something we want to actually hear. And maybe in different various keys and arpeggios, maybe muted or hold one beautifull note like Gary Moore.
Understandably you will be agitated by my comment because you will realize I am 100% correct. But this might be the thing that takes you to the next level over time and the annoying comment you will be thankful for because you can grow into something unique and special.
Man you’re such a good guitarist. Lol. It blows my mind. On a side note this channel and line 6 native Revv models made me change my mind about Revv completely. I kind of hated the way they found now I want to at least try the real amps and pedals
Thank you!
Thanks very much!
It’s so counter intuitive that when you dialed out some bass , your ‘tone’ got fuller sounding.
Sound is weird...🤣
Your playing and ability to get tones are fantastic!
Yes, it can be strange to turn down a bass control and of the sudden sound fuller. Turning down the bass control can leave room for the perception of mids that would otherwise sound scooped. Thanks for watching and for the kind words!
I wonder to what degree the compression of the recording process contributes to this effect.
Do you know if the woodshed experience was recorded?
I do not believe so. It was many events over a few days. I'm sure there are some short clips of the jams floating around. We have one of Mark Lettieri on our Instagram.
@@RevvAmps okay, thanks for answering!
$1.5million - $100,000= A KILLER HOUSE CONGRATS
Bro!! You should see my 2002 Jetta!!
To be fair, that depends on what music and the player that your covering.
But classic songs you grow up listening to and use similiar amps, you put the work in and yes you can, don't know a single person who knows any or wants to learn any of Joe's material.
On drums, this is definately true.
Hard to sound like Bonham.
I still try to sound like Joe lmao......unsuccessfully
Middle position! Useless! Really .... Playing a LP or a SG, we forget about finding great tones in the middle position.
is nothing to learn from Bonamassa