Thank you for a mature and sober chat, and may young guitarists hear you. I must say the whole point of the "tonewood" crud was born out of the concern that manufacturers are lying when they market an axe on the basis of some magical piece of maple or some such to justify 6 thousand dollars for a 45 dollar chunk of wood. Great video! THANKS
It's always great to hear someone who really knows what they're talking about, delivering straightforward, fundamental TRUTHS on the subject of guitars. Great video, man.
I play guitar to have fun & enjoy myself, why do so many folks get so bent out of shape over trying to get somebody else's tone. It is a vain quest, all my guitars are inexpensive and with my modelling amp I get the sounds I want. Relax everyone & develop your own sound, have fun playing, life is too short to try and be someone else. Great video, thanks Dylan.
One could also make the argument, and I have seen it made, that no one has ever really heard anyone else's true tone. Unless they're right there on stage or in the studio, next to that players rig. You hear a sound man or studio engineers interpretation of that tone, adjusted to blend in with the bigger picture. So people buy gear and chase a "tone", often ending at that same disappointment when it doesn't sound just like that killer live show or studio recording that made them chase it in the first place. Thoughts on that idea?
I stumbled upon this video purely by chance. The content should be required viewing by every person who has ever picked up a guitar! I agree 100% with every point made here. The search for that so called "vintage" tone by someone who's under the age of 65, having to rely on the "vintage" recordings doesn't take into account all the lost tricks from the old studios of the time. Those things can't be modeled with new gadgets simply because they were human created, the hand on the tape reel to create that momentary flutter, that can't be done the same way twice. That sound was chosen from several dozen attempts, never to be duplicated again. I hope more folks see this video, and realize the "tone" they have is unique to themselves, and should strive to exploit their own special tone.
I love the tonewood talks! I can play through any gear and I'll always sound like me - but the tone will definitely be different from one rig to another.
Agree 110% This man speaks the truth. In past years I spent huge amounts of money trying to sound like other players I admired. Now in my mid 40s I've finally realized that I will sound like me no matter what I play through. I still enjoy quality gear but I'm done with trying to cop other guys tones. No body sounds like me but me, so why not run with it.
There are a handful of people talking guitar gear online the way Dylan does. It's clear, it's consistent, and so far I've found what he says to be accurate, even if i kinda wish it wasn't sometimes (various pieces of guitar folklore I wanted to believe). I know I'm coming late to this one, but another awesome video!
It makes me remember of my music teacher. When I was younger I was like "I want to sound like this guy should I change my instrument?" And my teacher went "No, you'd need to change your fingers."
Consider the instrument that you did the bulk of your practice on when you first took up guitar. You probably developed your technique as a reaction to that guitar's qualities.
OMG!!! sanity on you tube!! Unheard of !! everything he says is right on the money-I was in a music shop in NYC one day and Mark Knopfler walked in and picked a guitar off the wall and plugged into a little amp on the floor and started to play and sounded exactly like you would expect-it is all in the hands and the heart-make the gear your own and develop your own sound-I have also played all the vintage gear and while it was great I still sounded like me when I play my guitars that are not as old and revered-you can't buy a bunch of pedals a strat and a Marshall and sound like Hendrix-it just ain't happenin'
Michael Z Martin well you are right again- sold state amps don't cut it for me either-tubes all the way-I was referring more to his calm and measured approach to things- and his willingness to consider each individuals preference without being critical
Michael Z Martin Solid state amps are not my bag either, but it's all in what you are into tonally. For cleans they can be fantastic. Even some overdrive tones are better with Solid state. Dimebag comes to mind.
+DylanPickups Very true. Albert King used transistor amps by acoustic for quite some time and he has a great lead tone. Uniquely great. By the way, i just stumbled across your channel and i have to say you are my favourite gear guy already. And i watched gear videos for the last years on a daily basis. I´m not proud of it, but electric guitars are my addiction. ;) Keep it up!
I've been in this argument. I say no guitar sounds like shit, it depends on what sound youre going for.. I keep switching pickups around on all different guitars and I cant hear no difference at all in the tone. my thoughts are the pickup cuttout size would make a difference, and have a video about it. I will take any guitar no matter how cheap even junk, and play it, and appreciate it.
Very interesting video. I've got many guitars and a couple of amps, and I find that my tone seems to be very similar whenever I use any of the guitars into either amp. How much tone comes from the guitarists hands?
Yes our guitar gear landscape has changed but great tone hasn't. To many new and even not so new players are so badly informed and haven't had the experience of having a trusted old school music store and trusted person that can help and allow them to play and audition gear. That is the main reason I love your channel so much. You give accurate yet unbiased truth in a world full of internet educated unexperienced so called experts that have never actually played the gear they offer opinions on they researched through the web full of bad advice based on no real world hands on playing. Thank you as I know this business and you just reaffirm my own years of professional experience. Buying, building, playing, repairing, teaching and owning many guitars for many years. In so many ways things are better with a unlimited selection of great new gear. I started modding and building overdrive pedals and fuzz pedals and others and busted myths left and right. Managing a old school music store for over 10 years and as a product buyer spending time at NAMM shows each year and appraising vintage gear for my customers insurance polices I made knowing everything guitar from wood to wire my profession and career. I just so happened to also tour with a great very popular band for over 15 years using vintage Marshall amps and many Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Charvel, PRS ect.... And I've modded built and repaired guitars since 1982. I run across experts that are completely full of crap playing mentor and God to unknowing masses of inspired lovers of guitar. Also teaching guitar and music theory lessons taught me every day as well as taking lessons myself and learning from cool people like you Dylan. Others reading this take my advice and trust Dylan and remain cautious of anything you read on the web. The ultimate key to great tone is practice your guitar. Most of the time a fresh set of strings will make a bigger difference in sound that that magical box you can get from amazon. What gets me is seeing people believe and spend they're money on crap then post video's praising the great product that really sucks. They actually believe they're own b.s. Practice and take lessons. Then pick tried and true gear from a real store that lets you try it before you buy it. Then that Les Paul and pickup set with a screamer pedal and tube amp just might get you somewhere. Like on a real stage in front of a real audience with a pleasant musical tone. You can't put a price on real ability aquired through dedication and quality practice. Even using a cheaper imported guitar and amp the person that practiced and has they're chops down smooth with walk all over and destroy the person that spent $3grand on the best U.S. made guitar and way more for that boutique hand wired amp every day. Dylan nailed it when he said tone is in your hands. Truth. The ultimate truth is that if most so called experts spent the same amount of time they waste posting crap videos and surfing reverb into practicing they're guitars they would actually be able to really play guitar. Then talk the talk and really walk the walk. The real hero's usually don't have time for arguing about strings and which tube sounds great because they're playing guitar instead.
I'd just add that a third place from which our tone comes in addition to and actually even before our hands is our mind. Our concept of the tone that we like influences what we do with our hands and how we set the gear through which we express our concepts. As much as we might try to emulate the particular tone of someone else, we are at best going to sound more like ourselves emulating that particular tone than the actual tone we are emulating/copying. And that sense of individuality is worth embracing.
I totally agree with all that and it can adopt a deep philosophy on personal guitar ownership level, but . . the core debate started with a simple scientific question that I suppose people expected a simple answer to, and that was ; does wood species affect the tone on an amplified solid body electric guitar? It was more curiosity for guitar enthusiast and builders really. The philosophical debates kind of tagged on to this after the fact and there are still divided camps on both sides in relation to the core question. All of that applies that you speak of to a guitarist that has never considered tonewood concepts to. Really enjoyed your video.
I agree with you. Guitar players play the way they play with the picks the like the angle of attack how they work the fretboard and a good player can make a "cheap" guitar sound good. Also a good luthier can take a "cheap" guitar and set it up properly and it will play great. If you want your own good tone get your guitar setup well and have all the electronics work and you can find your own good tone. I love the cat walking in and out of the room in the background too. Good Post
I like your viewpoint, Dylan .. :) I can even forgive the hat !! tonewood .. ?? nickle covers ..?? naaah ... I have come to realize after some 50 years of playing that there are just some spectacular instruments was it the particular piece of Wood ..?? the fitment, or glue -- of the neck joint (Gibson) .. ?? who knows I get a fantastic tone from a marshall reverb 12, and a 1964 LP Jr go figure
Here is my unsolicited opinion: I have had a ton of boutique gear, and have modified many guitars. A perfect nut, perfect saddles, and a top-shelf setup are the foundation of good tone. After that, don't swap gear too much but instead focus on chasing tones with what you have to work with, and apply yourself to your instrument and you'll go much farther than flipping gear.
ABSOLUTELY! I have soooo many experiences with experience and some vintage basses and guitars and honestly maybe nine out ten play and sound subpar! Even though I went in with high expectations. I have had much better luck with modern and more often than not budget to middle priced ranged instruments! I think people are afraid to just trust their own ears and touch.
Preach the truth, brother!! Fun story, was dating this girl and she was also player. The first time we got together to jam she had her little 10w Ibanez practice amp and she said the tone absolutely sucks! I plugged (not even my guitar) and a couple twist and viola! She was like "how the hell did you get it to sound good?" hahahah!
This is so up to date even today. Reddit is full of "I already got this guitar, it feels and sounds great. Is it any good or did I make a mistake?" Like what?! I think it's a bit like driving a car. Somebody else can drive the top F1 driver's car and not win the races or beat the lap times he does. If that top driver drove something else, they probably couldn't achieve the same times, but they'd still be good and drive like themselves. You know how to drive your gear. It's nice how good some old stuff sounds when you know how to drive it. But you still have to know how to drive it. Or you could drive your own thing of course. It's funny how I still tend to play my first electric guitar, a 20 year old cheap squier and want to upgrade it to better quality hardware, even though I have much better and more expensive gear. It has a perfect neck. And I swear the 20 years have made it sweeter, all the new guitars in the store always feel wrong to me. It has to be second hand most of the time when I buy a guitar.
So true. I can see a good guitar player do good stuff on a cheap guitar, on a more expensive guitar and on a very expensive guitar. Maybe what I’m about to write doesn’t make sense but I play the same on any guitar and sound the same all the time.
@@DylanTalksTone just my opinion as far as how and where tonewood makes the biggest difference in tone to my ears. Thats all. Not corksniffing, off course tone is mainly created by the player. Appreciate the condescending remark though.
here is my thoughts. what I want for an electric guitar is its playability and it should be fun and easy to play. the tone will be on the amp and the pedals. thats why I prefer higher quality amp than expensive guitar because it can produce the sound/tone which I want.
YEAH some one final laid out the truth about the whole subject. SRV sounds like SRV because only he plays with that aggressive power causing a certain tone. He was an athlete with the guitar. I have worked with developing his tone for years. If I attack my guitar physically which I do, It sounds like SRV and people comment its like being in the same room as him, but how is that when I was playing 9's with ceramic pickups, and a solid state amp. It's all in the touch and attack. I do have that same energy that surround what I do and how it emotionally impacts me and the listener. "Tone is emotion in action" That only I can create.
I think style vs. tone is an important distinction. let's say I were to play through EVH's rig or time travel and walk on stage after sound check and play SRV's rig (yes, sticking with players known by their initials). If either badass were to play an open E chord and then I were to play the same chord, I would not sound completely different. My point is that its their STYLE that is so unique/distinct and original that makes them sound like them. But I want to play MY stuff with SRV's tone. I don't want to be a clone. a tone clone (just made that up thank you very much). lol. I seek SRV's tone not because I want to copy him but because I find that tone to be so amazingly expressive. But you let me play through any great guitarist's rig and my tone will sound just like them if we were both to play something extremely simple like smoke on the water. It would have to be something super simple where style doesnt come into play much. if you could do that, it would prove my point. tone is minimally in the fingers. style is completely in the fingers. a signature sound comes from both. the style can be copied by a competent player. the tone by anyone willing to figure out their exact rig (with all the modded pedals, under/over volted power amps and whatever crazy tube combinations etc they have created. or just wait till sound check is over and drive an armored personnel carrier into the venue and grab their shit and vamoose.
Most sense I've heard on this subject. I've bought the gear, the clothes, even the right pick; stood in the same way and pulled the same expression and I never sounded like my heroes ..because I'm not them!!! Seen some fantastic club guitarists using "awful" gear and rubbish sounds from boutique stuff. As you so rightly say..sound like yourself..it's the only honest way.
Two points that bother me when “tone” is brought up. One is the people who will say something like “I want to get that Brian May tone”. Which Brian May tone? From what passage of what song are you thinking of? Because like most great artists, Brian doesn’t have one signature tone that he uses on every part on every song. The second point is almost the opposite; people who have bought into the myth that “great guitar tone” is this one single sound - one large demographic believes that “proper guitar tone means a Les Paul into a Marshall with lots of mids. And their mindset is only reinforced by a lot of the gear out there. Research overdrive pedals and you’ll find that the vast majority of them boost the mids and drop the bass, and everybody just buys into the lie that that is proper guitar tone - “the guitar’s all about the mids, blah blah”. Another demographic will uphold the Stevie Ray blues tone as “proper” guitar tone. It’s all just ridiculous to me. It’s as you said, completely subjective. There is no “right” guitar tone, no good tone, no bad tone, just the appropriate various tones that work well in particular contexts they are used in.
I think how you play is a part of the whole picture, not the fundamental, Santana doesn't like Strat tone, etc., A Mustang has a tone different than a LP, no matter who plays it
That’s one great t-shirt. The cause of so much rock nostalgia, I think, is because modern rock has evolved into a niche of crap. The desire to see a return to the era of guitar gods (Paige, Clapton, beck, skynnard, G&R, etc- as well as the golden age of early rock and rockabilly) is understandable even though it does not bode well for the future.
Friend of mine builds fiddles for couple guys in nashville, he come up with a 59 burst a while back, called me to come try it a minute. Have to agree, neck like a split ball bat ,pups shrill n harsh, no thx , if i owned 1 b tryin to reach joe bonamasa , he seems to get along wth em just fine. Not for me.
I made a guitar of moulded concrete in the shape of a strat and dropped in Seymour Duncan antiquities and basic pre-wired guts and guess what? It sounded like a fender. Tone wood is an absolute myth. Sorry guys! 😊
Everyone forgets that the amps were different back in the 50's - 60's. and they played loud AF because the PA systems were weak. They needed no overdrive pedals because they were always in overdrive. Clean sound? Sure, turn your guitar knob down. The Treble Boosters were not a tone thing, they were a LOUD thing! They made your rig sound louder. And now days we want that tone in our practice rooms at a reasonable level. Good luck. - All my stage guitars are abominations, mongrels, Parts o Sonic, etc. I struggle to get the tone I want until my stereo tube amp is at least 60 %, to max but when I am up loud, all these little things like tone woods and fancy bridges start to matter just a little tiny bit more. Does a solid rosewood body&neck Tele sound different then a production model Tele through a cranked Bassman amp? - it does. Can you tell at bedroom level guitar? Not so much. Would you wrap it in a poly finish? Does it matter? - only if you test the guitars with a cranked tube amp. Even then, is one better than the other or just different? What is the point of a semi hollow body electric guitar if tone woods are inconsequential. Those guitars definitely sound different at cranked amp levels. Tone mostly comes from a proper guitar setup with functioning hardware, the player and the pickups. The rest is picky hyperbole from picky players for some 4% difference in what happens when you crank it. Example, my hardtail mahogany Strat. Sounds great at normal levels. Really great. But when it's cranked, I don't get the plucky spank, I get a funky plunk. Is it bad or good, I dunno, I like it. But it is heavy. And it does have a slightly darker Strat tone. Like the rosewood tele has a darker tone. It's about resonance and that stuff is never noticeable until you get pretty dang loud. Resonance even effects the pickups. Old Les Paul's PAF's do not like loud stages generally. I can sing through my 76 Custom Les Paul, all original, I imagine the monitors going through it. But at the right level in the studio, it is a Holy Relic from a different age. It still has the 300K ohm pot's in it. * I think they switched pots because everyone was using Treble Boosters prior to that era and the 500K's were too much. But that potentiometer change (from 500K to 300K during mid 70's) makes or breaks the tone for some people more than a maple cap or one piece neck could. Does the rosewood or ebony fingerboard make a diff? - again, crank it, squeal it, and you tell me. It's my recommendation to everyone to buy a cheap used guitar and fix it up. Figure out what bugs you and mod it in an affordable careful measure. Experiment. Play it loud with every part change and pay attention to the "tone". Is it different? Ask my studio engineer if 4% more bottom end makes a difference, ask your amp. Ask your wallet, , or just treat the wallet like the bitch it is. - or just always be in the works of a new project guitar every year, that's what I do. All the parts matter to me. I'm the one building and playing it. It's my retro vibe modern sound invented for me, based on what I need to fit in with my band and my own comfort zones. I learn along the way. I often have to play a gig or two before I say - dangit! ,, THAT thing sucks and it's gotta go! And it's most always the pickups or the drive. I could not wait to sell my Texas Special Strat pups after playing them live in my mahogany Strat. Sounded great till I really cranked the fuzzy bastards and tried to get a clean tone. Even the volume knob trick yielded dirt. Went to a Vintage rails neck and Duckbucker middle and LOVED it. Clean at last, clean at last. Halleluiah. Modifying guitars without a staple live rig is just playing a losing game. It all adds up quick when you crank it. ------------ rant concluded.
On 7:30 you speak of same amp, same guitar, same pickups played by you and then by another person sounding not the same! This simply cant be true! If both of you hit a same bar chord and let it ring out it will have the same characteristics. That IS THE TONE test, not your playing technique :D Of course you play the way you do and I or another have their own playing style but that has nothing to do with the TONE of the gear we use. Tone should be tested by plucking a string individually or as a chord and let it ring out. Either you like it or not. All other stuff is playing style/technique and will sound differently.
"Try to play the tone before trying to buy the tone" This is the catch. Thank you Dylan!
This is the best advice ever given to any guitarist.
Thank you for a mature and sober chat, and may young guitarists hear you.
I must say the whole point of the "tonewood" crud was born out of the concern that manufacturers are lying when they market an axe on the basis of some magical piece of maple or some such to justify 6 thousand dollars for a 45 dollar chunk of wood.
Great video! THANKS
It's always great to hear someone who really knows what they're talking about, delivering straightforward, fundamental TRUTHS on the subject of guitars. Great video, man.
just watched my first dylanpickups video . thanks you are a wise man
I play guitar to have fun & enjoy myself, why do so many folks get so bent out of shape over trying to get somebody else's tone. It is a vain quest, all my guitars are inexpensive and with my modelling amp I get the sounds I want. Relax everyone & develop your own sound, have fun playing, life is too short to try and be someone else. Great video, thanks Dylan.
One could also make the argument, and I have seen it made, that no one has ever really heard anyone else's true tone. Unless they're right there on stage or in the studio, next to that players rig. You hear a sound man or studio engineers interpretation of that tone, adjusted to blend in with the bigger picture. So people buy gear and chase a "tone", often ending at that same disappointment when it doesn't sound just like that killer live show or studio recording that made them chase it in the first place. Thoughts on that idea?
Well put. I like the comments about making sure you can PLAY the tone, before you BUY the tone. Good stuff.
I stumbled upon this video purely by chance. The content should be required viewing by every person who has ever picked up a guitar! I agree 100% with every point made here. The search for that so called "vintage" tone by someone who's under the age of 65, having to rely on the "vintage" recordings doesn't take into account all the lost tricks from the old studios of the time. Those things can't be modeled with new gadgets simply because they were human created, the hand on the tape reel to create that momentary flutter, that can't be done the same way twice. That sound was chosen from several dozen attempts, never to be duplicated again. I hope more folks see this video, and realize the "tone" they have is unique to themselves, and should strive to exploit their own special tone.
Agreed
Yeah, I want to paint like Picasso so I'll just buy what he had!
Picasso didn't paint with chopsticks, he still needed a good brush
4:20 - 4:50 I totally agree.. Not all components contribute equally to the tonality of an electric guitar. Nice video!
Thanks Dylan. I just found your channel, very intersting thoughts and great explanations. I really appreciate this. THanks!
I love the tonewood talks! I can play through any gear and I'll always sound like me - but the tone will definitely be different from one rig to another.
Agree 110% This man speaks the truth. In past years I spent huge amounts of money trying to sound like other players I admired. Now in my mid 40s I've finally realized that I will sound like me no matter what I play through. I still enjoy quality gear but I'm done with trying to cop other guys tones. No body sounds like me but me, so why not run with it.
***** Now if we could just convince everyone else out there.
Finally! A voice of reason.
Thank You
There are a handful of people talking guitar gear online the way Dylan does. It's clear, it's consistent, and so far I've found what he says to be accurate, even if i kinda wish it wasn't sometimes (various pieces of guitar folklore I wanted to believe). I know I'm coming late to this one, but another awesome video!
Amen Brother! It makes no difference what rig I take to the gig I always sound the same....lol Love how your cat photo bombs your videos!
Tone is formed from consciousness which is then transmitted out into the hands!
You can not buy good tone, you have to earn it!
Tone is the emotion felt from any given sound from whatever instrument.
On of the best motivational video for musician. Subscribed.
It makes me remember of my music teacher. When I was younger I was like "I want to sound like this guy should I change my instrument?" And my teacher went "No, you'd need to change your fingers."
Consider the instrument that you did the bulk of your practice on when you first took up guitar. You probably developed your technique as a reaction to that guitar's qualities.
What is the right way to wire a jazz bass guitar to get the two volume to cut in and out or one on and 2nd off or the other way around?
This is the best video I saw from you and it is great advice.
Absolutely agree! I would add: the tone comes from two things - your hands and your head.
+ strings & pickups
OMG!!! sanity on you tube!! Unheard of !! everything he says is right on the money-I was in a music shop in NYC one day and Mark Knopfler walked in and picked a guitar off the wall and plugged into a little amp on the floor and started to play and sounded exactly like you would expect-it is all in the hands and the heart-make the gear your own and develop your own sound-I have also played all the vintage gear and while it was great I still sounded like me when I play my guitars that are not as old and revered-you can't buy a bunch of pedals a strat and a Marshall and sound like Hendrix-it just ain't happenin'
Michael Z Martin well you are right again- sold state amps don't cut it for me either-tubes all the way-I was referring more to his calm and measured approach to things- and his willingness to consider each individuals preference without being critical
Michael Z Martin Solid state amps are not my bag either, but it's all in what you are into tonally. For cleans they can be fantastic. Even some overdrive tones are better with Solid state. Dimebag comes to mind.
+DylanPickups Very true. Albert King used transistor amps by acoustic for quite some time and he has a great lead tone. Uniquely great. By the way, i just stumbled across your channel and i have to say you are my favourite gear guy already. And i watched gear videos for the last years on a daily basis. I´m not proud of it, but electric guitars are my addiction. ;)
Keep it up!
I've been in this argument. I say no guitar sounds like shit, it depends on what sound youre going for.. I keep switching pickups around on all different guitars and I cant hear no difference at all in the tone. my thoughts are the pickup cuttout size would make a difference, and have a video about it. I will take any guitar no matter how cheap even junk, and play it, and appreciate it.
Thank you, a fantastic point of view, and I agree 100%.
Very interesting video. I've got many guitars and a couple of amps, and I find that my tone seems to be very similar whenever I use any of the guitars into either amp. How much tone comes from the guitarists hands?
Yes our guitar gear landscape has changed but great tone hasn't. To many new and even not so new players are so badly informed and haven't had the experience of having a trusted old school music store and trusted person that can help and allow them to play and audition gear. That is the main reason I love your channel so much. You give accurate yet unbiased truth in a world full of internet educated unexperienced so called experts that have never actually played the gear they offer opinions on they researched through the web full of bad advice based on no real world hands on playing. Thank you as I know this business and you just reaffirm my own years of professional experience. Buying, building, playing, repairing, teaching and owning many guitars for many years. In so many ways things are better with a unlimited selection of great new gear. I started modding and building overdrive pedals and fuzz pedals and others and busted myths left and right. Managing a old school music store for over 10 years and as a product buyer spending time at NAMM shows each year and appraising vintage gear for my customers insurance polices I made knowing everything guitar from wood to wire my profession and career. I just so happened to also tour with a great very popular band for over 15 years using vintage Marshall amps and many Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Charvel, PRS ect.... And I've modded built and repaired guitars since 1982. I run across experts that are completely full of crap playing mentor and God to unknowing masses of inspired lovers of guitar. Also teaching guitar and music theory lessons taught me every day as well as taking lessons myself and learning from cool people like you Dylan. Others reading this take my advice and trust Dylan and remain cautious of anything you read on the web. The ultimate key to great tone is practice your guitar. Most of the time a fresh set of strings will make a bigger difference in sound that that magical box you can get from amazon. What gets me is seeing people believe and spend they're money on crap then post video's praising the great product that really sucks. They actually believe they're own b.s. Practice and take lessons. Then pick tried and true gear from a real store that lets you try it before you buy it. Then that Les Paul and pickup set with a screamer pedal and tube amp just might get you somewhere. Like on a real stage in front of a real audience with a pleasant musical tone. You can't put a price on real ability aquired through dedication and quality practice. Even using a cheaper imported guitar and amp the person that practiced and has they're chops down smooth with walk all over and destroy the person that spent $3grand on the best U.S. made guitar and way more for that boutique hand wired amp every day. Dylan nailed it when he said tone is in your hands.
Truth.
The ultimate truth is that if most so called experts spent the same amount of time they waste posting crap videos and surfing reverb into practicing they're guitars they would actually be able to really play guitar. Then talk the talk and really walk the walk. The real hero's usually don't have time for arguing about strings and which tube sounds great because they're playing guitar instead.
I'd just add that a third place from which our tone comes in addition to and actually even before our hands is our mind. Our concept of the tone that we like influences what we do with our hands and how we set the gear through which we express our concepts. As much as we might try to emulate the particular tone of someone else, we are at best going to sound more like ourselves emulating that particular tone than the actual tone we are emulating/copying. And that sense of individuality is worth embracing.
I totally agree with all that and it can adopt a deep philosophy on personal guitar ownership level, but . . the core debate started with a simple scientific question that I suppose people expected a simple answer to, and that was ; does wood species affect the tone on an amplified solid body electric guitar? It was more curiosity for guitar enthusiast and builders really. The philosophical debates kind of tagged on to this after the fact and there are still divided camps on both sides in relation to the core question. All of that applies that you speak of to a guitarist that has never considered tonewood concepts to. Really enjoyed your video.
I agree. I am a single coil guy and humbuckers do not cut for me. Every humbucker guitar that I had I did sell it after a while
I agree with you. Guitar players play the way they play with the picks the like the angle of attack how they work the fretboard and a good player can make a "cheap" guitar sound good. Also a good luthier can take a "cheap" guitar and set it up properly and it will play great. If you want your own good tone get your guitar setup well and have all the electronics work and you can find your own good tone. I love the cat walking in and out of the room in the background too. Good Post
Best channel in UA-cam
I like your viewpoint, Dylan .. :)
I can even forgive the hat !!
tonewood .. ?? nickle covers ..??
naaah ...
I have come to realize after some 50 years of playing that there are just some spectacular instruments
was it the particular piece of Wood ..??
the fitment, or glue -- of the neck joint (Gibson) .. ??
who knows
I get a fantastic tone from a marshall reverb 12, and a 1964 LP Jr
go figure
Here is my unsolicited opinion: I have had a ton of boutique gear, and have modified many guitars. A perfect nut, perfect saddles, and a top-shelf setup are the foundation of good tone. After that, don't swap gear too much but instead focus on chasing tones with what you have to work with, and apply yourself to your instrument and you'll go much farther than flipping gear.
ABSOLUTELY! I have soooo many experiences with experience and some vintage basses and guitars and honestly maybe nine out ten play and sound subpar!
Even though I went in with high expectations.
I have had much better luck with modern and more often than not budget to middle priced ranged instruments!
I think people are afraid to just trust their own ears and touch.
Preach the truth, brother!!
Fun story, was dating this girl and she was also player. The first time we got together to jam she had her little 10w Ibanez practice amp and she said the tone absolutely sucks! I plugged (not even my guitar) and a couple twist and viola! She was like "how the hell did you get it to sound good?" hahahah!
This is so up to date even today. Reddit is full of "I already got this guitar, it feels and sounds great. Is it any good or did I make a mistake?" Like what?!
I think it's a bit like driving a car. Somebody else can drive the top F1 driver's car and not win the races or beat the lap times he does. If that top driver drove something else, they probably couldn't achieve the same times, but they'd still be good and drive like themselves. You know how to drive your gear.
It's nice how good some old stuff sounds when you know how to drive it. But you still have to know how to drive it. Or you could drive your own thing of course.
It's funny how I still tend to play my first electric guitar, a 20 year old cheap squier and want to upgrade it to better quality hardware, even though I have much better and more expensive gear. It has a perfect neck. And I swear the 20 years have made it sweeter, all the new guitars in the store always feel wrong to me. It has to be second hand most of the time when I buy a guitar.
Great advice
thank you so much
0:21 lower right hand corner
So true. I can see a good guitar player do good stuff on a cheap guitar, on a more expensive guitar and on a very expensive guitar. Maybe what I’m about to write doesn’t make sense but I play the same on any guitar and sound the same all the time.
Nut and saddles. The wood that resonates in between lies under the frets.
Its all in the neck. Especially fret board material.
yeeeeaaah.
@@DylanTalksTone just my opinion as far as how and where tonewood makes the biggest difference in tone to my ears.
Thats all. Not corksniffing, off course tone is mainly created by the player.
Appreciate the condescending remark though.
here is my thoughts. what I want for an electric guitar is its playability and it should be fun and easy to play. the tone will be on the amp and the pedals. thats why I prefer higher quality amp than expensive guitar because it can produce the sound/tone which I want.
0:20 wild mountain lion speeds through humble luthier's home.
Perfectly said
Agree. I need to sound like me
Can’t agree enough.
Wise words, bro!
YEAH some one final laid out the truth about the whole subject. SRV sounds like SRV because only he plays with that aggressive power causing a certain tone. He was an athlete with the guitar. I have worked with developing his tone for years. If I attack my guitar physically which I do, It sounds like SRV and people comment its like being in the same room as him, but how is that when I was playing 9's with ceramic pickups, and a solid state amp. It's all in the touch and attack. I do have that same energy that surround what I do and how it emotionally impacts me and the listener. "Tone is emotion in action" That only I can create.
Stop making sense, you'll confuse the cork sniffers.
I agree
Thanks man, let the truth be know.
como se llama
Preach brother!
I think style vs. tone is an important distinction. let's say I were to play through EVH's rig or time travel and walk on stage after sound check and play SRV's rig (yes, sticking with players known by their initials). If either badass were to play an open E chord and then I were to play the same chord, I would not sound completely different. My point is that its their STYLE that is so unique/distinct and original that makes them sound like them. But I want to play MY stuff with SRV's tone. I don't want to be a clone. a tone clone (just made that up thank you very much). lol. I seek SRV's tone not because I want to copy him but because I find that tone to be so amazingly expressive. But you let me play through any great guitarist's rig and my tone will sound just like them if we were both to play something extremely simple like smoke on the water. It would have to be something super simple where style doesnt come into play much. if you could do that, it would prove my point. tone is minimally in the fingers. style is completely in the fingers. a signature sound comes from both. the style can be copied by a competent player. the tone by anyone willing to figure out their exact rig (with all the modded pedals, under/over volted power amps and whatever crazy tube combinations etc they have created. or just wait till sound check is over and drive an armored personnel carrier into the venue and grab their shit and vamoose.
Most sense I've heard on this subject. I've bought the gear, the clothes, even the right pick; stood in the same way and pulled the same expression and I never sounded like my heroes ..because I'm not them!!! Seen some fantastic club guitarists using "awful" gear and rubbish sounds from boutique stuff. As you so rightly say..sound like yourself..it's the only honest way.
Amen!
I had a 1960 Les Paul, but I prefer my 1992 Les Paul. I don’t know anything about the wiring, pickups, or whatever. It sounds like me.
I like.
Two points that bother me when “tone” is brought up. One is the people who will say something like “I want to get that Brian May tone”. Which Brian May tone? From what passage of what song are you thinking of? Because like most great artists, Brian doesn’t have one signature tone that he uses on every part on every song. The second point is almost the opposite; people who have bought into the myth that “great guitar tone” is this one single sound - one large demographic believes that “proper guitar tone means a Les Paul into a Marshall with lots of mids. And their mindset is only reinforced by a lot of the gear out there. Research overdrive pedals and you’ll find that the vast majority of them boost the mids and drop the bass, and everybody just buys into the lie that that is proper guitar tone - “the guitar’s all about the mids, blah blah”. Another demographic will uphold the Stevie Ray blues tone as “proper” guitar tone. It’s all just ridiculous to me. It’s as you said, completely subjective. There is no “right” guitar tone, no good tone, no bad tone, just the appropriate various tones that work well in particular contexts they are used in.
Hey Dylan, your Arizona Cardinals picked up a stud Linebacker yesterday in the draft. Good get.
Who are the dumbasses that "thumbs downed" this video??? This is great man. Good video
I think how you play is a part of the whole picture, not the fundamental, Santana doesn't like Strat tone, etc., A Mustang has a tone different than a LP, no matter who plays it
That’s one great t-shirt. The cause of so much rock nostalgia, I think, is because modern rock has evolved into a niche of crap. The desire to see a return to the era of guitar gods (Paige, Clapton, beck, skynnard, G&R, etc- as well as the golden age of early rock and rockabilly) is understandable even though it does not bode well for the future.
Friend of mine builds fiddles for couple guys in nashville, he come up with a 59 burst a while back, called me to come try it a minute. Have to agree, neck like a split ball bat ,pups shrill n harsh, no thx , if i owned 1 b tryin to reach joe bonamasa , he seems to get along wth em just fine. Not for me.
I made a guitar of moulded concrete in the shape of a strat and dropped in Seymour Duncan antiquities and basic pre-wired guts and guess what? It sounded like a fender. Tone wood is an absolute myth. Sorry guys! 😊
Everyone forgets that the amps were different back in the 50's - 60's. and they played loud AF because the PA systems were weak. They needed no overdrive pedals because they were always in overdrive. Clean sound? Sure, turn your guitar knob down. The Treble Boosters were not a tone thing, they were a LOUD thing! They made your rig sound louder. And now days we want that tone in our practice rooms at a reasonable level. Good luck. - All my stage guitars are abominations, mongrels, Parts o Sonic, etc. I struggle to get the tone I want until my stereo tube amp is at least 60 %, to max but when I am up loud, all these little things like tone woods and fancy bridges start to matter just a little tiny bit more. Does a solid rosewood body&neck Tele sound different then a production model Tele through a cranked Bassman amp? - it does. Can you tell at bedroom level guitar? Not so much. Would you wrap it in a poly finish? Does it matter? - only if you test the guitars with a cranked tube amp. Even then, is one better than the other or just different? What is the point of a semi hollow body electric guitar if tone woods are inconsequential. Those guitars definitely sound different at cranked amp levels. Tone mostly comes from a proper guitar setup with functioning hardware, the player and the pickups. The rest is picky hyperbole from picky players for some 4% difference in what happens when you crank it. Example, my hardtail mahogany Strat. Sounds great at normal levels. Really great. But when it's cranked, I don't get the plucky spank, I get a funky plunk. Is it bad or good, I dunno, I like it. But it is heavy. And it does have a slightly darker Strat tone. Like the rosewood tele has a darker tone. It's about resonance and that stuff is never noticeable until you get pretty dang loud. Resonance even effects the pickups. Old Les Paul's PAF's do not like loud stages generally. I can sing through my 76 Custom Les Paul, all original, I imagine the monitors going through it. But at the right level in the studio, it is a Holy Relic from a different age. It still has the 300K ohm pot's in it. * I think they switched pots because everyone was using Treble Boosters prior to that era and the 500K's were too much. But that potentiometer change (from 500K to 300K during mid 70's) makes or breaks the tone for some people more than a maple cap or one piece neck could. Does the rosewood or ebony fingerboard make a diff? - again, crank it, squeal it, and you tell me. It's my recommendation to everyone to buy a cheap used guitar and fix it up. Figure out what bugs you and mod it in an affordable careful measure. Experiment. Play it loud with every part change and pay attention to the "tone". Is it different? Ask my studio engineer if 4% more bottom end makes a difference, ask your amp. Ask your wallet, , or just treat the wallet like the bitch it is. - or just always be in the works of a new project guitar every year, that's what I do. All the parts matter to me. I'm the one building and playing it. It's my retro vibe modern sound invented for me, based on what I need to fit in with my band and my own comfort zones. I learn along the way. I often have to play a gig or two before I say - dangit! ,, THAT thing sucks and it's gotta go! And it's most always the pickups or the drive. I could not wait to sell my Texas Special Strat pups after playing them live in my mahogany Strat. Sounded great till I really cranked the fuzzy bastards and tried to get a clean tone. Even the volume knob trick yielded dirt. Went to a Vintage rails neck and Duckbucker middle and LOVED it. Clean at last, clean at last. Halleluiah. Modifying guitars without a staple live rig is just playing a losing game. It all adds up quick when you crank it. ------------ rant concluded.
On 7:30 you speak of same amp, same guitar, same pickups played by you and then by another person sounding not the same! This simply cant be true! If both of you hit a same bar chord and let it ring out it will have the same characteristics. That IS THE TONE test, not your playing technique :D Of course you play the way you do and I or another have their own playing style but that has nothing to do with the TONE of the gear we use. Tone should be tested by plucking a string individually or as a chord and let it ring out. Either you like it or not. All other stuff is playing style/technique and will sound differently.
*TONEWOOD*
Sound..... Youre chasing a sound. Tone is a part of what makes sound. The word TONE is over used.
Tone comes from your fingers.
It sprays from
Them like glitter.
Speaking of tone I'm thinking of either getting my Harley Benton SC. ( A Les Paul knock off) upgraded or hiring a craftsman to build it.
How many cats do you have? :P
we had two at that time. now we have none
@@DylanTalksTone sad story(
I saw a cat
Thanks man, let the truth be know.
AMEN !