Posted on 12 December 2009.
Your tone determines your greatness. If you have great tone, then you really don’t have to be the best guitarist in the world, but you’ll get respect.
Guitarist are on a never ending search for THE tone.
Even the rock greats like Clapton, are constantly changing their guitars, effects, amps, anything to make that slight difference in their tone so they can be 100% satisfied.
One note on a rig that has superb tone, will always beat out a thousand notes on an “ok” rig.
So what I want to cover in this post is a few ways to get the perfect tone you’ve been searching for, even if you’re on a budget.
Start With The Wood -
The type of wood that makes up your guitar, is going to drastically effect the tone. The two most common woods used for the fret board of a guitar is maple (light, blonde color), and rosewood (a dark, brown color).
Maple woods are always going to be brighter. Think the brighter the color, the brighter the tone. You’re going to get a lot more clarity in your playing, and a ton that will cut through the mix.
Maple woods are used in a wide variety of guitars, in a wide variety of styles.
In country, you’ll have a twangier sounding axe. In reggae, a nice poppy, crisp tone. Throw a Fender Strat with a maple neck through a fender deluxe reverb, and you’ll have one of the most beautiful rhythm tones that’s ever been made.
Rosewood fretboards – Raw, gritty, fat, rich, and my personal favorite.
Think of the tone of Stevie Ray Vaughn. The way the guitar growled at you. Rosewoods are going to give you a fatter tone. Very common in 60Æs era Strats and Gibsons.
If you want a guitar tone that’ll bite you, then go with a Rosewood fret board. Just don’t go cheap!
Maple necks are often times finished which will lead to a somewhat smoother playing experience.
Rosewoods are unfinished, and on cheaper guitars often very dry. This can be irritating for the guitarist.
But a rosewood fret board on a nice high end guitar is pure ecstasy.
Next The Pick-Ups -
For the most part you have two choices. Single coil, or hum buckers. Single coils are versatile, and is going to give you a lot of clarity in the playing, but hum buckers are going to give you a nice fat, rich tone.
What a hum bucker is, is basically two single coils stacked side-by-side. This doubles the signal, thus doubling the fatness of the tone.
Hum buckers are going to give you a very big sounding tone. Great for jazz, heavy rock, or anything that you want to get some chunk out of your guitar.
Single coils tend not to hold extreme high gain situations very well, but they make for some of the best rhythm tones.
Single coil pickups really shine through any Class A/B tube amps, like the fender series amps, although they sound amazing through Class A amps like your Vox and Marshalls.
There’s Only One Choice For Your Amp –
Tube! Nothing but tube, and don’t even think about using anything else. If you have more of a strat style guitar, I would suggest sticking to the Fender Series amps.
I personally don’t like using hum buckers, or any of your Les Paul type guitars through Fender Amps, because I find it to brittle sounding. For your Gibson type guitars I would suggest sticking with a Vox, or you could even go with a Marshall (although they’re quality has significantly dropped in recent years).
Use effects very sparingly. Most people try to use effects to get tones, and that’s not what they are designed to be. They are to enhance the tone that you already have. So start with your guitar, and amp first.
That’s like saying I’m going to dump salt on cheap steak to make it taste like a t-bone. Just start with a better cut of meat, and chances are you don’t even need to add seasonings.
