# The verdict is in - Tone is in the fingers



## Guest (Apr 16, 2011)

Just reading an article that tone is in the fingers, not the equipment. The verdict is in.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Not this again!


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I thought tone was in my stinky socks, my soiled underpants, my bad breath, my dirty mind, my criminal record, my devilish grin, my cold blood...

No? I guess I better start practicing.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

For those, like me, who's fingers are tone handicapped, lots of really, really good guitars, amps and pedals are needed as assistive devices since no amount of practice can really fully cure it.


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## Presto1202 (Dec 8, 2010)

lol I always think it's odd how we think things have to be "either/or" instead of acknowledging the possibility that there could be many contributing factors. I guess we do it because it's easier for our minds to categorize and think about things this way. =)


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

Agreed, Presto1202.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Sorry .. but the tone is in my trombone ...


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

never mind, I found it!!!


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Just ask my wife, when in the middle of the night I fart, when we're both supposed to be sound asleep, she'll tell you where the tone is.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Sure, tone is in the fingers.

But it's also int he mind & heart of the guitarist, and in the gear and in everything from inside the guitarist to the ears of the listener.


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## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

While the gear certainly has an effect on tone, and good gear definitely sounds better, good tone starts with the fingers. If you put BB king on a Samick with a crappy Floyd lic. bridge through a vintage 1983 Peavey "blue front" solid state amp? He'd still sound incredible.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

fudb said:


> While the gear certainly has an effect on tone, and good gear definitely sounds better, good tone starts with the fingers. If you put BB king on a Samick with a crappy Floyd lic. bridge through a vintage 1983 Peavey "blue front" solid state amp? He'd still sound incredible.


No...he'd still sound like BB because of his style...AND he'd milk everything that would be possible to get out of that set up - that might indeed be incredible for what it is (BB F'n King playing guitar) but his tone would suck.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

You can actually _LEARN_ tone from a book...apparently...


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## Alex Csank (Jul 22, 2010)

Tone has never really been properly defined anyway. To me, 'tone' is all about the right combination of gear so that great sound reproduction occurs. You can use the word'tone' with any number of adjectives to help narrow the field of understanding such as: 'sweet tone', 'fuzzy tone', 'grunge tone', 'surf tone', etc. Now, 'colour', 'sound', 'mojo', 'chops', 'noise' and any of a myriad of other words describe (to me anyway) how somebody plays and sounds.

But who am I to define any of that? I'm no better than any of the other clowns trying to 'define' words which describe an art form... and that's just pretentious, and usually wrong because words don't ever do justice to art.

Besides, I play like 'shite'. 'Shite-tone'! That's it! I just defined my own tone! Cool!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

If I had to choose between listening to someone with "tone" in their fingers, but not their guitar and someone with "tone" in their guitar, but not their fingers, I know which I'd choose.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

me too $%^&


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

bw66 said:


> If I had to choose between listening to someone with "tone" in their fingers, but not their guitar and someone with "tone" in their guitar, but not their fingers, I know which I'd choose.


What if they had great 'tone in their fingers' but they had terrible timing, couldn't write and couldn't play in key?

I'll take the greta player any day...and then hope that they have a nice guitar and amp too.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

I guess Tony Iommi's tone is found in his Prosthetic finger tips...


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Then there's the tone that eminates from Django Reinhardt's hand damaged in a caravan fire...


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

jimihendrix said:


> I guess Tony Iommi's tone is found in his Prosthetic finger tips...


Nice post. I was surprised that Tony doesn't play a Gibson...I always thought that was an SG.


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## Fane (Aug 23, 2008)

Wow I had no idea about Iommi and that.. 

Sure, tone's in the fingers, but good luck producing the tone from Carcass' 'Heartwork' on a standard American Tele and Fender Twin.


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## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

smorgdonkey said:


> No...he'd still sound like BB because of his style...AND he'd milk everything that would be possible to get out of that set up - that might indeed be incredible for what it is (BB F'n King playing guitar) but his tone would suck.


hmmm I don't think so. You ever played through a (what is it) Lab50? They're really not a great sounding amp as I remember things, but BB makes em sing.

I think that for the purposes of this discussion I should clarify that I mean a properly set up guitar and a clean, working amp with a speaker bigger than say, 8" (not that you can't get good tone out of smaller speakers, but it's tougher).


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Tone isn't in touch or sound but LOOK

When I see Clapton play, I wanna Strat.

Gary Moore, a Les Paul

Albert King, a Flying V

Bruce Kulick, an ESP......

Thats how tone works for me, lol


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...tone might actually be in the ears.

ever since i sold my ampeg half-stack back in the mid 80s and started trying to get tone by pushing the gain/drive control on o/d pedals, my tone has been nothing short of pathetic. thin, buzzy, fizzy, whiney.
i finally got the idea of keeping the gain as low as possible. that really helped.
then, one day, i discovered midrange...


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

When I hear Clapton play stuff that I like, I want a 335 or an LP.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

david henman said:


> then, one day, i discovered midrange...


HAHA!! Funny!!

I heard Randy Bachman mention your name on his Vinyl Tap show the other night...he didn't mention midrange though!!


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Tone is the sound that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up...

Tone is the sound that brings a smile to your face when you hear it...

Tone makes you sit up and take notice and say things like..."Now _THAT'S_ what I'm talkin' about...!!!"


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Here's a couple vids of David Gilmour playing some gear that is not typically associated with him.
Still sounds like Dave to me with only slight tonal differences (to my ears anyway). 

[video=youtube;lfXL7m2889k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfXL7m2889k[/video]

Check out the lead break on this one... Electric lead on a Taylor acoustic!

[video=youtube;-usUz2L4BUM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usUz2L4BUM[/video]


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## LaRSin (Nov 27, 2006)

Beer ......................more...... Beer


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

LaRSin said:


> Beer ......................more...... Beer


LOL - best response in this thread so far.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Hamstrung said:


> Here's a couple vids of David Gilmour playing some gear that is not typically associated with him.
> Still sounds like Dave to me with only slight tonal differences (to my ears anyway).
> 
> Check out the lead break on this one... Electric lead on a Taylor acoustic!


Yes, but he isn't going stright in to any old rig...and he isn't just running a Danelectro Fab Metal either...no disrespect to the Fab Metal lovers out there!


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

smorgdonkey said:


> Yes, but he isn't going stright in to any old rig...and he isn't just running a Danelectro Fab Metal either...no disrespect to the Fab Metal lovers out there!


Absolutely! But many people blow serious money chasing down the exact rig of their hero only to find they sound much like themselves in the end. Those videos show that even when Gilmour uses different gear he doesn't vary a whole hell of a lot in overall sound. 

There's a myriad of ways to arrive at a sound or emulate a certain rig but unless you can play well and/or at least reach an audience it won't matter. You can't polish a turd. (yeah... I know Mythbusters did it but you know what I mean! 

I believe in the notion that it's a combination of factors that dictate what many call "tone". I think of it like a points system. 
If you're a fantastic guitarist you get high points. 
If you have access to the best tools available to present your music, more points. 
If you have the ability to reach people with your music and make them feel (or argue about) it you get maximum points! 

Most of the memorable guitar players have a mixed variation of the first two (and a blessed few not even that) but they all had the third. I think that is the "tone" we're all chasing!


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## Todd68 (Mar 7, 2008)

Tone may be in the fingers, but it sure helps to have the proper tools for the job. Great gear inspires the player to be at their best. A great guitar player may still be good on crap gear, but they will perform better on gear that allows them to play and sound at their best.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Todd68 said:


> Tone may be in the fingers, but it sure helps to have the proper tools for the job. Great gear inspires the player to be at their best. A great guitar player may still be good on crap gear, but they will perform better on gear that allows them to play and sound at their best.


I would like to hear Steve Vai play on one of the Walmart specials and see what it sounds like compared to him playing the JEM. I can't see it sounding too close.


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Steadfastly said:


> I would like to hear Steve Vai play on one of the Walmart specials and see what it sounds like compared to him playing the JEM. I can't see it sounding too close.


I had a video up here of SRV playing a squier strat.
I saw SRV live when I was 11 at the Sydney Opera House, was when I wanted to learn to "really" play guitar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -& All Round Nice Guy.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

That was likely a MIJ Squier and the quality was likely as good as any US made strat. When I think about it, between 1984-86 all Fenders were made in Japan.



bzrkrage said:


> I had a video up here of SRV playing a squier strat.
> I saw SRV live when I was 11 at the Sydney Opera House, was when I wanted to learn to "really" play guitar.
> .


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________________


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

I don't remember the thread, but in it, someone quoted Steve Vai playing on Brian May's gear. It went something like - when Brian played his Red Special through his AC30s, it sounded like Queen but when Steve played through the same guitar and amps, it sounded like Steve Vai.

I wish I could post the actual quote but I think that about sums it up.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

bluzfish said:


> I don't remember the thread, but in it, someone quoted Steve Vai playing on Brian May's gear. It went something like - when Brian played his Red Special through his AC30s, it sounded like Queen but when Steve played through the same guitar and amps, it sounded like Steve Vai.
> 
> I wish I could post the actual quote but I think that about sums it up.


When they said sounded like... Were they speaking of style or tone? Big difference .


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Yes, as mentioned before, they'll still sound good through some cheaper gear,
but they'll sound great through some better gear.

Tone and ability can be two different cans of worms on their own.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Too bad these cant be bought


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Here's proof in the pudding.

Listen to how bad Alex sounds playing that Dianne Sawyer song on that cheap guitar...
(NSFW!)

[video=youtube;gtxyjf9eerI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtxyjf9eerI[/video]


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## GUInessTARS (Dec 28, 2007)

It's true, I washed my hands and got the cleanest tone ever.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

If so, then tone is in liquid form sealed inside. Why? Because I figure mine sprung leaks and they have all drained dry. That would explain a lot.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Ppl always seem to talk about tone being in either the fingers or the gear. I think its both. But I think theres also a 3rd element: the brain/ears. Some guys are just damn good at finding tone in whatever they have. they hear the nuances, know which knobs to tweak, know how to compensate for volume changes, rooms etc.


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