Wondering if I pay more for a guitar would my tone sound better? or should i get some pedals?
Guitar tone: would a better guitar improve tone?
ilove on 20/12/2019 - 20:51
Comments
yeah i just watched Tom Morello explain gear doesn't mattter
Short answer is yes.
To me quality pickups are important, they will give you the versatility to experiment with different tones.
Tone is a combination of absolutely everything right down to your playing style. Its something you create rather than something you purchase, its very elusive and the tone you want will need to vary depending on what you are playing.
What you probably want is versatility, which is best acquired through practice and familiarity.
Pedals might be a cheaper and more fun way to expand your options.
Copy paste your subject into google for expert advice.
Get a distortion pedal. Turn to 11.
It's part player and part gear.
You're going to have to work on both to find your ideal "tone".
yes and no. it depends on the level you are at. the biggest relation to tone from a guitar is the quality and type of pickup — which are easily replaced. beyond that, things like the quality of the craftsmanship/wood etc. have some input, but honestly its a wankfest. i've made it a habbit to never spend that much on a guitar, cause i abuse the hell out of them, and have always gone for highly regarded cheaper japanese models or clone/lawsuit era copy guitars. they exist to be played, not hung on walls. also, you can't cover everything with one guitar… theres several staple pickup types with their own sound profiles, if you know the kind of music you want to play that helps, and that you should get a feel for what kind of sound you want. this is the smarter priority. you can always have a cheap guitar, and put in higher quality pickups…
the much bigger things that will effect your tone, are your fingers and your amp choice. some amps sound like god. some amps are so good they bring out things that weren't there before, being so responsive, they bring out the feeling and connection to the tone in your fingers. sometimes they can be so good, they bringout your shortcomings. but tonally, just like pickups an amp has a sound profile which will shape how you sound the most.
Hmmm … as a seasoned electric guitarist (who has worshiped and attempted to emulate the playing style of Joe Satriani since the 1980s) I'm tempted to generate a 10-squillion word essay in response to this post!!! Must… exercise … some … restraint …
Everyone so far has assumed you are referring to an electric guitar as that term applies in the traditional sense, as opposed to an electrified acoustic guitar (a figure-8 shaped thing that looks like it’s made of wood), and you have not interjected on that front, so I will assume that is correct.
The first thing I'll say is that re:
'… you can always have a cheap guitar, and put in higher quality pickups…'
To my mind that is the most ridiculous suggestion I have ever heard, in any forum, on any subject, in my entire life. Soz/no offense intended auxiliary (out ;P). That would be like buying a sh#t-man 1980s Ford Escort, then whacking a couple high-end parts made by Rolls Royce into its engine, and expecting improved performance. The facts are that your ‘cheap guitar’ would still have a sh#t neck, totally substandard and inconsistent action as a result of that, tuning pegs that failed to ‘hold’ tuning after even a few minutes of rigorous playing (or a few seconds if you have/use a tremolo bar), crap internal wiring re the 'pots'/knobs, crude/substandard frets, etc. etc. … So yeah, I find the suggestion that you should consider spending any money at all putting expensive pick-ups into a cheap guitar completely bizarre.
As I said above I could write a huge essay on this, but much of it would probably be only vaguely relevant to your specific situation, because you have said very little about that. If you provide more details about exactly what you are seeking, I and no doubt many other guitarists will be happy to offer their opinions. A few things I will say are:
The post/s above stating that ‘tone’ is as much about technique/ability as it is about equipment are dead on the money. Understated even. I can make a $20 ½-size ‘made in China’ acoustic guitar with two missing strings bought at ‘NQR’ sound almost exactly like a guitar in classic blues recordings of the 40s and 50s; but no way would I even attempt to play classical music to any audience on that guitar (even if it was a nylon string).
If you already own a guitar of reasonable quality that tends to stay in tune after pretty vigorous playing, unless you are already a highly accomplished guitarist the best way you will improve your ‘tone’ is not via better equipment, it is by explicitly focusing on practising on improving your tone… for about a year. Things like being absolutely meticulous about how you fret your individual notes, recording yourself playing chord progressions and identifying where you are clearly not fretting some of the strings properly or unintentionally ‘muffling’ some of the strings that are supposed to be ‘vibrating freely in the chord’, and paying attention to dynamics. That is to say, the volume of individual notes within a chord. That is important, and loosely speaking it is an integral component of what is (often overly Cavalierly) referred to as ‘tone’. Note that ‘tone’ is inherently associated with ‘timbre’, and timbre is strongly affected by simple things such as the degree to which all notes in a guitar chord are cleanly fretted.
I'd better wind this up I guess because as a great man once sang, “the hour’s … getting … late”, but I will revisit this thread because you have touched a long dormant nerve apple-love (can you tell?!? lol).
I will finish with these points though:
Try getting ‘back to the acoustic guitar’ for a few weeks to improve your tone. Peeps who ‘migrate’ to the electric guitar and totally ‘ditch’ the acoustic guitar tend to slowly/unknowingly accumulate bad habits that are masked by electric guitars (‘lazy’/loose fretting, over-reliance on volume knobs/amps/effects, poor control over dynamics, etc.).
Don’t even think about inserting expensive pick-ups into a sh#t guitar. That is pure madness.
If you can, provide us with a bit more detail about your personal situation. What type of guitar/s do you currently own and play? What do you like about them? What do you dislike about them? What would you like to be able to do on them/achieve with them that you cannot currently do or achieve?
"Peeps who ‘migrate’ to the electric guitar and totally ‘ditch’ the acoustic guitar tend to slowly/unknowingly accumulate bad habits that are masked by electric guitars"
100% agree. That's me too a T. I can't get anything satisfactory out of an acoustic, I went electric way too early.
What is your current set up
westone leader (1980s strat like masumtosu) with a cable into a Marshall DSL1
I read the manual. it's a tube amp. still dunno if I need to leave it on for minutes before switching it off? do i switch on and off like a trans amp?
That's a reasonable set up too get a good tone. What sound are you after? A new pedal would be the cheapest option to change your tone + lots of fun too
@tightpike: what pedal should i get? the blues driver? or something else? sound wise I'm fan of I guess all them pro sounds
@ilove: Great pedal choice ! If you just want to play at home and experiment a multi effect pedal board can be a good way to go, cheaper than buying a ton of pedals
I'm playing in Logic. would the amp sim matter if i have shitty/moderate pickups?
… or lessons…