| Factors that Effect Tone |
cowardm
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It's understandable that someone would want to get into the ballpark of a specific musician's tone, but I thought it would be helpful to note some of the factors, major and minor, that effect things. I'm open to contributions.
Factors that effect tone:
String gauge, life, brand, type
String break angle over the bridge
Hardware brand, type, density, and metal
Tonewood of body, neck, and fretboard
What tree the tonewood came from - no two trees are the same
Body size and construction (including how many pieces)
Set neck or bolt on or neck thru
Pickup types (magnets, brand, position, windings) - no two pickups are the same
Tone and volume knob settings
Quality and type of pots and electronics
Amp type (brand, model, etc)
Tube type, brand, bias, age, position
Cab wood
Cab size
Speaker size, brand, type, magnet, the way they are built into the cab, the way they are wired
EQ on amp and mixers and processors and programs and all that stuff
Gain and volume settings
Pedals (even pedals that aren't on can effect tone too)
Microphone type and position
Processing before and after the mastering process (once the recording is mastered it makes a difference)
Recording equipment (mixers, programs, etc)
Recording environment - temp, humidity, type of room (sound proofed? wood floors? etc)
Recording process - overdubs, production, style
Producer and engineer
The players fingers, style, sweat composition, mood that day, level of inebriation, sexual tension, nervousness, excitement, what he ate that day and how his body processed that food, level of ear fatigue
Cables used - brand, type, length, metal, soldering
The list goes on...
If you were to buy the exact rig that I have, copying every element found in this list, we would sound different. It's possible we might not be able to pass a blindfold test, but it would be different and I'm still willing to bet I could tell.
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Michael
Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 10:30 am
Edited by lvo57 on 9/22/2009 @ 1:04 PM |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
six string for hire
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I don't spend much time chasing other peoples tone.
It's a lot easier to just find songs that are close to my own tone.
If it's not a good song for my tone.
I don't play it.
I think (for the most part) the audiences ears adapt to whatever tone you bring to the table.
At that point it's much more important to play the song correctly.
Because they will notice screw ups.
| Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 10:48 am |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
re-animator
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you forgot humidity/temperature (imo one of the bigger effects on tone), signal impedance, and of course the one nobody wants to talk about: talent.
| Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 12:10 pm |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
Julia_343
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Of course we will sound different.
* how pick or finger attack is different
* how we fret the strings is different
* how we do vibrato is different
That's just the individual
* the capacitors, resistors, tubes, etc., in the amplifier, although the same spec, will be different due to where they fall in their tolerance range.
* the pickups are going to sound slightly different especially if they were hand wound.
* the piece of wood used in the body, even if from the same tree is different and has different tonal properties
* the neck of the instrument -- see body above
* cables? well this is getting into the .001% category.
* strings, even if the same brand suffer the tolerance thing.
* direct to board is going to have the least variation during recording.
* the mixing -- the way the engineer is hearing on a given day, relative humidity, plug-ins used at the whim, whether or not the planets are aligned...
All this will affect the final outcome.
In the words of Tom Morello (paraphrase) when discussing his gear and sound that he'd been chasing for years: ".....this is as good as it's going to get. When I realized this it freed me to create...."
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--- Soudružka Julia of the Vocal Assassins
--- Disclaimer: pay no attention to tonal advice from this poster if you are under 40 and play thrash.
How about a Costa Rican flag?
| Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 12:54 pm |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
Zug-uitar
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I think what we're trying to say is that it's easier to obsess about tone than it is to improve our playing.
 
this rig requires something with a little more kick... plutonium!
| Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 2:06 pm |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
Brazenman
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Tone? What tone? 
___________________
I dig my Bogner Alchemist 112. 
| Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 4:36 pm |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
SultaanJabraan
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moral of the story is, people think they can buy tone with money.
its easier to throw money at something as opposed to sitting there for hours on end and practicing.
Pakistan Zindabaad
| Post Date: 9/20/2009 @ 7:00 pm |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
alexlovesrock
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altitude will effect how the sound travels through air
| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 1:14 am |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
DeathCharge
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Listen, ima let you finish, but I really think that bertie has the best tone of all time
www.soundclick.com/thebuddaproject
and a shoutout to Scotty for the JSX!
| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 4:58 am |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
bertie
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shoes, you forgot about the shoes
=============================
Frank says....................
Heres some of my dads pickin' and stuff
Mrs Berts Bits
| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 9:03 am |
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RE: Factors the Effect Tone |
Knucklehead
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Tone is directly related to the player's body weight. Leslie West is a great example. Yesterday I weighed 8 pounds more than I did a week ago (I had a big weekend, including a Corbo's meatball sandwich, a fish fry, and many, many adult beverages) and got the best tone of my life. Hope this hleps. 
I have both kinds of guitars - Fender AND Gibson.
| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 11:00 am |
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RE: Factors that Effect Tone |
cowardm
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People are always asking "how do I get the exact/precise/identical tone of this person" and I figured I'd put it to rest once and for all.
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Michael
| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 6:33 pm |
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RE: Factors that Effect Tone |
choffman41
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Knowing how to play can be helpful as well.....
| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 9:18 pm |
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RE: Factors that Effect Tone |
choffman41
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| Post Date: 9/22/2009 @ 9:18 pm |
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