Tips to Get a Great Guitar Tone
As a guitarist gets past the initial stages of learning to play guitar, through training materials like guitar lessons dvd, they are likely to start refining their tone. What this tone is will likely follow the style they are learning, for example someone taking blues guitar lessons will not necessarily look for the same tone as someone taking funk lessons.
1) The Guitar is Usually the Last Thing to Upgrade
As odd as it sounds, the guitar is usually not going to be that important for the tones of most guitarists. Coupled with the expense of the guitar, it is not the best place to invest money to get a better guitar tone. That isn’t to say it is completely unimportant, but the difference between a decent guitar, even sub-$1000 ones, and a $5000 custom built one is not going to be as significant for the amount of money as other pieces of equipment.
A decent guitar that feels comfortable to play is enough to get a great tone. A guitarist with their other equipment upgraded might consider upgrading their guitar for a better tone, but otherwise this isn’t the best place to start.
2) The Amp Is Always The First Thing to Upgrade
For an electric guitar, the amp is hands down the most important piece of equipment for tone. It doesn’t matter how good or expensive the other pieces of equipment are, a cheap amp will make them sound just as cheap. However, a decent guitar into a great amp will sound great.
Ultimately the guitar creates a signal and effects modify the signal, but in the end it is the amp that turns that signal into the tone.
3) Equipment is Not a Substitute for Technique
Tone comes from the guitarist, even more than the equipment. No amount of equipment can substitute for actually learning to play guitar. Even if you take any blues guitarist’s actual equipment, someone that has not taken blues guitar lessons isn’t going to be able to make a bluesy tone out of it.
Training through things like guitar lessons dvd gives the guitarist the capabilities of creating those tones, without them, no amount of equipment will be able to make those sounds actually come alive.
4) Effect Pedals Are Not All Created the Same
Effect pedals can modify a guitar tone a great deal, and even pedals designed to perform exactly the same function may not necessarily sound the same. Be sure to try out different brands of pedals and find the one that sounds the most like the one to create the particular tone in mind.
The brand might give a reasonable expectation of quality and durability, but just because a chorus pedal from a particular manufacturer fits a particular tone doesn’t mean that brand’s distortion pedal will be just as good for the tone.
5) Play With The Knobs
One thing to notice is that all of these pieces of equipment usually have numerous knobs and dials on them. These knobs can vastly alter the tone of the guitar, so taking the time to run through the various settings is the best way to shape the tone. These knobs can reinforce each other along the signal chain as well. If the bass is too low, it might be a pedal setting causing it rather than the amp.
While equipment is no substitute to learning to play guitar, to create a great tone, it is still very important. As a guitarist develops techniques through guitar lessons dvd and develops styles such as through blues guitar lessons, it is important to find the equipment that matches that guitarist and their tone.
