The quest for tone is a life long journey. If you began to play at a young age you had no preferences as to what your instrument sounded like. There’s no frame of reference for tone, ease of playing or anything except looks. I received my first guitar and first lesson on my 11th birthday and began with a $30.00 nylon string acoustic.
Eventually I talked my parents into a cheap electric guitar called an Orpheus. I got a small, off brand amp, and at 12-years-old I didn’t care what they sounded like. It wasn’t until high school that I fell in with a group of friends searching for knowledge about all things guitar, and we began to compare notes. When I formed a band to play Friday nights at the local Youth House dances, our drummer’s big brother lent me a Gibson ES-335. I didn’t know how lucky I was, borrowing it every weekend until I could afford a Les Paul Deluxe.
It was probably around this time that I began to appreciate tone. Recordings like The Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore, Electric Ladyland by Hendrix and Wheels of Fire by Cream were major signposts along the way. They helped me to form a concept of tone. It wasn’t long before I began to realize there were choices. Preferences as to string gauges, pickup height, action height, speakers, tube types, pedals, cables, picks, pickups, neck shape, scale length and tuning gears. I met some older, more experienced players that taught me a lot. Things that never occurred to me being mostly self-taught, like keeping my nails short on the fretting hand to play cleaner chords. I had no idea you could get your frets reshaped when they became pitted. Who knew you could change tubes in the back of your amp and give it new life? I bought a Fuzz Face, a wah-wah and a MXR Phase 90. The journey was ramping up!
To sound like Jimi I needed a Stratocaster. A Les Paul with humbuckers was necessary to emulate Mike Bloomfield. My band played a dance at a horseback-riding club in Pasadena with an as-yet-unsigned Van Halen on the bill alternating sets with us. I watched and learned a little more as Eddie and I exchanged guitars for a set. At any given moment in your musical journey your tone is the artistic signature that defines you and your musical tastes.
Now I’m the king of tweak. The cables I use for the distortion side of my rig are different from the clean side. I have preferences for everything, even the wiring inside certain pedals. It may seem like minutia, but by paying attention to your signal path down to the tiniest detail you are enhancing the sound your hands make. But this is where it should start:
listening to the sound of your hands. Make sure it’s the cleanest, purest tone you can possibly achieve. Once you find this tone clear and undistorted, then you need a concept… and journey begins.
©2012 Carl Verheyen. All Rights Reserved.
