"Playing" an amp = Distinctive Tone

[blue buddha]

i agree 100% BB! tiyaga lang talaga sa tweaking. it helps a lot to have great gear. pero some can definitely do with the "humble" gear they have. as long as hindi super panget talaga, tweakable na.

Oo nga naman -- kung super panget, talagang hopeless na yan. In all seriousness though, it's pretty hard to find TOTALLY lousy gear these days. Compared to what folks had to deal with in the 70's for instance, even some of the cheapie-cheapie stuff today has some merit. The bar for today's manufacturers has been set pretty high in terms of their stuff producing some useable sounds. Expectations just have to be in line with common sense (ie. don't expect to be heard if you play that schindler beginner's package 1x8" SS amp with a full band featuring a 300w SWR head, A Twin Reverb, and a 100w Super Lead).

All told, decent gear really does help.

[aya_yuson]

Re approximating a jazz-type tone a la Wes or Metheny...

Try this/these amp setting(s): treble on around 2 or 3, at most. Mids at 6 to 7. Bass at 3 to 5.

When I used to play a solidbody, medyo napapatunog ko pa ring jazz guitar-type tone with those amp settings.

Yun lang nga, humbucker yung neck pick-up nung gitara ko non.

IMHO, hindi talaga makukuha ang jazz-type tone with a single-coil in the neck position (unless you're talking about a Charlie Christian blade-type pick-up like the one found on old ES-150's and ES-250's --- single coil yung pick-up na yon, eh).

My two cents' worth....

[deltaslim]

Blue Buddha,

Thanks for the reply.  Have yourself and your family a Merry Christmas.  By the way, Blue Buddha is considered a Philippine National Treasure at least somebody related to him is at the minimum.  So you guys better take good care of him on this forum. 

Observation ko lang...  In general (but with some exceptions) I think people here take care of other people, especially noobs.  May respect (most of the time) among gentlemen/-women.  That's what a good online community does and is supposed to be. 

In BB's case, he's earned his respect and credibility by making helpful, sensible, and informative posts (even if he disagrees with other people), not because of anything else -- whether bloodline, fame, fortune, or personal achievement in life. 

[tele-tubby]

wouldn't the tele neck pickup (yung stock lipstick) cop a good jazz tone?

[aya_yuson]

I guess other people can make a tele's stock single coil pick-up sound jazzy. But in my own personal experience, it doesn't work for me. Di po kaya ng powers ko.
 

[vegetablejoe]

wouldn't the tele neck pickup (yung stock lipstick) cop a good jazz tone?

Sorry, OT na nga pala ito, pero...

Sure, ya can... hand the tele to Deacon Blues, sit back, watch/listen... 

(or replace the deacon with your peborit jazz cat)...

Conversely, if I handed a jazz box to a blues cat to play, I (emphasis on "I") will likely hear bluesy expression and tone.

Baka siguro di lang makukuntento yung guitar player, dahil di yun yung preferred axe niya, but he can make do... and the audience WILL appreciate his/her playing.

[micr0chimp]

tele jazz! danny gatton! silly good! insanely good! redneck jazz rocks!

i'm starting to enjoy expensive gear. maybe because i've come to the realization that i don't have to own them to learn a thing or two. di na ako seloso. they give great starting points from which to go out and get your own tone jones. at the end of the day, context is everything.

that said, napanaginipan ko yung tim ni fafa joric!  teka...that sounds very gay...nothing against gay people. i like the pink paisley fenders though...make your own assumptions. hahahahaha!

any step closer to making it easier to express one's self artistically is a blessing. music is nothing short of a miraculous thing.

(goes back to hugging a 112e) 

[vegetablejoe]

...
(goes back to hugging a 112e) 

hahaha!!!   

[titser_marco]

Blue Buddha,

Thanks for the reply.  Have yourself and your family a Merry Christmas.  By the way, Blue Buddha is considered a Philippine National Treasure at least somebody related to him is at the minimum.  So you guys better take good care of him on this forum. 

BB's a forum treasure - the guy to ask about tubes but I doubt he'll tell me where I can get nice tubes  He was very kind enough to reply to my tube questions IN FULL BLOODY DETAIL. How astig is that?

Anyway, back to topic. I, being a big fan of Radiohead (particularly Jonny Greenwood), believe in    the idea that the guitar is a mere element in my instrument: that "playing the amp" can create really bitchin' tones, but "playing the rig" makes music. I consider THE WHOLE RIG to be the instrument. The amp and the pedals, as well as the knobs, switches, cables, jacks etc., are all capable of creating sounds (through real-time manipulation: Tom Morello, perhaps?) that I can integrate to the musical framework being played at the moment.  Theoretically, at least from a Varesian standpoint, one can make music with a cable, an amp, and some pedals (side note: the more pedals one has, the more sounds are available - just like the stone soup story). In fact, there have been many instances where I actually played more non-guitar sounds on a song rather than the actual chords or notes.

I know it doesn't quite fit the dominant paradigm, i.e. minimalist setups (?), here in this thread, but that's how I view my role in the band. I don't exactly have guitar chops; I'd like to think I have gear chops - meaning I'm able to access a sound by twiddling a knob at will at any given time in a song when it's needed, in a manner not dissimilar to Ondes Martenot or early ARP/Moog synth players.

[nathanmanansala]

ano na naman 'tong "tone is in the fingers" thread na 'to? akala ko ba nag agree na tayo na its in da face?

[titser_marco]

no man, it's in the shoe size. for pedal whores like me at least.