How do you find "YOUR" tone?

[radiohead625]

I know a lot of people say its in the fingers, but im specifically talking about gear. A lot of people go by what their favorite artist's use... well what if you have a lot of favorite artists and tones... For instance my favorite artists and tones are split between Fender, Vox, and Marshall. I've tried all of the above and like them all for different reasons... then don't get me started on effects, like to use or not to use od/distortion or use the amps overdrive, then fuzz and delay and reverb... I mean how do you choose what to use? I mean i don't have unlimited cash like a lot of people seem to... I just can't break this down in my head without going in circles

[CharlyG]

Just play through a bunch of stuff. Eventually you will find yourself adjusting each amp to the same tone. That's the tone to keep, because it sounds right in your ears. I tend to like Blackface clean and Tweed dirt. So....... I bought a Tweed amp and a tweed and bf pedal! I use flats, and can get any tone in the ballpark of blackface to tweed. I am a happy man! Having flats on a Gretsch is cool for me cuz I wanted to tame the twang for the blues anyway!

[realityczech]

Originally Posted by radiohead625

I know a lot of people say its in the fingers, but im specifically talking about gear. A lot of people go by what their favorite artist's use... well what if you have a lot of favorite artists and tones... For instance my favorite artists and tones are split between Fender, Vox, and Marshall. I've tried all of the above and like them all for different reasons... then don't get me started on effects, like to use or not to use od/distortion or use the amps overdrive, then fuzz and delay and reverb... I mean how do you choose what to use? I mean i don't have unlimited cash like a lot of people seem to... I just can't break this down in my head without going in circles

Great question for a change.

For me after playing music for many years I was looking for an amp not a guitar because for me I understood the workings of various guitars.
I needed an amp that had the transient attack I was feeling in my playing but I couldnt put my finger(s) quite on it. And I found those amps thanks in part of fellow musos and research on my own and I'm glad to say I'm quite happy with my rig.
My advice is simplify your needs and start from there.

[Cream]

Buy 100 pedals, amps, guitars today. Tomorrow...













...FS: 99 guitars, pedals, amps! BLOWOUT SALE!!!

[CharlyG]

BTW I didn't mean pedals at first. just find the amp first, pedals just confuse the matter.

[realityczech]

Clown parade on TGP mainstreet has begun.

[doc]

I think it works best the way you learn to sing well. You find a good teacher who can teach you the basics - breath control, keeping an open throat, etc. You also learn to sing songs that you love, and to some degree you imitate the artists as you learn the songs. You end up sounding a bit like an imitation of various people - when you sing Police you sound like a bad version of Sting, when you sing Elvis you sound like a poor Elvis. Eventually you get better. Over time you work on your technique and you sound less like bad Sting or bad Elvis and start sounding like somebody new - you.
Similarly, with guitar you get blown away by somebody - maybe Hendrix. You get a Strat and a Marshall, then you have to get a lefty Strat, you get a Fuzzface and Univibe, you learn how to be bad Jimi. Later you discover Jim Hall. You ditch the Strat for awhile and pick up an archtop. Now you're bad Jim for awhile. Along the way you find bits and pieces of your "guitar voice", and eventually you're playing your own rig and playing it your own way (hopefully).
Currently I personally sound vocally a little like bad Elvis trying to hit bad Steve Perry notes while playing bad Jimi Hall-drix stuff. But I think I know some of the things that will make up my eventual overall sound already, and I hope you guys get to hear it before I die.

[doc]

Don't eat the clowns - they taste funny.

[Paulo Grua]

Try to copy your favorite artist's tone. Fail in the process. Assume that, and move on.

[radiohead625]

lmao... lots of good responses. Well take my amp for instance... i love my vox tones(mostly dirty tones), but for a lot of the bands I like, they use fenders with pedals... how do i get away from saying oh, well they use that so i should too. Ya know i feel like ive found my amp, but a lot of pedals dont work with it... so i keep feeling im at square one

[Fastermouse]

I twiddle my knob.

[harpinon]

You're thinking too much.
Just play and tweak whatcha got.

[radiohead625]

Originally Posted by harpinon

You're thinking too much.
Just play and tweak whatcha got.

pretty sure you're right... i need to get off this site and PGS.com lol

[Passenger84]

Originally Posted by StratPack

Buy 100 pedals, amps, guitars today. Tomorrow...













...FS: 99 guitars, pedals, amps! BLOWOUT SALE!!!

lol Awesome.

I know for me, it was just playing through a lot of gear until some happy accidents happened. I have some gear now that's a major part of my sound, that I wouldn't have ever dreamed would be.

[epluribus]

Originally Posted by harpinon

You're thinking too much.
Just play and tweak whatcha got.

Agreed, lotta truth in that. Long as you can get good responsive cleans, nice dynamic dirt, some good compression and sustain, and some definition, it should get you about 75% there no matter what. After that, it's a case of looking for those same dynamics in other amps till you find stuff that talks to you. Trouble is, getting your favorite of each tone (clean, dirt, sustain, hi-gain) often means more than one amp or a long distracting detour into FX. I'd bet ya the vast majority of what you want lives in a good single-channel amp, so that's where I'd look first.

...on another note, IMHO tone indeed does reside in your hands, but it's also hard to deny that it lives in the rest of the rig as well. (Very little lives at the booteek, btw.) Between your brain and the listener's ears, it's all one big instrument.

About copping your favorite artist's tone...most likely never gonna happen. You're not them. You'll just end up sounding imitation-them. Ick. Just find a good tone that works for you and does just a dramatic characterization of what they did--you'll sound like the song while sounding like you.

--Ray

One mo' thang...quick way to narrow down your search: an inexpensive modern modeler, like a Pocket Pod or an entry level Digitech, or even a cheap Vypyr. Buy it used so you can re-sell it and step up to tubes though...tubes will get you hooked. Excellent technology, and it'll tell ya real fast if you have Marshall ears or Fender ears or Soldano ears. (But kill the FX and tame the gain so you can hear just the amp sims.) As an alternative, just look for free download amp sims online and plug into your PC...but good free amps sims may be tough to find...ain't shopped 'em in a long time. Anyhoo, once you get that down, then you know what to focus on at GC or on EBay. Saves you a lot of primrose paths. And once you buy, refuse to buy more till you find allll the goods in there...they're in there.

Final final note: If you must have variety, a good-quality EQ pedal is almost as good as owning a modeling amp. Monster versatility. But that said, the EQ thing is more to illustrate a point...you probably have a favorite EQ curve already mapped in your head. Find the curve and skip the pedals.