~What you learned in Tone school this year~

I learned it takes a lot longer to record a full-length CD (while holding down a day job and raising two kids...) than I had thought. We'd hoped to be done recording by September to have the disc ready and on sale for the Christmas buying season.

Maybe we'll be ready to roll by Xmas 2006...

 

Use of a Framptone amp switcher to play through my Tone King Comet and 65Amps London (simultaneously) has done more for my tone then the dozen or more pedals I bought & sold this year.

 

The best lessons I've learned this year are to ask for help if I don't know something. That hasn't always been easy for me, that man pride thing ya know. Also that there are some exceptionally cool folks providing gear and direction, Analogman, G. Teese, David Wilson. And old Fender amps got soul!!!

 

I learned that Tone school is expensive!

 

Donner and Bjorn Juhl's Pedal Stacking 321 is a great class.

BJF EGDM's sound great in to Orange AD15's especially when you stack them with other fun toys like the Barber DD.

When you start to not like your guitar anymore, change the strings



I also learned a bunch of Pedal junkies and pedal builders are really generous when it comes to helping people involved in natural disasters.

 

What a great thread topic!

Learned that boutique doesn't necessarily mean "great." Discovered that my standard 2004 Gibson ES-335 is probably my best-sounding guitar (at least my favorite), overall -- even better than my Grosh Retro Classic, Grosh Set Neck and Custom Shop Les Paul R9. The humble Gibson '57 Classic pickups sound better to me in many ways than my Fralin humbuckers, Fralin single coils, and Voodoo humbuckers.

Learned how to better use the volume pots on my guitars to affect tone. Instead of keeping them on 10, I find I get a fatter, more musical sound keeping them around 7.

Learned how many variables the sound of a pedal depends on, and that a pedal that sounds "great" with one guitar/amp, might only sound "good" with another guitar/amp. Which means that you can't make any overall quality judgment about a pedal until you try it out with a number of very different guitar/amp combinations. (A lot of folks on Harmony Central need to learn this lesson IMO.)

Learned how amazing Victoria amps are! The clean sound on my 35310 made my Dr. Z MAZ 18 and Bogner Shiva crawl into a corner and cry (ahnd the clean sounds on those amps are pretty darned good).

 

Tweed.

And oil-can delays opened my eyes to what I like in delays.

And that I'm a trem-whore.

 

I learned to LOVE a Strat, never thought I would.
I learned that less = more as far as gear; amps, effects, guitars, just get the cream of the crop, which of course will vary for everyone.
I learned about cross mojonation with two Eternitys!

 

Less is more...I've been slowly weeding down my setup and I am happier. Also the more I play, the more I realize I sound like me despite whatever gear I'm using. Also I really learned this year that differences you notice in your gear at home don't necessarily show up when you're out there playing with others at practices or gigs. Those differences are subtle at best, but how you pick the strings can have a much greater effect. 2006 is going to be the year I work on my playing not my rig (minus a few alterations obviously ;-)...But it is nice that I am getting to a point where I'm quite happy with what I have (and that is not boutique stuff - In fact, I sold a Dr Z Maz Jr this year because it wasn't right for me).

 

I learned that tone is even more subjective than I already thought. I met people who have invested over 10.000 dollars in gear, really played everything before they decided what sounds best in their opinion, and I really did not like their tone! ...and they didn't like mine either! ;-)

I learned that everything I play sounds better a little bit boosted by something like a fulldrive or keeley katana.

If you get bored by your own sound, never blame the gear and sell it, do something about your guitar skills.

 

I've learned that after all the great(and most of the time expensive)amps I've bought over the last few years it's the $400 Traynor heads that do it for me.

Plus, no matter how hard I try not to be it turns out that I'm a pedal guy. Nothing better than a great clean amp with the right drives.

 

Peterson is the only tuner worth owning

Dynamics and response in an amp is better than versatility

clean boosts sound good after modulation effects

cable length matters as much as a pickup change or eq pedal... 24-36 ft tames my bright guitars

cable brand matters as much as pickup change or eq pedal.... some are scooped... some are dark.. some are bright etc... I now switch cables like I switch guitars

Not every pedal has to be true bypass... sometimes your tone is altered in a good way

Be aware of buffered pedals and how they effect the order of the pedal chain

I'm not an el-34 guy...

You can make tons of money selling old gear on ebay

You can lose tons of money selling old gear on ebay

There's something called an EBOW and it's really Neat-O

ZVEX RULES! ZVEX RULES! one more time... ZVEX RULES!

 

I learned a little is a lot.

Usually.

 

I learned how to build a few pedals. (808 and Ross Clone) Also learned to mod a few boss pedals too.

That a Tube Screamer is actually a usable tone to me... I used to hate them.

I learned that I should have had an Eternity a long time ago!!

Oh yeah, that Sean at Lovepedal kicks major ass!!

I learned that a Tele is actually cool and I had to get one.

And that I didn't like my Maxon CP101 compressor before my OD/distortions because of it's switch buffer, but it works perfect right after them. And it's still my favorite compressor.

Lastly, that I can get some good recordings out of my small, lofi Korg PXR4 MP2 4 track... just by spending a few minutes to move my beta 57 around. A 1/2 inch makes a HUGE difference.

 

that its all in the mids and that I really needed to learn to hear the whole mid-range spectrum better...

a little fizz is not necessarily a bad thing...

I don't always want to hear transparent or amp-like tones...

I need to keep several flavours of dirt around...

I need a high gain and fuzz pedal...

I want to integrate modulation effects and looping into my music...

I need to be more flexable and patient when deciding what stays and what goes...

I love buying and selling and building pedals and that probably won't change any time soon...

Chow,
Seegs

 

I learned that no matter what gear I use, I sound better if I practice.

 

slow sine wave tremolo =

modulated delay = also very tasty

I need to know wht the knobs do to get the most out of any pedal or amp, happy accidents aren't enough.

the capo is my friend

 

Well, I learned this a long time ago but forgot and need to relearn every year.

Whatever amp you own you'll always sound like you. Get used to it!

I sound better or worse (now sound better) but the idea is the same.


Best, Pete.