Avoiding G.A.S Part 4: Tone Is In the Fingers

December 3, 1998

Greetings all!!!

I'd like to start off this installment of Avoiding Gear Acquisition Syndrome by thanking you all for the positive responses I've gotten via email. I must admit it "made my day" for an entire week after the first column came out. I tried to respond to all, but it got a bit overwhelming after a while. Sorry if I didn't get back to you, but I did read each letter.

Anyhow, a few letters inspired the kind of thought that in turn inspires articles. The following is one such letter:

Hi Brett

Great article about "GAS". I know many folks afflicted with that particular shopping disease (at the expense of playing and practicing). Guitar players seem to be afflicted with the search for the perfect tone that drives the GAS syndrome. The fallacy was brought home to me a few years ago when 2 other musician friends and I went down to Beale Street for an evening of entertainment. We parked ourselves at BB King's blues club and checked out some out of town blues band that we'd never seen before.

They had a stage full of gear, a conga player, several singers, and a guitar primadonna who did his Robin Trower imitation. Although the playing was polished, it just didn't grab us and after 4-5 songs my two buddies and I jointly agreed to leave and seek entertainment elsewhere. As we stepped outside on Beale, we heard music in the distance and realized that there was a band playing in W.C. Handy park (about 2 blocks away).

We walked down there and found a large crowd enjoying the band. I made my way through the crowd to check out these guys and found some 60-70 year old black guys with cheap no-name broken down gear that were playing up a storm. The guitars were cheap Strat knockoffs, the drums were held together with duct tape, in short the gear was cheap and crappy. Frankly, the guitar tone pretty much sucked.....and you know what? IT DIDN'T MATTER!

Those guys had a groove that you would not believe and the crowd was dancing their ass off. My two buddies and I agreed that this was the best music on Beale that night (it was far more entertaining than the well equipped band at BB's) In short, I think guitar players place far too much emphasis on the search for that elusive "Stevie Ray" or "Hendrix" tone that they just KNOW will be the key to making their playing take off (of course investing some time in practice or gigging is never considered). I don't mean to take this to an extreme and recommend that everyone buy K-Mart gear cause "it doesn't matter" but seems to me that once one has purchased professional gear, a large part of the responsibility for what comes out of the amp is up to the player and the chops......

Charles Grisamore
(Charles has been playing guitar for 23 years now and has been playing in bands for 15 years.)

This letter got me thinking about the old adage that "tone is in your fingers."

I'm a firm believer of this based on the fact that I can assemble the same basic guitar/amp setup as any number of great players (I'll even up the ante with fatter strings), and I still won't achieve the ballsy sound he or she gets.

Another eye opening (or is that ear opening) experience occurred when I dug up a tape of my old band. FYI, my current rig is basically a Les Paul into a Dyna Comp into a Tube Screamer into a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb (with the Marshall tone mod on the "Normal" channel). The rig on the tape was an Ibanez into a Gallien Krueger 250ML.

Guess what? I sounded pretty much the same then as I do now... minus a little maturity and finesse which I've gained in four years (I hope).

That convinced me that tone truly is in your fingers... I sound like me no matter what.

Therefore, the primary way to get better tone is by reaching deep into your soul and finding it. The cool gear is there to be transparent and let your soul shine through... much the same way a great microphone enhances, but doesn't color the sound of a great voice.

That said, a serious player shouldn't play crap either. In other words, a $4000 Paul Reed Smith won't make you a rock star, but crappy gear CAN detract from the quality of your performance. Therefore, this column will discuss the difference between necessary investments and extravagance.

GUITAR:

• To be worth owning, the guitar should have good intonation all the way up the neck. This means the "E" on the 12th fret isn't sharp or flat compared to the open "E." It should be exactly an octave higher. Also, chords played above the 12th fret should sound just as in tune as your 1st position open "G" chord.

  A guitar with poor intonation just plain sounds bad, and it's detrimental to the training of your ear as to what "in tune" is supposed to sound like. In addition, a good guitar will offer plenty of adjustment at the bridge and the truss rod. This allows you to wisely spend a few buck to have a qualified technician tweak it to perfection. Also of note: poorly crowned, unevenly spaced, or worn frets can cause intonation hassles. Pay to have this fixed or choose a different guitar.

• Speaking of tuning, the guitar should stay in tune. Nothing slows the pace of a show more than tuning between every song... and nothing will make your audience lose interest faster (with the possible exception of bad music). A guitar's tuning problems usually stem from the nut. If the guitar has a plastic or bone nut, pay to have the nut cut properly by a qualified tech. If tuning becomes a problem on a guitar, perhaps it's worthwhile to pay to install a graphite or roller-style nut. Precision tuning machines (like Grovers) or even locking tuning machines (like Sperzels) can also be worthwhile investments. This is because minimal string slippage can contribute greatly to the guitar's ability to keep tune.

• The pickups should not buzz excessively... cheap pickups tend to buzz more.

• The pickups should also be devoid of microphonic feedback. This problem, especially evident if you play with a lot of distortion, is caused by the copper wounds vibrating against each other. This is common among cheap pickups cuz they weren't shielded properly. A high-quality pickup will have plenty of shielding. It is possible you could fix pickup squeal by dipping the pickup in some paraffin wax, but unless you've done this before or the pickups are very valuable, you should probably pass on the guitar.

• The volume and tone pots should not crackle (typically caused by dirt or corrosion). Invest in new pots if they can't be cleaned.

• The output jack on the guitar should provide a solid connection with the guitar cable. Repair this if necessary.

CABLES:

• Cables; don't skimp on them. Poor quality cables rob your guitar of signal (especially higher frequencies) and are sure to develop a short at your big showcase gig. Personally, I like the cables that look like braided rock-climbing rope. This is because they are colorful and easy to identify among everyone else's cables when tearing down after a show. This helps in settling arguments as to who's cables are who's.

AMPS

• While a hand-wired "boutique" amp may be excessive, you certainly deserve an amp that is reliable. That beat up combo at the music store (the one traded in by Pete Townshend), isn't a bargain if it's going to break down on you. If you really love the sound, spend the extra dough on one in better shape or treat yourself to a new one with a warranty.

• More importantly, make sure the amp is safe. On my vintage Fender Deluxe, I subjected myself to several painful shocks on stage before breaking down and paying to have a three-prong cord installed... I can be pretty brilliant sometimes, no? Anyway, if in doubt as to the safety of an amp, it's worth it to have a qualified tech check it out... but don't open the amp up yourself. There are some pretty stout electrical charges hanging out in there, EVEN if the amp is UNPLUGGED.

STRINGS:

• Even if you're poor, you still can't afford to skimp on strings. New strings have better intonation and sound brighter. Also invest in a string cleaner of some sort (like GHS Fast Fret) to maximize the life of your strings.

PICKS:

• The absolute cheapest way to change your tone is to experiment with different picks. At 25 cents a pop, comparison shopping has never been so inexpensive. You'd be surprised at what a difference they make, especially on acoustic guitar. Also seek out picks that don't slip out of your hand.

PEDALS:

• If you're on a budget, pedals seem to be the way to go. Multi-effects processors tend to reside in the realm of players with deeper pockets. If you only have a few hundred to spend, I say embrace your budget and celebrate simplicity! Pick only the two or three effects that truly define your sound. For example, if U2's The Edge could only tote along one effect, it would probably be delay. Jerry Garcia would probably pick an envelope filter. You get the idea. Pick only the few effects that truly enhance your playing and learn to use them for all they're worth.

CONCLUSION:

The nutshell version of the above philosophy might be that if you're on a budget, don't waste money on expensive gear in hopes that it will make you sound better than you really are. We all know that tone is in your fingers. However, if you're serious about playing, make an adequate investment so your equipment won't make you sound worse, either.

Brett Ratner is a contributor to Guitar Player, Musician, Electronic Musician and Music & Computers. He also spent two years as the Creative Writer for www.gibson.com. Currently, Brett plays sessions and performs regularly around Nashville with the band Katoorah Jayne.