[quote]diesel25 wrote:
swivel wrote:
tone comes more from your fingers not so much from your gear. you have to work @ it to get it to sound.
Timbre (what you refer to as tone) is a function of the relative levels of different harmonics. A single coil bridge pickup is usually located at the 4th harmonic node point. The 4th is not detected - it is in effect wiped out of the sound. A Humbucker bridge pickup, because of its shear width, is able to detect it. A fuller sound is produced.
No fingerwork, or knob-turning, can change something which isn’t there in the first place.
You can create beautiful sounds without the 4th (or with varying levels of any harmonic for that matter). We know Angus Young can wip out some wicked tunes on a Stratocaster - but it’s drastically different from his Gibson, no matter what technique you use.
Technique can’t adjust the relative levels of all the harmonic overtones which DEFINE timbre (or tone as you refer to it). It’s overall effect on timbre/tone is rather dim in comparison to the equipment you use - and I know this is the ‘non-romantic’ way of putting it.
A test is always useful in clearing out things.
Watch a great guitar player using two distinct guitars. Take Eric Johnson’s 2 guitars cited above. Very distinct tones.
Now grab an average guitar player and give him Eric Johnson’s gear to play. He WILL sound different - but the TIMBRE will change less than it did when E.J. switched guitars.
Technique is important in tone - but it can only work with what’s there to begin with. It is not MORE important than the equipment, for the same reason a Rally driver’s skill is not more important than his car - hand him a car with distinct acceleration, max. speed, traction, suspension, and his driving will change with the gear - even if it’s better than a newbie’s driving.
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i disagree. equipment is nothing compared to the artist wielding it. and “tone” is not what i mean when you say “timbre”. tone is the essential expression of a person. to say that equipment is more important to how someone sounds than the person themselves is just not so. it’s the opposite. you may as well say that mark twain and michael chrichton are the same because they’re printed on the same press in identical format.
put eric johnson and eric clapton in a room with a single martin 28 and they will each make that instrument sound differently; they will make that instrument sound like themselves. you would say “that sounds like clapton playing a 28”. or “that sounds like ej on a martin.” if you have “tone” you have something that mere equipment cannot contain.
give jimi hendrix a banjo and he’ll still get jimi out of it. yes it will sound like a banjo, but more importantly it will sound like jimi and he would take you somewhere with that banjo that bela fleck couldn’t and vise e versa.
gear is nothing but an opportunity for self-expression. it’s when you have no self to express that you’re left with nothing but equipment and whatever it sounds like with no life breathing through it.
as for driving…it’s really more about winning than self-expression but if you’re great then it’s really not that far off. put sabastien loeb in a subaru and he’ll still drive like sabastien loeb; he’ll make that car into himself and you’ll say “jeez-s look what loeb can do with a subie !” and likewise with solberg in a citroen.