Tone Secrets: The Components of Tone

[riseofthefallen301]

How did you get the 1966 sound?

[dwrixon]

@riseofthefallen301 I am using a 1958 reissue Les Paul. The amp is a Dr Z Route 66 through a 2 X12 25 watt celestion speakers. I used a Keeley Time Machine Treble Boost to drive the amp. I cover all these topics in detail on the Tone Secrets DVD

[gigel2006]

Search google "SCRAP LUMBER BASS vs. ALDER BASS", it should be the first link to the talkbass forum. Eat your hearts out.

[mixermantim]

I just love this video.

[petecockcroft]

The original pre-cbs iron tremelo block was the best.

Brass I'm afraid will rob your tone.

A bone nut will help it.

Locking machine-heads are a plus for a strat.

I would recommend a quality 1-5 watt all-valve amp with reverb and FX loop for anyone starting out and looking for their own sound.

Then you have a pure-benchmark for any future developements.

Also you can concentrate on getting the guitar , volume control and fingers right - by using an un-cluttered setup that will still give gain.

[pbstratocaster]

Not very good technique, and no convincing sounds. ( 70-80% of a good tone is in the way of playing ).

[educassiano]

One thing for sure, he's versatile.

[superiansuper]

Tone is in the Fingers!

[themanfromwem]

SOMETIMES, LOUDER DOES NOT MEAN BETTER. APART FROM THAT ,,,,,GOOD VID.

[godsizedhole]

Pedals. LOL.

[VioletDeliriums]

neat video! it was like a little history lesson on tone. :)

[MrTelejohn]

Notice they skipped the 70"s- the best decade in music. Guess they couldn't handle that one.

[dwrixon]

@MrTelejohn I was demonstrating gear made form the different eras. The music of the 70's was mostly recorded and performed using gear from the 50's and 60's. Most players shunned the changes to the guitar and amp designs as corporate cost cutting. Today, we know that there are some great pieces from the 70's. There are some real clunkers too!

[dwrixon]

@wipers86 Sustain is mainly playing technique. The best examples are in B.B King' vibrato technique. You can use a compressor and/or distortion pedals to augment this technique. Make sure your guitar gets a visit to a good guitar tech once a year for a good set-up and maintanace.

[wipers86]

@dwrixon thnx for the feed back man I will do just that

[satjathamma]

@dwrixon you have been missinformed, sustain have nothing to do with playing technique,

it's matter of the quality of the wood that allow the tone to travel easyer in the body and ring longer, you could try to get a more steep angle on the strings over the nut which gives better sustain or you could use a sustain pedal. the more pieces a body is made from the better,

oposite to beliefe,

or switch guitar, personally I think sustain is overvalued as a quality.

it's good but not that important

[m0nsk1]

@wipers86 - Starting from the cheapest way 1. you can get thicker gauge strings for your guitar - check the manual for the suggested gauge. 2. Shop for high gain pickups. 3. Compressor pedal, 4. Distortion pedal. I placed distortion last since it also distorts the tone. :D

[wipers86]

@m0nsk1 thnx for your feedback 

[Roberco]

@wipers86 Might wanna try Tide

[cozmacozmy]

@wipers86 And get your self a brass tremolo block if you don't have one!



[FallenPrey33]

Wow dude your guitars sound amazing!

[joshua0226]

what kind of finish is on that les paul of the 90's tone?

[fitipaldi90]

Cool sound but i think that you use enought the chorus

[bloty02]

how quitely can you play the electric guitar because i want to learn it in my bedroom? Can you conect earphones to it instead of speakers?

[dwrixon]

I recommend getting a small amp like a Marshal MG.  These have a headphone jack. You can use the headphones to stay quiet and can use the small amp for conversation level sound.

[DECIFERTHIS09]

@dwrixon line 6 way better and saves you money in the long run even knowing theres line 6 haters but I started witha squire and mg10 it was ok but then I got a line 6 spider iii 30 and it was endless fun so I saved up and got the line 6 hd150 spider iii no regrets and now im a loyal line 6 customer and if you get a spider iv you can hook it up to your computer and download endless tones and sounds if you want a tubey sound buy a 30$ art pre

[TheNeverendingfire]

@bloty02 I recommend purchasing an external sound card(m-Audio) which will cost you around 120$. With that, you can play along to anything in your computer, record your progress and all that, with your guitar and headphones plugged in the sound card. Afterwards, if you're serious about playing live or jamming, buy an amp! Good luck to you!

[MrJohnnyDistortion]

@bloty02 Go to your local Guitar Center.They have learning and practicing devices that you can use with headphones,have accompaniment tracks and you can download music to play along with,with quality clean and distortion settings.There are devices that slow down the music too.Good stuff,just tell a salesman what you're looking for and look at EVERYTHING that's available then You Tube it for a demonstration.Gogle Ultimate Guitar Tabs also.

[cliffatutube]

@bloty02 This is a very innocent question..how old are you? :-) I would advise getting a guitar processor with a headphone jack. Get those headphones with the sponge. They are pretty clear and don't hurt your ears.

[0Rocker94]

I love the overdrive strat tone at 1:40

What pickups in the blue strat ¿?

[dwrixon]

Thanks! The blue strat is a 56 Masterbuilt from Greg Fessler. It has an alder body, quarter sawn maple neck and hot 50's pick-ups.  I use Kendrick .010"pure nickle strings.

[MrDeffmonkey]

1966 sounds best...

[mojiggity]

Not to be offensive, but from what I'm seeing here I'm not too sold on your tone "secrets." The sounds in your video, although archetypical of the era you are attempting to emulate, don't sound very balanced or inspiring to me personally (although I'm willing to bet this has a lot more to do with your mic'ing technique than your tweaking ability, since mic'd amps always sound vastly different than in the room).

..then again I have no videos on Youtube worth anything along these lines xD

[superskwrl]

I'm confused...at 1:01 you have a 1966 les paul, but they didn't make them in 66...

[dwrixon]

@superskwrl 1966 refers to the music of the period. John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers featured a young guitarist named Eric Clapton. In 1966 he used a 1959 Les Paul with a KT66 equipped Marshall JTM45 to define the sound of blues-rock forever.

[borjo666]

@superskwrl lol PAWNED!

[TheNeverendingfire]

hey, what's the name of the song you were playing 1:45?



[dwrixon]

It's an acoustic piece I wrote called Pale Blue Sky.

[dwrixon]

@TheNeverendingfire It's an acoustic piece I wrote called Pale Blue Sky.

[alexis221woodworks]

Cool stuff alot to think about

[GibsonLesPaul1319]

1.01 How can you have a 1966 Les Paul, if they were discontinued from 1960/61 to 68?

[dwrixon]

@GibsonLesPaul1319 . The sound example is from 1966 when artist such as Clapton favored 1950's and early 60's Les Pauls combined with a Marshall JTM 45 to produce the new blues rock sound.

[dwrixon]

@dwrixon The Les Paul in the vid is a 1958 reissue (2001 Production Year).

[GibsonLesPaul1319]

@dwrixon oh, I'm sorry I didn't understand what you meant by 1966.

[dwrixon]

Can't argue with Mr. Fripp. Killer tones from that man. Anything can produce great tone in the right context.

[PhuckHue2]

Robert Fripp said the best tone he got was from the cheap dingy pedals. I get my tone from a simple JFET preamp ($2 for parts) and a submini tube preamp ($5 for parts)

[dwrixon]

Funny! No multi effects units were used or harmed in the making of this DVD. :)

Don W

[brojkiller]

you didnt mention the ZOOM G1X that you are running those guitars thru to get that sweet sweet sound

[marcus38447226]

you forgot to mention the greatest controller of tone....your FINGERS! joe pass sounds like joe pass, doesn't matter if he's usin a fender delux or a 15 watt peavy. Not saying a great amp doesn't help, but it all starts in the fingers. Want good tone? Try an acoustic ANY acoustic, get a nice sound out of it by changing your technique, how you approach the strings, how hard you pick...these elements are much more important than any pedal

[dwrixon]

Tone comes in thirds. Player Technique, Player Phrasing, and Gear Choices. You must master all three to achieve a signature sound. I agree that a player must first understand how thier technique effects their tone before investing in any electronic gadget. I recommend to rehearse all piece on and acoustic or archtop with no amp or effects. Once you have mastered the piece playing as clean as possible, then add electric guitar, amp and affects as needed.

[guitarslim56]

@dwrixon, One of out three ain't bad!

[onixtheone]

what song is that at 1:45?

[dwrixon]

It's a piece I wrote called Pale Blue Sky.

[duboyous10]

Thicker strings on the '57 strat, please. Doesn't sound authentic without the substantial "slap" of thicker strings.

[dwrixon]

@duboyous10 I have .010" Kendrick pure nickels on the blue strat. It is dropped it down a 1/2 step because it seemed to sound better a but lower. What gauge are you recommending?

[Canadianspunge]

Fender strap + Gibson Les Paul = true multiculturalism.

[dwrixon]

@Canadianspunge Finally after 25,000 views someone gets my little joke! My fender strap is from the 80's. I thought it was unique but I just saw the same strap for sale at the local music store. But the Fender Strap makes my Les Paul sound brighter!

[Canadianspunge]

@dwrixon

I'm glad I could help =)

The strap actually affects the tone!?

[onixtheone]

@dwrixon wow i didnt know straps affected tone is that true are u serious or was that a joke?

[dwrixon]

I was kidding. Although some acoustic and jazz box players will not install any strap pegs on their guitars. This is usually because they don't want to put any extra holes in it.

[tiddlywinks98712]

that much delay in 1969? really??

[dwrixon]

@tiddlywinks98712

Yep. Les Paul introduced Sound on Sound in the early 50's. In the early 60's a device called the Echoplex became widely used. These devices produced the effect we know today as Delay by placing a second tape playback head and delaying the playback by moving the head away from the recording head,

So by 1969 delays were quite common in popular music. It was until the 70's that the devices began to take the shape of the common delay pedal we know today.

[squid262]

I wish there was a way to buy the DVD digitally.

[race1717]

At 1:10, what's the song called? Say, what equipment combo did you use? (including the pedals, guitar, amp, etc)

[race1717]

Same for 1:31, please.

[dwrixon]

@race1717 Are you referring to the 80's metal piece withe the green Jackson? I am using a jackson with EMG 81's and a Mesa Boogie mark IV. The song is called Lies form my band Fear no Evil (not the same one as you see today) in the mid 90's. We fot some airplay and did real well in the LA clubs

[dwrixon]

@race1717 at 1:31 is another original piece. i am using the 58 reissue Les Paul through Keekey Time Machine Treble Booster into a Dr Z Route 66 into a Germino Cabinet with 2 12" Celestion Greenbacks. The low E is dropped to D

[race1717]

@dwrixon At that point even I could tell it was a drop-D tuning.

[brownbigb]

need to learn to play a litle better, and get some better cables too.

[craigsskeldon]

Not to big in 30's riff kinda crap nice style of effects though ^_^ love the guitars dude sick solo on the 69's

[dwrixon]

Thanks! The 69 riff is a favorite of mine. The full version should be on my CD later this year.

[craigsskeldon]

@dwrixon Do you have the tabliture for it ?

[dwrixon]

@craigsskeldon

I will post a vid this weekend to demo how it's played. It is a simple double stop riff in D pentatonic.

[craigsskeldon]

@dwrixon Thank you greatly ^_^ the same scale that hendrix uses in a lot of his solo sort of stuff yeah?

[dwrixon]

I posted a short vid called 1969 to demonstrate how it is played. Hope it helps!

[mpbunch]

Best one yet Don!