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Electric Guitar Tone
One of the biggest mistakes guitar
players make is neglecting their guitar tone!
There are many factors which contribute to an electric
guitar's tone - here are a few:
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1. Brand, model, and quality of the electric guitar
Brand- Each brand of electric guitar tends
to have it's own unique tone. Fender-usually has a brighter,
more twangy tone. Gibson usually has a darker, meatier tone.
Danelectro usually has a bright, unique tone.
Gibson players:
Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Slash
Fender Players
Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain (Jimmy Page also used Danelectros)
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2. What type of pickup (single coil, humbucker,
etc.. Gibson, Seymour Duncan, etc..)
Humbucking pickups are two single
coil pickups that are wired together. They were made to
get rid of the annoying ‘hum’ or 'buzz' that
older single coil pickups would have. They have more
output (make the guitar louder) and have a darker or
warmer sound than single coil pickups.
| Electric Guitars with
humbucking pickups |
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| Gibson Les Paul Standard |
Gibson 335 |
Gibson 345 |
| Gibson 355 (BB King's Lucille) |
Musicman EVH |
Les Paul Custom |
| Gibson Flying V |
SG/ Les Paul Standard |
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Single-coil pickups were the first
guitar pickups ever made. They have a brighter, twangier
sound than the humbucking pickups. Modern, high-quality,
single-coil pickups have virtually no 'hum' or 'buzz'.
| Electric Guitars with single-coil
pickups |
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| Fender Stratocaster |
Fender Telecaster |
Fender Mustang |
| Fender Jaguar |
Fender Jazzmaster |
Danelectro |
| Les Paul Junior |
Les Paul T.V. |
Les Paul Special |
- Many modern single-coil
pickups now are made to have virtually no hum.
3. String Gauge
String gauge is a measurement of how thick or heavy a
string is. Usually a thicker string means a fatter or
meatier guitar tone. A thinner string usually will have a
thinner, twangier tone. There is, as usual, a trade off.
It is harder to play and bend thicker strings. Each
string on the guitar has a gauge. A set of strings is
named by the gauge of the 1st string. For example:
"A set of .009's" or "A set of
.013's". The higher the number, the heavier the
string. Stevie Ray Vaughan used .013's!
He was a madman, but he had some serious meat to his
tone. Eddie Van Halen uses .009's and he
still gets a very big, meaty sound! In the end what
really matters is your hands and your ability.
4. The Pick
There are almost as many choices of picks as there are
electric guitars! Picks are measured in gauges or sizes.
The thicker the pick, the higher the gauge or size. Fender
picks (I highly recommend these) come in extra
thin to extra heavy sizes and are a smooth texture. Some
picks have a rough textures also. Beginners should
start with medium picks. Thin and medium picks are
especially suited to acoustic guitars
also. Once you have played for a while, experiment with
different brands and sizes. Picks really do play a part
in your guitar tone.
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Interactive Polls
What kind of guitar do you play?
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