Guitar Tones - 3 Ways To Get A Better Guitar Sound

How many times have you been to see a band play at a local club and you've been blown away by not only the guitarist's skillful playing but also the clarity and quality of their guitar sound? Or maybe you've been less than impressed with the sound coming from the guitarist's rig? A good guitar sound is a vital component of a great-sounding live performance, or any great recording. Think about the signature guitar tones of the great players such as Mark Knopfler in Dire Straits, or David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Would their albums be half as memorable if it wasn't for not only their great guitar playing but also their distinctly individual guitar sounds?

I've been playing guitar as a hobby for 20 years, and professionally for the past 5 years. In this time I've picked up a lot of experience that have helped me to get a guitar tone I'm happy with - it's taken many years, but by bearing the following tips in mind, I'm almost completely happy with my sound(us guitarists are rarely entirely happy!) - and I hope there's some useful info in here for you too.

1. Less Is More

The truth is that we all love to buy the latest gadgets and toys for our guitar rigs. Whether it's a new wah pedal, distortion box or multi-effects unit, it's a lot of fun to explore and experiment with the different sonic textures these add (or subtract!) from your guitar tone. The trouble is, you might find that the more pedals and signal processors you put between your guitar and your amplifier, the weaker your guitar signal gets...

One thing many of us guitar players forget is that the most important factor in determining your sound is your fingers. What you PLAY is what counts. Try using a cleaner signal path with as few digital boxes as possible, and let your amp do the talking.

2. Less Gain, Less Pain

Using excessive amounts of gain on your amplifier can have disastrous results that not only annoy your fellow band members, but also (and most importantly), your audience. Lots of gain can mean your guitar produces a horrific feedback squeal during the the gaps in your playing, which can cause hearing damage, as well as audience members leaving the gig early.

Excessive gain means your signal becomes distorted, which is great for musical styles such as rock and metal. But take the example of Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC... Those guys use minimal amounts of gain and let the sheer volume of their amps do the distorting. This means their sound cuts through in the mix very clear, as their sound is more solid and less broken up by distortion. Of course, you have have to work a little harder to sustain your notes (by using vibrato), but the difference in clarity to your sound is the reward.

3. Learn to really use your multieffects unit

If you're using a multi effects unit, for example a Line 6 or a Boss GT-8 or similar, you'll know just how amazing these boxes can sound. There are so many great amp simulations available, the possibilities are virtually endless. However there are so many variables, you could go mad with option anxiety before you finally find your dream guitar tone!

I think the trick here is to ignore the factory presets and design your own tones from scratch. It helps to listen to your favourite albums and try to emulate the same guitar tones you hear. The factory preset tones are usually designed to wow you in the store to make you buy it, however they're not really suitable for live use or recording. Take the time to read the manual and really understand and get to grips with the operation of the unit, and you'll be more confident in shaping your own unique guitar sound.
If you want a tip on how to really get the very best from your multi effects unit, take a look at http://www.onelouderguitars.com

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Guitar Effects Pedals Essentials

If you're a beginning guitar player are you happy with your guitar and amp set up? Are you trying to imitate the sound of your favorite guitarist but having problems recreating that sound. It's because most professional guitarists don't just use a guitar and amp, there are few like Angus Young of AC/DC who plug directly into the amp with no extra effects, but that's a rarity. Most guitarists use a combination of at least three effects to get their sound, distortion, delay, and chorus. You can use multi effects pedals to get your sound or you can use dedicated guitar effects pedals. Let's take a look at what they do and why you should have them in your guitar effects pedal board.

Distortion

Distortion is the most popular effect added to an electric guitar, it's "the" sound people think about when they think of electric guitar. Different styles will call for different types and different levels of this effect. If you're playing metal you want a heavy "crunchy" sound, if you're playing blues or "guitar rock" you might want a warmer sound. Even country players use distortion, they'll add just a little bit to their clean guitar sound, not enough to be really evident as distortion, but just enough to give their sound some bite, so that it cuts through. The Boss distortion pedal, the DS-1 is probably one of the most used of all times. Kurt Cobain used it in his stage rig (although he'd switched to a DS-2 by '94), and someone as diverse as Joe Satriani has also used the DS-1 pedal.

Delay

Delay is another basic guitar effect, it's related to reverb. Think of delay as the sound of the room your in. If you're in a big room it sounds boomy, if you're in a small room it sounds brighter and more distinct. The sound of a room is related to the sounds reflected off the walls. In any size room you'll hear the original and then the sound that is reflected off the walls. That delayed sound is what lets your ears know how big the room is. Reverb is similar, it's just that the sounds bounced off the walls aren't as distinct. Most guitarists use delay pedals set to a short delay time, (slapback delay). It sort of sounds like being in a concrete stairwell, a good example is a country "chicken picken" sound. Other guitarist use delay times so long that their are distinct echos, The Edge in the band U2 being a good example. What delay does is make you perceive the sound as being "thicker" almost like there were two guitars playing. Some pedals can create a delay and reverb sound.

Chorus

The third bread and butter guitar effects pedal you should have is a chorus. What a chorus does is split your sound and slightly delay one one of the signals. Imagine two people were playing guitar together. They can never play perfectly together, one will always start a split second late or early. That's what a chorus does. You're probably thinking what's the difference between that and a delay? Well, if you set your delay times small enough you will hear a chorus type sound. A chorus will also detune one of the signals by a miniscule amount increasing the effect of their being two guitarists playing. The perceived effect is a thicker guitar sound. Both delay and chorus can be used with a clean sound or a distorted sound.

So, those three guitar pedals are the bedrock of an electric guitar sound, you can find at least one of them in most guitarists pedal board. It's hard to say what is the best guitar effects pedal, it really comes down to a personal preference. There are some effects used by famous guitarists, other people buy that pedal to copy that sound. After awhile that sound kind of becomes the "standard", that makes it popular, but what's the best guitar effects pedal is up to you.
David Verde plays guitar and sings a little, he likes to write about guitar playing and song writing. Here's some more information about guitar effects pedals, and what to look for in an acoustic guitar tuner.

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