The Tone

I'm still very much learning to appreciate more variety of tones; but i can tell you that it is a very, very, preferential thing.

Wood -
The most important aspect in deciding your tone and enjoyment value. It is like fine wine; velvety and beautiful when aged. Only true connoisseurs can truly appreciate how an aged guitar sounds.

The Body - Top on your priority list. Trust me.

Basswood - Used in most of the cheaper guitars found in Singapore. However it does not necessarily compromise tone. Basswood is very light, and hence quite brittle as well, so do take care of it if you plan to get one, or expect lots of dings and dents! Basswood has always been a subject of controversy regarding its tone, some find it utterly unbearable, whereas some swear by it; so! get your coat and go do some testing to decide yourself! The sound of basswood itself is rather warm sounding!

Alder - My personal favourite. It is lightweight, inexpensive, and extremely versatile. Most Fender Strat bodies are made from it. This wood hosts a balance of tones, both warm and bright and not to mention, very durable as well. Slow rock, funk, blues, jazz, this wood can handle it!

Maple - This wood is quite heavy! It is a very hard wood, so expect it to be durable. This wood is synonymous with bright and twangy tones - do consider it if you like the shrill, twangy kind of sound! There are many different kinds of Maple species as well(Spalted Maple, Birdseye Maple, Flamed/Quilted Maple, etc.), but most of them are mainly for aesthetic purposes, tone wise, they are all still bright sounding.
Mahogany - Not just your typical furniture wood. It is the standard wood in most Gibson/Epiphone or expensive guitar bodies. PRS guitars are almost totally made from mahogany, with the exception of their custom models. Contrary to the maple bodies, mahogany at the other end of the spectrum, is warm sounding. This wood sustains notes really well too.

Koa - Rare wood found only in Hawaii. Ever saw one such Koa Fender at Swee Lee before. Koa, i believe its a little similar to mahogany; i'm not too sure because i havent really seen many in Singapore; let alone any chance to try it.

Neck/Fretboard Woods -
The wood used in your fretboard is very important as well, it's where you fingers do the talkin'.
The Complete Maple Combi - Wear your sunglasses on your ears! The ultimate combi for people who love the bright and twangy tone. Complete maple neck and fretboard, combine their powers for the greater good of your tone comfort! People who choose this combi usually pair up with an alder or maple body and equip it with single coil pickups, and wella, it is bright heaven! For people who absolutely love the clean sound. Be warned that too much overdrive might dampen the tone and turn it into a muddy mess!


Maple neck and Rosewood Fingerboard - Commonest combi. I would say it is a 'safe' combi. Almost all genres can relate to this! Rosewood fretboards produces a nice warm tone that is nice for slow rock ballads, lazy jazz songs, bluesy riffs, or sharp rhytmn attacks. Rosewood is a considerably softer wood than maple, so aside from tone preference, people choose them apart in terms of comfort while playing as well. The video below shows how this combi sounds like best.



The Gibson/PRS combi! - Mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. The Ultimate Opposite of the Complete Maple Combi. This is entire warm/fat sounding. If your dream was to play like Slash or Santana, this is the right combination for you. Crank it up with overdrive it
sounds yoghurty smooth with clear notes. It is the ultimate rock combination - rise, guitar heroes!



Ebony fretboard - This mean little rascal is also very bright sounding, especially beautiful when played clean. Ebony wood actually sounds much brighter than maple wood, so go figure. You might need sunglasses to view the price as well.

Single coil, or humbucker? the bridge, neck and all.

Pickups are what gives you control over tone on your guitar as well. The selector switch is there for you to choose at any point of time, during a jam session or song etc etc, the tone fittng for the occassion. Hence, familiarise yourself with the terms/jargon : Bridge pickup, neck pickup, bridge+neck pickup.

Bridge pickup - basically just means the fella at the bottom. The pickup nearest to the bridge of your guitar. You select this pickup when you flick the switch all the way down.South. The head of the switch should be facing your right hand. This selected pickup is specially used when playing in distortion and overdrive, as it gives more note clarity even through the thick of the noise.
Neck pickup - the pickup closest to the neck of the guitar. The tone here gets fuller and rounder; think of this as giving your tone some clothing. At the bridge pickup - naked. Sound gets less skeletal as the switch progresses, its like adding layers of clothing and the tone gets warmer and fuller.



Single Coil - Mr. Eric Clapton and gang's favourite. I noticed many blues guitarists - John Mayer, Buddy Guy - use it, and Heavy Metal guitarists, almost none! I believe it is also because they sound horrible in excess overdrive, these pickups were never meant for that genre., because they tend to have some humming noise when in the background when used.

Humbucker - Many variations of it has spawned because its use is almost limitless - rock, blues, jazz, pop, this can do it all! It is just a matter of what the pickup is designed for. Usually they are more popular because they are "silent", or hum cancelling, unlike single coils.

The pick(plectrum) -
Another preferential thing. It is said that the thicker the pick, the thicker you tone. Flimsy picks provide easier strumming whereas thick picks (1mm and above) provide sound clarity and resonance. Apparently Queen guitarist Brian May prefers to use the English sixpence coin - unusual but well, that's his preference and he's still better than you!

Anatomy

Almost anything affects tone. From the wood in which your guitar is made of; to the kind of pick you use, it really depends on how fussy you are.

Ok first, a brief anatomy of the guitar.




(picture ripped from blogskins.com)

Tuners - This is a no brainer. Tunes your strings, blah. However if you use tremolo bridges(explain later) you will need locking tuners to keep the guitar from going out of tune.

Headstock - Houses the tuners. Interesting fact: Many leading guitar luthiers/manufacurers like to design specific headstocks as a signature, such that people can identify the guitar brand immediately just by seeing the headstock. e.g. Dean Guitars headstock is "V" shaped; making it look really fierce! It is also said that angled headstocks(tilted ones) tend to have better sustain than their levelled counterparts.


angled headstock of a Gibson guitar.


Nut - It is an itsy plastic looking thing between the neck and the headstock; holds strings in place. It is that white thing in the picture above.

Frets - Those metal dividers on the neck. There are different kinds of fret gauges to accomodate different playing styles - Medium, Jumbo, Medium Jumbo, Extra Jumbo. Jumbo frets make barre chords easier to play, easy bending and vibrato as well. If you're into metal and shredding etc, jumbo and above are just for you. However if you press jumbo frets too hard the notes will go sharp; and blues players will find it hard to get used to as well. It all depends on the comfort of the player.

Inlays - These are the dots that signify the fret positions, usually marked at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st frets of the guitar. Like headstocks, many guitar manufacturers have signature inlays. Gibsons have their standard bar shaped, whereas PRS have eagles for inlays. They are usually made from mother-of-pearl or plastic.

Truss Rod - a steel/graphite rod located within the guitar neck; for maintenance of the neck. Novices should not attempt to adjust the truss rod(that includes me) as it can damage the guitar beyond repair.

Body - Where most of the magic happens unseen. List goes endless on the different kinds of wood used to construct the bodies. The usual ones are alder, maple, basswood, ash, mahogany. Most cheap guitars have basswood as the bodies, whereby higher end ones like PRS or Gibsons have mahogany bodies, Fender mostly use alder for their bodies. A very important consideration when buying a guitar as this will determine the tone you desire.

solid body - Commonest electric guitar body. pretty self explanatory. Heaviest. Best sustain due to wood density. More wood = more sustain.

hollow body(electric) - Considerably larger than an electric guitar, (slightly fatter body) but the cavity of the body is empty as it mimicks an acoustic guitar, giving out similar acoustickey warm tone. They are noted to have visible f-holes on the surface of the guitar for easy recognition. Weapon of choice for Jazz/Blues/Country guitarists. Lightest of the three.

semi-hollow body - Similar to hollow body, but has a block of wood in the centre of the cavity. It is said to cut down feedback for a smoother sound. Considerably lighter than an electric guitar.

hollows and semi hollows are definitely not for metal/hard rockers. They sound horrible in high gain overdrive. It's just like how plump people should not wear skinny jeans. Or when an ang moh tries to speak chinese. These guitars are best for jazz, blues and milder genres; they sound beautiful when played clean or slight overdrive.

Pickguard - Protects body from aggressive/angsty strummers, 'nuff said.

Pickups - Again, extremely important in the electric guitar. Only a physicist can explain this properly; i can't. Basically these are electronics that pick up signals from the vibration of the guitar strings and sends to the amplifier.

single coil - as the name suggests, a single pickup. The picture above shows the Fender Strat, with 3 single coils. They are the trademark of Fender guitars. They are usually synonymous with brighter tones. The downside is that there is notable constant hum or buzzing sound while playing. This is because they pick up random radio waves as well. i believe Jeff Beck designed a "silent" single coil and have been using it since.

The Fender Strat Single Coils. Note the 3 skinny blokes.

humbucker - evil twin of the single coil. nah, just kidding. It is just two single coils put together, polarity reversed, coiling reversed, in order to cancel the hum. It is synonymous with warmer tones, and a signature of Gibson and preferred choice of rockers. They are associated with more aggressive tone as this pick up, as compared to the single coil, can handle more distortion/overdrive without flooring out.

The Gibson Humbucker pickups - notice those fat boys!

Pickup Selector - a toggle switch. Determines desired playing style. Fender has 5-way selector, while Gibson has only 3. It allows more variety of tone control when switching from rhytmn to lead or vice versa.

Tone/volume Knobs - They actually play important roles in shaping tone. Roll the tone knob and hear as the tone changes significantly, and adjust it to your liking.

Bridge - The fella that anchors the strings to the guitar. They are either hardtail or tremolo.

tremolo bridge - more like movable bridge, with the whammy bar (or tremolo arm) one can change the pitch of the guitar with a single wrench - or with light tugging - a tame vibrato. Dimebag Darrell popularised the tremolo bridge with his divebomb technique, a production of squealing/screaming sound to accomodate aggressive playing - as my friend David would say - hardcore aggression. Popular trem bridge brands like Floyd Rose enables extreme dives and dips; as compared to the normal Fender ones.

Hardtail - comes across as a useless brother of the trem bridge. not really. Actual fact: the hardtail provides better and longer sustain, and keeps the guitar in tune better.

Trem bridges under often usage will cause the guitar to go out of tune easily, that is why it is important to get locking tuners - like Schaller or Gotoh to ensure the guitar stays in tune after an aggressive bout of tremming.

Jack - Duh. plug your cable in. Just ensure that it is well maintained and not loose.

Finally! I hope i have provided useful information. Do let me know if i have gotten anything wrong, cheers!

Tone Wizard

Perhaps many of you under-estimate, (ok, I'm assuming, because i once did not) the importance of tone.

Ever since i started out on the guitar a few years back, i have absolutely negated the existence of tone. I have heard of it, and completely ignored it. Like any hot blooded teenager (no offense) I was hardly bothered with sound. It was all about showmanship and techniques; as long as there's the guitar, the amp, I've got all i need!

Only sometime back a very good mate of mine - who in the army greatly enlightened me - taught me the importance of tone.

This was when i really discovered Music. This was a sobering experience; instantaneously the imagery of fingers flying off frets became fleeting. i grew more accustomed to imagery like creamy , hot , warm, bright, twangy.


There is not one perfect tone; it actually all depends on preference. What kind of tone sounds pleasing to you.

Welcome lost friends, this site is dedicated to you; know what you want.