Painting with Guitar Tone - Part 1
3 Stages of Tone
This post is Part One of a three-part series designed to give you a unique and inspiring approach to understanding and selecting your electric guitar tone. Electric guitar tone is shaped in three progressive stages: Guitar, Pedals, and Amplifier, which I would like to present to you in terms of painting. Today, we will dive into the first stage, the Guitar. I sincerely hope this helps you see your instrument and musical tools in a new light and provides new inspiration for making tons of great new music!
Electric Guitar - The Brush
The first stage of tone-shaping is determined by your guitar and its inherent sound. I look at the guitar as a paintbrush. When choosing the right guitar for the job you have to ask yourself, "What type of strokes do I want to paint?”
Do you want to paint broad, BOLD strokes? A Les Paul or similar guitar might be the ideal tool of choice for such a job. You're set up for full-on rock, cranked to level 11. These guitars are perfect for high-gain situations or when a big, round tone is needed. The strength of these guitars, however can also be their greatest weakness, as they have difficulty cleaning up at times when needed and can seem like they’re on perpetual overdrive. When used in the right situation, these guitars really shine.
Are you wanting medium-to-light strokes of colored sound with occasional twinkles of sparkling harmonics drizzled throughout? A Stratocaster or similar guitar creates a wide variety of sounds that can fill multiple genres and are often described as sounding "sparkly" or "tube-like." I personally find standard strats to be great guitars in every position EXCEPT the bridge pickup, which I find to be too thin and metallic for my tastes. I greatly enjoy the way a humbucker in the bridge (also known as a “fat strat” configuration) thickens things up and gives my tonal brushstrokes a deeper tone of voice which commands attention and pushes an already-overdriven amp over the edge, providing soaring lead tones which never cease to inspire.
If you’re going for a way to bring character, individuality and unexpected elements into the picture there are many options here: Telecasters, Gretches, and a host of other vintage-era guitars are often said to produce distinct twangy tones that cut through the mix and bring unique character into the equation, resulting in one-of-a-kind textures and unexpected tonal brushstrokes.
Obviously, there are many, many more options available when it comes to guitars than the few I have briefly covered in this post. My goal is not to go into great detail covering every guitar out there, but simply to give several practical examples of how a guitar's sound serves as a tonal paintbrush to paint one's musical ideas onto an aural canvas. My hope is that this analogy helps shape your understanding of each guitar's tonal role and inherent sweet-spots in order to most accurately paint the musical pictures your spirit longs to communicate to others.
Personally, I am not convinced that any one guitar is necessarily "better" than any other in terms of tone, though certainly some guitars are more versatile and comfortable in a variety of situations than others. The simple truth is that each guitar has a special and unique voice that serves to get your musical ideas out to the world. Perhaps that's why we guitarists always feel the need to have one of each. :)
By the way, here is a picture of the next tonal paintbrush I hope to add to my arsenal: The PRS 408 in Faded Grey Black. Perhaps one of the most versatile and tonally interesting guitars I have ever had the privilege of playing.
What Guitar (or Guitars) do you wish to add to your tonal paintbrush arsenal? Why? What interesting musical pictures do you expect it will help you to paint? I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave your answers in the comment section below:
Happy painting!
Daniel
Stay tuned for Part Two of the three-part series "Painting with Guitar Tone," featuring an insightful discussion about Pedals coming next week!
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