Robben Ford Discussion

[Bluelobster]

For once i'll try to start a thread . The Tone thread started by Daved made me think ......
Like we all know tone..........brain...........fingers..............blablabla ........
but how many of us have simple tricks to sound good or have a good tone.
The first that came in my mind :
Change strings once a week (well some changes every gig but let's keep the money factor) . When you are used to always play with new strings : it is an other world even an other guitar and sometimes an other amp (all these frequencies, ouh la la ).
What are yours ????

[roadwarriorfortheblues]

Do you think moist skin or dry skin on your fingertips changes your natural tone?

The other night, Jeff Beck applied powder or chalk to his hands before playing "Over the Rainbow."

I think I get a nicer tone (fuller sound) when I have moist fingertips -- but I don't like the feeling of hand creams -- so I wash my hands before and during my practice time.

.... and I change my strings about 3 or 4 times a year -- only when they get frizzy and don't stay in tune.
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[JohnnyZ]

Still trying to find my own personal tone. So far, the most satisfactory tone is gotten with my Ibanez Artist (335-style) guitar, DrZ Maz-18 Jr. 2x12 amp, and Zendrive pedal. And then, it sounds much better when I'm happily noodling along and being creative vs. just practicing scales...

[BlueRunner]

I found my "personal tone" about a year ago. Unfortunately, it was at a shop in Santa Cruz, playing one of their Heritage guitars through a Victoria amp. I promised I'd return. After I won the California lottery.
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- BlueRunner

[Red Suede]

My playing runs the gamut of styles, so whatever I use must be versatile. Right now i'm enjoying my Music Man Steve Morse with a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier combo and a couple of modified Line Six pedals. Very versatile and sounds wonderful, to me.

[JackD]

My response to this question will unfortunately blur the distinction between "tone" and "feel." These two are very much linked together. If you add the two together, you get "sound." Miles Davis used to always refer to the importance of his "sound."

In any event, for me, some of the most important things are:

1) The way that I fret a note--particularly how I get to that note (I slide into the note a fair amount) and how I finish off the note (e.g., a slight bend to make the note "blue", etc.)

2) The way I strike the note. I do a lot of accented articulation in my playing to create little interesting rhythmic phrases in a line. Also, like Robben, I like to pop my notes occasionally with my fingers.

3) Muting. I am SUPER aware of how I mute with both my left hand and right hand. This is important due to the fact that I like to use "blues rakes" (like BB King or Derek Trucks) in my playing and the strings have got to be muted properly. Also, I really like the feel and soul of blues phrasing but not the sloppiness--so I mute the strings I'm not playing a lot to keep things nice and clean.

These are just a few things I do. The great things about these are that they don't have a damned thing to do with what guitar, amp, or shoes you are wearing. If there's one thing I've learned from Robben, it's that it is stuff like this (that's in your hands and fingers) that matters most. This is why Robben always sound like Robben no matter what.

[roadwarriorfortheblues]

[bmar]

[quote="JackD"]The great things about these are that they don't have a damned thing to do with what guitar, amp, or shoes you are wearing. If there's one thing I've learned from Robben, it's that it is stuff like this (that's in your hands and fingers) that matters most.[/quote]

Couldn't agree more. The sound comes mainly from the fingers (every aspect of it, moisture of skin, attack, pick/no pick etc) and if the sound is acousticly "shit", no amp or effect can make it "good"... it will always be "shit" , maybe just a very polished one after going through $10.000 worth of equipment

I saw in one DVD with John Patitucci (bassist, Chick Corea band etc) his recommendations to his students about sound... he told his students to treat the electric bass as an acoustic instrument (which it is basicly!) and work on sound without the aid of an amplifier or effects.

That's something I've always worked on and I am sure it pays off! I have a pretty versitile setup consisting of different amplifiers (Mesa Boogie Mark 3, Studio .22, Mesa boogie Triaxis preamp, Boogie V-twin rack preamp, Carvin TN-100 preamp etc...) and each one has it's own unique character but I am very happy with the sound I get from each one (and get lots of complements at gigs for the sound), which wouldn't be possible unless I'd worked alot on tone just acousticly.... that's my view at least

[edpesco]

Blobby, you asked for "little tricks". Well, here is one: several weeks ago I had a gig as a substitute and I brought only what was absolutely necessary: guitar-amp-cables-zendrive. Somehow I was missing something in my tone and I found out that it was what the Boss stage tuner (which I normally use) does to the sound, not much, just a little sparkle.

Ed

[bmar]

[quote="edpesco"]I found out that it was what the Boss stage tuner (which I normally use) does to the sound, not much, just a little sparkle.
[/quote]

Do you mean when in "tune mode" it adds sparkle ? Or in the "bypass" mode?? I need to look into this with my Boss tuner, the tuner is always off when I play and I stomp it to mute it and tune - I haven't noticed any change in the sound while having my tuner connected. Can you go into this in a little bit more detail, how this works for you ? Thanks!

[edpesco]

[roadwarriorfortheblues]

Sound vs Tone -- They mean the same thing to me. Feel is the way "I" feel when I hear the sound or tone. You might feel something different than me.

I think the way a player uses vibrato makes up a lot of his or her tone (or sound.)
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[bmar]

[JohnnyZ]